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

AGRARIAN PROGRAMME OF SOCIAL-DEMOCRACY377few days, the Party of People’s Freedom will introduce aBill to that effect and we shall discuss it” (1356).Now, is that not fraud? Are we really to believethat this person knew nothing about the debates in theFirst Duma on the question of local committees, or aboutthe article in Rech at that time? Could he really havefailed to understand Yevreinov’s perfectly plain statement?But he promised to introduce a Bill “within the nextfew days”, you will say. In the first place, a promise torestore what has been obtained by fraudulent means doesnot cancel the fact of fraud. Secondly, what happened“within the next few days”, was this. Mr. Shingaryov spokeon March 29, 1907. On April 9, 1907, the Cadet Tatarinovspoke and said: “I will now, gentlemen, deal with one morequestion which, I think [he only “thinks”!], is creatingconsiderable controversy, namely, the question that hasbeen raised by all the parties on our Left: the question oflocal land committees. All these parties urge the necessityof setting up local land committees on the basis of universal,equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot with the objectof settling the land question in the localities. We quitecategorically expressed our opposition to such committeeslast year, and we categorically express it now” (1783).Thus, on the extremely important question of the actualterms of the Cadet proposal for “compulsory alienation”,two Cadets say different things, swing from one side to anotherunder the blows of the Left parties which bring to lightwhat the Cadets wanted to keep secret! First, Mr. Shingaryovsays: “I do not know”; then: “I agree with the Left”;and then: “a Bill within the next few days”. Mr. Tatarinovsays: “Now, as before, we are categorically opposed”. Andhe adds arguments to the effect that the Duma must not besplit up into a thousand Dumas, that the settlement of theagrarian question must not be postponed until politicalreforms are carried out, until universal, etc., suffrage isintroduced. But that is just another evasion. The point atissue is not the moment when a particular measure is to becarried out: the Left members of the Second Duma couldhave no doubts whatever on that score. The point is: whatare the Cadets’ real plans? Who is to compel whom in theirscheme for “compulsory alienation”? Are the landlords to