The toiler. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, 1921-06-25

cion is not the cause but thu expression of power.
Coercion is severe in Russia than elsewhere in
the world because the government there is closest
to the people Whatever may be said about the vot-
ing system or the shrinking of the Sovets under
stress of war efforts are now being made to re-
store the Soviets to their former power), whatever
may be the deviation Of the Soviet regime under
Communist rule from what is known as democracy"
in the western world the Russian government knows
no barriers between itself and the masses. In fact
it is a mass government. "Ochlocracy" it was con-
temptuously named by opponents. This is true in
one respect; the ochlos is here nseparably woven
with the government and its ruling party 1t is this
absence of a clear demarkaton line between gov
ernment and governed that makes the most string
ent measures appear less noxious than they did
der aitocracy. Coercion here assumes the aspect Of
selfwed effort obedience seems sef-restraint. The
services demanded and exacted by the Communists
in Russia would be impossible elsewhere. They would
seem monstr0us even to the Russians shaken by
revolutionary storms, if it were not for the fact
that they accepted, consciously and unconscious
ly series of self-imposed restrictions. Denial
of free press G not of free speec) to the opposi
tion, arrests of suspected ounter-revolutonaries
and execution of active potters may be horrifying
to an outsider, yet they natural acts of SELF
protection the part of society bent on carrying
through nest difficult historic task and desirous
of warding off any disturbance that might diminish
its strength.
MASSES MAKERS OF OWN DECLINEES
The machinery of power which now exists in
Russia cannot be understood unless we hold clearly
before our eyes that all coercion takes place in a
where nrivilaUac havo haan
Abandoned that coercion takes place not in the
name and on behalf of social group or class, but
in the of the masses themselves and for their
ultimate good that those who exercise power do not
derive any benefit for themselves aside from the
consciousness of power enjoyed by individuals as
administrators ,(materia advantages in the form Of
better salaries or minimum of comfort are slight;
private gain is crime and heavily punished) that
the rank and file not only admitted but strongly
urged to join in the work of administration and,
consequently, to share the enjoyment of power and
that the final the most rrefutabe the al-silencing
argument, in war and peace, in town and village,
admit hunger and fatigue, is, 'Wl you suffer
counter-revoluton to be victorious? Are you ready
to give up the fruits of the October overthrow"
Above ALL closest to the minds of the Masses is
the consciousness of the fact that it is their own
been due to peculiar historic combination of forces
which will not last; new cooperation between peas
ant and workman, on plane higher than primitive
self-defense. may reaure new efforts and new res
adjustments; the rights and immunities of the city
population may assert themselves in the course Of
time and demand revision Of tactics; further con-
cessions may be granted to knowledge, genius, or
unusual achievements; the entire system may UNDER
go notifications it adapts itself to peaceful work
and a program of reconstruction. Yet, what marks
the new era what has carried the revolution through
ness of the masses, and their awareness of becom-
ing the makers of their own destinies. Out of the
darkness of ages, out of slavery and despair they
have risen to spot where strong fires are blazing
Their heat may be scorchng at times yet the horror
of darkness is compelling. Torn between hope and
misery, between pride in the revolution and semi
starvation every day of the year. the Russian citi
zen harbOrs two souls within his breast-that Of
the revolution and that of the counter.revouton,
When alone, left to individual feelings, confronted
with mean realities of miserable existence he is
morose, he is embttered, he bames the administra-
ton, he is ready to disobey to make obstacles
to revolt. When together with Others when mem.
Der of social aggregation, conference conven-
ton, meeting, unit of the army, his social feel
ings gain the upper hand, and the final decision is
always in favor of the revolution. To keep this so.
cal sense alive is the main task of the Communist
party and because it has performed this social SER
vice II has become the most potent force in revo.
lutionary Russia.
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