V. I.

Lenin

114

To:   M. N. POKROVSKY

December 21, 1916

Dear M.N., I have received your postcard, of December 14, 1916. If they write to
you that the publisher owes me “in addition to the 500 rubles another 300
rubles”, I must say that I consider he owes me more , because he
accepted (1) my work on the agrarian question, Part 1 [1] and
(2) my wife’s booklet on an educational subject. [2] And I consider that there is an obligation to pay for what
has been accepted, once the manuscript has been delivered.

I wrote about this to Petersburg, but my contacts with Petersburg are
exceptionally weak and intolerably slow.

You “thought it possible” to throw out the criticism of Kautsky in my
pamphlet [3] .... Sad! Really, really sad. Why? Would it not be better to
ask the publishers: print outright, gentlemen, that we—the
publishers—have eliminated criticism of a Kautsky. Really, that is how it
should have been done.... Of course, I am obliged to submit to the
publisher, but let the publisher not be afraid to say what he wants and
what he doesn’t want; let the publisher answer for the cuts, not I.

You write: “You won’t thrash me, will you?”, i.e., for agreeing to
throw out this criticism?? Alas, alas, we live in too civilised an age to
settle questions so simply....

Joking aside, it is sad, devil take it.... Well, I shall settle
accounts with Kautsky in another place.

I shake your hand and send my best greetings.

V. Ulyanov

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Notes:
[1]
The work was New Data on the Laws Governing the Development of Capitalism in Agriculture , Part I (see present edition, Vol. 22,
pp. 13–102).— Ed .

[2]
Lenin refers to Krupskaya’s booklet Public Education and Democracy . It was published in 1917 by the Zhizn i Znaniye (Life and
Knowledge) Publishing House.

[3]
The MS. of the book Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism was at this time in the Parus (Sail) Publishing House.