page 86

    Under this general heading we intend to publish from time to time, as the material accumulates, articles and commentaries in which all aspects of Russia's economic life and economic development will be described from the Marxist point of view. Now that Iskra[30] has begun to appear fort-nightly, the absence of such a section is most keenly felt. However, we must call the most earnest attention of all comrades and sympathisers of our publications to the fact that to conduct this section (at all properly) we need an abundance of material and in this respect our editors find themselves in an exceptionally unfavourable position. The contributor to the legal press cannot even imagine the most elementary obstacles that sometimes frustrate the intentions and endeavours of the "underground" writer. Do not forget, gentlemen, that we cannot use the Imperial National Library, where tens and hundreds of special publications and local newspapers are at the service of the journalist. Material for an economics section at all befitting a "newspaper," i.e., material that is at all brisk, topical, and interesting to both reader and writer, is scattered in small local newspapers and in special publications which are mostly either too expensive or are not at all on sale (government, Zemstvo,[31] medical publications, etc.). That is why it will be possible to run an economics section tolerably well only if all readers of the illegal newspaper act in accordance with the proverb: "Many a little makes a mickle." Putting aside all false modesty, the Editorial Board of Iskra must admit that in this respect they are very poorly supplied. We are sure that most of our readers are able to read the most various special and local publications, and actually do

 
page 87

read them "for themselves." Only when every such reader asks himself each time he comes across some interesting item: "Is this material available to the editors of our paper? What have I done to acquaint them with this material?" -- only then shall we succeed in having all the outstanding developments in Russia's economic life appraised, not only from the standpoint of the official, Novoye Vremya,[32] Witte panegyrics, not only for the sake of the traditional liberal-Narodnik plaints, but also from the standpoint of revolutionary Social-Democracy.

    And now, after this non-liberal plaint, let us get down to the subject.

page 533




NOTES



  ^[30] Iskra (The Spark) -- the first all-Russian illegal Marxist newspaper, which Lenin founded in 1900 and which played a decisive part in creating the revolutionary Marxist party of the working class.
    Since police persecution made publication of a revolutionary newspaper impossible in Russia, Lenin, while in exile in Siberia, worked out all details of a plan for publishing one abroad. When his exile ended (January 1900), he immediately set about giving effect to this plan. In February 1900 Lenin conducted negotiations in St. Petersburg with V. I. Zasulich, who had illegally come there from abroad, on participation of the Emancipation of Labour group in publishing an all-Russian Marxist newspaper. In late March and early April 1900, the so-called "Pskov Conference" took place, at which V. I. Lenin, Y. O. Martov, A. N. Potresov and S. I. Radchenko, together with the "legal Marxists" P. B. Struve and M. I. Tugan-Baranovsky, discussed Lenin's draft editorial declaration on the programme and tasks of an all-Russian newspaper (Iskra) and a scientific-political magazine (Zarya). Lenin visited a number of Russian cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Riga, Smolensk, Nizhni-Novgorod, Ufa, Samara, Syzran), established connections with Social-Democratic groups and individual Social-Democrats and came to an agreement with them concerning support for the future Iskra. When Lenin arrived in Switzerland in August 1900, he and A. N. Potresov had a conference with members of the Emancipation of Labour group concerning the programme and tasks of the newspaper and the magazine, possible contributors, and the composition and location of the editorial board. These negotiations almost ended in a rupture (see present edition, Vol.4, "How the 'Spark' Was Nearly Extinguished," pp. 333-49), but finally agreement on all the questions at issue was reached with the Emancipation of Labour group.
    The first number of Lenin's Iskra was published in Leipzig in December 1900, while the following numbers came out in Munich, in London from July 1902 and in Geneva from the spring of 1903. Great assistance in organising the publication of Iskra was given by the German Social-Democrats Clara Zetkin, Adolf Braun and others, by the Polish revolutionary Julian Marchlewski who was living in Munich at the time, and by Harry Quelch, one of the leaders of the British Social-Democratic Federation. The Editorial Board of Iskra consisted of V. I. Lenin, G. V. Plekhanov, Y. O. Martov, P. B. Axelrod, A. N. Potresov, and V. I. Zasulich. I. G. Smidovich-Leman was the first secretary of the Editorial Board, to be later followed, from the spring of 1901, by N. K. Krup-

 
page 534

skaya, who also dealt with all Iskra's correspondence with Russian Democratic organisations.
    Iskra centred its attention on problems of the revolutionary struggle of the proletariat and all the working people of Russia against the tsarist autocracy, but it also paid great attention to leading international events, and chiefly to the international working-class movement. In actual fact Lenin was the editor-in-chief and leader of Iskra ; he wrote articles on all the main questions of Party construction and the Russian proletariat's class struggle.
    Iskra became the centre for the unification of the Party's forces, mobilising and training the Party's cadres. In a number of Russian cities (St. Petersburg, Moscow, Samara, etc.) R.S.D.L.P. groups and committees of Lenin's Iskra trend were established, and in January 1902 a Russian Iskra organisation was set up at a conference of Iskra supporters held in Samara. The Iskra organisations were created and carried out their work under the direct guidance of Lenin's pupils and comrades-in-arms: N. E. Bauman, I. V. Babushkin, S. I. Gusev, M. I. Kalinin, P. A. Krasikov, G. M. Krzhizhanovsky, F. V. Lengnik, P. N. Lepeshinsky, I. I. Radchenko, and others.
    On Lenin's initiative and with his direct participation, the Iskra Editorial Board drew up the draft Party programme (published in No. 21 of Iskra) and prepared the Second Congress of the R.S.D.L.P., which took place in July-August 1903. When the Congress met, most local Social-Democratic organisations in Russia had adhered to Iskra, approved its tactics, programme, and organisational plan, and recognised it as their leading organ. A special decision of the Congress noted the unique role of Iskra in the struggle for the Party, and appointed it the Central Organ of the R.S.D.L.P. The Second Congress ratified an editorial board consisting of Lenin, Plekhanov, and Martov. Martov, who insisted on retention of all six former editors, refused to go on the board despite the Party Congress decision, and Nos. 46-51 of the paper appeared under the editorship of Lenin and Plekhanov. Later Plekhanov went over to the Menshevik position, and demanded that the Iskra Editorial Board should include all the old Menshevik editors rejected by the Congress. Lenin could not agree to this, and on October 19 (November 1), 1903, he left the Iskra Editorial Board. He was co-opted into the Central Committee and from there conducted a struggle against the Menshevik opportunists. No. 52 of Iskra appeared under the editorship of Plekhanov alone. On November 13 (26), 1903, Plekhanov, acting alone and in defiance of the Congress, co-opted the former Menshevik editors into the Iskra Editorial Board. Beginning with No. 52, the Mensheviks transformed Iskra into their own organ.    [p. 86]

  ^[31] Zemstvo -- the name given to the local government bodies introduced in the central gubernias of tsarist Russia in 1864.

    The powers of the Zemstvos were limited to purely local economic problems (hospital and road building, statistics, insurance, etc.). Their activities were controlled by the provincial governors

 
page 535

and by the Ministry of the Interior, which could overrule decisions disapproved by the government.    [p. 86]

  ^[32] In speaking of the "Novoye Vremya panegyrics" V. I. Lenin has in mind the reactionary trend of the tsarist Russian press as typified by the newspaper Novoye Vremya (New Times) which was published in St. Petersburg from 1868 to October 1917.

    Novoye Vremya-ism was an expression used to denote reactionism, venality, and toadyism.    [p. 87]

  ^[33] V. I. Lenin has in view the "Report of the State Savings-Banks for 1899," published by the Board of the State Savings-Banks (year of publication not indicated).    [p. 87]

  ^[34] The calculation is inaccurate: 157,000 is not one-sixth, but approximately one-twelfth of the two million factory workers.    [p. 89]

  ^[35] Bastiat -- French bourgeois economist of the first half of the nineteenth century. Bastiat preached civil peace, the "harmony of interests" of the various classes of bourgeois society. Karl Marx in his work, "Carey and Bastiat," written in July-December 1857, sharply criticised and ridiculed Bastiat's doctrine.

    Schulze-Delitzsch -- German economist and supporter of Bastiat. In an effort to divert workers and artisans, who were becoming proletarianised, from the revolutionary struggle, he advocated the establishment of co-operative societies and loan and savings-banks, which, he claimed, could improve the proletariat's condition within the framework of capitalism and save the artisan small producers from ruin.    [p. 94]