Letter to the Central Committee of the RSDLP, March 13, 1904

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Comrades,

Having received notification of your collective decision of the CC majority against a congress and the desirability of putting an end to “squabbling”, and having discussed this notification among the three of us (Kurtz, Beast and Lenin), we unanimously adopted the following decision:

1) Kurtz and Lenin will temporarily resign membership of the Council (while remaining members of the CC) until the true nature of our differences with the majority of the Central Committee has been cleared up. (We stated in the Council that we see no other honest way out of the squabbling except a congress, and we voted for a congress.) We stress that we are withdrawing temporarily and conditionally, by no means resigning altogether, and greatly desiring a comradely clarification of our differences and misunderstandings.

2) In view of (a) the need for CC members on the Council to live abroad; (b) the need for personal consultation with the CC members in Russia; (c) the need for a CC member abroad after the departure of Kurtz, Beast and Lenin (Kurtz and Beast are leaving for Russia, Lenin is taking his official and full holiday for not less than two months); (d) the need to arrange that the conduct of affairs here that give rise to “squabbling” should be in the hands of those CC members who disagree with us, for we are powerless to combat the squabbling otherwise than as we are doing,

—in view of all this, we most earnestly request the CC to send here immediately and without fail at least one of its members from Russia.

We ask you to inform us at once of the receipt of this letter and of your reply.

P.S. To avoid gossip and false rumours, we have informed the Council of our resignation in the following form (copy in full):

“To the Chairman of the Party Council

“Comrade, in view of the departure of one of us, and the holiday being taken by the other, we are regretfully compelled to relinquish temporarily the post of CCmembers on the Council. We have informed the Central Committee of this.

“With Social-Democratic greetings,

Kurtz,

Lenin”