Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 13 - From Marx to Mao

376V. I. LENINUnlike either the Right or the Left, the plan of the Cadetsis characterised not by what they say, but what theykeep quiet about, viz., their proposal for the compositionof the land committees, which are to compel the peasantsto accept a “second emancipation”, i.e., to take poor plotsat an exorbitant price. To obscure the crux of the matter,the Cadets in the Second Duma (as in the First) resort todownright chicanery. Take Mr. Shingaryov. He posesas a progressive, repeats the current liberal catchwordsagainst the Right and, as is the fashion, bewails violenceand anarchy, for which France “paid with a century of severeupheavals” (1355). But see how he dodges the questionof the land-surveying committees:“On the question of the land-surveying committees,”he says, “we were opposed by Deputy Yevreinov.* I do notknow [sic!!l what his objections are based on; up to nowwe have not said anything about this [a lie!]; I do not knowwhat Bill he is speaking about, or why he talks about nottrusting the people. No such Bill has yet been introducedin the State Duma; evidently, his objections are based ona misunderstanding. I wholly associate myself with thosedeputies on the Left, Uspensky and Volk-Karachevsky, whospoke of provisional rules, of the necessity of setting uplocal bodies to carry out land surveying on the spot. I thinksuch bodies will be set up, and probably, within the next* Yevreinov, a Socialist-Revolutionary, had said at the samesession (18th session, March 29, 1907): “These [land] committees,according to the assumption of the Party of People’s Freedom, areto consist of equal numbers of landowners and peasants, with governmentofficials acting as conciliators, which, of course, will undoubtedlygive preponderance to the non-peasants. Why does the partywhich calls itself the party of the ‘people’s freedom’ distrust committeeselected not in a bureaucratic, but in a democratic way? Probably because,if the committees are elected in that way, the vast majorityof those elected will be peasants, i.e., representatives of the peasants’interests. That being the case, I ask, does the Party of People’s Freedomtrust the peasants? It will be remembered that in 1808, in connectionwith the agrarian reform, the government had this matter transferredto local bodies, to committees. True, those committees consistedof members of the nobility, but the government is not a party ofthe people’s freedom, it is a government that represents the rich andthe propertied classes generally. It relies on the nobility and truststhem. The Party of People’s Freedom, however, wants to rely on thepeople, but does not trust the people” (1326).