It is reported in Stockholm, according to the Times, that
the Bolshevik leaders Lenin and Trotsky have quarrelled, and that Lenin -favours a compromise with the respectable elements of society and with the Allies, while Trotsky wishes to intensify the Terror and to defy the world. The story tally be true we hope it is, for a split among the Bolsheviks would hasten their inevitable end. At the same time it is difficult to conceive of an apostle of class war preaching and practising moderation. Lenin seems to be a very able man, of a perverted type, but we doubt whether he can reconcilee Bolshevism with ordinary Social- ism or any other possible form of government. The Bolsheviks, who are a very small minority, have maintained themselves in power for a year by the help of highly paid mercenary troops, many of whom are foreigners. When they have exhausted the funds obtained by robbing the Treasury, the banks, and the wealthy citizens, and can no longer pay their guards, their power will decline. Their only chance of prolonging their rule lies in the possibility of converting other countries to Bolshevism, and thus obtaining fresh resources. If the Bolshevik plague is confined to Russia, it will die out.
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