Last Sunday a debate was held in Chicago on the question of whether or not the Bolsheviks have built the foundation for a socialist society. The debate was arranged between Local No. 18 of the R. I. M. A. S. (Russian Independent Mutual Aid Society), upholding the negative, and Local No. 35 of the R. P. M. A. S. (Russian People's Mutual Aid Society), upholding the affirmative. Mr. Maximov was chosen to speak for Local No. 18, and Mr. Deviatkin for Local No. 35. Mr. Kutsko was appointed chairman for R. P. M. A. S., and Mr. Volodkin for the opposing side.

Mr. Kutsko, representing the Bolshevik local, opened the debate, and in his introductory remarks stated that "the present debate has been arranged by two locals of our mutual aid societies". In his subsequent remarks, Kutsko informed his listeners that the challenge to debate flung by Local No. 18 breathed defiance to the U. S. S. R. In his opinion, the written challenge did not reflect the sentiments of the whole membership of Local No. 18 2because the letter was written by "enemies of the working class". For this reason, the Bolshevik local accepted the challenge for the debate. It would give the Bolshevik local a chance to repudiate all the enemies of the working class.

It was mutually agreed that all the proceeds, above the expenses incurred in arranging the debate, should be turned over to the Mooney Defense Committee, said Mr. Kutsko, and this statement received considerable applause from the Bolshevik side. In conclusion, Mr. Kutsko read the agreement signed by both sides concerning the procedure of the debate, and appealed to the rules committees selected from both sides to enforce order during the debate. His final words were addressed to the members of Local No. 35 and to all other Bolshevik sympathizers in an appeal to them to observe "strict proletarian discipline" during the debate.

Then Mr. Kutsko surrendered the floor and introduced Mr. Deviatkin. All the Bolsheviks rose to their feet and began to sing "The International".

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Volodkin and Maximov also rose. On the stage, only the stenographer kept her seat. Many persons in the audience remained seated and took no part in the singing. The singing reminded one of Krylov's fable, wherein the author ridicules the lack of teamwork among a swan, a pike, and a lobster in pulling a load. The singing was harsh and dissonant. Rhythm and harmony were totally absent. The melody is hard on the ears and has a very depressing effect.

Mr. Deviatkin began his speech in the style of a typical windjammer, or a windbag. The essentials of his speech may be summed up as follows:

"Comrades, I share with you your enthusiasm for Soviet Russia. The Bolsheviks have really built the foundation of a new social order in the U. S. S. R. From a former prison house of nations, the Bolsheviks have created a socialist country. The authority there, which was formerly in the hands of the nobility, now rests with the workers and peasants. When the Bolsheviks seized power, the Russian bourgeoisie resorted to sabotage. The workers and peasants 4did not know how to run the railroads. The workers and peasants managed to chase the propertied classes out of the country because they were enemies of the working class. The workers fought against their enemies and were victorious in the struggle. A group of anarchists attempted to interfere with the building of socialism in the U. S. S. R. They proposed to entrust the bringing up and education of children to the teachers. Imagine for a moment what would happen if the whole educational system fell into the hands of some reactionary teachers. The whole project in which the anarchists were engaged, was abolished by the strong arm of the workers and peasants. In 1923 the working class made concessions to the bourgeoisie, and inaugurated the New Economic Policy. This policy was promulgated in order to set up the machinery for the transition from a state of scarcity into a state of socialist plenty. At present Russia has a firm foundation upon which to build socialism.

"In 1913 there were only a few workers in Russia, whereas the bourgeoisie was estimated at twenty million people. At present the number of bourgeoisie remaining is estimated at 147,000. Formerly, every village had a leech who 5sucked the lifeblood out of the peasants. The peasants had to give the landowner twenty bushels of grain for every five bushels they themselves received. In place of leeches and kulaks, collective farms have been organized in the villages and artels in the cities.

"The exploitation of man by man should be considered the gravest of crimes. Classes do not exist any longer in Russia; they have been abolished. Some of the class enemies have been sent into exile for correction. In Russia, prisons have been made into institutions of correction. Baptists, socialists, and anarchists have been exiled for correction after they refused to abide by Bolshevik laws. One of the Baptist groups agreed to perform the work of a shock brigade in order that it might be classed as such. The shockbrigade movement is teaching the Russians how to live and how to build.

"What has the working class received from the revolution? The working class in the U. S. S. R. has its own organization of trade unions, and this organization guides the entire economic life of the country. The working class is 6engaged in creative activity in all phases of human endeavor. The workers are learning painting, music, dramatics, writing, etc. What is more, the workers in the U. S. S. R. enjoy many privileges of a very substantial nature. At present they enjoy annual paid vacations and spend their leisure time in government rest homes. Formerly, such privileges were accessible only to the bourgeoisie and the nobility. The liquidation of the bourgeoisie is one of the results of building the foundations for socialism in Russia.

"During the czarist regime, one-half of the babies born did not live longer than a year due to lack of proper care and food. Now infant mortality has been reduced to one-third of what it was. Today, the peasants can enjoy a life of plenty. During the past year, peasants received 94,500 tractors. Instead of using worn-out horses, they now use tractors for their field work. As a result of model collective husbandry, the year 1934 yielded an abundant harvest. In 1913 the czarist regime exported 600,000,000 poods of grain while the Bolshevik government exported only 300,000,000 poods. Consequently, the peasants have had enough bread to eat.

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"The U. S. S. R. has the strongest army in the world. It stands guard to preserve peace in the world. Bolshevik diplomacy is so powerful that not a single important event takes place without the participation of a Bolshevik diplomat. The proletarian state is armed with the theory of Karl Marx, cleansed of opportunism by Lenin, and it is led by Stalin. The U. S. S. R. is the only country in the world where the army and the workers are being brought up in the spirit of internationalism. We have come here together, not to prove whether there is a foundation for socialism in Russia, but to make our position clear.

"There are two roads to follow: bolshevism in Russia and fascism in Germany. Russia must not become a German colony," concluded Mr. Deviatkin, to the applause of the Bolsheviks.

We must add that Deviatkin used the term "comrades" every third word. His speech was senseless in content and very distorted in form. Throughout his speech he appealed to the emotions of the Bolshevik mob. Deviatkin said nothing that appealed to our mind or our soul. So far as the Bolshevik mob 8is concerned, we recommend only one thing: Let them go to the Bolshevik country and be convinced by personal study of the kind of socialism that is being built in Russia, and at what price. The building of socialism will be understandable to the Bolshevik followers only when they come in contact with Bolshevik realities, and not before. While they are in America, in the midst of the Bolshevik smoke screen, they will never understand just what is taking place in the land of bolshevism. Bolshevik followers can never be convinced by arguments because they lack common sense and sound logic.

Rassviet (The Dawn), Apr. 18, 1935.

Volodkin said that the members of Local No. 18 are all peasants' sons, and, therefore, cannot be referred to as enemies of the working class. He pointed out that many members of the Russian colony had gone to the U. S. S. R., had stayed there for awhile, and then, after learning what the living conditions really were, had returned. If the conditions in Russia were what the Bolsheviks claim them to be, those Russians would never have returned to America. People,

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as a rule, remain in the country where living conditions are the best. Hundreds of thousands of letters received by Russians in the United States are the best testimony to what is going on in the Bolshevik state.

Maximov, in introducing himself to the audience, explained that R. I. M. A. S. is a Russian mutual aid business enterprise. Each local of the Society has full autonomy in its activities, while locals of R. P. M. A. S. can act only on the instructions of their Central Executive Committee, which has complete control over their affairs. Without its sanction, the locals of R. P. M. A. S. cannot act.

"First of all," said Maximov, "we must define the principles of socialism and then set them against the Bolshevik experiments and examine whether such experiments are compatible with the socialist principles. If the Bolshevik experiments do not contradict the basic principles of socialism, then, by analysis, we come to the conclusion that the Bolsheviks have really laid the foundation for socialism in Russia."

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Maximov attempted to explain the principles of socialism by quoting from the declaration made by the First Socialist International, in which this body declared that political liberty, economic equality, intellectual development, and moral improvements were the cardinal principles of socialism.

The Bolshevik rabble, in their ignorance, attached no importance to Maximov's explanation of socialism because they have been raised on the verbiage put out by the Bolshevik leaders in the form of cheap pamphlets.

In the further course of his speech, Maximov began to cite facts to prove that the working class as a whole cannot possibly govern a state. The government in Russia, in Maximov's opinion, is not controlled even by the Bolshevik party; it is in the hands of a few Bolshevik leaders, and in the last analysis is centered around one person, Stalin.

In the sphere of economics, we observe categories of wage earners, which put people on different economic levels. As long as hired labor exists, as long as 11some workers receive higher wages than others, as long as goods are bought and sold for money--as long as these conditions exist, there is no room for socialism. In a socialist state the factories belong to the workers, and the land to the peasants. The institutions, such as schools, hospitals, etc., are under the control of the society as a whole. Officially, the workday consists of seven hours, but in reality, peasants on the collective farms and workers in the factories and mills work much longer. The Bolshevik regime introduced a sweat-shop system for the workers--a system against which workers in all other countries wage a continuous struggle. To prove his contention, Maximov cited quotations from the Bolshevik newspaper Trud, published in Moscow.

The Bolshevik dictatorship introduced a high degree of centralization into the national government, and the centralization, in its turn, produced an immense army of bureaucrats, who devour a great part of the national income. Consequently, under the prevailing conditions, there is an abyss between true socialism and the Bolshevik experiment. The antagonisms within the Bolshevik party itself, the trials of opposition groups, the constant purges of undesirable elements 12occurring within the party--these the party of undesirable elements, are the best testimony to the animosity existing among the Bolshevik leaders and bureaucrats.

Maximov's speech was essentially a lecture or a report, and was not suitable for a debate. This shows that Maximov is not familiar with mob psychology, and particularly, with the psychology of a Bolshevik mob. An abstract explanation of a theory is a misdirected effort in a debate. The Bolshevik mob does not respect theories because they do not understand them. It would have been much more to the point if Maximov had subjected Deviatkin's speech to a thorough analysis, and then refuted all his statements. Instead he delivered a lecture on the subject of scientific socialism.

Deviatkin, on the contrary, throughout his speech appealed to the primitive instincts of his mob. He is thoroughly familiar with the psychology of his ignorant followers, his meek and befuddled sympathizers, whereas Maximov continued to restate "old truths" enunciated by K. Marx and F. Engels.

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The Kremlin dictators themselves do not pay any attention to the old Marxian theories, and, therefore, we do not blame our home-grown Chicago Bolsheviks for their lack of attention. For several years, Deviatkin has tried to impress on their minds the belief that they are the soul and conscience of the working class, the vanguard of the advancing proletariat, and all the rest of the workers--those who do not agree with Deviatkin--are counterrevolutionaries. Such thoughts have been deeply implanted in the minds of the Bolsheviks.

What is more, the Bolsheviks co-ordinate their actions and act as a unit, on instructions from their center. Therefore, it is no wonder that they gathered all their forces--not only those from Chicago, but from the surrounding territory as well--and appeared at the debate prepared in advance and well organized. As a result, their following constituted a preponderant majority. The debate went just the way they had planned. Once numerical superiority was on their side, they adopted a resolution which best suited their purposes, disregarding the agreement previously made. Bolsheviks will consider this debate as a signal victory for them. This once more confirms the conviction that they consider 14force as the only factor in life. They do not think anything else is important.

We must add that Deviatkin made the oft-repeated statement that there is no unemployment in the U. S. S. R. Maximov countered this statement by asking whether there is ever unemployment in a prison. The audience answered in the negative, and the speaker clinched the argument by stating that the Soviet Union is a huge jail, and, therefore, there cannot be any unemployment because everybody is forced to work. This was the strongest argument presented by Maximov during the debate.

Let this debate be a lesson to the Russians in Chicago, to those who are opposed to bolshevism. For it showed the need of organization on their part to combat the pernicious and destructive influences of bolshevism, which crippled, outraged, and all but destroyed the Russian culture. Over nine hundred people attended the debate.