Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 16 - From Marx to Mao

54V. I. LENINRussia and consulted several Russian members of the enlargededitorial board, who had not taken part in a single conflictabroad, had it not the right to declare what was a matterof fact, to declare that Maximov had split away from theboard, to declare that Bolshevism has nothing in commonwith otzovism, ultimatumism and god-building?Stop this hypocrisy, gentlemen! You fought on what youthought was your strongest ground and you suffered defeat.You went preaching otzovism to the masses in spite of adecision of the official centre of the Bolsheviks and withoutwaiting for a special conference. And now you start whiningand complaining because you found yourselves in a ludicrouslysmall minority on the enlarged editorial board, at theconference held with the participation of regional delegates!Here again we have a device of Russians abroad exactlyafter the manner of Rabocheye Dyelo: playing at “democracy”when the conditions for complete democracy are absent,speculating on the inflammation of all kinds of discontent“abroad” and at the same time transmitting from abroad(through the “school”) your otzovist and god-building propaganda—startinga split among the Bolsheviks, and afterwardsmoaning about a split—forming a private faction(under cover of a “school”) and shedding crocodile tears overthe “splitting” policy of Proletary.No, this squabble has gone on long enough! A faction isa free union of kindred minds within a party and after overa year of strife both in Russia and abroad we had a perfectright, we had the duty, to make a definite decision. Andwe have done so. You have a perfect right to oppose it, toput forward your platform and try to win a majority for it.If you do not do so, if instead of forming an open alliancewith the otzovists and putting forward a common platformyou persist in playing hide-and-seek and speculating on acheap “democracy” abroad, you will get nothing in returnbut the contempt you deserve.You are playing a double game. On the one hand, youdeclare that for a whole year Proletary has been “wholly”pursuing a non-Bolshevik policy (and your supporters inRussia have tried more than once to gain acceptance forthese views in resolutions of the St. Petersburg Committee