**Source:** Lenin Miscellany X, p. 94
**Date:** 1903-12-27

V. I. LENIN ON BEHALF OF THE FOREIGN REPRESENTATIVE OF THE C.C.—TO THE EDITORIAL BOARD OF ISKRA

**143.**

V. I. LENIN ON BEHALF OF THE FOREIGN REPRESENTATIVE OF THE C.C.—TO THE EDITORIAL BOARD OF ISKRA.

To the Editorial Board of the C.C.

a.

[Circa December 24, 1903]

Esteemed Comrades!

Regarding the resolution of the Editorial Board of the C.C. dated December 22, the foreign representative of the C.C. considers it necessary to point out to the Editorial Board the extreme impropriety of this resolution, which can only be explained by excessive irritation.

If Lenin, speaking not as a member of the C.C. but as a former editor, set forth something incorrectly in your opinion, then you will clarify this in the literature (no indications of incorrect exposition were made in response to Lenin's letter to the Editorial Board).

No agreement concerning non-publication of the negotiations conducted by comrade Hans on behalf of the C.C. was concluded, and without our knowledge, could not have been concluded. This cannot be unknown to the Editorial Board. We heard only from Hans his supposition about non-publication of the negotiations in the event of concluding a formal peace.

Not evasively, but quite definitively, the foreign representative of the C.C. twice communicated to the Editorial Board of the C.C. that he permits publication of Lenin's letter.

If the Editorial Board were not acting in a state of extreme irritation, it would easily perceive the extreme inappropriateness of its remarks concerning how many members of the C.C. are located abroad. To these and other improper outbursts of the Editorial Board, the foreign representative of the C.C. responds only with an appeal to remember party duty and to cease actions capable of transforming literary polemic into grounds for a split.

*Lenin Miscellany X.* b.

[December 27, 1903]*

Esteemed Comrades!

Regarding the resolution of the Editorial Board of the C.C. dated December 22, the foreign representative of the C.C. considers it necessary to point out to the Editorial Board the extreme impropriety of this resolution, which can only be explained by excessive irritation.

If Lenin, speaking not as a member of the C.C. but as a former editor, set forth something incorrectly in your opinion, then you can clarify this in the literature.²

No agreement concerning non-publication of the negotiations conducted by comrade Hans on behalf of the C.C. was concluded, and without our knowledge, could not have been concluded. This cannot be unknown to the Editorial Board. Probably, comrade Hans expressed a supposition about non-publication of the negotiations in the event of concluding a formal peace.³ [In that case, we too would consider publication undesirable.]

Not evasively, but quite definitively, the foreign representative of the C.C. twice communicated to the Editorial Board of the C.C. that he permits discussion in the press concerning the former negotiations of the C.C. with the opposition.*⁴

If the Editorial Board were not acting in a state of extreme irritation, it would easily perceive the extreme inappropriateness of its remarks concerning how many members of the C.C. are located abroad. To these and other improper outbursts of the Editorial Board (such as the ridiculous indication of some allegedly "secret" printing⁵), the foreign representative of the C.C. responds only with an appeal to remember party duty and to cease actions capable of transforming literary polemic into grounds for a split.

Foreign Representative of the C.C.

[Members of the C.C.⁶]

* In the manuscript the final words: "publication of Lenin's letter" are crossed out in ink, apparently by F. V. Lengnik during joint editing of the letter, and in their place his handwriting and ink added: "to speak in the press about the former negotiations of the C.C. with the opposition." —Ed.

¹ The date of the final edition of the letter is established on the basis of indications found in two copies of the letter mentioned in the introductory note. In the first of them, a pencil notation of the date made by Lenin: "Circa 24/XII" was corrected in ink, apparently by the hand of N. K. Krupskaya, in the following manner: the word "Circa" was crossed out and "24" was corrected to "27". In the second copy of the letter, the date is already given in final corrected form: "27/XII".

² Editorial corrections in this paragraph were made by Lenin, undoubtedly as a result of familiarization with the statement "from the Editorial Board" prepared for publication in No. 55 of Iskra. In the second half of its statement, the Editorial Board indeed makes a certain attempt at criticism of Lenin's "letter" on the merits (see the introductory note to document 142, p. 93). Therefore he crossed out his initial categorical assertion that "in response to Lenin's letter to the Editorial Board no indications of incorrect exposition were made" and correspondingly altered the rest of the paragraph.

³ In the initial version of this phrase: "We heard only from Hans his supposition about non-publication of the negotiations," we find for the first time confirmation from Lenin that G. M. Krzyzhanovsky informed the foreign members of the C.C. about his private conversation with Martov concerning the possible non-publication of the negotiations.

⁴ The foreign representative of the C.C. "twice communicated to the Editorial Board of the C.C." about his permission to speak in the press about the former negotiations of the C.C. with the opposition in his letters to the Editorial Board dated December 12 and December 14 (documents 129 and 131, above, pp. 50 and 57).

⁵ The words in parentheses represent an addition made by Lenin after familiarization with the aforementioned statement "from the Editorial Board," in which there is such a passage: "printing [of Lenin's letter. —Ed.] in the party printing house (secretly from the Editorial Board of the C.C.)".

⁶ The signature "Members of the C.C." initially made and then crossed out following the signature "Foreign Representative of the C.C." indicates, firstly, the author's initial intention to supply the letter, in addition to the signature of the official foreign representative of the C.C., also with signatures of other members of the C.C. located abroad, and, secondly, that at that moment, besides the foreign representative of the C.C., there were "members" of the C.C. abroad—that is, at least two (besides Lenin, apparently L. E. Galperin who had not yet departed for Russia). The Editorial Board's resolution from December 22 definitely speaks of three members of the C.C. being abroad at that time (above, document 141, p. 92). Confirmation that the "third" was indeed L. E. Galperin is provided by us below in footnote two to document 148 (p. 117).