that can have the sanction of wisdom and honor, is to
work to extinguish the fire. It is obviously not the time to debate whether
the house was properly built or whether mistakes were made. Russia was a
house on fire; the Bolsheviki insisted upon endless debating.

Kamenev followed Trotzky's lead in attacking the Coalition Government. In a
subtle speech he supported the idea of splitting Russia up into a large
number of petty states, insisting that the formula, "self-determination of
peoples," applied to the separatist movement in the Ukraine. He insisted
that for the Russian working-people it was a matter of indifference whether
the Central Empires or the Entente nations won in the war. He argued that
the only hope for the Russian Revolution must be the support of the
revolutionary proletariat in the other European countries, particularly
those adjacent to Russia: "If the revolutionary proletariat of Europe fails
to support the Russian Revolution the latter will be ruined. As that
support is the only guaranty of the safety of the Revolution, we cannot
change our policy by discussing the question of how much fraternizing will
stimulate the awakening of the proletariat of Europe." In other words,
Kamenev was in the position of a desperate gambler who stakes his life and
his all upon one throw of the dice or one spin of the wheel.

It was in this manner that the Bolshevist leaders conspired to Russia's
destruction. They were absorbing the time and energies of the men who were
really trying to do something, compelling them to engage in numerous
futile debates, to the neglect of their vitally important work, debates,
moreover, which could have no other effect than to weaken the nation.
Further, they were actively obstructing the work of the government. Thus
Tseretelli, Kerensky, Skobelev, and many others whose efforts might have
saved the Revolution, were thwarted by men wholly without a sense of
responsibility. Lenine was shrieking for the arrest of capitalists because
they were capitalists, when it was obvious that the services of those same
capitalists were needed if the nation was to live. Later on, when
confronted by the realities and responsibilities of government, he availed
himself of the special powers and training of the despised capitalists. At
this earlier period he was, as Tseretelli repeatedly reminded the workers,
without any sense of responsibility for the practical results of his
propaganda. And that was eq