Since the return of Citizen Lorenzo from the last conference? 
we have not had any news from you. I have written two letters to 
you; the last one, dated the eighth of this November, which was 
registered, asked you to write to us immediately to explain this 
long silence. We have not yet received any answer but we have 
heard that a small minority of members of the International, 
seeking to sow divisions in the ranks of the association, is 
conspiring against the resolutions of the Conference and the 
General Council, spreading calumnies of all sorts.*° We have no 
doubt that your mysterious silence is caused by your having 
received letters of this type. If this is the case, we want you to 
inform us of the accusations and insinuations expressed against us, 
as is your duty, so that we can refute them. 

In any case, you cannot prolong this silence which is contrary to 
our General Rules which instruct you to send us regular reports. 
We ask for an immediate reply to this letter; if you do not reply to 
it, we shall have to conclude that your silence is deliberate and that 
you believe the calumnies which we have mentioned, without 
having the courage to inform us of them. And we shall have to 
proceed in that case in the manner which the interest of the 
International will dictate. 

Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXVI, manuscript