Letter to Alfonso Leonetti, January 27, 1932

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The Kind of Secretariat We Need

Dear Comrade Souzo:

I am very late in replying to you, which is not my habit, because of our moving, which was a very long and complicated task (nine-tenths of the work fell on Comrade Molinier, who came especially to organize the move). The only times I saw him he was on his way between the two houses, since he was busy with details rather than politics — which didn’t stop Mill and his “Militants” from saying that he had come here to wage a struggle against Mill and his friends.

Your letter is a step forward towards clarity and mutual understanding. I need not repeat that I do and will appreciate very much the possibility of working in common with you and your group. The decision of the [French] Executive Committee concerning the participation of a Bordigist representative in the IS seems to me absolutely wrong and harmful especially to our relations with the Bordigists. What I think is needed is a profound discussion with this group. I will be quite willing to take part in it, for it deals with the most fundamental issues. They are opposed to us on every question, even the most secondary ones. Now, without prior ideological clarification, collective work in the Secretariat will inevitably become a permanent entanglement of conflicts and will end in a split on some petty issue. The Secretariat is necessary to us as an organ of political work, and not as an arena of conflict and permanent friction.

In Germany there is a considerable movement towards us, coming from various sides. For the moment I am completely buried in letters, documents, and newspapers from Germany, sent by friends and semi-friends from various sides. I believe our organization can make an important step forward, which will not be inconsequential for the other sections.

My best communist greetings to you and yours.

L. Trotsky