Lenin CW-Vol. 23.pdf - From Marx to Mao

218V. I. LENINthe youth, accusing them of a “split” (!!!), and so on. Naine,Platten, Nobs and Münzenberg firmly opposed postponingthe congress. Naine told Grimm outright that he was destroyinghimself as an “international secretary”!Adoption of this decision signifies complete betrayal byGrimm and is an insult to the party on the part of the opportunistleaders, the social-nationalists. The entire Zimmerwald-Kienthalgroup and action have been factually reducedto an empty phrase by a handful of leaders (Grimmincluded) who threaten to resign (sic!!) if defence of thefatherland is rejected. They are determined not to allowthis issue to be discussed by the party “mob” until the endof the war. The Grütlianer 100 (January 4 and 8) isspeaking the truth and is giving this party a slap in theface.The whole struggle of the Left, the whole struggle forZimmerwald and Kienthal, has now been shifted to otherground: struggle against this gang of leaders defiling theparty. We must everywhere rally the Left and discussmethods of struggle. Hurry!Would not the best method be (not a minute must belost) to secure immediate adoption in La Chaux-de-Fondsand Geneva of protest resolutions, plus open letters toNaine, and publish them without delay? There can be nodoubt that the “leaders” will bring every lever into motionto prevent protests appearing in the press.The open letter should frankly state everything recountedhere and squarely put the question: (I) Does Naine refutethese facts? (2) Does he consider it permissible, in a democraticparty of socialists, for the Executive to repeal congressdecisions?—(3) Permissible to hide from the party the waythe betrayers of socialism voted at the meeting of January 7,1917, and the speeches they made there?—(4) Permissibleto accept a chairman of the International Socialist Committee(Grimm) who combines Left phrases with assistanceto the Swiss nationalists, opponents of Zimmerwald, “fatherlanddefenders” Pflüger, Huber and Co., in virtuallydisrupting the Zimmerwald decisions?—(5) Permissibleto abuse, in the Berner Tagwacht, the German socialpatriots,while secretly helping the Swiss Social-patriots?etc.