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

314THE DEMONSTRATION ON THE DEATHOF MUROMTSEVA COMMENT“This Duma,” writes the Cadet newspaper Rech about thefirst sitting of the fourth session of the Black-Hundred Duma,“has today divorced itself finally and irrevocably from popularfeeling and the national conscience.” This is said, ofcourse, with reference to the refusal of the Black-Hundredand Octobrist deputies to honour the memory of Muromtsev,who presided over the First Duma.It would be difficult to express more conspicuously thanin the phrase quoted above the utter falsity of that point ofview which our liberals take towards the struggle for freedomin general and the demonstration on the death of Muromtsevin particular.There is no doubt that a demonstration against the tsaristgovernment, against the autocracy, against the Black-HundredDuma was called for on the occasion of Muromtsev’sdeath, that a demonstration did take place, that the mostdiverse and broadest sections of the population took part init, the most diverse parties extending from the Social-Democratsto the Cadets, “progressists” and Polish Octobrists(the Polish Kolo 124 ). Nor is there any doubt that the Cadets’appraisal of this demonstration shows for the hundredthand thousandth time how alien they are to democracy, howruinous to the cause of democracy in Russia it is for ourCadets to have the conduct of this cause or even to play aleading part in it.All democrats and all liberals took part and had necessarilyto take part in the demonstration on the death ofMuromtsev, for in the darkness of the regime of the Black-