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The Commissar on one hand, is to work in harmony with the commander, on the other hand he is bound at times not to trust him. Hence arises a two-edged situation, at times a state of nervousness. The Commissars lean now to one side now to the other; some become assimilated, subordinate to military specialists, allow themselves to be turned into a sort of clerk to the specialist; this is all wrong, Inadmissible. But there also is the other extreme, when Commissar places the commander in an impossible situation, when there arises a state of constant bickering, constant misunderstandings, conditions on the whole under which it is Impossible for either to work.
Both extremes must be avoided. It should be kept in mind that the Commissar is the representative of a class which has conquered power and is in power for good and all; at the same time respect is due to the dignity of the man who, though issued from another sphere of life, of different breeding and education, yet comes to work with us a with a stone in his bosom, and assists with his knowledge not a party but the people, Russia—that Russia which, just now destitute, starving, crucified on every side, still is our very own, beloved Russia. In this struggle for our Soviet Russia such a man should be respected, should be placed so he can work, give full play to his capacities and not feel himself surrounded on every side by hostile
