The meeting of the Peoples' Commissaries from Petrograd (Khokhriakov)
and Kaganitsky (from Ural, I guess) is certainly worthy of
description. I went there, leaving for that reason my Mansion
duties--(simply by saying to Pashinsky "tell them I am not coming
to the Mansion as I have to attend the meeting"); nowadays military
service is really a pleasure.
We all were sitting in the recreation room, about sixty or seventy
of us in all. Khokhriakov presided. His neck is like a bull's, but
rougher--and red. He started the meeting by a thunderous "Shut up,
you over there!" and "Somebody open the window; who in hell is smoking
such ... tobacco (I omit the adjective, though correct and strikingly
expressive, but profane)?"
The noise stopped under this voice, the windows were thrown open, and
our Peoples' Commissary began:
"Comrades,--before us are three questions; 1st--whether to release the
prisoners and give them to the Tobolsk people under the auspices of
Comrade Kobylinsky and his men, or 2d--whether to try the prisoners
right here by the people's tribunal, or 3d--to comply with some other
requests--which I have the authority to propose--to send the prisoners
to a Ural city. Let us proceed with the first question. I put this
proposition to the ballot in this way: the Tobolians, and amongst them
the popes, the monarchists, all of the counter-revolutionary trash do
not want the Peoples' rule.
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