Bolshevism: The Enemy of Political and Industrial DemocracySpargo, John
History
Bolshevism: The Enemy of Political and Industrial Democracy
Spargo, John
Communism -- Soviet Union; Soviet Union -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921
_Third_.--Abolition of all social, religious, and national
restrictions.
_Fourth_.--To proceed forthwith to the preparation and convocation
of a Constituent Assembly, based on universal suffrage. This
Assembly will establish a stable universal regime.
_Fifth_.--The substitution of the police by a national militia,
with chiefs to be elected and responsible to the municipalities.
_Sixth_.--Communal elections to be based on universal, direct,
equal, and secret suffrage.
_Seventh_.--The troops which participated in the revolutionary
movement will not be disarmed, but will remain in Petrograd.
_Eighth_.--While maintaining strict military discipline for troops
in active service, it is desirable to abrogate for soldiers all
restrictions in the enjoyment of civil rights accorded other
citizens.
The Provisional Government desires to add that it has no intention
of taking advantage of war conditions to delay the realization of
the measures of reform above mentioned.
This address is worthy of especial attention. The generous liberalism of
the program it outlines cannot be denied, but it is political liberalism
only. It is not directly and definitely concerned with the great
fundamental economic issues which so profoundly affect the life and
well-being of the working class, peasants, and factory-workers alike. It is
the program of men who saw in the Revolution only a great epochal political
advance. In this it reflects its bourgeois origin. With the exception of
the right to organize unions and strikes--which is a political measure--not
one of the important economic demands peculiar to the working class is met
in the program. The land question, which was the economic basis of the
Revolution, and without which there could have been no Revolution, was not
even mentioned. And the Manifesto which the Provisional Government
addressed to the nation on March 20th was equally silent with regard to the
land question and the socialization of industry.
Evidently the Provisional Government desired to confine itself as closely
as possible to political democracy, and to leave fundamental economic
reform to be attended to by the Constituent Assembly. If that were its
purpose, it would have helped matters to have had the purpose clearly
stated and not merely left to inference. But whatever the shortcomings of
its first official statements, the actual program of the Provisional
Government during the first weeks was far more satisfactory and afforded
room for great hope. On March 21st the constitution of Finland was
restored. On the following day amnesty was granted to all political and
religious offenders. Within a few days freedom and self-government were
granted to Poland, subject to the ratification of the Constituent Assembly.
At the same time all laws discriminating against the Jews were repealed by
the following decree:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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