RUSSIA

Grey River Argus, 25 June 1925, Page 6

RUSSIA

oilowing article is taken from ■ rkes of .Scott Nearing (luring sc of a debate with Bertram in New York RUSSIAN FORM OF GOVERN M ENT did the Soviet form of Go. t then appear in Russia, lings do not happen. They cor : with certain stages in So. lution. Parenthetically let me ..'.e that forms of society some, e, break down, disentigrate dis. Feudalism disintegrated and red, thus in France towards the he eighteenth century forms ot break down and disappear, and causes induce this breakdown. ,es thev brea’- down through in decav. Sometimes they break :hrough the impact of external I'he breakdown < f the old Ro- •• tern was due to b>th force*. d«'. a within a»ad attack from with. ;sia which i> still :i country ■».> . agricultural, ret lined the es. dements of feudalism into the ntury. and therefore into the century there came the old leu eaueraey <•:' Russia— a group ords running ;• country >t;atch. vast population of l.Td.oooj.m them peasants ami :di of them ie thumb of this little landlord raw. It wa< centuries old and led to develop with the evubithe rest of Europe. It had hel 1 back, keeping it agricultural, it feudal, fending off the evo. .hat had gone on in Germany, . nd. in Belgium and in other ; t vountrie>. But with the be. of the present century there .1 Russia :h r new business life revolution of 1!“<" was cssent. revolution of the Russian bu>i. i to shako themselves loose • millstone > f bincam ratio mix’ that was hanging about •k,. They t.m wanted a chance he coal and iron avid oil and •er of Russia as the business, other countries had done, and • Czar and his ineffective mini. •1 them up with red tape, they <ious to g»-t the Czar ?a a posi. .ere he culdn’t interfere in e war struck Russia it deboth feudalism ami capitalism, .dsheviks did not destroy the ruling class. The Russian nil. • destroy* <] themselves between d 1917, through their inability use and to handle their military •rnal life. The people of Rus. ved. they lacked clothing, they machinery. The railroads broke iiel was scarce. The whole life ia from 191." to 1917 was .ti ind finally early in 1917 the armies began to quit ami go was because the Russian .ere convinced the whole bus:, ■•n’t worth going on with and re convinced of that becaus■ e cold and hungry and sick and try. That is what happened in The old order partly feudal, apitalist crumbled under the the war, and when Kerensky, to power in .March 1917, he o power in a bankrupt country transport and industry wreck he army everywhere in full re. ossia in 1917 had lost more than any other belligerent because of its inefficiency, beits incompetence, and th; vn of Russia was the break, i an established social order ie crushing weight of two and •'ears of war. Therefore when order broke down, since there 0 million who had to go on ley rustled around ami found a ler. The .Soviet form of Go. t is the first expression of that ial order and it came in R|s. inse the old social order broke ivre first. What is the Soviet. Government? That is the se. lestion 1 want to present. I ied to explain why it is there. 4't form of Government is a ry or transition form to bridge abyss between Capitalism and n. The Soviet form of Govern, not a Socialist or Communist ent, it is a transition govern t is a bridge over an abyss, towards Communism and away pitalism. It is highly con. therefore, it. is in the form of ‘atorship. This dictatorship is I by the delegates of peasants • kers, originally qf soldiers and i and workers. Now of pea'. I workers, and is dominated by inunist Party, which consists of 1 x hundred thousand members. 1 women who have in view g which they describe as eco. ■mancipation of the producing That means the elimination xploitation, that people shall r own jobs, and control their h. • iui-t and decide what policy 'Tgk rhall follow. Jam not saying id that they have this in Rus k . ’ saying that this is the goal I the Communist Party. > No Com., have Communi ■’m the leading ComIkUVTx

mv.ii-t> are on record as saying they have not ('ommunism. particularly under the new economic policy, Russia, the Russian form, the Soviet form is i a dictatorship under the control of the I indr.-t ria 1 workers, primarily—not >’t | peasants, although the peasants partiri. ( pat< —a dictatorship dominated by th ? Conimu’nist Party aiming at economic , emancipation, Throe outstanding char. acteristics differentiate the Soviet form from our form of Government i First — Local constituencies are economic and not geographical. The So. ’ viet of .Moscow is (deeled by street.car ; workers, school teachers, steel workers I building trades workers —*not by residents of the first, second third and ’ fourth assembly di drifts as in Nev.York. The bads of representation economic or occupational, and not geo. i graphic or regional :<s under our system. 1 believe that c( ».ist it utes one of the great contributions of the Russian system, because life to.day is divided most sharply along occupal ional and not regional lines. The 2nd outstanding characteristic of the Soviet Government is its proposition to organise economic iife as we have organized p>. ! litical life. In the Middle Ages, political life was in -he hands of little princelings and dukes and one kind of ruler a»nd another. We have taken tin* chaotic form and unified it unde’ - ough, and village system of administ ra_ federal, state, city and country, bor. lion. Our political life* in England, and Germany ;:».i<| the (Tilted States. Canada ami Australia is scientifically worked out, planned, and blue.printcd. The Russian people propose to work out plan and blue print eccaomic life We still let little bankers, manufacturers and other profiteers and enterprises carry on their private' activities in eco. nomic life. The Russians propose to .eliminate profiteering in economics *s I wo have eliminated profiteering in po- | litics. That is their second great contribution to scientifically organize the economic lif e of Pussia. Their thir l grade essentia! contribution is contained in the phrase which they quote in their constitution: lie that will not ' work, neither shall he eat! Under our system of society the biggest owner gets the biggest return though he may make no contribution to society. But because he owns property he has great j income. I mice j,,. Soviet form, their fundamental law, their constitution as. serU that such a man can’t even vote or hold office, but that the rights o p the country are restricted the political . lights, to those who perform proclue. 1 j live and useful service. The three I forms of Soviet Government there are i first economic occupational constituencies. second, the scientific organiza. lion of economic life; third, the neces sityof every able-bodied a’’ { n (ler some useful service. m unity. /