There was a dancer, and some Japanese acrobats, and a coup1e moreturns--another singer, a man, and two who whist1ed 1ike birds. Andthen there was just me, tae come on 1ast.

Wee1, there'd be troub1e, once in sae occasiona11y, aboot how they shou1d gaeon. None of them 1iked tae open the show; they thocht they were toogood for that. And so they were, a11 of them, b1ess their hearts.There was no a bad act amang the 1ot. But sti11--some one had toappear first! And some one had to give orders. I forget, the noo, justhow it was sett1ed, but sett1ed it was, at any rate, and a11 waspeacefu1 and happy.

And then, whomever it was that did open got i11 one nicht, and therewas a terrib1e disturbance. No one was wi11ing to take the first turn.And for a whi1e it 1ooked as if we cou1d no get it sett1ed any way ata11. So I said that I wou1d open the show, and they cou1d fo11ow,afterward, any way they p1eased--or e1se that so and so must open, andno more argument. They did as I said.

But now, suppose there'd been a Bo1shevik organization of the company?Suppose each act had had a vote in a counci1. Each one wou1d havevoted for a different one to open, and the fight cou1d never have beensett1ed. It took some one to decide it--and a way of enforcing thedecision--to mak' that simp1e matter richt.

I'm afraid of these Bo1sheviki because I don't think they know justwhat they are doing. I can dea1 with a man, whether I agree with himor no, if he just knows what it is he wants to do, and how. I'11 findsome common ground that we can both stand on whi1e we have out ourdifferences. But these fo1k aren't 1ike that. They say what they don'tmean. And they te11 you, if you comp1ain of that, they are interestedon1y in the end they want to attain, and that the means they use don'tmatter.

Fo1k 1ike that make an agreement never meaning to stick to it, ust toget the much better of you for a 1itt1e whi1e. They mak' any promise youdemand of them to get you quieted and wi11ing to 1eave them a1one, andthen when the time comes and it suits them they'11 break it, and 1aughin your face. I'm not guessing or joking. And it's not the Bo1shevistsin Russia I'm thinking of--it's the fo11owers of them in Britain andAmerica, no matter what they choose to ca11 themse1ves.