V. I.

Lenin

187

To:   N. Y. VILONOV

March 27, 1910

Dear Comrade Mikhail, How is your health? Are you getting better? Write about this, tell us whether
you are putting on weight and how much.

The fog of conciliatory unity among us is beginning to disperse. I am sending
you a reprint from No. 12 of
Sotsiai-Demokrat [1] You will see from it that there has been an all-out fight with the Golos
group. The question now boils down to whether there are any Plekhanovites in
existence, whether there are any pro-Party Mensheviks in
existence, or whether all the Mensheviks are Golos supporters,
and Plekhanov is simply an isolated individual.

Intensified agitation has to be carried on for the withdrawal of the
Plekhanovites from the Golos groups, for the replacement of the
Golos supporter in the Bureau of the C.C. Abroad by a
Plekhanovite and so on—and by means of such agitation to verify in practice whether Party unity will result at least in our unity with
the Plekhanovites or whether nothing at all will come of it.

The group of Bolsheviks here is about to start such agitation; when it does,
you will receive news of it.

The
Vperyodists [2] are holding a sort of meeting here; it is said
that Bogdanov and Stanislav have arrived. What they intend to do is not
known. They are behaving stupidly and the Central Organ will, probably, have to
fight them as well, after their first press statement. There was a letter from
Russia saying that Alexinsky wrote to the Moscow Vperyod group about
their plan to organise a school of their own for 50 people (they have
raised money, then?)

but that the Vperyod people in Moscow are said to be inclined
towards a general party school.

There is no correspondence with Gorky. It is rumoured that he has become
disillusioned with Bogdanov and has realised the falsity of the latter’s
behaviour. Have you any news from Capri?

There are few forces in Russia. Ah, if only we could send from here a good
Party worker to the C.C. or for convening a conference! But here everyone
is a “has-been”.

Keep well and write, All the best.

Yours,

Lenin

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Notes:
[1]
The reprint from No. 12 of Sotsial-Demokrat for March 23
(April 5), 1910 contained Lenin’s article “ Golos (Voice) of the
Liquidators Against the Party (Reply to Golos Sotsial-Demokrata )”^^(see Vol. 16 of this edition)^^.

[2]
Vperyodists —adherents of the Vperyod anti-Party group,
consisting of otzovists, ultimatumists, god-builders and empirio-monists;
organised in December 1909 on the initiative of Bogdanov and Alexinsky; the
group had its press organ of the same name. In 1912 together with the
Menshevik liquidators they joined the general anti-Party bloc (the August
bloc) against the Bolsheviks, which was organised by Trotsky. Lacking
support among the workers, the group virtually fell to pieces in 1913. It
disintegrated completely in 1917, after the February revolution.