Page:Emile Vandervelde - Three Aspects of the Russian Revolution - tr. Jean Elmslie Henderson Findlay (1918).djvu/199

 But they have had and continue to have a good effect when they limit their power to what seems rightly their moral domain, the participation in disciplinary justice and the control of the administration of units.

At the time of writing no officer had the right to punish a soldier. For that the decision of the Soviet, composed of the commandant of the unit and three delegates chosen by the subalterns and soldiers, was necessary.

We can see at a glance that this organization is still, in its present form, both imperfect and provisional.

But it is all the more interesting to hear such officers as we have questioned on the matter, even those who by their military training might be less disposed to approve of democratic Utopianism, proclaiming that the Soviets have already rendered them great service from a disciplinary point of view. We were given several examples, which showed that very often the Soviets of units, for infringement of discipline, inflicted more severe punishments than those meted out by the "autocratic" leaders of other days. Let us add, that these