An Organ of Finance Capital on "Trotskyism"

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We call the attention of every thinking Communist to the Moscow correspondent's cable that Le Temps published on August 13. The cable seems to have been written directly in Stalin's office. Trotsky "will in no case return to the Soviet Union"; "Trotsky never was a friend of the peasantry"; "no reconciliation is possible between Trotsky's policy of permanent revolution and the policy of … socialism in one country." All this is said, it is clear, not to scare the bourgeoisie but, on the contrary, to pacify the public opinion of the French bourgeoisie

To fool the foreign workers, Stalin orders the official Communist press of the West to say that Trotsky is an ally, a prop and a hope of the world bourgeoisie: But Le Temps's correspondent assiduously assures the French bourgeoisie that "Trotsky has no program, no adherents, and his name no longer evokes an echo in the Russian masses." In other words, the organ of finance capital not only does not attempt to exaggerate the influence of its supposed "ally," but, on the contrary, calms the French bourgeoisie with assurances of the full and complete victory [by the advocates] of socialism in one country over [those of] the permanent revolution. The political meaning of Le Temps's cable acquires full significance in view of Herriot's visit to the USSR and, in general, in connection with the policy of rapprochement between bourgeois France and the Stalinist bureaucracy.

The most significant part of the cable, however, is its conclusion: "we are reassured from absolutely competent sources that even in case of repentance, as was done by Kamenev and Zinoviev … it would be impossible to accord him [Trotsky] permission to return to the USSR" To every politically literate person, this can only mean that Stalin, the "absolutely competent source," formally obligated himself to the agent of French finance not to admit Trotsky to the USSR even if he should sign a letter of repentance. "However," the correspondent adds in passing, "it is not at all in Trotsky's character to sign such letters."

Le Temps carefully circumvents the contradiction of why "it would be impossible to accord [Trotsky] permission to return to the USSR," even in case of repentance, if he has no program, no adherents and is isolated from the masses. The experienced correspondent kept political discipline and did not ask any embarrassing questions of the "absolutely competent source." Stalin made the airtight promise: the French stock market need not fear a rapprochement with Moscow; "Trotsky will in no case be admitted to the USSR" Yesterday Stalin made this pledge to Hitler, today to Le Temps.

Once again, let the Stalinists consider well this remarkable document This is not chatter of the yellow tabloid press. Not in vain did Jaurès once say:" Temps is the bourgeoisie turned newspaper."