V. I.

Lenin

120

To:   ROZALIA ZEMLYACHKA

To Zemlyachka from Old Man .

December 10, 1904

I have just returned from my lecture tour and received your letter No. 1. I
spoke with Mermaid. Did you get my abusive letter (sent also to Papasha and
Sysoika)? [1]

As regards the composition of the O.C., I, of course, accept the
general decision. I don’t think Private should be drawn into this—he
should be sent out here immediately. Further, it is essential to organise a
special group (or to supplement the O.C.) for making regular rounds of the
commit tees and maintaining all contacts between them. Our contacts with the
committees and with Russia in general are extremely inadequate and we must exert
every effort to get more local correspondents’ reports and ordinary letters from
comrades. Why don’t you put us in touch with the Northern Committee? With
the Moscow printing workers (this is very important!)? With Ryakhovsky? With
Tula? With Nizhni-Novgorod? Do this immediately. Further, why don’t the
committees sent us their repeat resolutions concerning the congress?
This is essential. I am very much afraid that you are too optimistic about the
congress and about the C.C.; you will see from the pamphlet The Council Versus the Party (it is already out) that they go to any lengths, perform
the devil knows what tricks, in their desire to sabotage the congress. In my
opinion, it is a definite mistake on the part of the O.C. not to issue a printed
announcement. In the first place, an announcement is necessary in order to
offset our open way of acting to the Minority’s secret organisation. Otherwise the C.C. is bound to catch you out, to take
advantage of Sysoika’s ultimatums and talk of your “secret”
organisation; this will be a disgrace for the Majority, a disgrace for which you
will be wholly to blame. Secondly, a printed announcement is necessary in order
to inform the mass of Party workers about the new centre. You will never be able
to do this even approximately by any letters. Thirdly, a statement about the
unity of the Majority committees will be of tremendous moral significance as a
means of reassuring and encouraging despondent members of the Majority
(especially here abroad). To neglect this would be a great political mistake. I
therefore insist, again and again, that immediately after the Northern
Conference the Bureau of the Majority (or the O.C. of the Majority committees)
should issue a printed statement mentioning the consent and direct authorisation of the Odessa, Ekaterinoslav, Nikolayev, four Caucasian,
Riga, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Tver, and Northern committees, etc. (perhaps the
Tula and Nizhni-Novgorod committees), i.e., 12-14 committees. This will not only
not harm the struggle for a congress but will be of tremendous assistance to
it. Answer at once whether you agree or not. Regarding the Zemstvo campaign, I
strongly recommend that both my pamphlet [2] and the letter of the Iskra
editorial board should be published in Russia immediately and openly (without
the stupid heading “for Party members”). I may write another
pamphlet, but the polemic with Iskra must be republished without
fail. Finally, and this is particularly important and urgent: may I sign the
local manifesto about a new organ [3] on behalf of the Organising Commit tee of
the Majority committees (or better the Bureau of the Majority Committees)? May I
speak here in the name of the Bureau? May I call the Bureau the
publisher of the new organ and organiser of the editorial group? This is
extremely necessary and urgent. Reply immediately, after seeing Private; tell
him, and repeat it, that he must come here immediately, without delay, if he doesn’t want to run the risk of being
arrested and doing great harm to our cause. People everywhere abroad chatter an
awful lot; I have heard them myself when on a lecture tour in Paris, Zurich,
etc. A last warning: either he clears out and comes here at once or ruins
himself and throws all our work back a year. I do not undertake to present any
ultimatums about a congress to anyone here, as that would only evoke ridicule
and jeers; there is no point in play-acting. Our position will be ten times
cleaner and better if we come forward openly with the Bureau of the Majority and
openly declare for a congress, instead of carrying on silly backdoor
negotiations, which at best will serve only to delay matters and allow new intrigues on the part of people like Glebov, Konyagin, Nikitich and other
rotters. The entire Majority here is fretting and worrying, longing for an
organ, demanding it every where. We cannot publish it without direct
authorisation from the Bureau, but publish it we must. We are doing everything
we can to raise money and hope to succeed; you too must try to raise some. For
heaven’s sake, hurry up with the authorisation to publish in the name of
the Bureau, and print a leaflet about it in Russia.