Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1920-06-26


E''NH' our president md the cabinet.
II mas ID" supreme legislative and cx-
''"''N' power. DO the people have n
vol" Tor these all-powcrful congress-
"''hf 'ertninly not. The All-RuSSian
congressman are clcct0d by the city
N"Viets and ny the SovictS Of the prov
ihc"s' who were elected hy She city
ana rural SoYiotS. the rural Soviets
! having been elected by the local rural
N"vl"ts, whose members were elected
by the people.
Congress Not Governing Body
I'll" All-liuSSian congress is very
large body. The first congress met 10
9i7 It numbered about 200 dele
gates. The eighth congress Is now
tJanuary, 1920 In session md the
present membership has grown to over
Nv" thousand. II is n big. cumbersome
! h"dy. unfit for dclihorativc purposes.
1t IS moro of II mass meeting, plat
| form for the relief of those who have
speeches hurdcuing their chests. The
congress never sits for more than "A
| week, II WAS never intended To be an
organ of government, The Consttu-
ton tells the story,
Section % reads: The Russian
| congress shall elect central eXeCu-
J tive committee of not more than 200
members" This takes the government
another step from the people.
Section - says: when the All-Itus-
! sian congress is not I'm session. the
| central executive committee Is the Su-
prcmc power of the republic" But we
have not reached the end of the jour
ncy from the people to the seat Of
! power.
Section - reads: "The central eX-
| eCutive committee shall select Coun
| ell Of peoples commSsars who
! shall manage the affairs of the Rus
sian Socialist Federal Soviet Repub
| lie"
| But let us read on:
| Section 81: THE council of peoples
COmmiSsars is intruSted with the gen
eral management of the affairs of the
republic"
! Section 80: For the accomplish
ment of this task the peoples com
missars shall issue DEGREES. resolu
lions. orders, and In general take al
steps necessary for the proper ano
rapid conduct OF government affairs
Section 40: THE central executive
committee has the right to revoke OF
suspend all orders and resolutions Of
the council Of peoples commissars,"
But a mote" to this section of the
constitution reads: Measures reQuir
ing immediate action may be enacted
directly by the council OF people
commissars."
Without Voice In Government.
The council Of peoples commissar
Is II In number. The people had N
voice In selecting the peoples com
missars; they were not given a choic
In picking the central executive com
mittee; they were not allowed to vot
for the Ali-Russian congressman 4
Z the rural districts the poor peasants
were not even allowed to vote for tn
men who selected the men who In tur
selected the congressman.
At the head Of the SACRED Sever
teen" IL the chief Of state. Lenine. A
his right hand sits Trotzky. commissa
OF force In charge Of tie army an
navy. When / think Of the part tn
people play In this newest form @
Stree" government and the distanc
they are kept from their country
affairs, I cannot help but see ther
, through this constitution as though
were looking Mt them through tn
wrong end Of pair Of opera glasses
, Truly It Is long way from tn
, people to the throne Of Lenine. tn
, people make only the first and short
, est step. There are Ave long and In
, | portant steps between the poor peas
ants" and the power. and three b'
, tween the city voters and the real GOV
eminent of Russia.
= The bolshevik government Is gov
, eminent of officehoIders, for offcehofc
q ers aud by officehoiders. 1t Is LII
| coins formula reversed. ] have hear
= It said that democratic government
n failure because political ofiicehOlder
=. do not truly represent the people
!, There Is some truth In the statemen
!, but the people have remedy; tn
system is not at fault. ! cannot VI
!, derstand the logic for the faith that
!, government which provides three q
Ave additional sets Of officeholders b'
!, tween the people and the government
will make things better.
, Title Conveys Much Meaning.
0 The title peoples commlssar Is fu
y Of meaning. 1t Is obese with powe
!. The title Is copyrighted In the col
; stitution.
e In December, 1918. Lenine az
| dressed letter to the American worl
= ingmen In which he said
Tet incurabie pedants, cramme
full of bourgeois democratic and pa
l,amentary prejudices. shake the
5 heads gravely over our soviet; IL
5 them deplore the fact that we have n
: direct elections"
, I suggest that Lenine put the sovi'
: Man before organized labor In tn
, limited States and ask the union car
carriers of America to give up dire'
2 elections In their labor unions and a.
t cept a scheme Of government for the
unions modelled after the boishevi
p,an and see how many followers h