436 THE CLASS STRUGGLE AN OPEN LETTER 437 and German reaction at that, is being encouraged and the democratic anti German masses discouraged, while in Russia the workers republic, which is anti German and democratic, is attacked, and any one is encouraged who is against the Soviets, whether he be an anarchist, a monarchist, a reactionary pro German junker or a so called liberal.
All this is of course clear and understandable if you judge it from the point of view of the philosophy of the class struggle.
Socialism is a greater enemy to the existing order than German militarism. But you will not admit that, or at least you have not openly admitted it. But if you do not admit it, then the policy you advocate in Russia is the most chaotic, irresponsible and ridiculous the world ever saw.
The truth about Russia does not reach us to day; you do not realize what the Soviets are accomplishing. When the work of the Soviet Government does become known it will most likely result in bitter criticism of interference. But the present policy of making criticism punishable cannot last forever. The war will end; and then will come a time when uncensored speech once more is a fact. There will be years and centuries of human life after the war is over, during which the historian will be permitted to judge the events of to day without the prejudice of passion and without the will to distort, due to economic interests.
What, then, will be the verdict on your present Russian policy?
Even now many facts are becoming known which cannot be explained away. We have been told that the antipathy of the Allied nations toward the Soviet Government is due to its subservience to German occupation and to the betrayal at BrestLitovsk. But do you know, sir, or do you not, that some time before the ratification of the Brest Litovsk peace treaty by the Soviet Government, the Government of the People Commissars showed concrete willingness to continue the war against Germany and wanted to know to what extent it could expect co operation from the Allies in the task of the reorganization of the Russian army? How will you explain the absence of an answer to this proposition of the Soviet Government? Do you know that last winter, just before the German advance in Russia, Trotzky earnestly requested co operation in taking away big guns from the Russian front so that they should not fall into the hands of the Germans? In spite of Trotzky efforts the Germans took the guns and transported them to the western front. About the same time the Russian Government requested aid in the form of a few hundred British naval officers to take charge of the Black Sea Fleet so that a plot engineered by Russian reactionary officers aiming to deliver the Black Sea Fleet to the Germans should not materialize. They were not successful in obtaining the requested help and a large part of the Black Sea Fleet was delivered to the Germans by Russian reactionaries. And the crowning madness of all this is that the press accused the Bolsheviki of having delivered those guns and that fleet to the Germans. have knowledge of scores of similar incidents which all prove that the Soviet Government was extremely eager to cooperate with the Allies in every possible way against Germany, but without success.
Why. In order to be as fair as possible and to give the benefit of the doubt to the Allied representatives shall admit as a possible reason for their action that they never expected the Soviet Government to stay. The above related incident regarding the guns on the eastern front took place at a time when the Allied representatives, misled by Russian counter revolutionists, were sure that the Soviet Government would be overthrown in a few days.
They apparently hoped that a new eastern front could be established by the Cadets, which would require the presence and use of the big guns. But if that was the reason for their otherwise inexplicable action in the matter, it only shows their utter lack of understanding of the real relations between the political forces in Russia. The same will be the historic verdict in all other cases where there was no attempt made to use the Soviets against Germany.
Another excuse may also be advanced. Starting out with the theory that the Bolsheviki were paid agents of Germany, the