The most important question now facing the Communist Party—the question which attracted the greatest attention at the most recent Party Congress—is the question of the middle peasants.

Naturally, the first question usually asked is: what is a middle peasant?

Naturally, Party comrades have more than once recounted how they were asked in the villages who such a middle peasant is. And to this we answer: a middle peasant is such a peasant who does not exploit the labor of others, does not live by the labor of others, does not in any way whatsoever avail himself of the fruits of others' labor, but works himself, lives by his own labor.

There were fewer such peasants then than now, under capitalism, because the majority belonged to the very poor, and only an insignificant minority, then as now, belonged to the kulaks, to the exploiters, to the rich peasants.

Middle peasants have become more numerous after private property in land was abolished. And so Soviet power has firmly resolved at all costs to establish relations of complete peace and agreement with the middle peasant. It is clear that the middle peasant cannot immediately take the side of socialism, because he firmly adheres to what he is accustomed to, he is cautious toward all innovations, he first verifies by deed, by practice, that to which he is being called, he does not resolve to change his life until he is convinced that such change is necessary.

This is precisely why we must know and remember and carry out in practice this: that worker-communists appearing in the villages are obliged to seek comradely relations with the middle peasant, obliged to establish a comradely relationship with him, obliged to remember that the toiler who does not exploit the labor of others is a comrade of the worker, and with him one can and must achieve a voluntary, completely sincere, completely trusting alliance. One must regard all measures which communist power proposes in such a way that they are merely advice, an indication to the middle peasant, a proposal to him to transition to the new order.

And only through joint work, testing these measures in practice, checking their errors, eliminating possible mistakes, achieving agreement with the middle peasant—only through such work will the alliance of workers and peasants be secured. In this alliance lies all the principal strength and support of Soviet power; in this alliance lies the guarantee that the cause of socialist transformation, the cause of victory over capital, the cause of the elimination of all exploitation will be brought by us to a victorious conclusion.