Written: Written March 4, 1914
Published:
First published in 1960 in Istorichesky Arkhiv No. 2.
Sent from Cracow to St. Petersburg.
Printed from a typewritten copy found in police records.
Source:
Lenin
Collected Works,
Progress Publishers,
[1977],
Moscow,
Volume 43,
pages 389b-390a.
Translated: Martin Parker and Bernard Isaacs
Transcription\Markup:
R. Cymbala
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.
Dear Friends,
I have had no news from you for a long time. Things are none too good. Strictly speaking, during the last few months following the arrests, you have no ... no collegium for organisational work. This is simply an impossible situation. I think you should co-opt 3–4 St. Petersburg workers (including a shop-assistant) as has been rightly pointed out.... You won’t be able to get things moving otherwise. The co-opted men should be kept strictly separate and apart from the co-operative board and the legal enterprises. Answer quickly. We have asked for someone to be sent here, but so far there is no reply.
Further—we earnestly ask you to put us in touch directly with the P. C. This is extremely important. Then, as regards the “transporter”. Has No. 1 of the Bulletin been received? What’s happened to the man, why doesn’t he write? Things have been at a standstill for close on a month. It’s unpardonable. Make inquiries, find out—is he safe, alive? Kostya should know what his name is.
Finally, about money, too, we would ask you to answer: 1) What definitely have you learned about Pryanik? Find out and hurry them up. Has a round been made of the rich to collect money? Write about this...[2] We are absolutely moneyless, and haven’t a penny for organisational trips and all organisational work. There are people who could be utilised ... but owing to the lack of funds we cannot do anything so far. Write whether you are satisfied with Volkov, whether things have been put right, particularly the speeches.
Regards to everybody,
Frey
[2] This refers to the raising of funds for organising a Party congress. An agreement on financial subsidies was reached with certain leaders of the liberal-bourgeois party of Progressists, notably with A. I. Konovalov (“Pryanik”) (see Istorichesky Arkhiv No. 6, 1958, pp. 8–13).
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