V. I.

Lenin

108

To:   V. A. NOSKOV

To Com. Glebov . In reply to your note of August 30, 1904, we inform
you that the lawfulness and validity of the C.C. decisions to which you refer
have been contested by C.C. member, Comrade Lenin. In the capacity of
C.C. agents who have been kept informed of the whole course of the conflict
within the C.C. we, in turn, also contest the lawfulness of this decision and
state that the decision of the C.C. cannot be recognised as lawful, for it
begins by stating as a fact what is known to be untrue: here abroad we ourselves
have seen two C.C. members who were not informed of the meeting of the
Central Committee. Since you have once told us a direct untruth (about an
alleged ban imposed by the Central Committee on Comrade Lenin’s
book
[1]

)

we
are the more inclined to doubt statements emanating from you. We therefore
request you to furnish us immediately with exact data for checking the
lawfulness of the C.C. decision (composition of the meeting
[2]

and written statements of each participant). While having no intention whatever to oppose
lawful decisions of an actual majority of the C.C. we shall pay no attention to
any statement of yours until this lawfulness has been proved to us.

---
Notes:
[1]
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (see present edition, Vol. 7)— Ed .

[2]
To avoid misinterpretation, we state that after publication of the
untrue statement (in the declaration) concerning the composition of the
meeting, we have absolutely no possibility of arriving at the truth except
by getting to know the composition of the meeting.
— Lenin