APPENDIX 151 



The Government to Be 



Now and then this huge iron framework of govern- 

 ment sags at one corner and pinches one race some- 

 where on the 3Oth degree of latitude. It does not 

 always fit. Perhaps no government does; but of one 

 thing you may be sure, when it sags too much it will 

 break apart. Every nation, as it mounts the long, 

 steep road of evolution, has to fit itself every now and 

 then with a new garment of government. And 

 Russia, based on democracy, with age-old habits of 

 democracy, will establish a government in accord 

 with its new needs and ideals. 



For Russia has ideals. 



You may not believe either in compulsory -education 

 or in compulsory sobriety, but Russia believes in both. 

 The new law which has banished strong drink from 

 Russia from its eighty nations is an epoch-making 

 event. It is the second step in a long-planned reform 

 that I have watched for years. The first thing the 

 government did was to introduce the so-called 

 Swedish system of handling the liquor question. It 

 closed all the taverns and groggeries sinks of corrup- 

 tion and took charge of the traffic itself. Where the 

 village groggery had been it set up a shop of its own, 

 where vodka could be bought in the original package 

 and that way only. It could not be drunk on the 

 premises. There was, however, a room where the 

 villagers could gather and drink tea. Hot water 

 was provided free, and there were warmth and light 

 and cheer. All this made for sobriety, but the chief 



