In a period when party Mensheviks in a whole series of émigré groups are rallying together and coming out with ever greater decisiveness against the clearly liquidationist tendency of the *Golos Sotsial-Demokrata*, the Viennese *Pravda* continues to conduct itself evasively. In No. 12 we find an article "Toward Unity – Through All Obstacles." In this article one cannot but approve the first, though very timid, very incomplete attempt to fulfill the Central Committee resolution on elucidating the danger of liquidationism. But then the entire first part of the article is a specimen of how far certain supposedly non-factional social-democrats are from defending party principles—farther indeed than the party Mensheviks.

Here *Pravda* utters an outright falsehood, claiming that the editorial board of the Central Organ in the article "*Golos*—The Liquidators Against the Party"[34] declared "the entire agreement torn up." Anyone who has read No. 12 of the Central Organ sees that we declared nothing of the kind. The agreement was with the Mensheviks on the condition of their recognition of party principles and sincere, consistent renunciation of liquidationism. The *Golos Sotsial-Demokrata* and the group of its like-minded supporters in Russia tore up this agreement: some, like Mikhail, Roman, Yuri, and others in Russia, by openly declaring the agreement itself harmful ("the Central Committee resolutions are harmful"; the very existence of the Central Committee is harmful; there is nothing to liquidate in the party, for it is already liquidated), others, like the *Golos*, by defending the actions of the first group. The party Mensheviks, headed by Plekhanov, rose up against the *Golos* people precisely for this violation of the agreement. If *Pravda* nevertheless wishes to continue speaking of Mensheviks "in general" while having in mind only the *Golos* people, keeping silent about the Plekhanovites and the party Mensheviks, then we shall expose such conduct always and everywhere.

*Pravda* declares that it "cannot and does not wish to enter into a discussion" of the conflicts after the plenum, first of all, because it "does not have the necessary factual material for correct judgment."

To this we reply: if until now the émigré *Pravda* has failed to perceive sufficient "material" in the conduct of the *Golos* liquidators, then it will never perceive it. To see the truth, one must not fear looking truth in the face.

"...Second, and this is most important—because organizational conflicts require organizational, not literary intervention."

This principle is correct. But it is precisely the party Mensheviks who "intervened," as any party member should have done, in the evaluation of a *principled*, not organizational conflict. *Pravda* does the opposite. In proclaiming this principle, it fails to follow it in practice. In practice, the entire first paragraph of its article *Pravda* devoted precisely to "intervention" in an organizational conflict. More than that. In expounding the organizational conflict, *Pravda* pours water on the liquidators' mill by calling our article "extremely sharp," while simultaneously failing to evaluate the anti-party conduct of the *Golos* people; it speaks falsehood by calling the struggle between the party Central Organ and the anti-party section of the Mensheviks (namely, the *Golos* people) a factional collision; it speaks half the truth by keeping silent about the schismatic manifesto of the four editors of the *Golos Sotsial-Demokrata*; and so forth.

The Workers' newspaper should have either refrained from touching upon the "organizational" conflict, or expounded it fully and truthfully to the end.

One of the serious obstacles to party unity is the attempt to mask the anti-party nature of the *Golos*. Silence regarding its liquidationism or a frivolous attitude toward it only exacerbates its danger.

*Sotsial-Demokrat* No. 13, April 26 (May 9), 1910

Printed from the text of the newspaper *Sotsial-Demokrat*