V. I.   Lenin

126

To:   V. D. BONCH-BRUYEVICH^[1]

Published: First published in 1931 in Learn Miscellany XVI. Sent from Geneva to London. Printed from the original.
Source: Lenin Collected Works, Progress Publishers, [1977], Moscow, Volume 43, pages 167^b-168^a.
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.
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Dear Comrade,

The Scholtz affair has taken such a turn that the Party is likely to suffer a serious loss through the fault of the manager of the printing shop.^[2]

Besides, fulfilment by the Party printery of Demos orders also involves losses for the Party since things are not properly handled.

In view of this and considering that the affairs of Demos, supervision over which has been entrusted to me by the Central Committee, cannot require your presence in London later than October 21 (new style), I urgently request you, on agreement with Iv. P., to give up the trip to Berlin and to leave at once for Geneva to settle the matters entrusted to you by the C.C.

N. Lenin

P.S. I draw your attention to the fact that to refer to Demos business in justification of your continued absence would not be right on your part, for I have communicated with I.P. and learned that Demos business equally requires your immediate return.

P.P.S. Scholtz filed a suit (for 2,031 frs. 25) On October 17. Payment falls due on October 27. We need a few days (a minimum of five) for legal consultation.

Notes

[1] This letter bears the note by Lenin: “Sent 17/X.05”.—Ed.

[2] The Scholtz affair—an impending suit for damages filed by the Geneva printer Scholtz against the Social-Democratic Demos Publishers for violation of a contract for the printing of Maxim Gorky’s play The Children of the Sun. Demos Publishers was founded abroad in September 1905 and its editors were I. P. Ladyzhnikov, Yelena Stasova, V. D. Bonch-Bruyevich and R. P. Avramov.

The Party printing shop which was to set up the play in type did not observe the time limits stipulated in the contract with Scholtz’s printery owing to a shortage of type, whereupon the latter presented a claim for damages.

According to I. P. Ladyzhnikov, the matter was settled out of court by paying Scholtz a certain sum of money.