who have almost succeeded in bringing the two together in the famous Unity Congress)—if these heroes, who do not belong to our party, and whom we have chided time after time for their contemptible weakness, if such individuals receive a manuscript from the members of our party who are agitating against the insurrection—we cannot possibly remain silent. We must ourselves agitate for the revolt. Let the anonymous writers be definitely revealed and punished, if only by the mockery of all conscious workers, for their shameful hesitations. I have at my disposal only an hour before sending this letter to Petrograd, and that is why I shall indicate in a few words only one of the "arguments " of the mournful heroes of Novaia Zizn. M. Bazarov is trying to reply to the argument of comrade Riazanov who has said, quite truly, that "the insurrection is being prepared by those who are creating despair and indifference amongst the masses."
The mournful hero of a sad cause replies:—
"Have despair and indifference ever conquered?"
O contemptible idiots of the Novaia Zizn! Do they know of any cases in the history of insurrection when the oppressed masses have won in a fight to the death without being reduced to despair by long sufferings and acute crises of every kind?
When have the masses not been disgusted and made indifferent by the servility of pre-parliaments, by tramping about on the Square of the Revolution, and the manœuvres of the Liber-Dans reducing the soviets, organs of power, to the rôle of talk-shops?
Or is it indeed a fact that the imbeciles of the Novaia Zizn have by any chance discovered indifference amongst the masses on the question of the Daily Bread, on the continuance of the war, and the return of the land to the peasants?
FINIS
