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* LETTER TO MOTYA AND KOSTYA ON THE QUESTION
OF A CONSTITUENT CONGRESS OF THE PARTY.
Odessa. * ((To the members of the “Bolshevik” section of the Odessa organization, Motya and
Kostya)).
End of September, 1905. Geneva.
Comrades! I have received your “letter to the comrades.” I shall not publish it, nor do you ask for that.** But I consider it my duty to answer you. I have already stated in print more than once what I now repeat to you. It is useless to complain and weep over the split. We must work to eliminate it, think about how to unite, and not string together commonplaces and sorrowful exclamations.*** To complain about the struggle between two parties and to create a third, and a secret one at that, as you did, hiding from both organizations—means intensifying the split. If you were expelled for violating the rules of the organization, then you got what you deserved,**** and it is in vain that you try to confuse the matter, presenting it as though you were expelled for your opinions, for your conciliationism, and not for your disorganization.
A “constituent congress” is an empty phrase. Just think a tiny bit, a wee bit, a smidgen***** which groups exactly, and how many representatives, should be sent?? Think a teensy bit,****** how would you react to the idea of a Constituent Assembly without the fundamentals of electoral law? Wouldn’t you call that charlatanism??
Why do you keep silent about the idea of two congresses, of the [Bolsheviks] and [Mensheviks], at the same time and in the same place?? This idea was put forward by the C.C. and Proletary. Wouldn’t it be easier to convene two congresses from the two existing parties, than first to create a third (on this you will spend months, if not years) and then convene

* This word is crossed out in pencil. — Ed.
** The last sentence is crossed out in pencil. — Ed.
*** This sentence is corrected in pencil to read: “Commonplaces and sorrowful exclamations will be of little help.” — Ed.
**** The words: “you got what you deserved” are corrected to “rightly.” — Ed.
***** The words: “a tiny bit, a wee bit, a smidgen” are crossed out. — Ed.
****** The word: “a teensy bit” is crossed out. — Ed.

LETTER TO MOTYA AND KOSTYA
three congresses?? What fool* would submit to a “Constituent Congress” without knowing in advance whether it is really Social-Democrats, which Social-Democrats exactly, and in what proportion they will be represented there???
The slogan “two congresses” speaks for itself: 1) the consent of one party out of the two; 2) the full readiness of the Bolsheviks for a congress and the known norms for its convocation and the rights of its congress; 3) the possibility of achieving the same in the groups and organizations of the other party very quickly: to publish all groups, to poll them, to print a draft statute of the congress.
But your slogan—“constituent congress”! has in its favor only the whining of certain whiners,** for not a single part of the party knows the foundations of this congress in any respect. You are simply people of little faith and weak nerves. [You saw a filthy disease, stinking pimples, and turned away. That is understandable, humanly speaking, but not rational.]*** But we think that one must not turn away, that**** a third party will lead to nothing, while the two present ones will still unite, even if not immediately and not without painful operations.
The idea of a constituent congress of the party in 1905 was put forward by D. B. Ryazanov; the Berlin group of Social-Democrats, headed by Kohn, solidarized with him.
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Appendix.
L e t t e r t o t h e C o m r a d e s ......
...Comrades! The past year must serve as a bitter experience for us. It has shown that no agreements between the “central institutions” can bring peace to our party, that the steps they undertake only serve each time as a pretext for new squabbles. We now clearly see that the cause of “unification” is the cause of all conscious workers... Seeing what chaos now reigns in the organizations, what an atmosphere of apathy has been created thanks to the split, we, the peripheral workers, declare the following: the only way out of this chaos, we believe, is the convocation of a “constituent congress” in which all Social-Democrats could take part. The last few months, beginning with January 9, have brought forward a whole series of questions,

* The words: “What fool” are corrected to: “Who.” — Ed.
** The words: “has in its favor only the whining of certain whiners” are corrected to “is an empty enterprise.” — Ed.
*** The last two sentences are crossed out. — Ed.
**** The beginning of the sentence is corrected to: “But we think that.” — Ed.

LENIN’S COLLECTION
have revealed such shortcomings in our movement that they require the indication and resolution not only of one or another faction, but all Social-Democratic organizations must take part in working out common plans and decisions. We are fully convinced that if a constituent congress is convened, at which all Social-Democratic organizations will be represented, only then will an end be put to the present state of affairs in the party. We think that only when factional struggle and all considerations of legality are cast aside can we hope that a congress will be convened among us that will lay the foundation for a united party. Only such a united party, rallying all Social-Democratic proletarian elements, united with all Social-Democratic national organizations, such as: the “Bund,” the “Latvian,” the “Polish” S.D.P., will be able to work for the common good of the all-Russian proletariat. Only such a party can stand at the head of the struggle against absolutism and ensure that its liquidation takes place under the most favorable conditions for the class struggle of the proletariat.
Members of the “Bolshevik” section of the Odessa organization, Motya and Kostya.