V. I.

Lenin

101

To:   G. D. LEITEISEN

12/XII. 04

Dear Leiteisen, Today we finally, and practically , settled the question of the
organ. We propose to begin publishing as of January 1–10; the size will be
half the old Iskra (something like
Osvobozhdeniye )—100,000 characters, or roughly four rages of the
old Iskra . It should come out fortnightly, and still better,
weekly. [2]

The cost will be about 400 frs. an issue. For one issue we
have the money, and for the rest— promises.... This is on the
short side, and the initial period is especially hard going. Because of
this, remembering your offer, I turn to you: consider the question
thoroughly and write how much you could give to help; we shall count on you
in an emergency (besides promises of a “big sum” from Russia, we have
some “prospects” of getting a few hundred francs here, and then, apart
from this, so far in the past three or four months there has always been a
thousand or two francs available for pamphlets). It would be good to know
the maximum we can be sure of getting from you in an emergency ,
when we are unable to raise money anywhere and the paper is threatened with
death.

Now about writing for us; We count on having you as our permanent
correspondent covering the French movement. We should carry 8,000–12,000
characters once in two weeks about French socialism and working-class
movement, etc. Let us have something without fail by January 1 .

Further. Since you are au courant as regards French political life (as
you told me yourself) and are in a position to follow the latest
literature, sometimes better than from Paris, perhaps you could keep us
posted on, and at times obtain and forward to us, or review, etc.,
interesting new books, articles and items published in journals, and the
like. The foreign press now writes a great deal about
Russia. There is much that never comes to our knowledge; you see far more
newspapers, journals, books. For instance, I recently happened to read
about the book Rouble et roublards by a French correspondent who
fled from Russia after the outbreak of the war. It would be extremely
important for the paper to keep abreast of such new books and to carry articles about them. Please give this serious thought and render us
all-round literary assistance. Draw our attention to interesting
new publications and send us items and extracts from socialist
newspapers and journals which we could translate for the paper, etc. For
you probably follow practically the entire French ( and Belgian ? [1]

)

socialist press, don’t you?

Bear in mind, then, that we are seriously counting on you.

You must come here on Christmas. It is most important to talk things
over, at leisure, thoroughly, concretely.

Did you write Plekhanov about the “Zemstvo” views of the new
Iskra ? Their letter is stupid, isn’t it? [3] And Starover in No. 78 is simply delightful.

Yours,
N. Lenin

By the way, Could you send me material to refute Starover’s reference
to Clemenceau? For it is incorrect. [4] Please get the material and send it to me. It would be
edifying to refute him factually.

---
Notes:
[1]
We have no correspondent in Belgium. Can you undertake the job or
suggest somebody? — Lenin

[2]
A reference to the illegal Bolshevik paper Vperyod , published
in Geneva under Lenin’s guidance from December 22, 1904 (January 4, 1905)
to May 5 (18), 1905.

[3]
In a letter from the editors of the Menshevik Iskra published
in November 1904, the Mensheviks put forward as the Social-Democrats’ main
task the “organised influencing on the bourgeois opposition” by
presenting demands to the government through bourgeois liberals and Zemstvo
leaders.

[4]
In an article “Our Misfortunes” published in Iskra No. 78,
A. N. Potresov (Starover), criticising Lenin, cited the programme of the
French Radical Party, of which Georges Clemenceau was leader.