To the Tsarist Government{36}

In the present year of 1896, the Russian government has already twice turned to the public with announcements about the struggle of workers against factory owners. In other states, such announcements are not a rarity – there they do not hide what occurs in the state, and newspapers freely print reports of strikes. But in Russia the government fears the publicity of factory conditions and incidents more than fire: it has forbidden writing in newspapers about strikes, it has forbidden factory inspectors to publish their reports, it has even ceased to hear strike cases in ordinary courts open to the public – in short, it has taken every measure to keep in strict secrecy everything that takes place in the factories and among the workers. And suddenly all these police machinations burst like a soap bubble – and the government itself is forced to speak openly about the fact that workers are waging a struggle against factory owners. What has brought about such a change? – In 1895 there were particularly many workers' strikes. Yes, but there were strikes before, and yet the government knew how not to violate secrecy, and these strikes passed in silence for the entire mass of workers. The present strikes were far more powerful than the previous ones and concentrated in one place. Yes, but there were equally powerful strikes before – for example, in 1885–1886 in Moscow and Vladimir provinces – But the government still held firm and did not speak of the struggle of workers against factory owners. Why then did it speak this time? Because this time socialists came to the aid of the workers, who helped the workers to explain the matter, to make it public everywhere, both among the workers and in society, to set forth precisely the demands of the workers, to show everyone the bad faith and wild violence of the government. The government saw that it had become quite foolish to remain silent when everyone knew about the strikes – and it too hastened to follow everyone else. The leaflets of the socialists demanded that the government answer for itself, and the government appeared and gave an answer.

Let us see what kind of answer it was.

At first the government attempted to evade a public and official answer. One of the ministers, Finance Minister Witte, sent a circular to factory inspectors, and in this circular he called workers and socialists "the worst enemies of public order," advised factory inspectors to intimidate the workers, to assure them that the government would forbid factory owners to make concessions, to point out to them the good intentions and noble thoughts of the factory owners, to speak of how factory owners care about the workers and their needs, how factory owners are full of "good feelings." About the strikes themselves the government said nothing, it did not say a word about what caused the strikes, what consisted of the shameful oppression by factory owners and violations of the law, what the workers were demanding; in short, it directly lied about all the strikes that occurred in the summer and fall of 1895, attempted to get by with hackneyed official phrases about the violent and "unlawful" actions of the workers, although the workers did not commit violence: it was only the police that committed violence. The minister wanted to keep this circular secret, but the very officials to whom he entrusted it did not keep the secret, and the circular began to circulate in public. Then the socialists printed it. Then the government, seeing itself as usual outwitted with its well-known "secrets," printed it in the newspapers. This was, as we have already said, the answer to the summer and autumn strikes of 1895. But in spring of 1896 the strikes were repeated with even greater force.{37} To the rumors about them were added the leaflets of the socialists. The government at first cowardly remained silent, waiting to see how things would end, and then, when the workers' uprising had already subsided, it came forward retroactively with its bureaucratic wisdom, like a belated police report. This time it had already to come forward openly and moreover the entire government as a whole. Its announcement was printed in number 158 of the "Government Herald".{38} This time it was not possible to lie about the workers' strikes as before. It had to tell how things actually were, what consisted of the oppression by factory owners, what the workers were demanding; it had to acknowledge that the workers conducted themselves "decently." Thus the workers cured the government of the vile police lie: they forced it to acknowledge the truth when they rose as a mass, when they made use of leaflets to make the matter public. This is a great success. The workers will now know what is the sole means of achieving a public declaration of their needs, of notifying all of Russia about the workers' struggle. The workers will now know that the lies of the government are refuted only by the united struggle of the workers themselves and their conscious determination to achieve their rights. – Having told what the matter was, the ministers began to think up excuses, they began to assure in their announcement that the strikes were caused only by the "peculiarities of the paper-spinning and thread production." How's that! And not by the peculiarities of all Russian production, not by the peculiarities of Russian state institutions that allow the police to hound and seize peaceful workers who are defending themselves from oppression? Why then, gentlemen ministers, did the workers eagerly read and demand leaflets in which there was discussed not paper and thread at all, but the lack of rights of Russian citizens and the wild arbitrariness of the government serving capital? No, this new excuse is even worse, more vile than the one with which Finance Minister Witte got by in his circular, throwing everything onto "agitators." Minister Witte reasons about the strike in the same way as any police official receiving kickbacks from factory owners reasons about it: agitators came – a strike appeared. Now, seeing a strike of 30,000 workers, all the ministers together began to think and finally figured out that it is not because agitators-socialists appear that a strike occurs, but because a strike begins, because a struggle of workers against capitalists begins, that socialists appear. The ministers now assure us that the socialists afterwards "joined" the strikes. This is a good lesson for Finance Minister Witte. Look here, Mr. Witte, learn well! Learn to reason beforehand what caused the strike, learn to look at the demands of the workers, and not at the reports of your police rats, in whom you yourselves after all don't believe a kopeck. The gentlemen ministers assure the public that it was only "malevolent individuals" who attempted to give the strikes a "criminal political character" or, as they say in one place, a "social character" (the gentlemen ministers meant to say socialist, but, out of illiteracy or bureaucratic cowardice, said social, and the result was nonsense: socialist means supporting workers in their struggle against capital, while social simply means public. How can one give a strike a public character? It's the same as giving a minister a ministerial rank!). How amusing! Socialists give strikes a political character! But the government itself, before any socialists, took every measure to give strikes a political character. Was it not the government that began to seize peaceful workers like criminals? To arrest and exile them? Did it not send spies and provocateurs everywhere? Did it not seize everyone who fell into its hands? Did it not promise to render assistance to factory owners so that they would not make concessions? Did it not pursue workers for simple collections of money for strikers? The government itself better than anyone explained to the workers that their war with the factory owners must necessarily be a war with the government. The socialists had only to confirm this and publish it in leaflets. That is all. But the Russian government has already gone through fire and water in the art of hypocrisy, and the ministers tried to pass over in silence by what means our government "gave a political character to the strikes," it told the public what dates were marked on the leaflets of the socialists – why did it not tell what dates were marked on the orders of the city governors and other bashibazouks about the arrest of peaceful workers, about the arming of troops, about the sending of spies and provocateurs? They listed for the public how many leaflets of the socialists there were, why did they not list how many workers and socialists were seized, how many families were ruined, how many were exiled and imprisoned without trial in prisons. Why? Because even Russian ministers, for all their shamelessness, are afraid to speak publicly about such bandit exploits. Upon peaceful workers, rising up for their rights, defending themselves from the arbitrariness of factory owners, fell the entire force of state power, with police and troops, gendarmes and prosecutors – against workers, supported by their own kopecks and the kopecks of their comrades, English, Polish, German and Austrian workers, there rose up the entire force of state treasury, promising support to the poor factory owners.

The workers were not united. They could not hold a collection of money, attract other cities and other workers, they were hunted everywhere, they had to yield before the entire force of state power. Gentlemen ministers exult that the government has won!

A fine victory! Against 30,000 peaceful workers, without money – the entire force of authority, all the wealth of capitalists! The ministers would have acted more wisely to wait before boasting of such a victory, and their boasting greatly resembles the boasting of a police soldier who prides himself on leaving a strike without a beating.

The "incitement" of the socialists had no success – the government solemnly declares, reassuring the capitalists. – Yes, no incitement, we answer this too, could have produced even a hundredth part of the impression that was produced on all Petersburg workers, on all Russian workers by the behavior of the government in this matter! The workers saw clearly the policy of the government – to keep silent about workers' strikes and lie about them. The workers saw how their united struggle forced the abandonment of police hypocritical lies. They saw whose interests the government protects, which promised support to the factory owners. They understood who their real enemy is, when troops and police were sent against them, as against enemies, despite their not violating the law and order. No matter how much the ministers discourse about the futility of the struggle, the workers see how the factory owners have become meek everywhere, and they know that the government is already calling together factory inspectors to deliberate about what concessions must be made to the workers, because it sees that concessions are necessary. The strikes of 1895–1896 did not pass without result. They rendered an enormous service to Russian workers, they showed them how they should conduct their struggle for their interests. They taught them to understand the political situation and the political needs of the working class.

Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class.{39}

November 1896.

Written in prison before November 25 (December 7), 1896.

Printed on mimeograph as a leaflet.

Published according to the text of the leaflet.

Communication on behalf of the "old-timers" to the members of the Petersburg "Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class"{40}

Mikhailov appeared in St. Petersburg in 1891 as a student expelled from Kharkov for misconduct. He joined a student organization called a "corporation"{41} and after its dissolution. There were rumors about his behavior at dental courses in connection with some suspicious acquaintance, because they reproached him for misappropriation of money collected for the hungry, but he made up the shortage. At this time he became close with… [29]

In January 1894 a search was conducted at many former members of the aforementioned "corporation," including Mikhailov. At interrogations everyone was read detailed information about the composition of the society, etc. The gendarmes declared that the matter arose from a denunciation by one of the former members. From Mikhailov any suspicion was removed by the fact that the gendarmes said that they had attached importance to this empty matter only because an obvious revolutionary was implicated in it. At the same time a strike occurred at Voronin's factory.{42} Mikhailov penetrated to them and began to organize collections in their favor. In February 8 workers who had dealings with Mikhailov were arrested, and 1 student who was collecting money on his orders (Talalaev). From this time on Mikhailov began to draw close again to the workers [ouvriers], and he succeeded in penetrating circles led by Narodnaya Volya members. In summer 1894 the latter were arrested. During the investigation it turned out that the police knew much. At our investigation of the old-timers we were presented with an accusation of acquaintance with several of these Narodnaya Volya members, but the circumstance… [31] Soon after that Mikhailov's first case ended:… [32] and others were exiled, he remained unpunished and everywhere said that he had submitted a petition for pardon and that he did this with the intention to work as before. Unfortunately, there were people who found this fact insufficiently shameful and took him under their protection, and he, having had no personal respect among the workers, obtained the opportunity to strengthen and expand his connections.

What follows is a description of his methods, forcing money on workers, inviting them to his apartment, uncovering pseudonyms, etc. Thanks to this and using the complete trust of the aforementioned persons, he soon learned the identities of many members of various groups. All of them were arrested. When one worker… [33] said that he had received books from Mikhailov, he was taken, but was immediately released and is still in Petersburg. During the investigation, in the capacity of an accused, he incriminated all his comrades, and some accused… [34] were read a detailed report of his about the composition of various groups. (Signatures.)

Written in 1896.

Published for the first time from the manuscript.