Communists (compare Rykov's remarks on this subject,
p. 175) believe that this is the natural result of social
revolution. They think that political parties will disappear
altogether and that people will band together, not for the
victory of one of several contending political parties, but
solely for economic cooperation or joint enterprise in art
or science. In support of this they point to the number of

their opponents who have become Communists, and to the
still greater number of non-Communists who are loyally
working with them for the economic reconstruction of the
country. I do not agree with the Communists in this, nor yet
with their opponents, who attribute the death of political
discussion to fear of the Extraordinary Commission. I think
that both the Communists and their opponents underestimate
the influence of the economic ruin that affects everybody.
The latter particularly, feeling that in some way they must
justify themselves to politically minded foreign visitors, seek
an excuse for their apathy in the one institution that is almost
universally unpopular. I have many non-Communist friends
in Russia, but have never detected the least restraint that
could be attributed to fear of anybody in their criticisms of
the Communist regime. The fear existed alike among
Communists and non-Communists, but it was like the fear of
people walking about in a particularly bad thunderstorm.
The activities and arrests of the Extraordinary Commission
are so haphazard, often so utterly illogical, that it is quite
idle for any one to say to himself that by following any given
line of conduct he will avoid molestation. Also, there is
something in the Russian character which makes any