The opposition inside the productive Trades Unions is
of two kinds. There is the opposition, which is of merely
psychological interest, of old Trades Union leaders who
have always thought of themselves as in opposition to the
Government, and feel themselves like watches without
mainsprings in their new role of Government supporters.
These are men in whom a natural intellectual stiffness makes
difficult the complete change of front which was the logical
result of the revolution for which they had been working.
But beside that there is a much more interesting opposition
based on political considerations. The Menshevik standpoint
is one of disbelief in the permanence of the revolution, or
rather in the permanence of the victory of the town workers.
They point to the divergence in interests between the town
and country populations, and are convinced that sooner or
later the peasants will alter the government to suit
themselves, when, once more, it will be a government
against which the town workers will have to defend their
interests. The Mensheviks object to the identification of the
Trades Unions with the Government apparatus on the
ground that when this change, which they expect comes
about, the Trade Union movement will be so far
emasculated as to be incapable of defending the town
workers against the peasants who will then be the ruling
class. Thus they attack the present Trades Union leaders for
being directly influenced by the Government in fixing the
rate of wages, on the ground that this establishes a
precedent from which, when the change comes, it will be
difficult to break away. The Communists answer them by
insisting that it is to everybody's interest to pull Russia