RUSSIA'S MAN OF THE HOUR 



liberal parties, this the people's element 

 was represented in the government by 

 only one man— Kerensky. 



These circumstances caused lack of 

 confidence toward the government among 

 the great masses and in the army. The 

 people regarded the cabinet as composed 

 of "bourgeois." The government had no 

 great prestige and was lacking in power. 

 The circumstances, however, required a 

 strong concerted authority which would 

 have the power to carry out all decisions 

 arrived at. This brought about a political 

 crisis which led to the formation of the 

 new coalition government. During those 

 days soldier and officer delegates from 

 every part of the front held their first 

 congress in Petrograd. It was before 

 this congress that Kerensky delivered the 

 following address : 



"Two months have elapsed since the 

 birth of Russian freedom. I did not come 

 here in order to greet you. Our greetings 

 have been dispatched to your trenches 

 long since. Your pains and your suffer- 

 ings were one of the motives prompting 

 the revolution. We could no longer en- 

 dure the imbecile lavishness with which 

 the old order spilled your blood. I be- 

 lieved throughout the two months that 

 the only power which can save our coun- 

 try and lead her on the right path is the 

 consciousness of responsibility for every 

 word and every act of ours — a responsi- 

 bility resting on every one of us. This 

 belief I still hold. 



"Comrades, soldiers and officers, I well 

 know what your feelings are there in the 

 trenches, but I also know what is going 

 on here. Possibly the time is near when 

 we shall have to say to you, 'We cannot 

 give you all the bread which you have a 

 right to expect of us and all the ammuni- 

 tion on which you have a right to depend,' 

 and this will not come about through the 

 fault of those who two months ago as- 

 sumed before the tribunal of history and 

 the whole world the formal and official 

 responsibility for the honor and glory of 

 our country. 



"The situation of Russia at present is 

 complex and difficult. The process of 

 transformation from slavery to liberty 

 does not, of course, assume the form of 

 a parade. It is a difficult and painful 



work, full of misconceptions, mutual mis- 

 understandings, which prepare a field for 

 cowardice and bad faith, turning free 

 citizens into human dust. 



"The time of the isolated countries 

 is past. The world has long since be- 

 come one family, which is frequently 

 torn asunder by internal struggles, but 

 which is nevertheless bound together 

 by strong ties — economical, cultural, and 

 others. 



"Should we, as contemptible slaves, fail 

 to organize into a strong nation, then a 

 dark, sanguine period of internal strife 

 will surely come, and our ideals will be 

 cast under the heels of that despotic rule 

 which holds that might is right and not 

 that right is might. Every one of us. 

 from the soldier to the minister, and 

 from the minister to the soldier, can do 

 whatever he pleases, but he must do it 

 with eyes wide open, placing his devotion 

 to the common ideal above all else. 



"Comrades, for years we have suffered 

 in silence and were forced to fulfill duties 

 imposed upon us by the old hateful might. 

 You were able to fire on the people when 

 the government demanded that of you. 

 And how do we stand now ? Now we can 

 no longer endure ! What does it mean ? 

 Does it mean that free Russia is a nation 

 of rebellious slaves?" (Uneasiness all 

 over the hall.) 



"Comrades, I can't — I don't know how 

 I can tell the people untruths and conceal 

 from them the truth ! 



"I came to you because my strength 

 was giving way, because I am not longer 

 aware of my previous courage. I haven't 

 the previous confidence that we are not 

 facing rebellious slaves, but conscious cit- 

 izens engaged in the creation of a new 

 Russia and going about their work with 

 an enthusiasm worthy of the Russian 

 people. 



"They tell us that the front is no longer 

 a necessity ; fraternizing is going on there. 

 Do they fraternize on the French front ? 

 No, comrades. If fraternize, then let us 

 fraternize on both sides. Have not the 

 forces of our adversary been transported 

 to the Anglo-French front ? And has not 

 the Anglo-French offensive been halted 

 already? As far as we are concerned, 

 there is no such thing as a Russian front ; 



