We send them our hearty greeting, and persistently say to them:
Listen to us in this fatal time, when the enemy has conquered the
Western strongholds of Russia, has occupied an important part of
our territory and is menacing Kiev, Petrograd, and Moscow, these
most important centers of our social life.
Misinformed people may tell you that in defending yourselves from
German invasion you support our old political regime. These people
want to see Russia defeated because of their hatred of the Czar's
government. Like one of the heroes of our genius of satire,
Shchedrin, they mix fatherland with its temporary bosses. But
Russia belongs not to the Czar, but to the Russian working-people.
In defending Russia, the working-people defend themselves, defend
the road to their freedom. As we said before, the inevitable
consequences of German victory would be the strengthening of our
old regime.
The Russian reactionaries understand this very thoroughly. _In a
faint, half-hearted manner they are defending Russia from
Germany_. The Ministers who resigned recently, Maklakov and
Shcheglovitov, presented a secret report to the Czar, in November,
1914, in which they explained how advantageous it would be for the
Czar to make a separate peace with Germany.
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