MORE ON THE CASE OF R. MALINOVSKY

By putting forward news that "we" (the guiding institution) or I (Lenin) "have long known about rumors," the liquidators are acting systematically, like blackmailers. Their goal is to keep the working-class environment in "agitation," to stir up trouble, to breed dirty suspicions, to say nothing definite and thus, without being responsible for anything, to achieve their goal — the disorganization of the workers' party. It suffices to point out a little more to give an idea of the only correct response to such tactics.

"Rumors"! Why then do the liquidators not print exactly who, where, when? Let them print it. Let them begin! Our main and fundamental mistake would be if we allowed the blackmailers to question us!! No, let them tell everything. We do not believe a single word of theirs and do not want to answer slanderers.

"Rumors"! But why did they not report the rumors:

(1st) to their August institution? When did they report it, if they reported it? Where is their (August institution's) then resolution?

(2nd) to their faction in the Duma? Where? When? Resolution?

3rd, to the common faction in the Duma, if rumors arose (and that is precisely what happened) even when the faction was common.

4th, to Burtsev. We have a telegram from Burtsev (which we telegraphed to you long, long ago), that Burtsev knows nothing, heard nothing.3 This is a document! So, the blackmailers kept it in their pocket, not believing the rumors themselves!! That is the crux of the matter.

We knew about the rumors circulating, for example, between two (and may be more) Viennese, one of whom is our young and inexperienced writer,4 who allowed himself to be duped by blackmailers, and the other is the editor or participant of the Trotskyist "Bor'ba"5 Sher, if not a liquidator today, then a liquidator yesterday, politically connected with Martov and Dan. Our outstanding representative, or rather, a member of the current Russian Social-Democratic] Labor Faction,6 was informed about the rumors, and the guiding institution, having considered them in an incomplete composition, of course, found such nonsense, such absurdity, such obvious Martov and Dan gossip before it that, of course, it rejected them and condemned them irrevocably, considering it beneath its dignity to reckon with Purishkevich's methods, hidden behind Sher or near Sher, enemies of the working class or liquidators.

That is the crux of the matter! If the liquidators considered the rumors serious, why did they not report them to their institutions? to the common faction? to Burtsev? etc.? Precisely because they are only blackmailers.

Or the "rumors" regarding the search of Malinovsky's apartment in Moscow during or after "Nash Put'"7 — rumors (from the same source) that this was supposedly a "comradely search"!8 Again, the same obvious absurdity, the same blackmail, the same silence of the liquidators before their institutions.

It is in vain that you are indignant at my (or our?) letters. It is in vain that you accuse me or us of being late with the telegram about the rumors. Firstly, we could not have started talking about the rumors and before your telegram (that the liquidators are saying - in print - about the rumors) we could not have known about it. Secondly, the first and most important part of yesterday's telegram2 was sent by us 1 1/2 weeks ago, in precise, clear, direct words: "print: Martov and Dan are slanderers, afraid to accuse openly." It is your fault that you did not print this at that time, immediately giving the matter a different direction, placing the onus probandi1* on the liquidators.

But, of course, I do not want to reproach you - it is natural that, irritated by Malinovsky's stupidest act, you and I swore and were nervous.

Note. In one article, I swore furiously, because I was afraid precisely that the editor would release the blackmailers!!! The editor hesitated in his tactics.

The point now is not that, but how to continue the correct line of struggle against the blackmailers. The arrival of a deputy could further accelerate the finding of this line, which we again telegraphed long ago and did not even receive a response.

Let the liquidators themselves begin to talk about the rumors and talk to the end: they will be killed by these gossips. Let them appoint an "investigation" or look for faithful investigation companions, Narodniks, Burtsev, anyone, - we must firmly stand on the fact that Martov and Dan are slanderers, in whose every single word we do not believe, demanding absolutely a Crown Court (in Russia or in a Western European country) after Martov and Dan wish to come out openly and with signatures.

We must stand absolutely on this and, I repeat, if the phrase from our old telegram (Martov, Dan are slanderers, afraid to accuse openly) had been printed then, a week ago, the slanderers would have been cornered and would not have wriggled out. By omitting the printing of this phrase, you gave the slanderers one chance to wriggle out.

Let's assume that the slanderers will now adopt such a tactic: they will declare that they are satisfied with the statement of the guiding institution (in yesterday's telegram) and stop everything!!

This would mean that they are stopping the investigation of their blackmail!! The worst thing is that there was defense on your part here, and there should have been an accusation against them!! That is the crux of the matter.

And now we must continue the accusation. You, Messrs. Martov and Dan, have come out in print with rumors: please say who, when, where released them! Please say exactly - then we will expose your blackmail (because it will be revealed that neither the common faction, nor Burtsev, nor their friends from the August institution, from the Bund, from the Latvians—and Martov saw them!!—the liquidators did not say about the rumors).

Is it not clear now that, by not printing the main words of our telegram then, you gave the blackmailers a chance to get out?

I hope the matter is clarified now and that you will not stop the started campaign against the blackmailers for anything, bringing it to the end, to mass resolutions on the blackmail of Martov and Dan.

It is necessary that, if you do not wish to print this article, a telegraphic message be sent to the editors at my address: clarified continue - will mean that the campaign to expose the blackmailers and their complete unmasking continues, that our "disagreements" respective]2* misunderstandings have been clarified. I cannot know in advance about other possible different telegraphic answers.

Let me summarize. Only the tactic not of defense, but of accusation of the blackmailers is correct; only they must be forced to speak (and when we forced them to speak about the rumors, we were close to victory over the blackmailers) and only, by bringing to the end the accusation of Dan and Martov, can and should the truth [be revealed], namely the truth of the blackmail methods of Martov and Dan.

This truth must be revealed, to the end, before everyone!! Otherwise, there is no salvation from disorganization!!

V. Ilyin.

Published - "Historical Archive," 1995, No. 4, pp. 7-9.

Fund 2, op. 1, d. 23836 - autograph.

1* Burden of proof (Latin).

2* Or (German).

1"Trudovaya Pravda" - under this heading the newspaper "Pravda" was published from May 23 (June 5) to July 8 (21), 1914. 35 issues were published.

2The letter is dated by the day of publication of V.I. Lenin's telegram to the editors of the newspaper "Rabochy" (see doc. 61), which is mentioned in the text of the letter as "yesterday's telegram."

3See doc. 60.

4This refers to N.I. Bukharin, who lived in Vienna at that time.

5"Bor'ba" - a magazine published in St. Petersburg by L.D. Trotsky in February-July 1914. 7 issues were published.

6This refers to G.I. Petrovsky.

7"Nash Put'" - a Bolshevik newspaper, published in Moscow from August 25 (September 7), 1914; it was persecuted by the authorities - out of 16 issues, 12 were confiscated. The newspaper was closed on September 12 (25), 1914.

8A search of R.V. Malinovsky's Moscow apartment was conducted in the autumn of 1913. V. Sher believed that this was done not by the police, but by Malinovsky's comrades, who suspected him of collaborating with the security organs.