FACTIONS IN RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 December 1917, Page 2

FACTIONS IN RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.

LIGHT; ON MUCII-DftCUSSJiD PARTIES. THE LENINITES AND THE BOLSHEVIKI. The Russian revolution is creating a. vocabulary of ita own, without some knowledge of which no man can read intelligently the story of the greatest struggle for human liberty the world has witnessed since 1793 (writes Mr, W. iJ. Abbott in Munsey's Magazine). Some of its terms are international, having reached Russia ,by way of international Socialism- Some are purely Knssiaji, even Russian argot, or slang. REVOLUTIONARY BODIES. The Duma Committee of Safety is a committee of twelve meirtbers of the Fourth Duma, appointed by the Council of Elders of the Duma—the latter's "steering committee'—on the afternoon of the first day of th& revolution, March 12, 1917. It represented all the poiitical parties of the Duma, and was created for the purpose of restoring order ini Petrograd. During the short interval between the resignation of the Golitzin Ministry, the abdication of the Tsar, and the creation of the new Provisional Government, such governmental functions as were in existence in Russia were carried on by tlus"com7&ittee. The Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Deputies originated in the Council of Workmen's Deputies of Petrograd. The latter body was formed on March 10, 1917., by the organised workmen of the Russian capital to direct and develop the general strike then in its early stages. It consisted of elected representatives of the various organised workmen's groups It was.the directing force of the revolution. When the latter had proved successful, in March 12, 1917, this original body met, together with a number of representatives of the Army and the leaders of all the radical parties, and decided to il?sue a call to the workmen and soldiers of . the capital to elect representatives to a new and enlarged hody, to be known as, the Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Deputies'. This new councij. was radical and revolutionary, with a touch even of anarchism. In this respect it differed from the Duma Committee of Safety, which, though containing representatives of tl*e radical and revolutionary elements, had a majority ,of , liberal and conservative members, Organisations similar to this Council were formed in several Russian cities besides Pet£ograd. A national convention waa held and a national organisation perfected, which is purely a revolutionary body! The Soviet is the Russian word for council. It appears frequently in the •newspaper dispatches as a brief and convenient synonym for the Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Deputies. t The Provisional Government is the title given to the Cabinet formed as a result of negotiations between the Committee of Safety of the Duma and the Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Deputies' of PetrogTad on the afternoon of March 15; 1917. To it were given temporary powers to run the affairs of the country until a permanent Government could be created. The career of this body has been stormy, its personnel changing, the tenure of bffice of its members uncertain.

Th? Constituent Assembly is the body to be elected by all tlie citizens of Russia. "as soon as possible," in order to determine the final form of Russia's Government, to draft her new constitution, *nd to solve a numbeiC of other important problems, chief among which are the question of nationalities, with the various demands for all kinds of automony. Mid the redistribution of land. The first Btep towards the election of this assembly was taken on Tune 12, 1917, in the tcrmatiori of a special council of sixtyone members, presided over by M. Kokashkine, a member of the Duma. The actual election is i robably far distant. THE EXTREMIST FACTIONS. The Leninites are a small but very active radical faction of Socialists They gained weir name from tlieii. leader, Nikolai Cenine. Previous to the Revolution this man enjoyed a considerable leputation as a Socialistic propagandist. After the Revolution, however, he became the principal exponent of peace at any price, and the chief supporter of an immediate and separate peace between Russia and the Central Powers. He has been accused of being I .in the pay of Germany, and the Provisional Government ordered his arrest. He succeeded in escaping. Before his prosecution, however, by the iProvisional Government, he succeeded in gaining enough support and influence to cause many severe local outbreaks against the authority of that Government. His ( theories and his vigorous- propaganda, moreover, were chiefly responsible for the defections of Russian troops and for the resulting defeat of, the Russian armies in Galicia, and more recently on the Riga and Dvina front.

The Bolsheviki comprise the anarchistic elements of various revolutionary factions. As far as can be determined they do not constitute an organised party. Their adherents are drawn from all parties and hold widely differing views on economic subjects. Their common ground, however, is their demand for action, and their readiness to go to any extreme, even to that of assassination, in order to accomplish their ends. They are undoubtedly a disturbing element in the working out of Russia's political future, and a danger to ■tee country. Tlu»v may be succinctly described as the I.W.W. of Russia.

Tlie Maximalists are scarcely less radical or anarchistic in their attitude than the Bolsheviki. They have, however, a more definite political programme, and apparently have become convinced of the undesirability of terroristic action at the present time. The excesses resulting from the action of the Leninites have produced a distinct reaction among the ,Maximalists, who had previously been Advocates of 'direct action." Up to the moment of the Korniloff revolt they vers giving their support, although rather grudgingly, to the Provisional Government. OTHER PARTIES. Originally the designation by which the French middic class at the time of the. French Revolution, the Bourgeois Party, in Russia it has as sullied an entirely new meaning since the overthrow of tlie Tsar. The term is: now applied to everybody whose interest and political leanings are known to be opposed to, or to differ from,, those of the masses. All such-persons are accused of capitalistic sympathies and are under suspicion by the ..radical groups of revolutionaries. The effect of this is to clas* among the bourgeois ft,any of the so-called intellectuals! and the more moderate Liberals, to whom, as a matter of fact, the first success of

'the devolution was largely due.' It was 'because of hia alignment with this class that Professor Miliukoff lost standing witli the .advanced .revolutionaries. As this prejudice grows, it becomes a serious menace to the final success of the revolution, because of its tendency to drive men of the intellectual type out of positions of influence and authority. The same tendency was manifested in the French Revolution and led to the orgies of the guillotine in the days of the Terror.

Frequently called Cadets, the Constitutional Democrats are the most influential Liberal Party in Russia. Though not revolutionary in the same sense as the Socialists and other Radical parties, they supported the revolution'. At first they were strongly for a constitutional monarchy under the Romanoff dynasty, but later developments turned them into suppQrfers of a prospective republic. They held a majority of seats in the first Duma, and, though losing this later, exerted a powerful mfluerice in the second, third, and fourth Dumas. Their principal and test-known leader is Professor Paul HiliukofT, the original Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the Provisional Government. In spite of Professor Miliukoff's resignation and subsequent arrest upon suspicion of sedition, the Constitutional Democrats will undoubtedly have a very powerful and possibly a decisive voice in the proceedings of 1 the coming Constituent Assembly. ,

"Social Democrats" or "Socialists" are the' general terms applied to the various Socialistic, parties of Russia. The numerous factions differ widely in their political programmes. Some of them are very radical, while others have hardly anything in common with the Marxian Socialists beyond their opposition to the old autocratic regime. Some advocate policies more nearly in accord with the theories of philosophical anarchism than those of any established Socialistic cult.

The Revolutionary Socialists are sometimes called Social Populists, the most moderate of Russian Socialists. Their leader is A. F. Kcrensky, first Minister of Justice, then Minister of War and Navy., and Prime Minister in the Provisional Government. Strictly speaking, the Revolutionary Socialists are neither revolutionary nor Socialists. Only during the life of the autocratic regime were they supporters of revolutionary action, and even of terroristic, assassination. .Immediately after, the revolution they became ■ unflinching supporters of parliamentary and popular government. Their membership.is made up chiefly of peasants and farm laborer* Their political programme is priniarily agrarian, and attempts to create a large class of small lande3 proprietors. Much of the dissension existing hetweeji the revolutionary groups in Russia, to-day ia duo to tile of harmonising the ambitions and interests of. this peasant class with those of the workmen in,the cities who form so powerful an, element of the Council'of. Workmen's and Soldiers' Deputies. . .. . A much more radical wing of'the Soeialists,'consisting, as its.jiajne implies, pf forking men living in the cities, is the. Labor Party. . Theii: leader is M. Tscheidzo,, a, follower of the Marxian school of Socialism. Tlieir programme comes much, closer to that of the Socialists of other countries than (Joes'.that of any other fiussian Socialistic factionFor this reason they have been more Subject to the machinations of Gorman spies working in the guise of advqeates of international Socialism. Rates of wages, hours, bad conditions of labor, the ownership Of tools and other means of production the the economic issueß with which the members of the Labor Party chiefly - concern themselves. With the Revolutionary Socialists, but to a Very much greater extent, they were the moving force and fighting power of the /•evolution. United, the two can control its destinies, but at the moment dissension between them is too plainly apparent. THE COSSACKS. The Cossacks are a mixed Tace of Russian, Tartar, Polish, and other bloods. In return for their military services they have long enjoyed special privileges, such us having distinctive schools and holding lands under a special tenure, All phy■ically fit male Cossacks are trailed in military exercises from boyhood'. Though at various times the Cossacks have arrayed themselves against the Tsar, notably in their revolt against Peter the Great, in more recent times they have been the chief defenders of Tsarism, and have been notorious for their brutality find harshness to the people when called upon to put down popular demonstrations or revolutionary uprisings. At the outbreak of the present revolution, however, th«y were the first pf the troops to make common cause with the people, and up to the time of the Korniloff revolt they ha\l been sincere adherents to the Provisional Government. The German propaganda for a separate peace never made any inroadsi among the Cossacks. These hard-fighting soldiers, have advocated unequivocally the prosecution of the war to n. triumphant conclusion. The beßt-known of the Cossack corps are the Don a,nd Kuban Cossacks.