V. I.

Lenin

1917

Today, Nobs and Münzenberg told me the following facts which are not without significance.

On Jan. 7, Münzenberg proposed that the congress should
be postponed to March (clearly wishing by this proposition
to expose the hypocrisy of the arguments used by Grimm+
the social-patriots). It was defeated. [2]

Greulich proposed postponement until May . Nobs stated that he was in favour (once again choosing the lesser evil
and exposing the same crowd). When Nobs said that he was
for , Greulich (what a character!) immediately withdrew his
proposition (having seen his mistake). Then Naine declared
that he was moving Greulich’s proposal. It was defeated.

Münzenberg proposed that the cantonal committees (to whom the matter has now been referred) should be allowed
time until July. It was defeated!

These facts show up Grimm’s unprecedented impudence, when he says in his article ( Berner Tagwacht of Jan. 8 or
9,
Parteibeschlüsse ) [3] that the Left wing, too, were “in
principle” not against postponement!

Münzenberg has written an article for Volksrecht (Nobs hag
promised to insert it tomorrow or the day after) against the
decision of the
Partei-Vorstand . [1]
[4]

After reading this, send it on to Olga, for her to send
to Abramovich.

---
Notes:
[1]
Party executive.— Ed .

[2]
A reference to W. Münzenberg’s speech at a sitting of the

Executive of the Swiss Social-Democratic Party on January 7, 1917,
on the question of postponing the party congress set for February 11,
1917, in Berne, to discuss the war question (see present edition,
Vol. 23, pp. 217–19 and 283).

[3]
Parteibeschlüsse (Party Decisions)—an unsigned editorial
article in the daily of the Swiss Social-Democrats, Berner Tagwacht
No. 6, January 8, 1917.

[4]
The Zurich Social-Democratic newspaper, Volksrecht (People’s
Right) No. 11, January 13, 1917, carried an article “Zur
Parteitagsverschiebung” (On the Postponement of the Party Congress),
signed “g”, opposing the decision of the Executive of the Swiss
Social-Democratic Party of January 7 to postpone the convocation of the congress indefinitely.