Letter to David Riazanov, February 5, 1901

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Author(s) Lenin
Written 5 February 1901


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First published in 1930 in Lenin Miscellany XIII. Sent from Munich to Paris. Printed from the original.
Source: Lenin Collected Works, Progress Publishers, 1977, Moscow, Volume 43, pages 50-51a.
Keywords : David Riazanov, Letter

5/II. 01

Dear Comrade,

We have already read the proofs of your article and it probably has been printed, so that it is impossible to make any changes now. As for the deletion, we did it. We of course would not presume to make any changes affecting the essential ideas of the author without asking his per mission first. The given deletion, however, was prompted by purely technical considerations. No editorial office can relinquish the right to make cuts of this order. We were quite certain that you would see yourself that the deletions we have made in no way alter the autlThr’s train of thought or detract from the weightiness of his arguments. We hope very much that you will not take this in bad part and that you will continue your co-operation which we value so highly.

The agreement with the liberals which we hinted at in the previous letter[1] has been concluded.[2] We undertake the publication of a separate general political supplement to Zarya which will also carry part of our current mate rials. We trust that your group[3] will lend a hand with this supplement too. We shall shortly send you the announcement of its publication.

Have you heard anything about the Kiev developments[4]? They say that 18 were killed there. Please let us know what information you have.

Best regards,

Petrov

  1. ↑ See present edition, Vol. 36, pp. 67–68.—Ed.
  2. ↑ A reference to the talks between the Editorial Board of Iskra and the liberals concerning the publication of Sovremennoye Obozreniye (Contemporary Review) as a supplement to Zarya. Announcements on the publication of the supplement were issued by G. V. Plekhanov on behalf of Iskra and Zarya and by P. B. Struve on behalf of the “democratic opposition” group. The project was never realised, however, since Dietz refused to print the announcements as not conforming to censorship requirements. Further talks between the representatives of Iskra and Struve were interrupted and never resumed (see present edition, Vol. 4, pp. 380–82; Vol. 36, pp. 67, 71; Lenin, Collected Works, Fifth [Russian] Ed., Vol. 4, pp. 389–90).
  3. ↑ The Borba group (D. B. Ryazanov, Y. M. Steklov, E. L. Gurevich) originated in Paris in the summer of 1900 and took shape as an independent group in 1901, after the “Unity” Conference. In its publications it distorted Marxist theory, rejected the revolutionary tactics of Iskra, and was opposed to Lenin’s principles of Party organisation. Owing to its deviations from Social-Democratic views and tactics, its disruptive actions and lack of contact with Social-Democratic organisations in Russia, the group was not admitted to the Second Congress of the RSDLP, which decided to dissolve it.
  4. ↑ A reference to student demonstrations in protest against the introduction of the provisional rules of July 29,1899, and the drafting of 183 students of the Kiev University into the army (see present edition, Vol. 4, pp. 414–19). A meeting of the Russian colony in London held on February 6, 1901, adopted a protest against this action by the government, which was published in the journal Nakanune No. 26–27 under the title “London Protest”.
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