V. I.

Lenin

199

To:   MAXIM GORKY

May 27, 1911

Dear A. M., A few days ago I received a letter from Poletayev. He writes, inter alia:
“We have received a letter from Gorky. He is proposing that N. I. should
come abroad to work out a plan for unity around some organ, and adds that he has
spoken to you about this and to the Menshevik M” (Martov, I assume).

Poletayev adds that N. I. is hardly suitable for this plan and that if somebody
must come, it should be somebody else. It is hardly likely that Pokrovsky will
make the journey.

Reading this in Poletayev’s letter frightened me—no, really.

Our uniting with Mensheviks like Martov is absolutely hopeless, as I
told you here. If we start arranging a meeting for such a hopeless
plan—the result will be nothing but a disgrace (personally I would not go
even to a meeting with Martov).

Judging from Poletayev’s letter, the participation of the Duma group is
planned. Is this necessary? If it is a question of a journal, then the Duma
group has nothing to do with it. If it is a question of a newspaper, it should
be borne in mind that we have had plenty of discord as it is with
Zvezda : they have no line, they are afraid of going with us, afraid of
going with the liquidators, they play hot and cold, they give themselves airs,
they vacillate.

Besides, a union of the Plekhanovites+our people+the Duma group
threatens to give Plekhanov a preponderance , for Mensheviks predominate
in the Duma group. Is it desirable and reasonable to give Plekhanov a
preponderance?

I very much fear that Yordansky is unsuitable for such plans (for he
has “ his ” own journal and he will either raise obstacles or try to impose “his” journal, leaving it as
his , that is, a semi-liberal organ).

To avoid disappointments and hopeless squabbles, I think we should be very
careful as regards “unity”. Upon my word, we should be not uniting
now, but dissociating! If a publisher can be found for a journal or a newspaper,
you should conclude an agreement with him off your own bat (or
take money from him without an agreement, if possible), but the arrangement of
a meeting will only make a mess. Truly, the result will be a mess.

I am writing to you because I do not want to see you of all people
wasting your time, nervous energy, etc , on a mess. I know from my own
bitter experience of 1908-11 that it is impossible to “unite”
now . In our Mysl , for example, Plekhanov more than once
behaved temperamentally—he was dissatisfied, for example, with my article
on strikes and on
Potresov, [1] saying that I was abusing “him”! We managed
to smooth things over and for the time being we can and must work with
Plekhanov, but formal unions and meetings are premature and could spoil
everything.

Don’t hurry with the meeting!

It is said positively among us that there exists a government oircular of
Stolypin’s for closing down all Social-Democratic publications. It sounds like the truth Before the Fourth Duma they will probably
put the screw on ten times tighter.

Legal opportunities will evidently diminish in the immediate future. We must
push on with illegal work.

M. F. wrote that you have completely withdrawn from Znaniye. That means a
complete break with Pyatnitsky and my last letter came too late?

All the best.

Yours,

Lenin

P. S. Sovremennaya Zhizn [2] in Baku has also been
raided and suppressed!