The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-02-07


Editors nOte-rhe accompanying
article is an extract from the report
of Secretary Stain, Of the Russian
Communist Party, to the Enlarged
Executive Committee Meeting Of
the Communist International,
First Question: The first question
is the question Of the possibility Of
victory of socialism in a single coun-
try, the question Of the possibility Of
the victorious construction Of social
ism. OF course we are not discuss
ing Montenegro or even Bulgaria, but
our. country, the u. S. s. Il. We are
discussing a country in which imperi-
alism existed and developed, in which
there is certain minimum Of pro-
letariat, in which there is a party
which leads the proletariat. Hence,
the question is: is the victory of So
cialism possible in the U. s. S. r. p
Is it possible to construct socialism,
in the U. S. S. R., on the basis Of the
internal forces of our country, on the
basis of the possibilities at the COM
mand of the proletariat Of the U. S..
S. R.? But what is meant by con-
structing socialism, il this term is toI
be formulated in concrete class Ian
guage2 To construct socialism in the
u. S. S. r means to overcome our
Soviet bourgeoisie, in the course of
the struggle by our own forces. Con-
sequently the question amounts toI
this: is the proletariat of the u. S..
S. r. capable of overcoming its own
Soviet bourgeoisie? Hence, when wei
ask: is it possible to construct So
cialism in the U. S. S. r., we mean:
is the proletariat Of the U. S. SIR.
capable, by its own efforts, Of over
coming the bourgeoisie of the U. s.
S. r. This is the only manner I'M
which the question is presented in
solving the problem of the construc-
ton of socialism in our country.
The party's reply to this question
is in the affirmative, for it bases its
reply on the fact that the proletariat
of the U. S. S. r., the proletarian
dictatorship in the U. S. S. r. COM
mands the possibilities to overcome
the bourgeoisie OF the U. S. S. r. by
its own forces.
If this We're incorrect, if the party
had no grounds for asserting that
the proletariat Of the y. S. S. r. was
capable Of constructing socialist So
ciety in spite Of the relative techni-
cal backwardness Of our country, then
cur party would have no justification
for remaining in power; it should give
up power in one way or another and
become an opposition party. For, we
have 10 choose between one Of TWO
things, either we can build socialism
and finally complete it by overcom-
ing our national bourgeoisie, - in
that case the party must remain in
power and guide the work of socialist
construction in the country for the
sake of the victory of Socialism all
over the world, or we are unable by
our own efforts to overcome our
bourgeoisie, then, bearing in mind
the absence of immediate aid from
outside, from victorious revolutions in
other countries, we must honestly and
frankly give up power and set our
course towards organizing another
revolution in the U. S. S. r. in the
future. Would it be permissible for
a party to deceive its own class, in
this case the working class? No it
would not. A party that did that
should be hanged, drawn and quar-
tered. But precisely because our
party has no right to deceive the
working class it should say frankly
that, because it is not sure of the
possibility Of constructing socialism
in our country it must abandon pow
er, cease being the governing party
and become an opposition party.
We established the dictatorship of
the proletariat, and by that we laid