There are many ways of judging the Russian revolution at its present stage. Many excuse the present policy of the Soviet Government on the ground that the workers and peasants are a dark depraved mass of low intelligence, floundering around in a dumb state of mind, which makes them fertile ground for White-guard activity. Because of this, a strong central dictatorship is necessary to curb their aimless reactionary tendencies. Therefore they have been stripped of every right which they might even have enjoyed under such a rule as the former Czar. But those who say this are as ignorant as they claim the workers and peasants are. If this is the case then the Bolsheviki would have never assumed power. Nor if we judge the situation correctly would there have ever been a revolution. What is paradoxical about this argument is that the old czarist regime acted on the assumption that the workers and peasants were just the opposite and they likewise suppressed them vigorously on the same grounds. But whatever they can make out of the above argument, the communists in any case will never explain away their fierce suppression and abolition of all human rights from the very masses who lifted them into power. This will always be a blemish that will cling to them like a birth-mark and like the legendary writing on the wall can be never be wiped out.
Another way of judging the Russian situation is the theory that as long as the present government retains a tight hold on the powers of government they can at any period liquidate the new capitalistic economic program for the benefit of the Russian proletariat. This is a high-flown theory, as this book in its discussion of Russia will demonstrate, not in a direct, conscious manner perhaps, as the author did not have this particular phase before him at the time of his investigations, but by acquainting the reader with the development of the Russian revolution up to his time. The Russian revolution to date shows one thing clearly: "that successful revolutions are not the product of the abstract human will." Human will power expressed only by the masses, counts as a factor in social changes. Revolutionary tacticians flounder helplessly trying to regulate social laws to fit their particular plans. They hide their failure in such terms as "transition periods" or "economic retreats." One is as vague as the other and neither means anything.
Whatever explanations are advanced on the Russian situation everybody must admit that for the present at least we can dismiss from our minds any remaining hope that capitalism has not been invited back to Russia, and from this viewpoint we must then inquire why the Russian revolution was forced into this position. Dismissing, too, any wrong idea that any set of individuals were the direct cause, we must search amongst the ruins for the reason and ask: What force obstructed the path of the Russian masses in their surge towards emancipation? And for those who read this book with a mind bent on investigation it is certain that much valuable information can be obtained. Regardless of whatever antipathy the reader may develop because this author holds certain views, there are facts in this book that compel serious thought.
This book deserves praise mainly because it is a study of conditions in Russia, and not men, leaders perchance, of a revolutionary government, because after all is said and recorded about the personal qualities of this or that prominent person in Russia, the Russian revolution cannot ever be correctly judged unless the conditions of the great masses are known and understood. Labor laws, regulations and libertarian decrees are, finally, nothing but dried ink and signify nothing. Soviet institutions are corrupted by much the same methods as any other governing body.
Particular notice is due to the chapters that describe the many socialist parties of Russia as well as the Anarchists and Syndicalists. These various factions are representative of the sociological ideas that dominate the minds of the Russian people. The Chart on page 16, especially, makes a study of these movements more simple and assists the reader to a clearer understanding of the following chapters.