V. I.

Lenin

574

To:   V. M. MOLOTOV FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE POLITBUREAU OF THE R.C.P.(B.) C.C.

Comrade Molotov for all members of the Politbureau (concerning Chicherin’s reference to Bogdanov’s
letter to Urquhart)

I think it would be useful to appoint an inquiry, but we should not disavow Bogdanov’s move, let us consider;
first, let all Politbureau members have a text of Bogdanov’s
letter; second, let us await the results of the inquiry; third,
we still have enough time to decide on our terms after the resumption of the talks.
[This] [1] does not bind us in any way, and may to some extent be useful to
us. [2]

Lenin

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Notes:
[1]
Omission in the text restored according to meaning.— Ed.

[2]
A reference to G. V. Chicherin’s letter to the Politbureau of
the R.C.P.(B.) C.C. of December 2, 1921, saying that, according
to information received from L. B. Krasin in London, S.E.C.
Chairman P. A. Bogdanov had allegedly written a letter to
Leslie Urquhart about resuming the concession talks which he
had broken off. Chicherin felt that Bogdanov’s letter could be
interpreted as the Soviet Government’s surrender to private
capital, and requested a repudiation.

This question was examined by the Politbureau on January
12, 1922. In accordance with Lenin’s proposal, the Politbureau
instructed I. S. Unschlicht, Deputy Chairman of the All-Russia
Cheka, to investigate how Bogdanov’s letter to Taube, which
had been sent on to Krasin in London, got into Urquhart’s hands.
The Politbureau agreed with the People’s Commissariat for
Foreign Affairs that Bogdanov had made a mistake by addressing
himself to Taube in circumvention of the People’s Commissariat
for Foreign Trade, and recognised that it was “inadmissible to
bring up at the Politbureau questions sharply affecting
responsible workers (Comrade Bogdanov) without obtaining the
necessary information beforehand” (Central Party Archives of the
Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the C.P.S.U. Central Committee).