It is not testimony that can be impeached or
controverted. It forms part of the report of these well-known and trusted
Socialists to their comrades in Russia and elsewhere. The claim that the
elections to the Constituent Assembly were held on the basis of an obsolete
register, before the people had a chance to become acquainted with the
Bolshevist program, and that so long a time had elapsed since the elections
that the delegates could not be regarded as true representatives of the
people, was first put forward by the Bolsheviki when the Constituent
Assembly was finally convened, on January 18th. It was an absurd claim for
the Bolsheviki to make, for one of the very earliest acts of the Bolshevik
government, after the overthrow of Kerensky, was to issue a decree ordering
that the elections be held as arranged. By that act they assumed
responsibility for the elections, and could not fairly and honorably enter
the plea, later on, that the elections were not valid.
Here is the story of the struggle for the Constituent Assembly, briefly
summarized. The first Provisional Government issued a Manifesto on March
20, 1917, promising to convoke the Constituent Assembly "as soon as
possible.
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