e Bolshevik _coup d'etat_ broke out at Saratov. The following
forces were its instruments: the garrison which was a stranger to the
masses of the population, a weak party of workers, and, in the capacity of
leaders, some Intellectuals who, up to that time, had played no role in the
public life of the town.

It was indeed a military _coup d'etat_. The city hall, where sat the
Socialists, who were elected by equal, direct, and secret universal
suffrage, was surrounded by the soldiers; machine-guns were placed in front
and the bombardment began. This lasted a whole night; some were wounded,
some killed. The municipal judges were arrested. Soon after a Manifesto
solemnly announced to the population that the "enemies of the people," the
"counter-revolutionaries," were overthrown; that the power at Saratov was
going to pass into the hands of the Soviet (Bolshevist) of the Workmen's
and Soldiers' Delegates.

The population was perplexed; the people thought that they had sent to the
Town Hall Socialists, men of their choice. Now these men were declared
"enemies of the people," were shot down or arrested by other Socialists.
What did all this mean? And the inhabitant of Saratov felt a fear stealing
into his soul at the sight of this violence; he began to doubt the value of
the Socialist idea in general. The faith of former times gave place to
doubt, disappointment, and discouragement. The _coup d'etat_ was followed
by divers other manifestations of Bolshevist activity--arrests, searches,
confiscation of newspapers, ban on meetings. Bands of soldiers looted the
country houses in the suburbs of the city; a school for the children of the
people and the buildings of the children's holiday settlement were also
pillaged. Bands of soldiers were forthwith sent into the country to cause
trouble there.

_The sensible part of the population of Saratov severely condemned these
acts_ in a series of Manifestos signed by the Printers' Union, the mill
workers, the City Employees' Union, Postal and Telegraph Employees,
students' organizations, and many other democratic associations and
organizations.

The peasants received the _coup d'etat_ with distinct hostility. Meetings
and reunions were soon organized in the villages. Resolutions were voted
censuring the _coup d'etat_ of violence, deciding to organize to resist the
Bolsheviki, and demanding the removal of the Bolshevist soldier members
from the rural communes. The bands of soldiers, who