V. I.

Lenin

1904

To Odessa

From Lenin, C.C. member abroad and member of the
Council

Comrades, We have been informed privately that the majority of
the Nikolayev Committee is accused of incorrect action. [1]
I should very much like to be clear on what happened. Be so
kind as to reply to me immediately yourselves (and ask for
an immediate reply to me also from the comrades who are
at present members of the Nikolayev Committee, passing this letter on to them) on the following questions:

(1) Who were the members of the Nikolayev Committee before the raid of March 8–9? A full list of conspirative
names is essential. How many members were there in all?
How many supported the Minority and how many the
Majority?

(2) Were all the members of the Nikolayev Committee arrested on March 8–9? If not, how many remain? How many
belong to the Majority, and how many to the Minority?

(3) Was or was there not a formal resolution of the
Nikolayev Committee (before the raid of March 8–9) on the
nomination of candidates? If there was, when was it adopted,
how many candidates were nominated and who precisely were they?

(4) Have there been arrests in the Nikolayev Committee since March 8–9? What changes in its composition did each
of these arrests bring about?

(5) Were or were not Comrades S. and O. (members of the
Minority with whom there was a dispute) members of the
Nikolayev Committee before the raid? Did they or did they
not work in Nikolayev earlier? If they did, when, how long, in what capacity, in which group, in which line, etc.?
When precisely did S. and O. come to Nikolayev?

(6) How many days after the wholesale arrests (March
8--9) did Comrade N. come to Nikolayev?

(7) What right had Comrade N. to declare Comrades
S. and O. members of the Nikolayev Committee, without
consulting Comrades V. and A., members of the Nikolayev
Committee, and without obtaining their consent?

(8) Did Comrades S. and O. make any complaint about being members of the Nikolayev Committee without any
appointment and without co-optation? If they did, please
state in detail on what grounds.

(9) What connections were Comrades S. and O. supposed to hand over to Comrades V., N. and A.? Where did
Comrades S. and O. get these connections? Who gave these
connections to them, and when?

(10) Why did S. and O. not recognise Comrades V. and
A. as the Committee?

(11) What official organisations of the Nikolayev
Committee existed at the time of the raid of March 8–9, i.e.,
what groups of agitators, of organisers, of propagandists,
etc., and how many such groups? Please list all without
fail, and state how many members there were in each, how
many of the Minority and how many of the Majority?

(12) When was the group of agitators whose meeting of
10 on April 20 adopted a resolution in favour of the
Majority formed? Was it before the raid or after the raid? Was
its composition changed after the raid, and how precisely?
Did or did not this group (or some other groups) have a
formal or tacit right to nominate candidates for membership
of the local Committee?

(13) Do you happen to know from where, and with whose help (in cash, etc.), S. and O. were sent?