Voices from Russia

Front matter

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I VOICES FROM RUSSIA

Published and Sold by The Melting Pot, a Monthly Magazine of International Communism. Subscription $1.00 a Year. Address, 809 Pontiac Building, St. Louis, Mo.

Introduction

Albert Rhys Williams was a war correspondent in Belgium and author of "In the Claws of the German Eagle." He went to Russia and for fifteen months lived in the villages with the peasants, in the Red Army with the soldiers, and in the industries with the workers. He knew the people, as well as Lenin, Trotzky and all the others. His travels took him down the "Mother" Volga and through the beautiful Ukraine on the Dneiper, then through all the great cities of Russia and over 6,000 miles of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

He addressed the soldiers at the front, the great mass meetings of the People's House in Petrograd, and the Cirque Moderne, and the sailors of the Baltic Fleet. When the Germans began the drive on Petrograd he organized an International Legion for the defense of the Red Capitol. In the Foreign Office of the Soviet Government he helped to prepare the propaganda which was sent into Germany to stir up the revolution.

Some of his experiences Mr. Williams has written for the "New Republic", "The Nation" and other journals. After his addresses in the Church of the Ascension, in New York, and at Ford Hall, in Boston, many questions were raised. Some of them are briefly answered here.

What is the present government in Russia?

An Industrial Republic, the first government of the working class in the world, owned by the workers and for the workers.

When was it established?

Over a year ago ; to be exact, November 7th, 1917.

Where is the capital of Russia?

In Moscow, in the Kremlin.

The Kremlin is a citadel with a wonderful collection of churches, graceful towers, green and golden domes, big bells and cannons and rich treasures of art. It is the pride of all the Russians. They say " above Moscow lies the Kremlin and above the Kremlin lies only the stars.' ' But now above the Kremlin flies the red banners of the new industrial republic : "Long live the Union of Soldiers, Sailors, Workingmen, Peasants and toiling Cossacks." "Hail to the Brotherhood of the Toilers of the World."

What is the form of government in Russia?

It is a government of Soviets.

Instead of electing men at the polls, they are elected in the shops and unions. For example, every 500 workers in a munition factory select a delegate. The shoe factory elects a delegate, as do the clothing shops, the brick yards, glass works, and all the other industries which happen to be in that city. The different unions do likewise. The regiments of soldiers and the sailors also elect their delegates ; likewise the teachers, the clerks, and the engineers who are organized.

Is it true that the Soviets do not allow everyone to vote?

It is true at the present time. The exploiters of labor, idle people living off interest, members of the Czar's family, criminals and the insane are not allowed to vote in Russia. The Soviet slogan is "A vote for everyone who works." Soon everyone in Russia will work for a living and that means that every man and woman over eighteen years of age will have the right to vote. Even at present 95 per cent in Russia can vote, while in the United States only about 65 per cent can vote.

There is a Soviet in every city, village, district and county in Russia.

It was through a land of Soviets that the Trans-Siberian express had brought us across the great steel bridges, the Urals, the Taiga and the steppes. The trainmen spoke of their Soviet, the peasants of theirs, the miners had cheered us in the name of theirs. We had conferred with the Soviet of Central Siberia and the Far East Soviet. It was a Soviet world through which we had passed, and when we stepped from the train at Vladivostok we found the Soviet there an exact copy of the one at Petrograd, seven thousand miles away.

There is nothing more remarkable in all history than the fact that in a week after the Revolution one-sixth of the earth's surface should in every city and village bring forth this new state apparatus, that it should so manifest its worth, strike its roots deeper and deeper, crowd out all rivals, resist the shock of every attack, and after 15 months hold undisputed sway from the White Sea on the North to the Black Sea on the South, from Petrograd upon the Baltic to Vladivostok on the Pacific.

How can the people get their representative in the Soviet to do what they wish him to do?

They blow the factory whistle and have a meeting; or the teachers' association or unions meet at a regular session. Then they tell their representative what they wish of him. If he doesn't act in accordance with their wishes they elect another. For example, in Petrograd in July, 1917, documents were published in the papers saying that some Bolsheviks were German agents. Then the men in the shops immediately recalled the Bolsheviks from the Soviet and put in Menshevik delegates. Later, when the workingmen discovered that all these documents were lies and forgeries, they sent back their old Bolshevik delegates and hundreds of new ones.

This is the government of the towns, but what is the government of all Russia?

Each local Soviet elects a delegate to the All-Russian Assembly, which meets about every three months at Moscow. Altogether there are about 1500 delegates.

"The delegates come from the Arctic, where it is nearly always cold, and from the Crimea, where it is nearly always warm.

"There were fishermen from the Lena and shepherds from the Caucasus. There were Little Russians, merry-souled chaps, blue-eyed and fair-haired, who came from a land where the sun shines much and the earth yields plentifully. There were Big Russians, inured to hardship, their sterner struggle with the soil photographed upon their determined faces. Scattered among them were fair-haired Cossacks from the Don and dark-skinned Cossacks from the Urals, with a strain of Tartar marked in the slant of their eyes and the color of their skin. Sometimes it was an Esthonian, a Pole, a Lett, a Lithuanian, or a member of one of the numerous Siberian tribes. All of Russia was gathered under that roof." — "THE RED HEART OF RUSSIA," by Bessie Beatty.

AVhat does this gathering of workmen, peasants, soldiers and sailors do in the All-Russian Assembly?

It decides all the great public questions like war, peace, lands, commerce, etc. When it adjourns, it leaves behind an Executive Committee of about 250 members, a body somewhat like our Congress.

What are the duties of the Executive Committee?

It passes laws. One of the chief duties is to appoint, dismiss, and control the Council of the People's Commissars, a body somewhat like our Cabinet.

What is the difference between our Cabinet and the Council of People's Commissars?

The members of the American Cabinet are appointed by the President. The members of the Russian Council of People's Commissars are elected by the people.

AVhat are the salaries of the Commissars of the Soviet Government?

The largest salary that any official in the Soviet Government receives is 6 00 roubles a month ($60).

Under the old government officials were paid enormous salaries. Most of them received as much in a week as a Soviet official now receives in a year. The Bolsheviks said that the pay of officials of a workingman's government should not be more than that of an average workingman. They feared the ,gulf that must arise between well paid officials, able to maintain a luxurious standard of living, and workingmen receiving only a living wage. They wished to avoid the creation of a new /bureaucracy. Careerism in public life was to be discouraged. No one can have cake until everyone had bread. They fixed the pay at $60, with $10 extra for each non-earning member. Lenin's wife works in the Department of Education, therefore Lenin receives only $6 a month. Trotzkyhas a wife and two children, therefore he gets $90 a month.

When the Soviet Government moved to Moscow it took over one of the large hotels, the National, to live in. The first thing it did was to abolish expensive elaborate menus. The meals, instead of consisting of many dishes, were cut down to two. One could have soup and meat, and soup and kasha (a kind of porridge). Of course, there was tea.

What are the advantages of the Soviet form of government over Congress?

(a) A Soviet delegate comes from a group — a shop or a union, meeting regularly. It has a natural unity, A Congressman represents all sorts of people, irrespective of their work, who meet at the polls every two or four or six years; there is no other bond between them.

(b) A Soviet representative is continuously in touch with the people he represents. A Congressman has no natural connection with his people.

(c) The iSoviets are elected largely by occupations. They are full of miners who know mines; machinists who know machines; peasants who know the land; teachers who know children and education. Congress is full of lawyers and politicians and officegrabbers.

(d) The Soviet is a center for the transaction of business by men who know their business. Congress is too often a talking-machine, an arena for playing party politics.

What are some of the things which the Soviet Government has accomplished!?

FIRST — It nationalized all the natural resources, the forests, mines, waterways, etc.

SECOND 1 — It gave^all the land to the peasants. Each family was given as much land as it could work. This has made the peasants very happy and glad to support the Soviet.

THIRD — It organized the great Red Army.

FOURTH — "It swept the Secret Treaties into the ash barrel of history.''

FIFTH — It stirred up the great Revoution in Germany and pulled the Kaiser from his throne.

SIXTH — It opened up thousands of schools, libraries, workmen's theaters, newspapers and postoffices.

SEVENTH — It gave the factories, shops and mines to the workers. Some of them were owned by the State; others came directly under workmen's control.

What is meant by workmen's control?

It means that a committee elected by the workmen take part in the management of the plant.

"I mean by control," said Trotzky, "that we Will see to it that the factory is run not from the point of view of private

profit, but from the point of view of the social welfare

For example, we will not allow the capitalist to shut up his factory in order to starve his workmen into submission, or because it is not yielding him a profit. If it is turning out economically a needed product, it must be kept running. If the capitalist gives it up, he will lose it altogether, for a board of directors) chosen by the workmen will be put in charge.

"Again, 'control' implies that the books and correspondence of the concern will be open to the public, so that henceforth there will be no industrial secrets. If this concern hits upon a better process or device, it will be given to other concerns in the same branch of industry. Thus the public will promptly realize the utmost possible benefit from the find." — -

From an interview with Trotzky by Professor E. A. Ross of Wisconsin University.

When the workers took over the factories and mines, did they not make many mistakes?

They did. Lack of experience and technical skill led them to many blunders. But they learned quickly, and after a time many factories turned out more products than before.

As soon as the workmen found the factories really in their hands there came a change in their minds. Under the Kerensky regime they tended to elect a' foreman who would let them do as they pleased. Under their own government, the Soviet, they began to elect as foremen those who put discipline into the shop and raised the production.

In the so-called "American Works" at Vladivostok, the wheels, frames and brakes of cars were assembled, and the cars sent out over the Trans-Siberian Railway. In the Kerenskl regime these shops were hotbeds of trouble.. The 6000 workmen on the pay roll were turning out but 18 cars a day.

The Soviet Committee closed the plant down and put the men to work in other places. Then ^reorganized the shops and started up with a force of 1,800 men. In the underframe section, instead of 1,400 there were 350, but by means of short-cuts, introduced by the workers themselves, the output of that department was increased. Altogether, the 1,800 men on the new pay roll were turning out 12 cars a day — an efficiency increase of more than 100 per cent per man.

I was standing with the Bolshevik president on the hills, overlooking the shops below. He was listening to the clank of the cranes and the stamp of the trip hammers ringing up from the valley.

"That seems to be sweet music to your ears," I said.

"Yes," he replied, "the old revolutionists used to make a noise with bombs, but this is the noise of the new revolutionists hammering out a new social order."

What has the Soviet done to give good houses to the people?

There were millions of people in Russia living in poor, dark rooms. On the other hand, there were thousands of palaces and fine homes well furnished and well lighted which were occupied by but a few people. The Soviets said this is all wrong; "You who build the great houses should live in them." So the people moved in. Now there are hundreds of thousands of people in Russia who, for the first time, have a decent place to live in.

What has the Soviet Government done to the church and religion?

It gave religion the same freedom it has in America. It separated the church from the State, so that now all churches are on the same footing in Russia. The Catholic, the Protestant, the Jew, can worship as he pleases. The Soviets have made the first great attempt to put into practice the teachings of Jesus. Jesus wanted a social order where every man would get a fair chance; that is what the Soviet is doing.

What have the Soviets done for the women of Russia?

Women have the same political, economic and social rights as men. The Bolshevik Government provides free care for women 16 weeks before, while, and after they become mothers. If they go back to work they are allowed to work but four hours a day. Women have full rights over their property, the right of divorce the same as men, and in the shops arq on the same footing. "Together men and women were slaves, now together they are free."

How is justice administered under the Soviets?

Justice is very simple in Russia now. The old laws of Russia were very bad and the Soviet Government had to rebuild the whole thing. In the meantime a revolutionary tribunal which hears all cases was established. Sometimes lawyers are not present at all, but people defend themselves; and their friends come forward to speak for them. The principle of right and wrong guides the tribunals, legal tricks and technicalities are out of court.

What has the Soviet done for amusements in Russia?

Workmen Theatres have been established in hundreds of places, and in these the best plays are given. There are thousands of workmen who are actors. The People's Theatre in Petrograd is managed by the wife of Maxim Gorky. There is more good music in Russia than ever before.

Under the Soviet, then, is there great happiness in Russia? Is it the millennium on earth?

There is much cold and hunger in Russia now and many babies have died for lack of milk in Moscow and Petrograd. The railroads are broken down, and while the rest of Europe has peace the workmen and peasants of Russia by the hundreds of thousands must go out to fight and to die. But they do not blame this upon the Soviets, but upon the Allies, who have cut off the food supply of Siberia.

How did the Soviet show its interest in the American working cass?

It held thousands of meetings to protest against the murder of Mooney. The workingmen of Petrograd went to the American Ambassador and told him Mooney was their brother and that he must be freed.

Did the Soviet pass any laws for the benefit of the American working class?

A great many. For example: the Soviet desired to import harvesters and other machinery from America. They declared they would receive no machinery from America which was not made under a living wage in an eight-hour day, with no night work for women, etc. No machinery, they said, would be allowed in Russia which did not bear the O. K. of committees of the workingmen where the articles were made.

What else has the Soviet done for which all America should be grateful?

It has saved hundreds of thousands of American lives, some say 500,000, others say more.

How has the Soviet saved so many American lives?

Because it did all it could to bring about the great revolution in Germany and Austria, which, in turn, suddenly brought about the end of the great war. Our military experts were saying that the war would last six months or two years more, and that it would take perhaps a million American lives in order to get to the Rhine. The Teuton armies were way down upon the soil of Prance and Belgium and Italy, but they suddenly stopped fighting. Why? Because the Revolution started back home.

How did the Russian Soviet make the Great Revolutions in Austria and Germany which helped stop the war, and thus saved the lives of so many Americans?

The Soviet sent hundreds of agitators into Germany and Austria, who told the people to make a Revolution as they had done in Russia. The Russian Soviet also published millions of copies of papers in different languages — German, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, etc. These papers were dropped by aeroplanes, blown by wind, smuggled in boxes and carried by prisoners into Germany.

In an illustrated paper sent over, there is a picture showing a workman tearing the Imperial eagles off the palace, and below the crowd is making a bonfire of them. The paper explains the picture to the Germans in these words:

"On the roof of a palace a workingman is tearing down the hated emblems of autocracy. On the street the people are burning up the Imperial eagles. A soldier is telling the people that the overthrow of autocracy is only the first step on the way to the Social Revolution. It is very easy to overthrow the Imperial Government, German comrades. It rests only upon those blind soldiers who support it with their bayonets. The Russian soldiers only opened their eyes and the Czar's government has disappeared. When will the soldiers in other lands ruled by a Kaiser open their eyes?"

Here is one of the appeals which was sent out to the German fleet:

"The Revolutionary sailors of the Baltic Fleet, in conference assembled, send their greetings of brotherhood to their heroic German comrades who have taken part in the insurrection at Kiel.

"The Russian sailors are in complete possession of their battleships. The Sailors' Committee are the High Command. The yacht of the former Czar, the 'Polar Star/ is now the headquarters of the Fleet Committee, which is composed of common sailors, one from each ship.

"Since the Revolution, the Russian Fleet is as busy as formerly, but the Russian sailors will not use the fleet to fight their brothers, but everywhere to fight under the Red Flag of the International for the freedom of the Proletariat throughout the entire world."

Millions of roubles, and much energy of Bolsheviks like Lenin and Trotzky were spent on this propaganda. At last it won out. The great Revolution in Germany came and the Great War ended.

Nearly all* Americans who have been to any Soviets and know the Bolsheviks say that the Soviet Government should be recognized by America as the real government of Russia.

"It is absolutely necessary for us to believe in the Soviet. .... The Soviet is the soul of Russia. — and more .... the Soviet has become its communicating nervous system and its deciding brain

"Let us abandon every word of unnecessary criticism against Russia. It is a Soviet House. If the Soviets choose Lenin to rule their house, it is their house. If they choose some one else to rule their house, it is their house.

". . . . It is a republic of Soviets, and in the mouth of every American the word Soviet must become a word of friendship, a word of comradeship, a word of great hope." — Chicago Daily News.

"Russia is a government of the workingmen and the soldiers, of the peasants and the mechanics. It is a democracy which is striving for the uplift of the great masses. It is a democracy which comes as near being representative of the soil as it would be possible to find anywhere. It has mud on its boots, hair on its face, and the love of freedom in its heart. They say, 'the Russian democracy is red/ Yes, full of good red blood — you will find it isn't yellow. No less than 60 per cent of the Russians are Bolsheviks." — Colonel W. B. Thompson.

Are the Socialists the only ones who believe in the Soviets?

No; all classes of Americans; Colonel W. B. Thompson of Wall Street; Colonel Raymond Robins, head of the American Red Cross, who knew Lenin and Trotzky; Major Thacher; Bessie Beatty of the San Francisco Bulletin; Louise Bryant of the Bell Syndicate; Madeline Z. Doty of Harper's; Louis Edgar Brown of the Chicago Daily News; Dr. Charles F. Kunz; Jerome Davis, acting head of the American Y. M. C. A. in Russia; John Reed of the Liberator, and scores of others.

How do we know that the Soviet is the government that the people of Russia want?

It is the only government that has shown any strength, and the only one that the people have fought and died for. The last Sunday in July an election was held in Vladivostok. There were 17 tickets. Everybody said the contest was between the Cadet Party and the Moderate Socialist block. It was not supposed that the Bolsheviks could cast any large vote because their leaders were in prison and their papers suppressed. But when the votes were counted, it was found that the Cadets had 4.000, the Socialists 5,000, and the Bolsheviks 12,000. The Bolsheviks got more votes than all the other 16 parties put together.

If the people of Russia want a Soviet Government, have we any right to make them take our kind of government?

The kind of a government they want is their business. If at the point of the bayonet we compel them to take our kind of government we are doing the same thing as Imperial Germany.

"The people of Russia intend hereafter to own Russia and to govern Russia in their own interests. In Russia, practically speaking, there is no middle class of small property owners, business men and land owners, such as is characteristic of England, France and the United States. Virtually the entire population of Russia consists of peasants and industrial workers. That is the reason why the Government of the Bolsheviki — the majority — is entirely made up of representatives of these workers." — Col. W. B. Thompson, head of the American Red Cross Mission in Russia.

Has it been an easy task for the Soviet to do its great work?

No; the workingmen have had tremendous difficulties. .

FIRST, hundreds of years of the rule of Czars had kept the people browbeaten, poor and oppressed.

SECOND, three years and seven months of war had bled the country white; 3,500,000 Russians had been killed, 4,000,- 000 wounded, there were 350,000 war orphans and 200,000 deaf, dumb and blind. The Russians lost more than Belgium, France, Italy and America combined.

THIRD, the railways were broken down, the mines had been flooded, the food and fuel were nearly gone.

FOURTH, the Czechs, supported by the Japanese, French, British and Americans, cut off their grain supply from Siberia. The Germans and Austrians cut off their food supply from the Ukraine.

FIFTH, 12 000,000 soldiers were suddenly demobilized. America had only 4,000,000 soldiers, and yet we expect to take a year before they are all home from France and demobilized.

SIXTH, they were sabotaged by the old officials, and deserted by the upper classes, boycotted by the Allies and nearly guillotined by the Germans.

Are the difficulties which the Russians face in their Revolution greater than America faced in hers?

Much greater.

(1) In the American Revolution there were 3,000,000 people. In the French Revolution there were 23,000,000. But in the Russian Revolution there are 180,000,000 spread over a country three times as large as America.

(2) The French Revolution and the American Revolution were largely political, while the Russian Revolution, is political and social.

(3) In our Revolution the foreign countries let us alone or helped us, while all the foreign governments today are fighting Russia.

(4) It took us in America over eight years before we settled down to a firm, stable government. The Russians have had less than two years.

What did the upper classes do to make disorder in Russia?

They gave huge sums of money to the old officials, and to bank clerks to stop work. They said that the workingmen did not have brains enough to run things. But the Soldiers and Sailors took charge of the banks and the governmental offices themselves.

How else did the upper class try to overthrow the Soviet Government?

(a) They hoped to starve the people into submission. Roubinsky, a great capitalist, said, "the bony hand of hunger will clutch the people by the throat and bring them to their senses." But the Soviets brought in food, (b) Then the upper class hoped that bad sewage and the melting snow would bring cholera. But the Soviets organized sanitary commissions and stopped the epidemics, (c) Then they tried to get the people in the cities drunk in order that they should go out and loot, burn and kill. This was called a wine pogrom. They would suddenly open up hidden wine callers and give everybody all the wine he could drink. The Soviets stopped this by destroying 400 such cellars and pumping the wine out into the canals.

How else did the upper classes try to overthrow the Soviets?

They went away to the far ports of Russia and organized military forces. Large armies were led by the Czar's generals against the workmen's government.

What kind of soldiers did the Soviets have, to beat off its enemies?

There were two divisions: (1) the Red Army; they were the regular soldiers, who received about $30 a month. (2)

the Red Guards; these were workingmen in the factories and peasants on the farms. When danger threatened, they left their plows and dropped their tools and, picking up their guns, went out to the defense of their government.

Regiments of officers, monarchists, adventurers, Khun- Khuz bandits and Japanese mercenaries were formed in Manchuria and kept attacking the frontiers of the workmen's republic.

It was the regular division of the Red Army that bore the brunt of these raids. As soon as the enemy broke through, the cry of "The Socialist Fatherland is in danger!" was raised. Into every village and factory hurried the call to arms. Each formed its little group of Red Guards, and along the roads and pathways they marched up into the Manchurian Mountains, singing sometimes a revolutionary hymn and sometimes folk songs of the village. Poorly equipped and poorly fed, they voluntarily advanced to pit themselves against a merciless foe, splendidly armed and trained.

The Red Army and the Red Guard showed a lack of the iron discipline of the regular national armies. But it had a spirit which the others lacked. I talked much with these peasants and workers who for weeks had been lying out on the hill-sides in the rain and the cold. "What made you come and what keeps you here?" I asked. "Well — millions of us dark people," they replied, "had to go out and die for the government of the Czar in the old days; surely we would all be cowards if we didn't go out and fight for a government that is our own."

Was the Soviet abTe to defeat all its enemies?

.Every one of them. Not a single member of any of these Anti-Soviet governments dared set his foot upon Russian or Siberian soil. If he had done so he would have been locked up.

Who are the enemies of the Soviet Government?

(a) The landlords, who want to take the land away from the peasants, (b) The capitalists, who want to take the factories and banks away from the workingmen. (c) The officers, who want to take control of the army away from the soldiers, (d) The( monarchists, who want to take the government away from the people.

But they could do nothing against the workmen of Russia until the Allies came to their help.

I

Has not the Soviet Government of Russia killed great numbers of officers, the landowners, and the rich?

On the contrary, very few. In the future we will ask, "How can we explain that in a Revolution so big and so deep such a handful were killed?" There have been many wild tales about the number of victims. But no one says that there were more than 40,000 killed in the first year of the Revolution; and many of these were Bolsheviks who were killed in defending the Soviets against unlawful attacks. Russia has a population of 180,000,000; that means that in this civil war less than one out of every 4,000 people in Russia were killed. In the first year of the American Civil War one out of every 300 was killed. In the South, thousands of American men were sacrificed to perpetuate slavery. Russia is fighting, not to perpetuate injustice and crime, but to establish freedom.