The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1920-06-10

This calculation Is based upon male
suffrage alone, with the voting age
fixed at twenty-one years. In Russia
both men and women have the suf-
frage. and the age qualifying n to
vote is eighteen years. 1. therefore,
figure that there would be one voter
for every two In population. There is
no question about the discrimination
against the poor peasant" and the fla
voring Of the city voter. 1t Is only
a question OF how much.
Machine Politics.
Lenine may be the idealist some peo-
pie say he is, but this section Of the
constitution proves him to be e prac-
teal machine politician in his meth
DDS. The provision was written to
meet a situation. 1t has a purpose.
Lenine has frequently written and
spoken about the poor peasants" he
a be forgiven for overworking the
phrase. The poor peasants make
up the great bulk of the population Of
Russia. 1t is not bad politics, al
though 1t smacks of demagogy, to
speak often and alphabetically Of
the suffering poor" particularly when
the poor peasants" make up the ma
jority Of ones constituency. Many
successful politicians owe their
offices to this appeal. In Russia
over so per cent of the people live Oh
the land-over four-ffths of all the
Russians are peasants. Less than one
fifth of the population live in the
towns and cities. Measured by his
words, Lenine Is the friend of the
poor p%easants;" By the constitution.
their enemy.
AS we have seen, the constitution
specifically declares that the supreme
power Of the government is vested in
the All-Russian congress. OF course
this is true only in theory, for we have
read how the All-Russian congress
turns the supreme power over to the
central executive committee, which In
turn s~urrenders the power to the II
peoples commissars.
The discrimination against the "poor
peasant" runs all through the consti-
tuition the bolsheviks are at least con-
sistent. Paragraph "B" OF section So
of the constitution furnishes addition.
al evidence Of the conspiracy against
the peasants. 1t reads:
"The provincial soviets are COM
posed of representatives of the city
soyiets and the rural soviets, one rep
resentative for 10000 inhabitants Of
the rural districts, and one represent
alive for 1000 voters in the CITY,"
In the regional congresses it is the
same, n representative for $4,000
inhabitants of the country, and one rep
resentatiye for 5,ee0 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" l am wondering II there
Is any significance in the fact that the
people Of the city have one represent
alive for a certain number of votes,
and the people of the country have
n representative for just five times
the number. You will note the ratio
is always the same: For congressman
it is $4,000 In the city. as against
125,G00 in the country; In the regional
congress 1t is 5000 voters Of the city
as against $4,000 inhabitants of the
country, in the provincial congresses it
is n representative for 1000 voters
In the city, one representative for
10000 Inhabitants from the rural dis
tricts. Why this five to one? l am
ratio of five to one; Is there any con-
nection between this f~ive-to-one dis
elimination against the ''poor peas
ants" and the ratio of population in
RussiP between city jewellers and
'poor peasants" which Is about five
to o. !? 1t is not difficult to guess the
reason for this action. Any American
ward politician could furnish the e.
PLANTATION in a minute. All political
experience proves that a political ma
chine is best controlled, easiest or
ganized in the cities. Political ma
chimes have never been popular In the
country districts. The soviet form of
government is a political machine. The
control of the machine is insured by
DISTINGUISHING the poor peasants"
The men who designed the bolshevik
constitution knew n 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 in cities. This gives
them the power of city voters. They
are not discriminating against. they
are favored. Soldiers 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.
dier's occupation prevents it. First, he
is an employee Of the govern
ment; second, he Is under dlsci.
pine; third. the peoples commissars
fix his pay, determine the quantity
and quality of his food, arrange for
the comforts of the barracks; the
votes and the bayonets of the military
sustain and support Lenine as truly
as the military force held the car on