Page:Grigory Zinoviev - Report of the Executive Committee of the Communist International (1921).pdf/57

 The movement in Switzerland, however, is making splendid progress. It achieved a great deal of success in French Switzerland. The Social Democratic Party is becoming degraded from day to day. M. Grimm, the famous leader of the Swiss Social Democrats, has become a mere caretaker of bourgeois interests and of capitalism. His main occupation now is to clean the closets for the capitalists of Bern (laughter). This founder of the Zimmerwald Party is attending to his business very well. He combines this ennobling occupation with his post as leader of the 2½ International. As a matter of fact these two occupations harmonise fully.

In Spain the same process of unification of the Communist groups took place. Here we had an interesting development. Two delegates of the old party came over here, one a worker and a Communist, and the second a professor and a reformist. The professor naively said to us: "I do not like the Third International, but the Spanish workers who delegated us desire to belong to it, so I must.” (Laughter.)

We get such visits quite often. From Roumania a certain gentleman came to us by the name of Flueras, who was formerly a minister in the cabinet. He was extremely astonished when Comrade Bucharin told him in the gentle manner which is so characteristic of him: "Mr Flueras, we know that you were a bourgeois minister, and that you desire to continue in the same capacity. So we must ask you to be so kind and leave this hall." (Laughter.) He was amazed by our lack of international hospitality. For the last half a year we have had a great number of such peculiar visitors.

In Roumania the split has now been completed. We must admit before the Congress that our comrades Christensen and others, who were frequently accused of being centrist, have very loyally fulfilled the obligations they took upon themselves. They