en we
conquer in the civil war and win peace." He sees in it a promise of
work being done not for the sake of individual gain, but because of a
recognition that such work is necessary for the general good, and in all
he wrote and spoke about it he emphasized the fact that people worked
better and harder when working thus than under any of the conditions
(piece-work, premiums for good work, etc.) imposed by the revolution
in its desperate attempts to raise the productivity of labor. For this
reason alone, he wrote, the first "Saturdaying" on the Moscow-Kazan
railway was an event of historical significance, and not for Russia
alone.

Whether Lenin was right or wrong in so thinking, "Saturdayings" became a
regular institution, like Dorcas meetings in Victorian England, like the
thousands of collective working parties instituted in England during the
war with Germany. It remains to be seen how long they will continue,
and if they will survive peace when that comes. At present the most
interesting point about them is the large proportion of non-Communists
who take an enthusiastic part in them. In many cases not more than ten
per cent. of Communists are concerned, though they take the initiative in
organizing the parties and in finding the work to be done. The movement
spread like fire in dry grass, like the craze for roller-skating swept
over England some years ago, and efforts were made to control it, so
that the fullest use might be made of it. In Moscow it was found
worth while to set up a special Bureau for "Saturdayings." Hospitals,
railways, factories, or any other concerns working for the public good,
notify this bureau that they need the sort of work a "Saturdaying"
provides. The bureau informs the local Communists where their services
are required, and thus there is a minimum of wasted energy. The local
Communists arrange the "Saturdayings," and any one else joins in who
wants. These "Saturdayings" are a hardship to none because they are
voluntary, except for members of the Communist Party, who are considered
to have broken the party discipline if they refrain. But they can avoid
the "Saturdayings" if they wish to by leaving the party. Indeed, Lenin
points, out that the "Saturdayings" are likely to assist in clearing out
of the party those elements which joined it with the hope of personal
gain. He points out that the privileges of a Communists now consist in
doing more work than other people in the rear, and, o