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which； for all practical purposes； the bourgeois specialist will be
responsible solely to the State。 Many Communists； including some of
the best known； while recognizing the need of greater efficiency if the
revolution is to survive at all； regard this step as definitely retrograde and
likely in the long run to make the revolution not worth
preserving。*＇（*）Thus Rykov； President of the Supreme Council of Public
Economy： 〃There is a possibility of so constructing a State that in it there
will be a ruling caste consisting chiefly of administrative engineers；
technicians； etc。； that is； we should get a form of State economy based on
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THE CRISIS IN RUSSIA
a small group of a ruling caste whose privilege in this case would be the
management of the workersand peasants。〃 That criticism of individual
control； from a communist； goes a good deal further than most of the
criticism from people avowedly in opposition。＇ The enormous
importance attached by everybody to this question of individual or
collegiate control； may bejudged from the fact that at every conference I
attended； and every discussion to which
I listened； this point； which might seem of minor importance；
completely overshadowed the question of industrial conscription which； at
least inside the Communist Party； seemed generally taken for granted。 It
may be taken now as certain that the majority of the Communists are in
favor of individual control。 They say that the object of 〃workers'
control〃 before the revolution was to ensure that factories should be run in
the interests of workers as well of employers。 In Russia now there are no
employers other than the State as a whole； which is exclusively made up
of employees。 （I am stating now the view of the majority at the last Trades
Union Congress at which I was present； April； 1920。） They say that
〃workers' control〃 exists in a larger and more efficient manner than was
suggested by the old pre…revolutionary statements on that question。
Further； they say that if workers' control ought to be identified with Trade
Union control； the Trades Unions are certainly supreme in all those
matters with which they have chiefly concerned themselves； since they
dominate the Commissariat of Labor； are very largely represented on the
Supreme Council of Public Economy； and fix the rates of pay for their
own members。*＇（*）The wages of workmen are decided by the Trades
Unions； who draw up 〃tariffs〃 for the whole country； basing their
calculations on three criteria： （I） The price of food in the open market in
the district where a workman is employed； （2）the price of food supplied by
the State on the card system； （3）the quality of the workman。 This last is
decided by a special section of the Factory Committee； which in each
factory is an organ of the Trades Union。＇
The enormous Communist majority； together with the fact that
however much they may quarrel with each other inside the party； the
Communists will go to almost any length to avoid breaking the party
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THE CRISIS IN RUSSIA
discipline； means that at present the resolutions of Trades Union
Congresses will not be different from those of Communists Congresses on
the same subjects。 Consequently； the questions which really agitate the
members； the actual cleavages inside that Communist majority； are
comparatively invisible at a Trades Union Congress。 They are fought
over with great bitterness； but they are not fought over in the Hall of the
Unions…once the Club of the Nobility； with on its walls on Congress days
the hammer and spanner of the engineers； the pestle and trowel of the
builders； and so on…but in the Communist
Congresses in the Kremlin and throughout the country。 And； in the
problem with which in this book we are mainly concerned； neither the
regular business of the Unions nor their internal squabbles affects the
cardinal fact that in the present crisis the Trades Unions are chiefly
important as part of that organization of human will with which the
Communists are attempting to arrest the steady progress of Russia's
economic ruin。 Putting it brutally； so as to offend Trades Unionists and
Communists alike； they are an important part of the Communist system of
internal propaganda； and their whole organization acts as a gigantic
megaphone through which the Communist Party makes known its fears；
its hopes and its decisions to the great masses of the industrial workers。
THE PROPAGANDA TRAINS
When I crossed the Russian front in October； 1919； the first thing I
noticed in peasants' cottages； in the villages； in the little town where I took
the railway to Moscow； in every railway station along the line； was the
elaborate pictorial propaganda concerned with the war。 There were
posters showing Denizen standing straddle over Russia's coal； while the
factory chimneys were smokeless and the engines idle in the yards； with
the simplest wording to show why it was necessary to beat Denizen in
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THE CRISIS IN RUSSIA
order to get coal； there were posters illustrating the treatment of the
peasants by the Whites； posters against desertion； posters illustrating the
Russian struggle against the rest of the world； showing a workman； a
peasant； a sailor and a soldier fighting in self…defence against an enormous
Capitalistic Hydra。 There were also…and this I took as a sign of what
might be…posters encouraging the sowing of corn； and posters explaining
in simple pictures improved methods of agriculture。 Our own recruiting
propaganda during the war；
good as that was； was never developed to such a point of excellence；
and knowing the general slowness with which the Russian centre reacts on
its periphery； I was amazed not only at the actual posters； but at their
efficient distribution thus far from Moscow。
I have had an opportunity of seeing two of the propaganda trains； the
object of which is to reduce the size of Russia politically by bringing
Moscow to the front and to the out of the way districts； and so to lessen
the difficulty of obtaining that general unity of purpose which it is the
object of propaganda to produce。 The fact that there is some hope that in
the near future the whole of this apparatus may be turned over to the
propaganda of industry makes it perhaps worth while to describe these
trains in detail。
Russia； for purposes of this internal propaganda； is divided into five
sections； and each section has its own train； prepared for the particular
political needs of the section it serves； bearing its own name； carrying its
regular crew…a propaganda unit； as corporate as the crew of a ship。 The
five trains at present in existence are the 〃Lenin；〃 the 〃Sverdlov；〃 the
〃October Revolution；〃 the 〃Red East；〃 which is now in Turkestan； and the
〃Red Cossack；〃 which； ready to start for Rostov and the Don； was
standing； in the sidings at the Kursk station； together with the 〃Lenin；〃
returned for refitting and painting。
Burov； the organizer of these trains； a ruddy； enthusiastic little man in
patched leather coat and breeches； took a party of foreigners…a Swede； a
Norwegian； two Czechs； a German and myself to visit his trains； together
with Radek； in the hope that