V. I.

Lenin

Keeping international Social-Democracy informed of our Party affairs is one of the most important duties of all
Social-Democrats. living abroad. We remind the comrades of this and appeal for the most energetic
agitation in defence of the stand taken by the Third Congress of the
R.S.D.L.P. This agitation must be conducted indefatigably, on any pretext, on
any suitable occasion, and in positively all study circles of workers abroad, as
well as with individual members of foreign Social-Democratic parties. This
agitation must be conducted in ways that are worthy of conscious
Social-Democrats and members of a workers’ party. It must be based on the
principle of lull information concerning the documentary
aspect of the matter. Priority should be given to the circulation of the Third
Congress resolutions published in the French language (the supplement
to the newspaper Le Socialiste of June 25, 1905. Address of Le Socialiste , central organ of the French socialists: Rue de la Corderie 16, Paris ) as well as in the German language (the pamphlet
Bericht über den 3. Parteitag; publisher’s address: Birk et Co., Buchdruckerei und Verlagsanstalt, München, Vittelsbacherplatz 2. Preis 20 pf .). Both the French and the German translations are also available from
the Party office.

In addition to this basic material, the most important documents and articles
from our literature should also be translated. In doing so we must constantly
expose the in decency of the Khlestakov-like new Iskra . The latter has
not published, either in French or in German, the full text of its Conference
resolutions (which reveals its usurping arrogation of the title of Central Organ). Iskra has published in the
European Social-Democratic press such “statistics” about
organised labour that evoke nothing but laughter (suffice it to say that the
new Iskra has not yet made so bold as to make these “statistics” public in Russian, for fear of disgracing itself,
but we have printed these statistics in full in No. 9 of
Proletary ). [1]
Iskra is now circulating among all colonies abroad a letter over the Editorial Board’s signature containing the
same brand of amusing Khlestakovian claims regarding the Minority’s forces,
claims which have been shamefacedly withheld from Russian readers of our
Social-Democratic newspapers. Publicity-mongers should be fought against to
the utmost, but that struggle should be conducted in a dignified way, so as
to get the public fully informed , and make matters as clear as
possible, without the least boasting and literary bombast, without falling
into gossip and private allusions which cannot stand the light of publicity.

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Notes:
[1]
The reference is to an item “Our Khlestakovs” by
Lenin, published in No. 9 of Proletary , July 26 (13), 1905, which
quoted a message sent by the Menshevik Iskra to a French socialist news
paper, containing exaggerated and false figures about the number of its
adherents among the organised workers (see Lenin Miscellany XVI , pp. 128-29).