Written: Written April 3, 1903
Published:
First published in 1928.
Sent from London to Samara.
Printed from the original.
Source:
Lenin
Collected Works,
Progress Publishers,
1974,
Moscow,
Volume 34,
page 153.
Translated: Clemens Dutt
Transcription\Markup:
D. Moros
Public Domain:
Lenin Internet Archive
(2005).
You may freely copy, distribute,
display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and
commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet
Archive” as your source.
• README
(The Old Man.)
There is little I can tell you this time. The main thing now, in my opinion, is to make every effort to expedite the Congress and ensure a majority of intelligent (and “our”) delegates. Almost all our hope is on Brutus. As far as possible, he should himself keep an eye on everything, especially the delegates, and try to get the maximum number of our people appointed. The system of two votes from each committee is very favourable for this. Next, the question of the Bund is very important. We have stopped the polemic with it over the O.C., but not, of course, the polemic over principles. That is out of the question. We must make everyone understand, simply “ram it into every head”, that it is necessary to prepare for war against the Bund if we want peace with it. War at the Congress, war even to the extent of a split—whatever the cost. Only then will the Bund be sure to surrender. We absolutely cannot accept, and never will accept, the stupid idea of federation. At the very most—autonomy according to the old Rules of 1898 with a delegate appointed by the C.C. taking part in the C.C. of the Bund. We must prepare our people, we must explain the stupidity and demonstrate the absurdity of the attack on Ekaterinoslav,[1] and so on. Please write speedily and let us know what the feeling is in this respect, how your propaganda is going and whether there is any hope of the majority taking the right stand. We should like to issue a pamphlet to the Jewish workers on the necessity of a close union and the stupidity of federation and “national” policy.
[1] The Bund’s attack on the Ekaterinoslav Committee of the R.S.D.L.P. is fully dealt with in Lenin’s article “Does the Jewish Proletariat Need an ‘Independent Political Party’?” (see Vol. 6 of this edition).
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