V. I. Lenin

Source: ru:LS/v38;es:MT
Translated: machine translation (DeepSeek) from the Russian; AI-translated.

Dear Comrade,
I have received your letter of February 28, 1913, and hasten to inform you that I am prepared to pay you 300 francs for your work.
The wording of page 1 which you propose—“(Although the agreements concluded between the various factions of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party do not constitute legal acts, we shall nevertheless, in the interests of justice, briefly examine,” etc.—is accepted by us.
(1) Thus, agreement has been reached on this point.
(2) Mrs. Ignatieva’s letter will be appended in full to the text of the conclusion. The letter you wish to have—confirmation that Mrs. Ignatieva is indeed the donor of the Bolsheviks—I am sending you herewith.*
The only remaining question is how to reconcile this letter of Mrs. Ignatieva with the following passage of your conclusion:
“Whereas Lenin’s credentials as representative of the Bolsheviks have never been disputed** and whereas the fact of the original ownership of these funds has never been disputed by the Bolsheviks...”
We propose, firstly, to add “as is proved by the letters addressed to Mr. Lenin (Ulyanov) by Messrs. Mehring, Kautsky and Zetkin...”
—and, secondly, to delete the last sentence [You yourself say above: “it does not matter that the ownership was disputed.” Consequently, it was disputed, but this fact is of no significance because it has been proved that Lenin was the owner]—and to replace it with Mrs. Ignatieva’s letter in such a way that the wording would be (approximately) as follows:
“The letters addressed to Mr. Lenin (Ulyanov) by all three arbitrators—Messrs. Mehring, Kautsky and Zetkin—conclusively prove that Lenin’s credentials as representative of the Bolsheviks have never been disputed. As regards the original ownership of these funds, the letter on the reverse of this sheet proves that this ownership cannot be disputed by the Bolsheviks.
Mrs. Ignatieva, the sister of the late Mr. Schmidt, who bequeathed these funds to the Bolsheviks, has carried out the will of her deceased brother. Mrs. Ignatieva writes as follows:
...in full*...
Taking all this into consideration, we see no argument that could prevent the return of these funds to Mr. Ulyanov (Lenin).”
(3) As regards the concluding part, we accept your proposal to formulate reservation 1 as follows: “the agreement of January 1910 has no legal force.”
As regards reservations 2 and 3, we do not have their text. But we hope that it will be very easy for you to reach full agreement with Comrade Kamenev (M. Rosenfeld, 11. Rue Roli. Paris XIV) on this point, which is of secondary importance.
I am sending a copy of this letter to Mr. Rosenfeld, whom the Central Committee has instructed to pay you 300 francs for your work and to receive from you the signed conclusion and the documents entrusted to your keeping.
Accept, dear comrade, my socialist greetings.
N. Lenin (Vl. Ulyanov)
Cracow, March 7, 1913

Dear Comrade,
I hereby certify that Mrs. Ignatieva, who has written to you concerning the Bolshevik funds, is indeed née Schmidt, the sister of the late Mr. Schmidt, who bequeathed his property to the Bolsheviks. Thus, it is Mrs. Ignatieva, who carried out the will of her deceased brother, who is the donor of the Bolsheviks. She can