Letter to Lev Kamenev, February 27, 1914

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Author(s) Lenin
Written 27 February 1914


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First published in 1960 in Istorichesky Arkhiv No. 2. Sent from Cracow to St. Petersburg. Printed from a typewritten copy found in police records.
Source: Lenin Collected Works, Progress Publishers, 1977, Moscow, Volume 43, pages 385b-386a
Collection(s): Istorichesky Arkhiv
Keywords : Letter, Lev Kamenev

Dear Friend,

1st.[1] Bogdanov’s departure is said to have caused displeasure (among the intellectualist riffraff, apparently). That “good soul” of ours, Galyorka, is moping, I believe. The Priboi people[2] voted for Bogdanov.

They argue (an old trick of these intellectualist mischief-makers) that there are workers supporting Vperyod every where (why weren’t they seen anywhere?...). That’s all bosh, of course. The story of the Vperyod group’s adventurism will have to be given in Prosveshcheniye. But now it is necessary that you should (1) take action. The thing has to be explained, the stupid defenders of Vperyodism and Bogdanov (Dansky is one of them, apparently) must be challenged and warned. (2) You must get your letter about An Introduction to Political Economy[3] published for certain. Write immediately. If yours doesn’t go, I’ll send in mine.

2nd. How about the collection of articles? Drop me a line (Marxism and Liquidationism).[4]

3rd. What a scandal in the committees of the Literary Society (the campaign against the Press Bill)[5].... Bloc of the liberals+liquidators (Kheisin, Stiva Novich, Guliko). And N. D. Sokolov there too.... Take action. Kick him out. Most important of all—launch a campaign against the liquidators for this. Let me know.

4th. What about the speeches? The budget will be before the Duma only on 20.III, old style. Am I right? Drop me a line about this.

  1. ↑ Erroneously given as “2nd” in the typewritten copy.—Ed.
  2. ↑ Priboi people—contributors to and members of the staff of the legal Bolshevik publishing house Priboi. This publishing business was founded in St. Petersburg at the beginning of 1913 and was controlled by the CC of the Party. Owing to increased persecution of the labour press by the tsarist government following the outbreak of the war Priboi had to close down and did not resume publishing activities until March 1917. In 1918 Priboi merged with the publishing house Kommunist, which was formed as a result of the merger of various publishing houses (Volna, Zhizn i Znaniye and others).
  3. ↑ Kamenev’s article on A. Bogdanov’s book An Introduction to Political Economy issued by the Priboi publishing House appeared in the journal Prosveshcheniye No. 3 for March 1914.
  4. ↑ Marxism and Liquidationism. A Symposium of Articles on the Fundamental Issues of the Modern Labour Movement. Part II was published in July 1914 by Priboi, the Party’s publishing house. The collection was to have been in two parts, whose contents were announced in the newspaper Put Pravdy No. 42, March 21, 1914.
    Part I of the collection did not appear. Several dozen copies of Part II, which the publishers were late in taking delivery of from the printers, were confiscated. The bulk of the edition, how ever, was distributed. Part II contained fourteen articles by Lenin besides the preface and the conclusion, which were also written by him.
  5. ↑ This refers to a meeting called by the All-Russia Literary Society in January 1914 in connection with the increased persecution of the press and the reactionary bill on the press which the government was preparing. The decisive role at this meeting was played by the representatives of the liberals and liquidators a liberal resolution was adopted.
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