Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1932-03-24
PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF
COMMUNISM IN RUSSIA

To help complete our background
for the study of Communism in this
country, some understanding of the
present regime in Russia is neces-
airy. The legislative power is vested
in the Congress of Soviets, which
meets every two years, selecting a
central executive committee OF be-
tween 400 and 500 members, to rep
resent it during the intermission- This
committee, in turn, selects a smaller
group, known as the Praesidium,
which is the real legislative authority
and appoints the commissars and ju-
dicial officers of the government
Early in 1919, the Russian Commu-
mist Party and the Spartacus group
CT revolutionaries in Germany joined
in issuing a call for an international
congress of revolutionary workers to
be held in Moscow. Out of this evolv-
ed the Third, or Communist, Interna-
tional, also called the "Comintern'
the instigating source of propaganda
and revolutionary activities in other
countries.
To the protest of foreign govern
ments against this Russsan-inspired
subversive action in their countries,
the Soviet foreign minister is wont
to disclaim all knowledge, with the
statement that any such activities
must have been the work of the Third
International for which his govern
ment is not responsible. In point of
fact, a thoroughly specius claim, for
the directorates of the international
(Komintern) and Soviet governments
are interlocking, Stain sitting at the
same time in the Praesdia of both
For a present description of the
Russian Communist Party, which is
inextricably bound up with the other
two organizations, we quote from
Professor Samuel N. Harper's recent
book, Making Bolsheviks": There
are just short of 100000 Commun-
list panty-members, including candi-
dates passing through a period OF
probation. 1t is enough to speak OF
them as party members for there
is only the single party in the Soviet
order. The two million Communists
are distributed in some 10000 groups
or cells; in practically every insti-
tuition of any Importance = govern
ment office, schools, factory, or col
lective farm-there is the ORGANIZED
group of party-members, leads pol
i~tically the larger group of which hi
is a member, and supervises and dir
ects its economic activity, carrying
out the directions of the party auth
! cities.
The party cells are distributed al
so through the Red Army, in ever,
regiment and barrack, to the numbel
If over 5000, coordinating the activ
ity Of the 100, 900 Communists in tn.
official total Of 562,0 900 Red Army
lists"
Since, as Lenin says, THE only lie
gal party controls the government,
there is no opposition, no minorit.
party whatever, with the result tina
the Soviet is an autocratic govern
ment comparable to that Of Mussol
mi in Italy and for more ruthless.
We quote Professor Harper again Oh
the recent Liquidation of the Kulaks
or rich peasants, by way of example
lit was in the looting of the rlcl
peasants that the class struggle tool
on its most distressing forms during
the first months of 1880 . .Th'
number Of families literally Thrown
out of THEM homes, and even expelles
from the village, cannot be estimates
with any accuracy. There were abou
5000, 900 officially designated as ricl
peasants.
i 49, r L -. H. x-v.-I
subjected to practically the same for
chile appropriation, being told tina
they would be treated as rich peas
ants if they did not join the collect
i've farm Poor peasants told tn
writer of the ruthless methods o
liquidation OF the rich peasants which
they adopted, We gave them til
morning to get out, they could g.
where they wanted but they had +
L