81
SOME CONCLUSIONS
camp and the liquidator in the Marxist camp. Take the whole
history of the Cadet Party, and you will find that its method
has always been democracy in words, and liberalism “of the
Yefremov brand and acceptable to Ryabushinsky” in deeds.
From the defeat of the plan for local land committees in 1906
to the vote for the budget in the Third Duma, or to Milyu-
kov’s
59
“London” slogans, etc., we see this very nature of
the Cadet Party
and its sham-democratic attire.
Mr. R. B. of Zaprosy Zhizni is so very clumsy that he
inadvertently told the truth, which had been carefully kept
from the democrats and muddled by the liberals. The pro-
gramme of the Progressists, he confesses, “puts the issue on
a firm and realistic basis! And yet that programme has
nothing except general phrases in a purely Octobrist style
(as, for instance, “the complete realisation of the Manifesto
of October 17”
60
). What is described as a firm and realistic
basis is the basis of a bourgeois liberalism so moderate,
so mild and impotent, that it would be simply ridiculous
to pin any hopes on it. Those who were “Peaceful Renova-
tors”
61
in 1907, those who in the Third Duma steered a
middle course between the Cadets and the Octobrists, are
described as a firm and realistic basis!
The millionaire Ryabushinsky is a Progressist. Utro
Rossii
62
is the mouthpiece of this and similar Progressists.
And none other than
Rech, the paper of the Cadets, who have
formed a bloc with the Progressists, wrote: “Utro Rossii,
organ of the Moscow industrialists, is gratified [by Kokov-
tsov’s speech] more than anyone else.... It echoes Krestovni-
kov: ‘Commercial and industrial Moscow can feel satisfied.’”
And Rech added for its own part: “As far as Golos Moskvy
and Utro Rossii are concerned, they are willing not to pur-
sue any line, and feel perfectly satisfied.”
The question arises: where is the evidence that Yefremov
or other Progressists have a “line”? There is no such evi-
dence. For democrats to support this sort of progressism,
whether it is called progressism or Cadetism, would mean
only surrendering their position. But using the conflicts
between the bourgeoisie and the landlords, between the
liberals and the Rights, is another matter. That is the only
way in which a democrat can formulate his task.
To fulfil this task, to politically enlighten and organise
V. I. L E N I N
82
the very wide masses that are economically dependent on the
Yefremovs and Ryabushinskys, one has to be well aware of
the counter-revolutionary nature of Cadet and Progressist
liberalism. The lack of this awareness is the chief defect of
both the Trudoviks and the liquidators. The Trudoviks say
nothing at all about the class characteristics of liberalism.
The liquidators utter phrases about “wresting the Duma
from the hands of the reactionaries”, about the Cadets
and Progressists coming closer to power, and about the
historically progressive work they are doing (see Martov and
Dan). Taken as a whole, it adds up to that very role of a
Cadet “flank” which pleases R. B. so much.
To be sure, these are not the subjective wishes of the Tru-
doviks and the liquidators and, indeed, it is not a question
of their subjective plans, but of the objective alignment of
the social forces. And in spite of all the adherents of the idea
of two camps, in spite of the malicious shouts about disor-
ganisation in the workers’ democratic movement (see the
same article by Mr. R. B.), this alignment clearly shows us
that a third camp has formed. Its line is clearly presented
and is known to all. The anti-liquidationist workers are
pursuing this line, rallying all the democrats in the struggle
both against the Rights and against the liberals. Without
entertaining any illusions about the impotent liberalism
of the Cadets, who are grovelling before the reaction in all
fundamental questions, the workers are using clashes be-
tween that liberalism and the reaction to promote their
own cause, their own class organisation, their own democ-
racy, which is now quietly ripening in the broad mass
of the people enslaved by the Yefremovs and Ryabushinskys.
Thanks to the anti-liquidationist tactics of the workers,
the fight between the Rights and the “responsible” opposi-
tion must, and will, serve to develop the political con-
sciousness and independent organisation of an “opposition”
which lays no claim to the scarcely honourable title of
“responsible”.
Nevskaya Zvezda No. 6 ,
Published according
May 2 2 , 1 9 1 2
to the text in Nevskaya Zvezda
Signed: B. G.