按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
put up the fight we are putting up against the reactionaries if it were not
for the real revolutionary spirit of the people as a whole。 The
reactionaries have money； munitions； supplies of all kinds； instructors；
from outside。 We have nothing； and yet we beat them。 Do you know that
the English have given them tanks？ Have you heard that in one place
they used gases or something of the kind； and blinded eight hundred men？
And yet we win。 Why？ Because from every town we capture we get new
strength。 And any town they take is a source of weakness to them； one
more town to garrison and hold against the wishes of the population。〃
〃And if you do get peace； what then！〃
〃We want from abroad all that we cannot make ourselves。 We want a
hundred thousand versts of rails。 Now we have to take up rails in one
place to lay them in another。 We want new railways built。 We want
dredgers for our canals and river works。 We want excavators。〃
〃And how do you expect people to sell you these things when your
foreign credit is not worth a farthing？〃
〃We shall pay in concessions； giving foreigners the right to take raw
… Page 60…
RUSSIA IN 1919
materials。 Timber； actual timber； is as good as credit。 We have huge
areas of forest in the north； and every country in Europe needs timber。
Let that be our currency for foreign purchases。 We are prepared to say；
'You build this； or give us that； and we will give you the right to take so
much timber for yourselves。' And so on。 And concessions of other kinds
also。 As a matter of fact negotiations are now proceeding with a foreign
firm for the building of a railway from the Obi to Kotlas。〃
〃But part of that district is not in your hands。
〃If we get peace we shall be able to arrange that without difficulty。〃
Just as I was going he stopped me； and evidently not in the least
realizing that English people generally have come to think of him and his
friends as of some strange sort of devils； if not with horns and tails；
certainly far removed from human beings； he asked：
〃If we do get peace； don't you think there will be engineers and
skilled labourers in England who will volunteer to come out to Russia and
help us？ There is so much to do that I can promise they will have the
best we can give them。 We are almost as short of skilled men as we are
of locomotives。 We are now taking simple unskilled workmen who show
any signs of brains and training them as we go along。 There must be
engineers； railwaymen； mechanics among English socialists who would be
glad to come。 And of course they need not be socialists； so long as they
are good engineers。〃
That last suggestion of his is entirely characteristic。 It is impossible
to make the Bolsheviks realize that the English people feel any hostility
towards them。 Nor do they feel hostility towards the English as such。
On my way back to the hotel I met a party of English soldiers； taken
prisoners on the northern front； walking free； without a convoy； through
the streets。
… Page 61…
RUSSIA IN 1919
THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
AND THE TERROR
February 17th。
My general impression that the Soviet revolution has passed through
its period of internal struggle and is concentrating upon constructive work
so far as that is allowed by war on all its frontiers； and that the population
is settling down under the new regime； was confirmed by the meeting of
the Executive Committee which definitely limited the powers of the
Extraordinary Commission。 Before the sitting was opened I had a few
words with Peters and with Krylenko。 The excitement of the internal
struggle was over。 It had been bitterly fought within the party； and both
Krylenko of the Revolutionary Tribunal and Peters of the Extraordinary
Commission were there merely to witness the official act that would
define their new position。 Peters talked of his failure to get away for
some shooting； Krylenko jeered at me for having refused to believe in the
Lockhart conspiracy。 Neither showed any traces of the bitter struggle
waged within the party for and against the almost dictatorial powers of the
Extraordinary Commission for dealing with counter…revolution。
The sitting opened with a report by Dserzhinsky； that strange ascetic
who； when in prison in Warsaw； insisted on doing the dirty work of
emptying the slops and cleaning other people's cells besides his own； on a
theory that one man should where possible take upon himself the evil
which would otherwise have to be shared by all； and in the dangerous
beginning of the revolution had taken upon himself the most unpopular of
all posts； that of President of the Extraordinary Commission。 His
personal uprightness is the complement of an absolute personal courage；
shown again and again during the last eighteen months。 At the time of
the Left Social Revolutionary mutiny he went without a guard to the
headquarters of the mutineers； believing that he could bring them to reason；
and when arrested by them dared them to shoot him and showed so bold a
front that in the end the soldiers set to watch him set him free and returned
… Page 62…
RUSSIA IN 1919
to their allegiance。 This thin； tallish man； with a fanatic face not unlike
some of the traditional portraits of St。 Francis； the terror of counter…
revolutionaries and criminals alike； is a very bad speaker。 He looks into
the air over the heads of his audience and talks as if he were not
addressing them at all but some one else unseen。 He talks even of a
subject which he knows perfectly with curious inability to form his
sentences； stops； changes words； and often； recognizing that he cannot
finish his sentence； ends where he is； in the middle of it； with a little odd；
deprecating emphasis； as if to say： 〃At this point there is a full stop。 At
least