V. I.

Lenin

1901

11

To:   G. V. PLEKHANOV [4]

January 30, 1901

I have received your letter just now, dear G. V., immediately on my return from a “final” talk with
Judas. [5]
The matter has been settled and I am terribly displeased
with the way in which it has been settled. I hasten to write
to you while my impressions are still fresh.

Judas did not argue about the “democratic opposition”; he is no romantic and not one to be frightened with words. But, as far as “item 7” is concerned (the utilisation of
material for Iskra , material reaching Sovremennoye Obozreniye ),he outsmarted our people, all of whom, P.B. y compris ,stood up for him, against me. He, Judas—you see—expected
that Iskra would be more popular, more “working-class”;
he finds that our free use of material received by
Sovremennoye Obozreniye could create competition.... He demands
that material for Iskra should be used only by agreement with the representative of Sovremennoye Obozreniye —agreement ceases to be necessary only if it is impossible to
communicate with this representative, a condition that,
obviously, will rarely operate, for Judas says frankly that
he proposes either the existence of a representative im Auslande [1] “(not more than 12 hours from Munich”) or
very punctual correspondence. He would like to publish each month five sheets—that is to say, about 200,000
characters—just as much as in two sheets of Iskra . That he
will be able to supply so much material is hardly to be
doubted, for he is well-to-do, writes a great deal and has
good connections. The thing is clear: the competition is aimed not so much against
Zarya [6] as against Iskra ; the same preponderance of political material, the same
newspaper character— review of current events, short articles
(Judas with very true intuition attaches very great importance to the frequent publication of booklets with smallish
articles). We shall be swamped with material of this kind.
we shall be running around carrying out errands for Judas,
who by his control of Sovremennoye Obozreniye (it is obvious
that he will be master and complete master there for he has
the money and 99 per cent of the materials—it is rarely,
if ever, that we shall be in a position to give them even
a very little) will make a magnificent liberal career and
try to shoulder aside not only the heavyish Zarya , but Iskra as well. We shall be running around, keeping ourselves
busy with proof-reading and transportation, while His
Highness Mr. Judas will be rédacteur-en-chef of the most
influential (in broad circles of so genannten [2] public opinion)
little journal. But “romantic” comfort can be offered these
rechtgläubigen : let it be called “Supplement to the
Social-Democratic journal Zarya ”, let them console themselves
with catchwords, but meanwhile I shall take the whole affair into my hands. One is entitled to ask—will not the
famous “hegemony” of Social-Democracy prove under the circumstances to be mere cant? In what will it find
expression other than in the catchword “Supplement to the
Social-Democratic journal”? That he will overwhelm us with
material is indubitable, for we can’t manage as it is to
write enough both for Zarya and Iskra .

Either the one or the other: either Sovremennoye Obozreniye is a supplement to the journal Zarya (as arranged)
and then it should appear not more frequently than Zarya ,with complete freedom to use material for Iskra . Or we
sell our birthright for a mess of pottage and prove genasführt [3] by Judas, who feeds us with catchwords.

If it is our destiny and if it is possible for us to achieve
real hegemony, it will be exclusively by means of a political newspaper (reinforced by a scientific organ), and when
we are told with infuriating insolence that the political section of our newspaper must not compete with the
political enterprise of the liberal gentlemen, our pitiful role
becomes as clear as daylight.

I have made a copy of this letter, and am appending it to the Minutes of today’s meeting as a statement of my
protest and of my “dissenting opinion”, and I invite you
too to raise the banner of revolt. Better a break than this
factual subordination to the Credo programme alongside loud phrases against Credo-ism.

If the majority expresses itself in favour—I shall, of course, submit, but only after having washed my hands
of it beforehand.