LENIN ON ORGANIZATION 
of the fittest.” The “natural election” exercised 
by complete publicity, election and universal control 
guarantees that in the long run every active mem- 
ber will be engaged in his “speciality,” will occupy 
himself with matters best suited to his powers and 
capacities, and that he will suffer in his own person 
all the consequences of his blunders, and will reveal 
to all whether he is capable of admitting his blun- 
ders and avoiding them in the future. 
Just try to fit this picture into the framework 
of our autocracy! Is it thinkable in our country 
that everybody “who accepts the principles of the 
Party program and supports the Party according 
to his ability” should control every action of the 
revolutionary conspirators, and that everybody 
should elect persons among the latter to given posts, 
—Wwhen every revolutionary is obliged in the inter- 
ests of the cause to conceal from nine out of ten 
of “the electors” who he really is? One has only 
to reflect ever go little upon the real meaning of the 
fine-sounding phrases uttered by the ‘“Rabochie 
Delo” in order to realize that “broad democracy” 
in a Party organization which exists under the 
eye of the gendarmes is a foolish and dangerous 
game. A foolish game because, as a matter of fact, 
no revolutionary organization has ever, or can ever, 
base itself on broad democracy, however much it 
may desire to! A dangerous game, because any 
attempt to introduce “the broad democratic prin- 
ciple” would merely assist the police in affecting 
widespread arrests, would perpetuate our pre- 
104