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

THEY ARE NERVOUS ABOUT THE ARMY177cial character of the Social-Democratic defence of the fundamentallaws. Gegechkori began most aptly with the denunciatoryspeech of Count Bobrinsky at the Congress of theUnited Nobility, who with a more than broad hint at theSocial-Democrats clamoured for the “removal of these troublemakersfrom the precincts of the State Duma”. “I declare,”replied Gegechkori, “that in spite of the denunciation, inspite of violence and threats, the group sitting within thesewalls will not swerve one jot from its declared aims andobjects of defending the interests of the working class.”Bobrinsky called upon the government to eject from theDuma those who are systematically agitating against June 3FROM MARXTO MAOlegality. Gegechkori opened with a declaration that neitherviolence nor threats can make the Social-Democrats give up⋆their activities.Gegechkori laid special stress on the following point:“We, of course, are concerned less than anybody else withupholding the prestige of the Third State Duma, if it hassuch a thing ...” “it was we, opponents in principle of theexisting political order, who protested whenever the forcesof reaction sought to curtail the rights of the popular representativeassembly in their own interest ...” “when openencroachments are being made on the fundamental laws, we,the opponents in principle NOT of these FOR fundamental laws, areobliged to take them under our protection”. And at the conclusionof his speech, dissociating himself from those whomake a fetish ofCOMMERCIALlegality, Gegechkori said: “If we make thisinterpellation, if we enter into digressions or into the fieldof juridical interpretations DISTRIBUTIONit is only for the purpose of exposingonce again the hypocrisy of the government” (p. 1988of the verbatim report)....Gegechkori voiced the consistently democratic, republicanviews of the socialists when he said: “our laws willcorrespond to the interests and requirements of the massof the population only when they are dictated by the directwill of the people”, and the “clamour from the right” notedin this part of the verbatim report emphasised that theshaft had gone home.Another Social-Democratic speaker, Comrade Pokrovsky,spoke even more clearly and definitely in his speech, referringto the political significance of the interpellation: “Let