The hold which Lenin has gained on the imagination of the Russian
people makes his position almost that of a dictator. There is already
a Lenin legend. He is regarded as almost a prophet. His picture,
usually accompanied by that of Karl Marx, hangs everywhere. In Russia
one never hears Lenin and Trotski spoken of in the same breath as is
usual in the western world. Lenin is regarded as in a class by
himself. Trotski is but one of the lower order of mortals.
When I called on Lenin at the Kremlin I had to wait a few minutes
until a delegation of peasants left his room. They had heard in their
village that Comrade Lenin was hungry. And they had come hundreds of
miles carrying 800 poods of bread as the gift of the village to Lenin.
Just before them was another delegation of peasants to whom the report
had come that Comrade Lenin was working in an unheated room. They came
bearing a stove and enough firewood to heat it for three months. Lenin
is the only leader who receives such gifts. And he turns them into the
common fund.
Face to face Lenin is a very striking man--straightforward and direct,
but also genial and with a large humor and serenity.