To the 3[Border] Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party

Dear comrades!

We received your letter dated 27/1/11. You spent exactly 7 weeks (literally!) on "voting" the question of calling a plenum. And only now have you finally recognized that "the Bolsheviks' proposal to convene a plenum1* to solve the question of money is in agreement with the decision of the last plenum "1. Your strange slowness and delay for two months in answering a perfectly clear and simple question is all the more criminal because now you yourself have been forced to admit that our demand is "in agreement with the decision of the last plenum". On what grounds, it is asked, did you allow the voices of Igor and those who stand behind him to frustrate a demand which is "in agreement with the decision of the last plenum"? And, further, you now admit that the last meeting of the Central Committee provided for the convening of a plenum in case of our (Bolshevik) request, and not, for example, the "narrow composition" about which you write two lines below. Meanwhile, you - the technical executive board - take the liberty of helping those who disrupt any Central Committee, and together with them declare the convening of the plenum (provided for, in your own words, by the Central Committee, of which you are supposed to be the executive body) "inexpedient"!

For the disruption of the plenum, therefore, the entire responsibility falls on you, and against this course of action of yours we strongly protest, reserving the right to fight against it - first of all by publicizing the whole procedure.

But at the same time, the forthcoming convocation of the narrow Central Committee is, of course, a very important new circumstance. It could not have been foreseen when we submitted our application and when it seemed that the efforts of the Russian and foreign liquidators had paralyzed the Central Committee for a long time. We of course attach great importance to the decisions of at least the narrow membership of the Central Committee, and we agree, therefore, that the 3-month period (see the resolution of the plenum) should be counted from the time of the adoption of the resolution of the ZBCC, so that the narrow membership of the Central Committee would not be too constrained in time2.

As for your proposal concerning our agreement to borrow from the "holder's" money, we reply to it as follows: "We agree to this proposal, understanding it to mean that the loan will be made, of course, on the same basis as it was made for last month - without any protest on anyone's part, i.e., that: - only as much will be borrowed from the "holders" as will not be sufficient for the expenses of the general party enterprises (the Russian work of the Central Committee, the Central Committee, and the ZBCC). Of course, we do not agree to change the modus operandi of the loans, especially in view of the forthcoming convening of the Central] Komittee, according to your own words, in the near future.

We request that a copy of this letter be communicated to the Central Committee of our Party, as well as to the central committees of the "national" organizations.

With comrade greetings for myself and on behalf of T. Lenin and Kamenev.

G. Zinoviev.

31/I 11 y.

Fund 17, op. 1, d. 969, fol. 1-2 - autograph of G.E.Zinoviev.

1*The following is crossed out: "isis".

2* Further crossed out: "this".

1The published letter is one of the documents of the struggle of the Bolsheviks for the return of the money they handed over to the Central Committee of the RSDLP at the plenum in January 1910. In accordance with the decisions of the plenum, the representatives of the Bolsheviks present at the plenum ceased publication of the newspaper Proletarian, declared the liquidation of the Bolshevik Center and the dissolution of the Bolshevik faction, transferred to the all-party treasury (under the control of the "holders") the money belonging to them, stipulating the conditions under which these funds could be claimed: "the continuation of the publication by the Mensheviks of a leading faction organ, the preservation of the Menshevik faction treasury, and the refusal to assist all-party centers in Russia and abroad." By the end of 1910, according to the Bolshevik leadership, the Mensheviks had not fulfilled the resolutions of the plenum and all the above conditions for the return of the money were in place. December 5, 1910. V.I. Lenin, L.B. Kamenev and G.E. Zinoviev, speaking on behalf of themselves and by proxy of I.P. Goldenberg (Meshkovsky), sent a statement to the ZBCC demanding the immediate convening of a plenum of the Central Committee to resolve the question of the money. The statement referred to the procedure stipulated by the January plenum of the Central Committee: if the representatives of the Bolsheviks demanded the release of the remaining sums, this question would be finally decided within three months by the "holders", and "a plenum would be convened for this purpose beforehand, which would take a decision on this question" (see: Lenin V.I., Complete Works, vol. 48, p. 335). The letter of January 27, 1911, quoted by Zinoviev and Lenin from the ZBCCK is a reply to the Bolsheviks' application of December 5, 1910.

2ZBTsK had information about a meeting of the Russian Collegium of the Central Committee of the RSDLP being prepared. The meeting did not take place. During an attempt to hold it in Tula on March 26 (April 8), 1911, its organizers-Bolsheviks - member of the Central Committee of the RSDLP V.P.Nogin, candidate member of the Central Committee G.D.Leiteisen and a number of other persons - were arrested.