V. I.

Lenin

The Question of Organisation [1]

The Bolsheviks plainly stated, in the committee appointed by the
Congress to draft the Party Rules, that any attempt to curtail the autonomy of
the local organisations and the rights of the opposition as formulated by the
factional Third Congress will inevitably lead to a split. That is why the
Bolsheviks insisted that the right to call for another Congress should not be
restricted, etc. The Bolsheviks proposed that a clause be inserted in the Rules
to the effect that members of the Party, on changing their place of residence,
should have the right to belong to the local Party organisation. The Congress
rejected this proposal, but adopted a resolution stating that it rejected the clause solely because it was superfluous and self-evident .

Thus the Mensheviks promised to remain loyal to the agreement, and not to resort
to the mean trick of “chucking out” dissidents. Let the Party
watchfully see to it that they keep their promise. The Party’s control is the
only guarantee that a split will be precluded.

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Notes:
[1]
Lenin wrote the note “ The Question of Organisation ” by
way of an editorial afterword to an article of that name dealing with the
relations between the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks in the local Party
organisations.