Page:Albert Rhys Williams - Through the Russian Revolution (1921).djvu/30

14 the West, but to the East—toward great Russia, to the Field of Mars here, in Petrograd, where lie the first martyrs of your Revolution.

"Long live free Russia!" "Long live the Revolution!" "Long live Peace to the World!"

In his reply Cheidze made a plea for the workers of all nations to bring pressure to bear on their governments to stop "the horrible butchery which is disgracing humanity and beclouding the great days of the birth of Russian freedom."

A storm of cheers, and the Congress took up the order of the day—the Ukraine, Education, War-Widows and Orphans, Provisioning the Front, Repairing the Railways, etc. This should have been the business of the Provisional Government. But that Government was flimsy and incompetent. Its ministers were orating, wrangling, scheming against one another and entertaining diplomats. But somebody must do the hard work. By default it was already passing into the hands of these Soviets of the people.

This First Congress of Soviets was dominated by the intelligentsia—doctors, engineers, journalists. They belonged to political parties known as Menshevik and Socialist-Revolutionary. At the extreme left sat 107 delegates of a decided proletarian cast—plain soldiers and workingmen. They were aggressive, united and spoke with great earnestness. They were often laughed and hooted down—always voted down.