Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 16 - From Marx to Mao

CONCERNING VEKHI131and the Cadet renunciation of Vekhi are nothing but hypocrisy,sheer idle talk, for in reality the Cadets collectively,as a party, as a social force, have pursued and are pursuingthe policy of Vekhi and no other. The calls to take part in theelections to the Bulygin Duma in August and September1905, the betrayal of the cause of democracy at the end of thesame year, their persistent fear of the people and the popularmovement and systematic opposition to the deputies ofthe workers and peasants in the first two Dumas, the votingfor the budget, the speeches of Karaulov on religion and Berezovskyon the agrarian question in the Third Duma, thevisit to London—these are only a few of the innumerablelandmarks of just that policy which has been ideologicallyproclaimed in Vekhi.Russian democracy cannot make a single step forward untilit understands the essence of this policy and the classroots of it.Novy Dyen No. 15,December 13, 1909Signed: V. IlyinPublished according tothe text in Novy Dyen