Page:Lenin - What Is To Be Done - tr. Joe Fineberg (1929).pdf/130

 terror," which strives artificially to "call forth symptoms of its end in a movement that is developing and becoming strong, but which is as yet nearer to its beginning than to its end" [V. Zasulich, in Zarya, Nos. 2–3, p. 353]. And the example of Rabocheye Dyelo shows that there are already Social-Democrats who give way to both these extremes. This is not surprising because, apart from other reasons, the "economic struggle against the employers and the government" can never satisfy revolutionists, and because opposite extremes will always arise here and there. Only a centralised, militant organisation, that consistently carries out a Social-Democratic policy, that satisfies, so to speak, all revolutionary instincts and strivings, can safeguard the movement against making thoughtless attacks and prepare it for attacks that hold out the promise of success.

It is further argued against us that the views on organisation here expounded contradict the principles of democracy. Now while the first mentioned accusation was of purely Russian origin, this one is of purely foreign origin. And only an organisation abroad (the League of Russian Social-Democrats) would be capable of giving its editorial board instructions like the fallowing:

We shall see how Rabocheye Dyelo fights against Iskra's "anti-democratic tendencies" in the next chapter. Here we shall more closely the "principle" that the Economists advance. Every one will probably agree that "broad principles of democracy" presupposes the two following conditions: first, full publicity and second, election to all functions. It would be absurd to speak about democracy without publicity, that is a publicity that extends beyond the circle of the membership of the organisation. We call the German Socialist Party a democratic organisation because all it does is done publicly; even its party congresses are held in public. But no one would call an organisation that is hidden from every one but its members by a veil of secrecy, a democratic organisation. What is the use of advancing "broad principles of democracy" when the fundamental condition for this principle cannot be fulfilled by a secret organisation. "Broad principles" turns out to be a resonant,