Page 73 - SELECTED WORKS OF LIU SHAOQI Volume I

PARTY AND MASS WORK IN WHITE AREAS 69
differs fundamentally from that of leading the masses and that the
method of work inside the Party differs fundamentally from that
among the masses. If our comrades do not have a clear and factual
understanding of these questions, we had better not dream of organiz-
ing and leading millions upon millions of people.
How should the relations between the Party and the masses be
established?
The Party is the leader, the vanguard of the masses. But whether
the members of our Party working among the masses can be their
leaders (that is, leaders recognized by the masses, not self-styled
leaders) is determined not by any legal stipulation or any appointment
by the Party, but by the fact that these Party members can understand
the masses, sacrifice personal interests, champion the interests of the
masses most faithfully and win over the masses by proving our views
to be correct through long years of struggle. If the masses are to find
their leaders in our Party and among our comrades and willingly fol-
low us in waging a life-and-death struggle, it will take a long period
of arduous and conscientious work on our part.
Organizationally, we do not directly require the masses to obey the
Party’s command, nor do we require their organizations to accept the
Party’s orders, but rather we try to bring the masses to accept the
Party’s political positions of their own accord.
While we ask the masses to accept the Party’s political positions,
we must respect the organizational independence of the mass organiza-
tions and the democratic rights and opinions of the masses.
When our positions are supported by only a minority among the
masses, we should obey the majority in actions while reserving our
positions. Only thus can we ask the minority who are against us to
submit to our views when we are the majority.
The masses will respect and trust us only when our comrades
respect and trust them.
We go among the masses as a part of them, putting forward our
views and proposing methods so that they will accept these of their
own accord and voluntarily take action with us. We do not order
them about or command them in our capacity as members of the Com-
munist Party or as self-styled leaders.
All this constitutes the correct relations between Party members
and the masses. Many of our comrades, however, do not understand
this very well or do not want to understand it. There are comrades
who only want the masses to obey them, while they themselves don’t