To the "Iskra" Editorial Board

V. I. Lenin

90

TO THE ISKRA EDITORIAL BOARD

Written January 8, 1904,
in Geneva (local mail)
First published in 1929

Printed from
the original

From V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, 4th English Edition,
Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1966

Vol. 34, p. 223.

Translated from the Russian
by Clemens Dutt
Edited by Bernard Isaacs

Prepared © for the Internet by David J. Romagnolo, djr@marx2mao.org (November 2001)

page 213

<"p213">

TO THE ISKRA EDITORIAL BOARD^[237]

As the representative of the C.C., I consider it necessary to point out to the editors that there are absolutely no grounds for raising the question of lawfulness, etc., on the basis of heated speeches at lectures or on the basis of literary polemics. The Central Committee as such has never had, and does not have, the slightest doubt of the lawfulness of the editorial board co-opted, as Iskra No. 53 quite justly stated, in complete accord with Clause 12 of the Party Rules. The Central Committee would be ready to state that publicly as well, if necessary. If the editorial board sees these polemics as attacks upon itself, it has every opportunity of replying. It is hardly reasonable to resent what the editorial board regards as sharply worded statements in the polemic, when no mention is made anywhere of boycott or any other disloyal (from the viewpoint of the C.C.) form of activity. We would remind the editorial board that the C.C. has repeatedly expressed its full readiness to publish, and made a direct proposal to publish, immediately both Dan's letter and Martov's "Once Again in the Minority", without being at all put out by the very sharp attacks to be found in these documents. In the view of the C.C., it is essential to give all Party members the widest possible freedom to criticise the central bodies and to attack them; the C.C. sees nothing terrible in such attacks, provided they are not accompanied by a boycott, by standing aloof from positive work or by cutting off financial resources. The Central Committee states even now that it would publish criticism against itself, seeing in a free exchange. . .*

* The sentence was completed by F. V. Lengnik as follows: "of opinions a guarantee against possible mistakes on the part of the central bodies". --Ed.

page 484

<"NOTES">

NOTES

^{<"en237">[237]} This letter was an insertion to the rough copy of Lengnik's letter sent in reply to that of Y. O. Martov. [p. 223]