The progress-itemizer., 1920-07-23

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states we e.r,n 7here I. one
voter In every we population
This calculation Yea upon male
| suffrage alone, ne voting age
fixed at twenty-o ars In Russia
both men and have the sur
frage. and ths fiifying ono to
vote is eighteen |. therefore.
figure that there 70 be one voter
for every two Id Yuiat'on. There is
no question abb he discrimination
against the ''pod SAINT" and the fa-
voring Of the ~ voter. 1t is only
question Of nd much.
Mach1 y Politics.
| Lenine NAV fhe idealist some peo
ple say he Is, IL this section Of the
| constitution proes him to be prac-
tical machine d 1itician In his meth
ods. The prods sion was written to
meet a situatioA L has purpose.
Lenine has fre ,cE written and
| spoken about thksyor peasants" He
can be forgfveI overworking the
| phrase. The peasants" make
up the great bul Ithe population OF
Russia. 1t is pad politics. al
though it sma demagogy, to
speak often sympathetically OF
the suffering " particularly when
the poor pea .ss,Nake up the ma
:::: ;;: {: !, e; !; .:::: s:;: e.:
over so per het people live on
the laDd-o hdths of all the
Russians areV s. Less than one
fifth of the ton live In the
towns and ell Measured by his
words. Lenine| Ehe friend of the
poor peasarx the constitution.
their enemy. II
As we hayl the constitution
specifically decl res that the supreme
power of the gfernment is vested in
the AU-Russie-k s1nxess. OF course
this is true onlN theory, for we have
read how the ll-Russian congress
turns the supre power over to the
central executiyk comn'ittee, which in
turn surrenderstthe power to the II
peoples commis1 RS.
The discrimination against the poor
peasant" runs all through the consti-
tuition: the bolsleyiks are at least con
sistent. Paragraph "B" of section SO
of the constitution furnishes addition
sl evidence Of f,e conspiracy against
the peasants. r reads:
"The provincial soviets are COM
posed of representatives Of the city
soyiets and the rural sovietS, one rep
resentatiye for 10000 Inhabitants Of
the rural DISTRICTS, and one represent
atiye for 1000 ioters in the city"
In the regional congresses it is the
same one representative for $4,000
inhabitants of the country, and one rep
resentatiye for 5000 voters of the city.
Aim at DISTINGUISHING Peasants.
The governments OF the nation, OF
the regions, of the provinces, are based
on the Acknowledgement Of the poor
peasants" | am wondering if there
is auy Significance in the fact that the
people of the city have one represent
atiye for cestain number of votes,
and the peoplj of the country have
one representative for just five times
the number. 2u will note the ratio
is always V: For congressman
it is 25. e city, as against
125 900 ii u ~; in the regional
congress Aoters of the city
as agaip Ehabitants of the
Gntry. (incial Congresses II
ak~,. 4 - e Iuv a3pvU voters
in the city, "a representative for
10000 lnhabita lfronl the rural dis
tricts. Why Il lSfv ve to one? am
wondering h7ww IbLine hit upon the
ratio Of five to orf; Is there any con-
nection betwee lhis five-t0-one dis
elimination agaiItt the poor peas
ants" and the fato of population in
Russia betweek City dwellers and
poor peasants,I which is about i've
to one? 1t is n1t difficult to guess the
reason for this acton. Any American
ward politician Icduld furnish the eX-
planation in a minute. All political
experience prove S that a political ma
chine is best cpntrolled, easiest or
ghnized in the Eities. Political ma
chimes have never been popular in the
country districts. The soviet form Of
government is political machine. The
control of the M achine is insured by
DISTINGUISHING the poor peasants"
The men who designed the bolshevik
constitution knew one thing about
practical politics, and knew that one
thing thoroughly and that is that cit
les are accessible to political control.
amenable to political influence, Ideal
for the political machine.
The soldiers and sailors are gen
orally stationed ih cities. This gives
them the power of city voters. They
are not discriminating against, they
are favored. Sol.p .pers and sailors are
not free agents in the sense the civil
ians usually are. Civilians have a
freedom of thought and action that
the military do not enjoy. The sol
diers occupation prevents 1t. First, he
is an employee of the govern
ment; second. h-is under disci-
pllne; third, the Peoples commlssars
fix his pay, determine the quantity
and quality of hissfood, arrange for
the comforts of 4e barracks; the
votes and the bay is of the military
sustain and supp Lenine as truly
as the military + held the czar on
ri. +brnna