Written: Written between March 6 and 9, 1903
Published:
First published in 1928.
Sent from Paris to Kharkov.
Printed from the original.
Source:
Lenin
Collected Works,
Progress Publishers,
1974,
Moscow,
Volume 34,
pages 148-149.
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
We have just received the rules of the Congress. It appears that we did not understand you and replied about the ordre du jour when you were asking about the rules of the Congress. We hasten to say that on the whole we are very satisfied with your draft, which is carefully and sensibly drawn up. Clause 19, which has evoked dispute, seems reasonable to us; to exclude certain organisations from the Congress (and, in the final analysis, the rules are precisely regulations for the exclusion of some and the granting of rights to others) is in fact inconvenient and impossible without the agreement of the majority of the committees. Our only advice would be to fix a formally binding period as short as possible (for example, not more than a week) in the course of which the committees and organisations are obliged to draw up and send in their amendments to the draft rules. This is essential in order to avoid delay, which is most of all to be feared. (It is probably through fear of delay that Ignat, too, protested. We understand his fears, but if you are able to complete the interrogation quickly, the matter can be put right.)
For our part, we shall write to the Iskra organisations about our advice that your draft should be accepted im mediately and completely. We earnestly request you to make use of every facility to ensure that the dispatch and communication of the draft (on the basis of § 19), the “session” of the arbitration courts, and determination of the composition of the deputies will be completed within a month at the latest.
In this connection we advise you informally to recommend all qualified organisations to appoint as far as possible one (or two) delegates from among comrades living abroad who are known for their past work—in order to avoid extra expenses and difficulties involved in sending delegates abroad.
We formally propose 1) to supplement your draft only by a note to § 19: “Organisations which have not presented their comments within a week from the date of receipt of the draft will be regarded as having accepted the draft rules of the Congress”; 2) to make provision for alternate delegates in the event of delegates being arrested before the Congress.
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