Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 26 - From Marx to Mao

288V. I. LENIN2REPLY TO A QUESTIONFROM THE LEFT SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIESThe Left Socialist-Revolutionaries’ question was answeredby Lenin. 114 He recalled that in the first days of the revolutionthe Bolsheviks invited the Left Socialist-Revolutionariesto join the new government, but the group of LeftSocialist-Revolutionaries, who refused to share responsibilityin those difficult, critical days with their neighbourson the Left, declined to collaborate with the Bolsheviks.In its activity the new regime could not afford to reckonwith all the obstacles which could arise in its way if itscrupulously observed all formalities. The situation wasmuch too grave and allowed of no procrastination. Therewas no time to waste on smoothing off rough corners thatmerely changed outward appearances without altering theessence of the new measures. After all, the Second All-Russia Congress of Soviets itself, brushing aside all difficultiesof a formal nature, adopted two laws of world importanceat one long sitting. These laws may have formaldefects from the standpoint of bourgeois society, but poweris, after all, in the hands of the Soviets, which can alwaysmake the necessary amendments. The Kerensky government’scriminal failure to act brought the country and therevolution to the brink of disaster: delay may indeed proveto be fatal, and the new regime is setting up milestones inthe development of new forms of life by issuing laws to meetthe aspirations and hopes of the broad masses. The localSoviets, depending on time and place, can amend, enlargeand add to the basic provisions worked out by the government.Creative activity at the grass roots is the basic factor