V. I.

Lenin

257

To:   L. B. KAMENEV

Dear L. B., I am furious with you for your carelessness: you did not arrange for
letters from the congress!! But of that another time. You made Koba lose
most precious time.

Now to the point. In my opinion you handled things in Basle—under the
circumstances—superbly. It couldn’t have been done better. There couldn’t
have been a better occasion to unmask the liquidators. (I
gathered—for you “haven’t finished” your letter yet!—that the
I.S.B. did not examine at all the division of votes). The
outcome was a tie, and this was the best outcome with the present
balance of strength.... [1]

The question of the “nationals” was, in my opinion, in place ,
like all the three questions. In a word, as regards the main
thing—félicitations les plus chaleureuses!

Why was Muranov’s signature missing? For the telegram was on Sunday !! [2]

So far we have seen two of the six: Malinovsky and Muranov. Impression
excellent.... The soil is rich, but a great deal of work is
needed....

P.S. In my opinion, parity can be agreed to, but you must put forward one
condition: rejection of Haase because of bias and insulting
behaviour in the Bureau.

It is our legitimate right and moral duty to reject his candidacy. And
politically it is clear... hatching a malicious intrigue against us....