LENIN ON ORGANIZATION
assistance, we have already referred in a previous
chapter to the tremendous change which has taken
place in this respect during the last five years. But
in order to unite all these small fractions into a
single unit, in order not to disintegrate the move-
ment itself by disintegrating its functions, and in
order to inspire the executor of the small functions
with that faith in the necessity and importance of
his work without which he will never be got to
work at all *, we must have a strong organization
of experienced revolutionaries. Given such an
organization, the more conspiratorial it is the
1 remember a comrade telling me of a factory inspector
who was prepared to help, and in fact had helped, the Social
Democrats, but who bitterly complained that he never knew
whether his “information” got to the real revolutionary
centre, whether his assistance was really required, and
whether his small and modest services could be utilized.
Every active worker of course is familiar with several such
instances where our amateurishness has alienated our allies.
Indeed such services, “petty” in themselves but invaluable in
the mass, could be given us, and would be given us, not only
by factory officials, but by officials in the post-office, the rail-
ways, the customs, in the nobles’, clerial and other institu-
tions, and even in the police department and at the court!
If we had a real Party, a real fighting organization of revolu-
tionaries, we should not treat these “assistants” so drastical-
ly, we should not always insist on precipitately dragging them
into the very heart of “illegality”; on the contrary, we should
be extremely sparing of them, and even specially train per-
sons for such functions, remembering that many students
could be of more use to the Party as “assistants” in official
capacities than as “short-term” revolutionaries. But—I once
more repeat—only a strong and stable organization experi-
encing no lack of active forces would be entiffed to adopt
guch tactics.
90
