Written: Written on November 26, 1912 Sent from Cracow to St. Petersburg
Published:
First published in 1923 in the book Iz epokhi “Zvezdy” i “Pravdy” (1911–14), Part III.
Printed from the typewritten copy found in police records.
Source:
Lenin
Collected Works,
Progress Publishers,
[1976],
Moscow,
Volume 35,
pages 65-66.
Translated: Andrew Rothstein
Transcription\Markup:
R. Cymbala
Public Domain:
Lenin Internet Archive.
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Dear Colleague,
We were extremely sad to see two blunders in Sunday’s Pravda. First, there was no article about the Basle Congress, and secondly, you did not print the greetings to the Congress from Badayev and the others.[1] As regards the first point, we are partly to blame as well, because we did not send an article. We were busy with extremely urgent and important affairs. It would not have been at all difficult to write such an article, and the editorial board of Pravda knew that the Congress was opening on Sunday. But the second omission is entirely the responsibility of Badayev. It is quite unforgivable that he is not concerned about his paper, that he signs anything that may turn up without at once taking it to his paper. A workers’ paper in Petersburg without the co-operation of the workers’ deputy for Petersburg (particularly as he is a Pravda supporter) is a stupid situation. It is most essential to pay as much attention as possible to this important omission, both on the part of the whole editorial board and on the part of Baturin[2] (to whom, by the way, please pass on this letter, and from whom it would be very pleasant to have a couple of lines), and on the part of the deputy himself.
You asked for the address of Gorky. Here it is: Signor Massimo Gorki. Villa Spinola. Capri (Napoli). Italie.
Here is the address of a correspondent in Rome; write to him, he will contribute to Pravda: B. Antonoff, Via le Giulio Cesare, 47. Roma. Italy.
Why don’t you send the money you owe? This delay is causing us great difficulties. Please don’t be late. Why haven’t you replied to the request to print a notice in the paper that the editorial board is looking for Nos. 5–10 of Pravda?
I wish you all the best.
Yours,
V.
[1] Lenin refers to No. 166 of Pravda, which appeared on November 11 (24), 1912, the day the Extraordinary international Socialist Congress of the Second International opened in Basle.
The telegram from A. Y. Badayev and other deputies, greeting the Basle Congress and protesting against war, was published in Pravda No. 167, on November 13 (26), 1912.
[2] Baturin (Zamyatin, N. I.) (1877–1927)—one of the editors of Pravda.
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