V. I. Lenin

Source: ru:PSS/v46; en:CW/CW34;es:MT
Translated: machine translation (DeepSeek) from the Russian; AI-translated.

TO THE EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE CENTRAL ORGAN

Dear Comrades,

With reference to the resolution of the Editorial Board of the Central Organ of December 22, the Foreign Representative of the Central Committee deems it necessary to point out to the Editorial Board the extreme impropriety of this resolution, which can be explained only by excessive irritation. 260

If Lenin, who spoke not as a member of the Central Committee but as a former editor, has, in your opinion, stated something incorrectly, you can clear this up in the press*.

Comrade Hans concluded no agreement on behalf of the Central Committee not to publish the negotiations, and could not have concluded any without our knowledge. This cannot be unknown to the Editorial Board. Probably Comrade Hans expressed a supposition about not publishing the negotiations in the event of a formal peace being concluded**.

Not evasively, but quite definitely, the Foreign Representative of the Central Committee twice informed the Editorial Board of the Central Organ that he authorised the publication of Lenin’s letter***.

If the Editorial Board had not been acting in a state of extreme irritation, it would easily have seen the extreme inappropriateness of its remarks about how many members of the Central Committee are abroad. To this and other improper sallies of the Editorial Board (such as the ridiculous reference to some supposedly “secret” printing), the Foreign Representative of the Central Committee replies only by an appeal to remember party duty and to cease actions capable of turning literary polemics into grounds for a split.

Foreign Representative of the Central Committee

Geneva (local)

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* The manuscript continues with a crossed-out text: “(in reply to Lenin’s letter to the Editorial Board, no indications of incorrectness of presentation followed).” Ed.
** The manuscript continues with a crossed-out phrase: “In that case we too would have considered publication undesirable.” Ed.
*** See Works, 5th ed., Vol. 8, pp. 98-104. Ed.