To the members of the Central Committee of the R.S.D.L.P., Glebov, Konyagin, Travinsky, Loshad and Osipov.

Today I received, through the Berlin agent of the Central Committee, a communication about the decisions of four (?) members of the Central Committee at their meeting in Russia. I cannot recognize this decision as legally adopted on the following grounds:

1) The statement at the beginning of the resolution that all members of the Central Committee except one (i.e., myself) were present at the meeting is untrue. After the arrest of Vasilyev and Zverev, after the resignation of Mitrofanov, there is still a member in the Central Committee – Comrade Osipov. The rumours of his resignation proved to be false: Comrade Osipov himself considers himself a member of the Central Committee. Vasilyev (who wrote to me about this), Zverev and I held the same opinion. In any case, without having clarified the question of Osipov's alleged resignation, the four members of the Central Committee had no right to consider him as having withdrawn. It must be added that neither I, nor the Central Organ, nor any of the foreign agents of the Central Committee was ever formally notified of Osipov's resignation. Meanwhile, Osipov was not invited to the meeting.

2) I, equally, was not only not invited to the meeting, but I was not even informed of it, nor were the questions to be discussed communicated to me. The Central Committee, of course, has the right to decide by a majority of votes, but it cannot adopt lawful decisions without affording all members the opportunity to participate in the conference and, if necessary, to submit a dissenting opinion. I am deprived of this opportunity in a completely unlawful manner.

3) The four members of the Central Committee did not state their attitude toward the agreement of May 26, 1904, between myself and Glebov, although this agreement and my accompanying letter were, with the consent of Glebov and Zverev, communicated to all members of the Central Committee with the request that they answer me directly. The majority of the Central Committee has every right to outvote the minority, but in no way to evade the official inquiries of the minority and the direct questions put by the minority for discussion.

4) On the basis of the foregoing, I propose to the four members of the Central Committee that they answer me immediately: a) on what grounds did they fail to invite Comrade Osipov, a member of the Central Committee, to the meeting? b) the same regarding myself? c) do they recognize the duty of the majority of a collegium to adopt general decisions only after the minority has been invited to the conference and has been given the opportunity to express itself during the discussion of the questions and to submit its dissenting opinion? d) do they consider themselves obliged to answer on the merits all the questions touched upon in the agreement of May 26, 1904?

5) In view of the fact that the four members of the Central Committee communicated their unlawfully adopted decision (as an alleged decision of the entire Central Committee) to the Central Organ, I am compelled to address the Party workers, whom this quite closely concerns, with a letter regarding the methods of action of the four members of the Central Committee.

Member of the Central Committee