V. I.

Lenin

TO THE EDITORIAL BOARD OF PRAVDA

Letter to the Editors

The undersigned, now in the capacity of a permanent political contributor to Pravda and Nevskaya Zvezda ,
considers it his duty to express his protest against the
behaviour of the colleagues in charge of these newspapers
at a critical time.

The elections in St. Petersburg, both in the workers’ curia and in the 2nd urban curia, are a critical moment,
a moment for realising the results of five years of work,
a moment for determining, in many respects, the direction
of work for the next five years.

At such a moment, the leading organ of working-class democrats must follow a clear, firm, and precisely defined
policy. But Pravda , which is in many respects effectively
the leading organ, is not conducting such a policy.

Luch and
Metallist , [1] with their desperate shouts about “unity”, are carrying on under that “popular” flag the
worst policy of the liquidators, namely, insubordination of
an insignificant minority to the vast majority of Marxist
workers in St. Petersburg, imposition of the candidate of
some three, five or ten tiny groups of intellectuals and a
handful of workers on hundreds of consistent working-class
democratic groups.

During the few days remaining before the election of workers’ electors, during the few weeks remaining before
elections in St. Petersburg in the 2nd curia, it is Pravda ’s
undoubted duty to carry on a merciless fight against this
deception of the mass of workers, behind the barrage of
pious and popular phrases. Its bounden duty is in the most detailed fashion to explain, demonstrate, chew up for
all and sundry, 1st, that liquidationism is a non-Marxist,
liberal trend; 2 nd, that unity requires the subordination
of the minority to the majority, whereas the liquidators
are beyond doubt, as the experience of eight months’ work
shows, an insignificant minority; 3 rd, that those who want to support the
working-class democracy must know where the mass of workers stand, and where the philistine intelligentsia, which
is playing at Marxism; 4 th, that the conference which the
liquidators and Luch are fussing about has been denounced and
exposed both by the neutral Plekhanov (he said straight
out that “ non-Party and anti-Party elements” took part
in their conference) and even by Alexinsky, who is hostile
to the anti-liquidators.

And so on, and so forth.

Unless Pravda explains all this in good time, it will be
responsible for the confusion and the disruption, since,
having the vast majority of the workers behind it and having explained matters in good time, Pravda would
most certainly have ensured unity, because the liquidators
are past masters at boasting and threats, but would never
dare act against Pravda .

Pravda itself has admitted that there are two clearly formalised lines, platforms, collective wills (the August,
or liquidators’, line and the January line). Yet Pravda
creates the opinion that it is carrying on some third line
“of its own”, invented only yesterday by someone and amounting (as we have learned from St. Petersburg through
other channels, since Pravda ’s editorial board has stubbornly refused to favour us with a reply) either to letting
the liquidators have one of the three candidates, or handing over to them the whole of the 2nd curia “in
exchange for the workers’ curia”. If these rumours are untrue,
Pravda bears the entire responsibility for them, because
you cannot sow such uncertainty among Marxists that unquestionable friends , Marxists, believe these rumours,
and pass them on.

At this hot time, Nevskaya Zvezda is closed down, without a single letter or explanation, collective exchange
of opinion is completely interrupted, and political contributors are left in the dark , not knowing whom they are
helping after all to get elected; may it not be a liquidator?
I am obliged hotly to protest against this, and to decline
any responsibility for this abnormal situation, which is
pregnant with drawn-out conflicts.

Please communicate this letter to the “boss” of Pravda and Nevskaya Zvezda , to the whole editorial board of both
papers and all contributors who are consistent working-class democrats.

Greetings,
V. Ilyin