V. I.

Lenin

Moskovskiye Vedomosti (No. 345, Dec. 15, 1902) carries a
“Letter to the Publisher,” written by a worker named F. A. Slepov,
which we reproduce in full below. First of all, we would like to
lend encouragement to our esteemed “fellow journalist,”
Mr. Gringmut, editor of Moskovskiye Vedomosti , for publishing a
document of such great interest. And Mr. Gringmut undoubtedly stands in
need of encouragement, for of late his extremely useful activity in
obtaining (and featuring) material for revolutionary agitation has somehow
fallen off, faded ... lost some of its fervour. You must try harder,
colleague! Secondly, it is of the utmost importance at the present time
that the St. Petersburg workers should watch every step of Zubatovism,
should collect information more regularly about workers who have linked up
with spies and are conferring with former, present and future generals,
society ladies, and “true Russian” intellectuals, and should
spread this information as widely as possible, explaining it in detail to
one and all.

Hereis the letter, which we have supplemented with a few comments of our
own in brackets:

“Dear Sir, “Couldyou find it possible to publish the following in
Moskovskiye Vedomosti , which is held in such esteem by all true
Russian people:

“Onthe 10th of this month, a meeting of the Board of the Russkoye

Sobraniye [1] was held in the premises of the Sobraniye in St. Petersburg and was
devoted exclusively to questions concerning the life of Russian factory
workers.

“Amongthe most prominent members of St. Petersburg society present
at the meeting were: General K. V. Komarov, former Assistant Governor General of Warsaw; Auditor General
A. V. Vasilyev; Colonel A. P. Veretennikov; Count Apraxin; Count
A. P. Ignatyev, ex-Governor General of Kiev; Count
P. A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov; General Zabudsky; Admiral Nazimov; Nikolai
Vyacheslavovich von Plehve; I. P. Khrushchov, member of the Board of the
Ministry of Public Education; Professor Zolotaryov of the General Staff;
V. S. Krivenko; Count N. F. Heyden; General Demyanenkov; Archpriest
Ornatsky and other church dignitaries. Also present were ladies from the
upper circles of St. Petersburg society, as well as Mayor Lelyanov and
Councillor Dekhterev of the City Council. The press was represented by
V. V. Komarov, editor of Svyet ; V. L. Velichko, editor of
Russky Vestnik ; Syromyatnikov, of the staff of Novoye Vremya ; K. K. Sluchevsky, former editor of Praviteistvenny Vestnik ; Leikin, editor and publisher of the Oskolki
magazine; the painter Karazin, and others.

“Themeeting opened with a report on the condition of workers in the
manufacturing industries delivered by I. S. Sokolov, a worker”
(concerning Sokolov see No. 30 of Iskra , which gives a fuller
list, based on information taken from Svyet , of St. Petersburg
worker-Zubatovists.— Ed., Iskra )." In the main, the speaker
explained the present condition of the working class in the industrial
cities, their material and spiritual needs, their efforts to acquire
knowledge, etc." (It is a pity that Mr. Sokolov’s report has not been
published! It would be interesting to see how he managed to
“explain” the workers’ efforts to acquire knowledge but made
no mention of police persecution of such efforts.—Ed., Iskra .) “Then representatives of the Moscow workers”
(would it not be more correct to say: representatives of the Moscow secret
police? Was it not on money supplied by the police that you and your
friends travelled to St. Petersburg, Mr. Slepov?—Ed., Iskra ), “among whom I was, also had the honour of attending
the meeting of the Russkoye Sobraniye and reporting to that illustrious
gathering on the state of affairs in the working-class world of Moscow. In
our report we first of all expressed, on behalf of Russian workers, our
profound gratitude to the members of the Russkoye Sobraniye for giving
their representatives the opportunity to explain the present condition of
the Russian working class. Further we requested the representatives of Russian higher society to devote serious
attention to the education of the Russian workers” (quite naturally!
It is precisely from the upper classes that the worker should expect an
education—by means of the whip probably!—Ed., Iskra ), “which is in a far from satisfactory state, a fact that is being
successfully used for socialist propaganda by persons with malicious
intent” (if the lack of education is advantageous to the
socialists , why, then, is the government closing schools
for workers and reading-rooms? It doesn’t make sense, Mr. Slepov!—Ed., Iskra ), “thereby causing harm not
only to the workers, but to the entire Russian state. Then we endeavoured
to call the attention of the illustrious assembly to the lack of sympathy
among Moscow factory-owners for the Moscow workers’ idea of uniting in a
close family for the purpose of founding their own mutual aid societies,
which are so important for delivering the workers from crushing want. In
this connection we asked members of the illustrious assembly to raise in
government circles the question of loans to the workers’ mutual aid
societies” (see the speech of the Nizhni-Novgorod worker, Samylin,
before the court, in No. 29 of Iskra , in which be tells how he
was arrested for taking part in a workers’ circle studying
economics. There is education for you; there you have mutual aid
societies!—Ed., Iskra ). “Undoubtedly, support of the workers in their material needs would constitute the best. refutation of
malicious propaganda among them” (can it really be that
Mr. Slepov—and what an appropriate name he has! [ Slepov, from slepoi —the Russian for “blind"— Ed . ]

—seriously believes that for the sake of some miserable hand-out a
class-conscious worker would cease striving for liberty? As to
“supporting” the non-class-conscious, ignorant mass “in their material needs,” this is beyond the power of even the most
highly placed patrons of the Zubatovists, since in order to provide such
support it is first necessary to change the whole social system, which
rests on destitution of the masses.—Ed., Iskra .). “These false ’well-wishers’ of the
workers usually say that the workers can improve their life only by means
of riots, disturbances, resistance to the authorities, etc. Unfortunately
such incitement sometimes meets with success, as every- one knows. Peaceful improvement of the workers’ living conditions is the
best way to refute these agitators. Then we had the honour to report to
the illustrious assembly that in Moscow, despite most widespread
unemployment, socialist propaganda had lost all its appeal of late”
(but only quite recently we heard of an enormous number of arrests in
Moscow! What would be the point of the arrests and who would there have
been to arrest if this propaganda had lost its appeal??—Ed., Iskra ), “precisely because the workers are already beginning to
organise and have a Mutual Aid Society and a Consumers’ Society, and
because the sympathetic attention of the authorities has already been
given to the needs of the workers, making it possible to arrange for them
lectures on general education, etc. Besides what has been said above, we
also reported to the Sobraniye about cases in Moscow in which we had
figured in the capacity of mediators and conciliators between workers and
manufacturers, not only putting an end to disorders but even averting
them, as, for instance, at the Hakental factory, the Bromley Bros. factory
and the Dobrov-Nabholtz factory. We also mentioned the strike of workers
of the Goujon metallurgical plant, where the workers of the rolling and
nail shops did stop work, but thanks to our intervention did not go so far
as to cause disturbances, and returned to work as a result of our
comradely advice” (the workers get plenty of such “comradely” advice during each strike both from the police and
from the factory inspectors, who are always asking them to “return
to work.” This is not comradely, but police advice. —Ed., Iskra ).

“Themembers of the Russkoye Sobraniye listened to our reports
sympathetically” (how else but sympathetically would they listen to
workers who are helping the police in its business!—Ed.,
Iskra ) “and many voiced the opinion that serious thought
should be given to the question of the workers and that they should be
afforded the opportunity and the means of ridding themselves of the
influence of the socialist doctrine” (an interesting scene: generals
and priests, Zubatov spies and writers loyal to the police spirit intend
to “help” the workers rid themselves of the influence of the
socialist doctrine!—and incidentally, at the same time to help hook
unwary workers who will swallow the bait.— Ed ., Iskra ), “allowing them independent activity, under control
of government statutes and under the guidance of that section of the
intelligentsia which truly loves its native land and is striving for its
welfare and prosperity” (fine independent activity indeed under
police control! No, the workers are already demanding independent
activity untrammelled by the police, with the right to choose as leaders
those of the intellectuals whom they, the workers, trust.— Ed., Iskra ). “V. V. Komarov, A. V. Vasilyev, Colonel Veretennikov,
Mr. Dekhterev, the painter Karazin, Princle D. P. Golitsyn, and many
others reacted most warmly to the question of the workers. The idea was
expressed that it was necessary to set up special workers’ councils,
headed by a central council, which would be a beneficial factor in
averting misunderstandings between workers and manufacturers. As
Mr. Dekhterev put it, this should be allowed because a crowd can never act
intelligently and that influence over a crowd of workers could be exerted
best of all by the workers themselves; as an example, he cited a similar
type of institution in France which was coping with the above-mentioned
task successfully.” (Yes, Workers’ Councils are meeting with success in
France and throughout Europe. That is true. But they are meeting with
success because there the workers enjoy political liberty, have their own
unions, their own newspapers, their elected representatives in
parliament. Does Mr. Dekhterev really think that the St. Petersburg
workers are all so naïve as not to know this?— Ed., Iskra ). “The question of government loans to the workers’
mutual aid societies also met with sympathy by members of the Russkoye
Sobraniye. The meeting closed with a decision to elect a special
commission to consider the steps to be taken in the matter. We trust that
you, Mr. Editor, as a true Russian, will accord us, workers, the same
sympathy, and that you will find it possible to publish the above in your
paper, so that our best people may all unite for a joint struggle against
the enemies of our native land, who are stirring up sedition among the
mass of the people, sowing the seeds of internecine strife and undermining
loyalty to the time-honoured traditions, and respect and reverence for the
supreme authority. We are firmly convinced that there are also people in
Russia who are ready to give their all to the service of their fatherland, to offer up their forces and abilities on its
altar and, in close communion, to erect an insurmountable barrier to
falsehood and malice in Russia.

“F.A. Slepov, worker.”

Andat the close Mr. Slepov could not but let his tongue run away with
him! All support for the workers’ needs, all sympathy on the part of the
government boiled down to one thing: to form groups from among the workers
themselves to combat socialism. This is the truth of it. And it will be
most interesting for the workers to learn that in addition to the knout
and imprisonment, exile and prisons, the Zubatov workers will also try to
inculcate in them “respect and reverence for the supreme authority.”
No sensible worker will say at a public meeting what he really
thinks—that would be delivering himself directly into the hands of
the police. But through our own papers, our own leaflets
and our own meetings we can and must see to it that the new
Zubatov campaign is turned entirely to the good of socialism.

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Notes:
[1]
Russkoye Sobraniye ( the Russian Assembly )—a
Black-Hundred monarchist organisation, which supported the policy of the
Zubatovists. It was formed in the autumn of 1900.