Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-22

TACT, some WO1llSll VIII Noi ia -
the revolution lost them at the h
All the bourgeois. the gentry and the
nobility in Russia go by the name OIL
the "obstchestvo.' freely the upper
classes" hey are the Classes; the
'.nared," the masses
) From the democratic point or view
it was an unfortunate hngual snort
coming. Instead of the whole RusslaiI
people having its destiny in their naaas
it was really quite formally hanoeu
over to the masses. NO DOUBT II
was not so intended. nor is the pom,
SO clearly defined as to make pariiei
but it gives a little something on Sh .Sa
to hang the supreme power or the
"nared.
Hail the New Power.
The radical leaders caught up the
word at once, and it was one of them
who called it to my attention. Ihey
translate "nared" now into probe
tariat." to make it fit into the general
political patter They nan me ,t new
were any one here bold enough to dis
pute them. they could produce docu-
mentary proof.
Without making too much of point
of this. il has its political significance.
The radical leaders. who are in control,
wish to keep the line of political cleav,
age open between the bourgeois and
the "proletariat" / use their own
words. though neither word. as accept
ed in western Europe, fits into the Rus
sian situation. For the ideas of per
sonal democracy were prevalent in Rus
STA even under the empire. and there is
no fixed bourgeois" class.
They as we'll as the gentry and the
nobility, do not form a thick and I'M
penetrable upper crust They used. IN
stead, to form the human liaison be-
tween the hard ways Of the empire and
the rough ways of the peasantry. And
they are now trying to eaten up the
Russian people in their tumble from
: empire toward anarchy and stop them
on some middle ground of democracy.
No Developed "Proletariat."
Nor has Russia, strictly speaking. a
developed proletariat. Even in the
cities every one has somewhere viii
lage connection. There is no great
i. mass of people uprooted completely
from the soil, a pavement population.
All this has political Importance
when ii comes to a division based on
bourgeois and proletariat, because the
division does not hold.
We are just at this moment in a
sort of lull in the revolution. Both
sides to the political struggle are
nihcant activity OF the moment is the
recrudescence of the cadet party
Not that it was at any time dead.
but dormant. 1t is the only political
strong enough to dispute the COM
plete sway of the "nared," and its
power is only potential For while
the six new socialist members of the
port to the council of soldiers and
workmen's deputies. which appointed
them. the other members Of the gov
eminent do not do the same by the
cadets. They are responsible to the
duma committee.
Political Distinction.
Perhaps I can make this political
distinction more clear, though less
exact. by saying that political centers
are the duma and the council of SOL
diers' and workmen's deputies. If
that was an exact definition, however.
II would be quite obvious at once
that the council Of soldiers and work.
mems deputies was going to win. so it
can only be made for foreign circula-
,tion and therefore must not be taken
literally.
The cadets. by themselves. would
also have no hopes But they are not
counting on their own votes. They
hope TO organize all Russia. which is
not for out and out socialism. and.
having that in view. have a chance
to win. Their hope. lies in the peas
themselves heard. and they would APP
pear to be on the side of the govern
ment. But the government is a CO.
alition, and 1t is yet to be seen to
which side they will cling II the coali-
ton fails in the long run to hold.
Doing Pretty Well.
Right now 1t seems to be doing pretty
we'll The minshiviki are supporting
Il solidly. Yesterday they put it TO a
vote and all but seven In the 1000
assembled gave IL vote OF conf
dence- The boishiviki. who form a
minority. failed to be present. In fact
minshiviki for forming the coalition,
causing something OF temporary
split in the council of soldiers and
workmen's deputies. 1t cannot be fore
seen Yet whether this split Will be-
come wide enough for the bolshivih
to form and out-and-out opposition in
every way "agin the government" or
whether they will remain q minority
with the hope of getting control by a
general increase in radicalism.
However that may be, the support
OF the peasants IS being tried for by
both sides. As they are numerically
going to be the strongest. and they are
not going to fail to exert IT. For they
may be in the dark about many things,
but they have grasped the simple fact
| sia than all other kinds of people put
together. One anarchstic factory can
| make a good deal OF noise right now
| They can even make an armed 'prole-
| tariat" demonstration on the Nevsky
| Prospekt and cause cons ider 2 BILE po-
| litical furry. but they cannot win out
II the peasants are not with them.
Decide Against Anarchy.
There is peasant congress on here
now. which l have been attending, and,
judged by that, certainly the peasants
are not anarchists. They were broad
enough. however. to invite Lenine the
anarchist leader. to address them He
sent an associate to express his sentf-
ments for him. and he was not at all
well received The peasants decided
on the spot they were not for an
archy and they would not even let
the speaker finish.
But this exhibition of Russian gem
crosby Of spirit followed by Russian
directness of action does not prove that
the peasant is conservative. The aver
age peasant in the village is conserva-
tive to this extent He wants piece
q the landlords land in case he has
not already got II. and he wants to
keep it, Yet he is very good material
Tor anarchistic teachings. beyond that
point. But there are some millions of
Young peasants in the army who have
been schooled in socialism. They are
going to play a considerable role in
kneir villages. more than those who