Date: 1908-06-30
Source: ru:PSS/v47; en:CW/CW43

Source: PSS, Volume 47

Geneva, June 30, 1908

Dear Comrade!

I wrote to you that the members of our Central Committee had been arrested in Russia.

Now my friend informs me that one member of the Central Committee is at liberty. He
[writes] that you have [received the first] half of our party’s report… the report intended for… Stuttgart.

In a month—my friend continues—we will be able to send the other half of the report; [provided] Comrade Huysmans [confirms] that our report will be published.

Please, dear comrade, reply to this letter… and I will immediately forward [your response to Russia].

With fraternal [greetings], N. Lenin

---

Sent to Brussels

First published

in French in 1962

in the journal Cahiers du Monde Russe et Sovietique, No. 4

Printed in Russian

for the first time, from a photocopy of the manuscript

Translated from French

by V. V. Vorovsky

Dear Friend! Thank you for your letter. Both of your “suspicions” are unfounded. I have not been nervous,
but our situation is indeed difficult. A split with Bogdanov is looming. The real cause is resentment over the sharp criticism leveled at his papers—

* The manuscript of this document is partially damaged. The words enclosed in square brackets have been reconstructed based on their contextual meaning and on the few surviving letters. Ed.

—not in the least in the editorial revision—of his philosophical* views. Now Bogdanov is seizing upon every possible point of disagreement. He has dragged the boycott into the open, together with Aleksinsky, who is making a great deal of scandal and with whom I was forced to sever all ties—163.

They are engineering a split on the basis of empirio‑monism and boycottism. The conflict will erupt swiftly. A showdown at the upcoming conference is inevitable. A split is highly probable. I will withdraw from the faction as soon as the line of “leftist” and genuinely “boycottist” tendencies gains the upper hand. I invited you, thinking that your prompt arrival would help to calm things down. We still fully expect you to attend the conference in August, according to the new style. Be sure to arrange matters so that we can send delegates abroad. We will send funds for travel to all Bolsheviks. At the local level, issue the slogan: mandates should be granted only to local comrades—and only to those who are actively engaged in the work. We earnestly request that you contribute articles to our newspaper. We can now pay for articles—and we will pay promptly and reliably.

I shake your hand.

Do you know of any publisher who might agree to bring out my philosophy, which I am about to write? 164

Written on July 2, 1908

Sent from Geneva to Odessa

First published in 1924

in the journal Kommunist

(Odessa), No. 33

Printed from a typewritten

copy (censored)