Page:Lenin - What Is To Be Done - tr. Joe Fineberg (1929).pdf/146

 organisation; on the contrary, a party organisation must create a newspaper. …" "A newspaper, standing above the party, outside of its control and independent of it, thanks to its having its own staff of agents. …" "By what miracle has Iskra forgotten about the actual existence of the Social-Democratic organisations of the party to which it belongs? …" "Those who possess firm principles and a corresponding plan are the supreme regulators of the real struggle of the party and dictate to it their plan. …" "The plan drives our lives and virile organisations into the kingdom of shadows and desires to call into being a fantastic network of agents. …" "If Iskra's plans were carried out, every trace of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party, which is growing up in Russia, would he completely wiped out. …" "The propagandist organ becomes an uncontrolled autocratic legislator for the whole of the practical revolutionary struggle. …" "What should be the attitude of our party towards the propsalproposal [sic] for its complete subordination to an autonomous editorial board?", etc., etc.

As the reader can see from. the contents and tone of the above quotations, Rabocheye Dyelo feels offended. But it is offended, not for its own sake, but for the sake of the organisations and committees of our party which it alleges Iskra desires to drive into the kingdom of shadows, and the traces of which it desires to obliterate. Terrible, isn't it? But a curious thing should be noted. The article "Where to Begin" appeared in May, 1901. The articles in Rabocheye Dyelo appeared in September, 1901. Now we are in the middle of January, 1902. During these five months, not a single committee and not a single organisation of the party (neither before nor after September) protested against this monster which desires to drive them into the kingdom of shadows; and yet scores and hundreds of communications from all parts of Russia have appeared during this period in Iskra, and in numerous local and non-local publications. How is it that those whom it is desired to drive into the kingdom of shadows are not aware of it and have not felt offended about it, but a third party is offended over it?

This is to be explained by the fact that the committees and other organisations are engaged in real work and do not play at "democracy." The committees read the article "Where to Begin," saw that it was an attempt "to work out a certain plan of organisation by which the setting up of this organisation could be approached from all sides," and as they knew very well that not one of these "sides"