V. I. Lenin

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

G. V. PLEKHANOV*

Dear Comrade,

Unfortunately, we are compelled to enter a most emphatic protest against the proposal of the Editorial Board to appoint Comrade Gurvich as secretary.

In the first place, there have been a number of conflicts between him and the Central Committee.

In the second place, he has expressed in writing (we can send you a copy) such an attitude towards the supreme Party body, the Council, that his participation in the sittings of the Council is absolutely impossible.

In the third place—and this is the main point—we shall probably have to raise in the Council the question of Comrade Gurvich personally, as a representative of the Lithuanian administration, who, in our opinion, has displayed an incorrect attitude towards the Central Committee. It is not fitting that a man whose actions are to be discussed should be secretary**.

We also draw attention to the fact that, appreciating the importance of the Council as an instrument for uniting and co-ordinating (and not for disuniting and causing discord), we at once proposed a secretary who had taken no part in the discord and who had not been objected to by the other side.

We are confident that the other side, the Editorial Board of the Central Organ, could easily propose a candidate who has not taken part in the discord and who cannot be the subject of discussion in the Council.

Yours faithfully, Lenin

Geneva (local)

* The letter was written on behalf of the Central Committee’s representative abroad, F. V. Lengnik. —Ed.

** The manuscript originally read: “It would be impossible to discuss in the Council the correctness or incorrectness of the actions of a person who is present, and who is, moreover, the secretary.” —Ed.