An Eye-witness from Russia/The Bolshevik Government
The Bolshevik Government.
[Reprinted from the "Labour Leader."]
The Bolsheviks came into power largely because the other candidates, perhaps through no fault of their own, did not appear to be giving the people what they wanted, because the Constituent Assembly seemed likely to repeat the faults of the previous Governments and to embarrass the movement towards freedom by compromises with a class which had always held power. Having gained power the Bolsheviks more slowly gained popularity.
The Social Revolutionary right party had on its programme the nationalising of the land, but it held the idea that the Socialist programme must come slowly; it was in favour of disposing of the estates only when the peasants were ready for them. Lenin incorporated the land question into the revolutionary movement by his order: "Peasants, seize the land." This did not, however, make Bolshevism popular, the peasants remarking, "Lenin did not give us the land; we took it." The movement of the workmen to take possession of the factories was more properly attributed to the Bolsheviks, but it did not in my opinion make that party popular.
The General Social Programme: Ten Years' Trial.
It was, I think, the general social programme of the Moscow Revolutionaries which commended itself to the people, which slowly took shape and may be judged in the Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic, adopted July 10, 1918. The Bolsheviks have attempted to deal with the
fundamental problem, the abolition of exploitation of men by men, the entire abolition of the division of the people into classes, the suppression of exploiters, the establishment of a "Socialist Society." (Constitution, Article 1, chapter 2, paragraph 3.)
Great masses of the people, of course, remained in ignorance of the real meaning of "the establishment of a Socialist society." It was interpreted to them as being the organisation of a State on principles very similar to their village communes, and the peasants thinking that as good or better than any alternative they had met yet did not give their allegiance to it, but showed a readiness to see whether it would work. They knew that no Government in Russia had thus far been satisfactory so they said they would give the Bolsheviks ten years before they would judge if it was really good or not. Such patience was not found in Moscow, nor apparently in foreign countries.
In Line with Russian Sentiment Against War.
Under the Federal System great liberty was given to each province and county for the development of its own ideas and government, and in this way the difficult problems connected with mixed racial populations were partly solved.
The breaking up of the Empire into small units and their reunion into the Socialist Federated Republic gave support to one of the chief causes of Bolshevik popularity; that the war which was begun by the Tsar should be ended by the people; their avowed intention of "breaking secret treaties, or organising on a wide scale the fraternisation of the workers and peasants of the belligerent armies, and of all efforts to conclude a general democratic peace without annexations or indemnities, upon a basis of the free determination of the peoples." Constitution—article 1, chapter 3, paragraph 4 coincided with the Russian sentiments on war. Accordingly the treaty of Brest-Litovsk came as mo surprise, and I heard in all the time I was in Russia no workman or peasant disparage it.
The Generous Educational Programme.
The educational programme of the Bolsheviks commended itself to the people as being the most generous that had been placed before the public, and the zeal with which it was carried out seemed to the people to indicate that the energies of the Government were turning principally to internal reforms. The wishes of the people were studied, not only in broad principles, but in details. "For the purpose of enabling the workers to hold free meetings the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic offers to the working class and the poorest peasantry furnished halls, and takes care of their heating and lighting appliances." (Constitution—article 2, chapter 5, paragraph 15.) Libraries were opened in the villages and theatres in all the towns and were maintained at the public expense.
The First Real Test of Popularity.
The popularity which the Bolshevik Government earned by its measures was not seriously tested till the spring of 1918, because it had no serious rivals who could call for the allegiance of the people on the strength of their programme for internal reforms. In the early summer, when civil war was financed from abroad and supported at home by large sections of the upper classes, the first real test came. Districts which had tried both the Bolshevik régime and that set up under the Czechs when free to do so reverted to Bolshevism. The Czechs were forced to retire from the Volga to the Urals because of uprisings among the people. The Soviet of Vladivostok was returned at the July election though the "Reds" were in prison. From the Urals to the eastern coast the people were discontented with the directorate and the dictatorship and preferred a return to the Soviets.
No body of people I met feared the Bolshevik Government except the rich merchant and landowning classes, and among them I noticed a phenomenon not uncommonly seen in the last few years, that supreme sacrifices are easier to ask for and easier to make in many cases than smaller ones. When all rich people were losing their property it was not in accordance with the temperament of the better Russian to display great grief at an irreparable loss. I think there was hardly more grumbling than occurred in England over the Budgets and the Insurance Act of a recent Government. Through their losses some perceived, often with mixed feelings, the increasing sense of equality, and many contrasted the smallness of their loss with the great sacrifice of the war.
Bolshevik Finance.
The Bolsheviks, in the opinion of the writer, used the repudiation of the foreign debts as a measure of internal politics, when the country was loath to assume any obligations contracted by the Tsar, but would in time have persuaded the people willingly to pay interest on the foreign loans because they realised that no further money would be lent to them unless they did.
Bearing in mind the exhausted condition of Russia due to the war, the lack of commodities due to the isolation caused by Allied blockade after November, 1917, and the disturbance in industry which accompanies civil war (especially if financed from abroad), I believe that the condition of finances under the Bolsheviks may compare favourably with that of any administration in the last sixty years in Russia except under Ministers of Finance Kankrin and Reitern, or with the present administration in Siberia before it reintroduced vodka distilling as a source of revenue. It is possible that new criteria may have to be formed before it is wise to come to definite and final judgments regarding the financial condition of a community that hopes "to establish a Socialist society" and eliminate the use as far as possible of currency.
THE PEOPLE'S RUSSIAN INFORMATION BUREAU.
For particulars apply 152 Fleet Street, London, E.C.4.
A Weekly Bulletin and up-to-date News and Literature.
Publications:—
| British Consul Replies to Anti-Bolshevik Slanders | Price | 3½d. | post free. |
| "Russia and the Allies," by F. Seymour Cocks | Price„ | 3½d. | post free„ |
| "The Russian Plan for the League of Nations," by G. Tchicherine | Price„ | 2½d. | post free„ |
| Maxim Litvinoff on Soviet Russia | Price„ | 1½d. | post free„ |
| British Soldiers in Russia | Price„ | 1d. | post free„ |
| 2s. | 6d. | per 100 |
List of further publications on application.
Trade Terms for quantities.
NATIONAL LABOUR PRESS LTD., 8/9/10 JOHNSON'S COURT, FLEET
STREET, LONDON, E.C.4.