V. I.

Lenin

The newspaper At Your Service, Sir , commonly known as Novoye Vremya , has reprinted a report received by its worthy
colleague, Peterburgskiye Vedomosti , from Ivanovo-Voznesensk.

“ In our industrial town,” says the report, “foul language in the street has supplanted human speech. It is used by factory
workers and cabbies and well-dressed people, and by policemen performing
their official duties.”

Commenting on this picture of mores, Novoye Vremya remarks:

“ A lucky workers’ town, where the most daring
Social-Democratic expectations of completely unrestricted freedom of speech
have been realised.”

How very instructive, this caddish sally, isn’t it?

Surely it is common knowledge, gentlemen of the editorial board of a
newspaper loyally serving the government, that freedom of speech with
regard to foul language has been “realised” in the Third Duma precisely
by those Right-wing parties closest to the government. Surely everyone
knows that the Purishkeviches, Markovs and their colleagues have
become famous for this throughout Russia.

It is imprudent of Novoye Vremya to talk like that, very
imprudent indeed. Why, it could have played its servant’s role much more
adroitly. Yet here is a paper, one sincerely devoted to the government,
suddenly reminding us of the kind of “freedom of speech” that
Purishkevich and Co.

practise and the kind practised by the Social-Democratic deputies to the
Duma.

Freedom of speech for the Purishkeviches in a landlord Duma, and
freedom of speech at workers’ meetings.... It is an excellent pre-election
topic brought up by Novoye Vremya , which is so clumsy in its
zealous servility!

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