V. I.

Lenin

Citizen V. Chernov writes in Dyelo Naroda of April 16:

“ He {Lenin} did not even think that, even from his own point of
view, Britain’s consent to his journey would have been better in
that it would have been due to the pressure of the Russian
revolution, whereas Germany’s consent may appear more suspicious
as to its motives.”

Conclusion: Lenin is something of a maniac.

Very well. But what about the thirty arrivals who belong to
different parties, including the Bund ?
Are they all maniacs? Did none of them “even think”?

Further. How about the telegram from Martov, Natanson (the leader of the S. R. Party, mark you), Axelrod, and others,
saying: “We find it absolutely impossible to return to
Russia via England”? (See Rabochaya Gazeta for April 15.)

Does this mean that both Martov and Natanson are maniacs, that
they too “did not even think”?

But these witnesses, who do not belong to our
Party—Natanson is a witness belonging to V. Chernov’s party —confirm the fact that it was
absolutely impossible to make the journey any other way!

What is the conclusion? It is this—either V. Chernov is a
queer fellow who uses phrases to avoid the facts, or he
has allowed himself to be so frightened by philistine-chauvinist
gossip and slander that he has lost his head.

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