...
Just across the hall outside was the office of the Credentials
Committee for the Congress of Soviets. I stood there watching the
new delegates come in-burly, bearded soldiers, workmen in black
blouses, a few long-haired peasants. The girl in charge-a member of
Plekhanov's _Yedinstvo_ [*] group-smiled contemptuously. "These are
[* See Notes and Explanations]
very different people from the delegates to the first _Siezd_
(Congress)," she remarked. "See how rough and ignorant they look!
The Dark People...." It was true; the depths of Russia had been
stirred, and it was the bottom which came uppermost now. The
Credentials Committee, appointed by the old _Tsay-ee-kah,_ was
challenging delegate after delegate, on the ground that they had
been illegally elected. Karakhan, member of the Bolshevik Central
Committee, simply grinned. "Never mind," he said, "When the time
comes we'll see that you get your seats...."
_Rabotchi i Soldat_ said:
The attention of delegates to the new All-Russian Congress is called
to attempts of certain members of the Organising Committee to break
up the Congress, by asserting that it will not take place, and that
delegates had better leave Petrograd.... Pay no attention to these
lies.... Great days are coming....
It was evident that a quorum would not come together by November 2,
so the opening of the Congress was postponed to the 7th.
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