V. I.

Lenin

129

To:   THE SECRETARY OF THE MAJORITY COMMITTEES’ BUREAU

January 29, 1905

Dear friend, I have a great favour to ask you: please give Rakhmetov a scolding, yes, a good
sound scolding. Really, he acts towards us like the Osvobozhdeniye
people [2] or priest
Gapon [3] towards the

Social-Democrats. I have just been looking at the table of our correspondence
with
Russia. [4] Gusev sent us six letters in ten days, but Rakhmetov
two in thirty days. What do you think of that? Not a sign of him. Not a line for
Vperyod . Not a word about the work, plans and connections. It’s simply
impossible, incredible, a disgrace. No. 4 of Vperyod will come out in a
day or two, and immediately after it (a few days later) No. 5, but without any
support from Rakhmetov. Today letters arrived from St. Petersburg dated January
10, very brief ones. And no one arranged for good and full letters about the
Ninth of
January! [5]

I have had no reply whatever to my letter to Rakhmetov about literary
contributions! [1]

Neither is there anything about the Bureau and the congress. [6] Yet
it is so important to hurry up with the announcement concerning the Bureau and
with the convening of the congress. For heaven’s sake, don’t trust
the Mensheviks and the C.C., and go ahead everywhere and in the most vigorous
manner with the split, a split and again a split. We here, carried away by
enthusiasm for the revolution, were on the point of joining with the Mensheviks at a public meeting, but they cheated us again, and shame fully at that. We
earnestly warn anyone who does not want to be made a fool of: a split, and an
absolute split.