V. I.

Lenin

446

To:   M. M. KHARITONOV

Dear Comrade, I was very glad to hear about your speech at Aarau and I
heartily congratulate you on the success. It couldn’t have been
better. [3] ( If you have a full verbatim report of the congress, please let me have
it if only for a short time.)

Radek told me that he had advised you not to take the floor
first, as this on the part of a Russian would not be “tactful” ( Radek has proved to be entirely wrong), and it would be better if Platten
did it, etc.

You proved to be entirely right!

I don’t think it’s worth having
Gezänk [1] with Radek over the “pighead”, etc. Trifles! A mere nothing! Scandal,
which the O.C. people, Dymki, etc., have always gone in for, and Ryazanov
now in particular (Radek too says he is furious: funny chap, what made him
poke his nose in things he doesn’t understand?).

Take no notice of the scandal, spend less time on the Zurich colonial
marsh, give more of it to contacts with Platten and the business
of publishing and circulating Internationale Flugblätter [4] (if you spend less time on the O.C. people &
Co. you will have more for Internationale Flugblätter ).

The money for Internationale Flugblätter (370 copies?) and
the account (how many left over? How many given out on credit?
Total, etc.) send direct to me (Platten’s address has been given
only for outsiders).

As regards the translation of Internationale Flugblätter
No. 1 into Italian, I think our mutual acquaintance will help
you. [2]

She and Siefeldt have already found several Italian addresses; she has
found an Italian to go through the translation. You too. I think the first
thing to do now is to have it translated into Italian and given to an
Italian to be vetted. And then ( avoiding Balabanova , who
apparently won’t be of any help and is even capable of being an obstacle)
it is necessary to start looking out for some newspaper or a league of
Italians in Switzerland who would agree to publish it at their own expense:
I don’t think this is a utopia, as the publication of 2,000 copies will
cost 80 frs., and at 10 cts. each it will yield a profit.

If a publisher cannot be found, then we shall try and publish it
ourselves, in which case distribution must be organised with special zeal: our mutual acquaintance, to whom I am writing,
will help us in this.

I would ask you to maintain and cultivate in every way your
“close acquaintance” with Platten: he is extremely important
just now for publication of Internationale Flugblätter .

Does Platten attend the meetings of the party’s Executive? Does he have
the minutes? Has he a vote or not? Does he agree to develop the decision on “ revolutionäre Aktionen ” to
keep it from being a dead letter? (In that case we should arrange
publications, pamphlets, supplements to Swiss papers concretising the idea
of “revolutionäre Aktionen”, and smuggle all this into Germany.) Does
he agree to help import Internationale Flugblätter No. 1 into
Germany?

How are things going with the sale of the pamphlet Sozialismus und Krieg ? Write. Drop the Zurich colony and get busy with the affairs der
Zimmerwalder Linken!

All the best. My regards to your wife and all our friends.

Yours, Lenin

P.S. Write direct to my address:

Wl. Uljanow . Seidenweg. 4- a III (bei Frau Schneider) Bern .