Published: First published in full in 1927. Sent to Geneva. Printed from a copy written out by N. K. Krupskaya.
Source: Lenin Collected Works, Progress Publishers, 1974, Moscow, Volume 34, pages 173-174.
Translated: Clemens Dutt
Transcription\Markup: D. Moros
Public Domain: Lenin Internet Archive (2005).
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The editorial board of the Central Organ considers it its duty officially to express its regret at your refusal to participate in Iskra and Zarya (at present Zarya No. 5 is being prepared for the press). In spite of the numerous invitations to co-operate which we made immediately after the Second Party Congress, before Iskra No. 46, and which we repeated several times after that, we have not received a single literary item from you.
What is more, even the publication of the second edition of your pamphlet The Red Flag has been held up for many weeks owing to non-delivery of the end of the manuscript.
The editorial board of the Central Organ states that it considers that your refusal to co-operate has not been caused by any action on its part.
No element of personal irritation, of course, should be allowed to hinder work in the Central Organ of the Party.
If, however, your withdrawal is due to any divergence between your views and ours, we would consider a detailed exposition of such differences extremely useful in the interests of the Party. Moreover, we would consider it highly desirable that the nature and extent of these differences should be made clear to the whole Party as soon as possible through the pages of the publications edited by us.
Finally, for the sake of the cause, we once again bring to your notice that at the present time we are ready to co-opt you as a member of the editorial board of the Central Organ. so as to give you every opportunity to officially state and defend all your views in the highest Party institution.
Lenin. Plekhanov
[1] This letter was sent also to P. B. Axelrod, V. I. Zasulich, A. N. Potresov (Old Believer) and L .D. Trotsky with the omission of the second and sixth (last) paragraphs.
Lenin wrote on the envelope “Very important. Copy of my and Plekhanov’s letter to Martov & Co. dated October 6, 1903 and Martov’s reply”.
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