Letter to Inessa Armand, Prior to January 26, 1914

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No. 2.

... Just now (at 2 p.m.) I received further mail by extra post. Again nothing from you....

I received a letter from Bukharin in Vienna. He has seen Buryanov, who was on his way from Plekhanov. Apparently, the Plekhanovites and other non-factionists intend to undertake some sort of joint “action”: I believe Plekhanov wants to publish a newspaper. Trotsky and the local crowd are very shortly putting out a journal of their own, Borba. They have effected a reconciliation with Luch; a correspondence was conducted on this subject. The “pure” liquidators will remain in Nasha Zarya—that’s what that crowd “hopes” for.

That is what Bukharin writes. This news is very important. There’s no smoke without fire, and we are probably witnessing a new, wave of idiotic conciliationist activity, which the I.S.B. is sure to take advantage of to stage a comic act in the spirit of the 1910 January plenary session. Well, we’re standing on our own legs now and we’ll show up this riffraff.

We must try our hardest (extremely tactfully, of course) to collect and keep collecting all the information we can in Paris. That fool Antonov cannot collect gossip from Steklov, but Steklov can get money out of him. And we haven’t a penny. Kamenev and his family are living on nothing. See to it, therefore, that the COA does not give a single kopek away to anybody but us. We shall shortly be in desperate need of money for putting out the CO, a special pamphlet and one very important publication (absolument entre nous: we will publish a special bulletin of the Central Committee—for Russia we’ve got a special transport possibility ).

The conciliators of all shades are out to “catch” us! Bon! We’ll catch those scoundrels, those ridiculous mountebanks. They’re getting stuck in the mud of blocs with the liquidators? Don! Our tactic is: if the enemy makes a false move, give him time to sink deeper into the mud. That’s where we shall catch the scoundrels. Meantime, we’ve got to gather strength and money—we’ve got to exercise restraint (to the utmost!)—to learn as much as we can. Paris is a convenient centre for finding out things and for “diversions”. It is most desirable that the section adopt a sledge-hammer resolution against Kautsky (calling his statement about the death of the Party shameless, insolent, monstrous, ignorant). As for the few “near-conciliators” of our section, let them get information from the Plekhanovites, the conciliators (Makar, Lyova, Lozovsky & Co.) and the Trotskyites—as well as the Bundists and the Letts.

Raise the question of lambasting Kautsky in the COA nd vote it: if the majority turn it down, I’ll come and give that majority a leathering they’ll remember for a long time. But I must know who that majority is going to be, and who I have to deal with. So go full ahead!

Nik. Vas. may receive at his address communications of great importance to us (from the I.S.B. or from the Letts). It is very important that he should hand them to you immediately—you may open them in order to wire their contents to me briefly: if it is not embarrassing, arrange this, because just these days (while Malinovsky is here) a delay of a day or two (=difference between a letter and a telegram) may be of extremely vital significance. I think you could mention N. K., but decide yourself, you know best.

Let the COA consider who, in Paris, could help the six to write their speeches. The need is great since the arrest of Krylenko. We shall send the list of speeches. Assistance from all the vacillating elements of the different groups is more convenient and more possible here.