Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-02-05
lBy \. j. Sack. Director, Russian In
formation Bureau. WOOlWorln
Rldr. NeX York City.

lIOEss Z 10y
Twelve years ~ OH the twenty
seventh Of April. 1906, when the new.
" elected members of the first puma
were gathered at the Winter Palace,
the Car addressed them as the pest
peoplc of Russia" a little later the
first Duma presented the Car with d
demand for liberal reforms II a re-
sponsible cabinet, and the Cars gov
eminent did not hesitate to dissolve
the body of the best people lnis
was in, full accord with the hypocrltl,
cal and tyrannical policy of the olo
regime and nobody expected awning
else from the Cars government.
l.enin's government" in its treat
ment Of the Constituent Assembly, mas
made use of the same policy Wn1ch
successfully towards the Duma. we
now possess documents which Illus
trate strikingly the extreme hypocrisy
with which the Bolshcviki treated the
Constituent Assembly until the very
last moment, when it became eVldent
that the majority of the assembly, tnat
means the majority of the Russian
people. Vas against them.
On the twenty-fifth of Octooer,
about two weeks before the BolSheNih
revolt, MI. l.. Trotzky, speaking at the
conference VI A<Ol IIlCll
Workingmen's and Soldiers delegates
introduced a resolution accusing kef-
ensSy of preventing the conVocauot'
of the Constituent Assembly. and de,
handing hat all power be transferred
to the councils. which, among other
things. would undertake to v
the Constituent Assembly on h date
previously set, the twelfth Of Decem-
Der. IL
Trotzky's resolution was repeated IN
full in the first proclamation when
announced the fall of the provisional
government and the program of the
B%olsheviki. Announcing the transfer
of land to the peasant committees, the
proclamation adds that the commit.
tees will take charge. of the land untll
the Constituent Assembly convenes:
Furthermore, it repeats that n OF
the main aims of the Rolsheriki is the
convocation of the Constituent AS
sembly.
Tn accordance with this program
outlined by the Bolsheviki in their
first praclamations, on the tenth OF
November. four days after the revolt
Lenine as president of the Council OF
the Peoples Com,nissaries:
'In the name of the government OF
the Republic. elected by the All-Rue-
sian Congress of Councils of Work
mems and Soldiers delegates. with the
participation Of the Peasants dele
gates. the Council of the Peoples
Commissaries DEGREES:
l.. That the elections to the Constr
tuent Assembly shall he hold on NO
vember 18th CRussian Calender. a.
81, day set aside for this purpose. :,
2. All electoral commissions. all
local institutions. the Councils of
Workmcn's. Soldiers and Peasants
delegates and the soldiers orSanlza-
tons at the front are to bend every
effort towards safeguarding the free
dom of the voters and fair play at the
, elections to the Constituent Assembly.
which will be held on the appointed
date"
There were already then many per-
sons in Russia who doubted the sin
cerity of the Bolsheviki in regard to
tho Constituent Assembly. and to
these doubling minds the P%etrograd
"Pravda." the official organ Of the
R%olsheviki, spoke in it's issue of No
vember eleventh. pointing to Lenine's
decree. that the decree Seems to he
definite enough" ut is clear TO
everybody" said the Bolsheviki organ.
that only an outright liar can. after
this. say that the Rolsheviki govern
ment is attempting to kill the Consti-
tuent Assembly and does not want to
call it on the appointed date because
it is afraid of it,"
With every step of the elections
showing that the country did not ac-
cept tho Rolsheviki program and vot-
ed against it in such numbers hat a
very strong anti-Bolsheviki majority
in the assembly was certain. the Boil
slleviki began to charge their minds.
and. notwithstanding their earlier
promises to the masses. they for,nu-
lated a new idea which expressed it.
self in the convocation of the congress
of Councils of Workmen's and Sol
diers' delegates, simultaneously with
the Constituent Assembly. The rea-
son for calling the Congress of Coun-
ellis was explained in a way which re-
calls tho story Of the famous Caliph
who gave the order to burn all the
books in the library of q city just TAX
ep by his troops. Those books are
useless if they repeat Koran said the