Yet, notwithstanding all these things, the
Second Duma was, from the standpoint of the government, worse than the
first. The Socialists, adopting the tactics of Plechanov, against the
advice of Lenine, his former pupil and disciple, had decided not to boycott
the elections this time, but to participate in them. When the returns were
published it was found that the Social Democrats and the
Socialist-Revolutionists had each elected over sixty deputies, the total
being nearly a third of the membership--455. In addition there were some
ninety members in the peasants' Labor Group, which were semi-Socialist.
There were 117 Constitutional Democrats. The government supporters,
including the Octobrists, numbered less than one hundred.
From the first the attitude of the government toward the new Duma was one
of contemptuous arrogance. "The Czar's Hangman," Stolypin, lectured the
members as though they were naughty children, forbidding them to invite
experts to aid them in framing measures, or to communicate with any of the
zemstvos or municipal councils upon any questions whatsoever. "The Duma was
not granted the right to express disapproval, reproach, or mistrust of the
government," he thundered.
Pages:
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95