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

28V. I. LENINsympathisers in any section of the community—even ifthis group consists of two or three persons and is cut off fromactive political work, in the way that only Russian citizenscan be cut off from politics in the epoch of the StolypinConstitution—everyone can and must take part in the Social-Democratic election campaign. Some can draw up and distributethe election manifestoes of the Social-Democrats;others can help to circulate the Duma speeches of the Social-Democrats; some can organise a canvass of the electors inorder to propagate Social-Democratic ideas and explain theaims of the Social-Democrats in the election campaign;others will speak at meetings of voters or at private meetings;still others can cull a bouquet of extracts from Cadetliterature and Cadet speeches that will cure all honest democratsof any desire to vote for the Cadets; others ... but it isnot for us in a newspaper published abroad to point out waysand means of agitation, ways and means will be found locally,in St. Petersburg, a hundred times richer, livelier andmore varied. The members of the Social-Democratic group inthe Duma can, by virtue of their position, render particularlyvaluable services to the election campaign in St.Petersburg; here the Social-Democratic deputies have aparticularly useful and particularly grateful part to play.No administrative prohibitions, no police traps, no confiscationsof Social-Democratic literature, no arrests of Social-Democratic agitators can prevent the workers’ party fromdoing its duty, namely, to make full use of the election campaignto spread among the masses the whole, undilutedprogramme of the socialist proletariat, the vanguard in theRussian democratic revolution.P. S. This article had been sent to press when we read inRech of August 13 the following extremely importantnews item: “On August 13 the Trudoviks held their firstmeeting devoted to the Duma election.... It was unanimouslydecided to support the candidature of the Social-DemocratSokolov, and it was resolved not to make this support dependon any political obligations.” Needless to say, the Social-Democrats could not accept support on any other conditions.Proletary No. 47-48,September 5 (18), 1909Published according tothe text in Proletary