The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 14, 1924, Page 9

1 ) | SS Preliminary Remarks by Comrade Zinoviev. HE following hitherto unpub- lished article was recently found among the papers of comrade Lenin. This article was written for “The Communist International” (ap- proximately in February or March 1922) and was intended to be a con- tinuation of those “Observations of a Publicist” which Vladimir Ilyitch at that time was publishing in almost every number of “The Communist In- ternational:” I remember how Vladimir Ilyitch had promised to finish this article for the regular number of “The Com- munist International” but this he failed to do owing to his being over- tired and overcharged with work, With regard to the role of Paul Levi during the Third Congress there were also considerable disagreements with- in the Russian delegation. Lenin re- peatedly in conversations acknow- ledged his error in this question. The declaration of Lenin in the following article puts an end to a dispute, which is not without interest, over the im- portant episode which assumed great importance for the elaboration of the tactics of the Communist Interna- tional. As regards comrade Lenin’s strong condemnation of Serrati, this refers to the time of the greatest errors of the latter and of his most reprehen- sible attacks against the Communist International. In this place we have deleted from the manuscript of Lenin some sharp phrases evoked by the heat of combat, and we are thorough- ly convinced that in this respect we are acting in Lenin’s spirit. He would now have been the first to strike out these sharp phrases and would have rejoiced at the return of comrade Ser- rati into the ranks of the Communist International—the more so as com- rade Lenin held comrade Serrati’s abilities in high esteem. Lenin’s article—even tho unfinished —appears at the most opportune time. There will shortly take place the V. Congress of the Communist Interna- tional which will deal with many of the preblems, touched on in this ar- ticle. The German C. P. is again ex- periencing a sharp inner struggle. There are ultra-left comrades appeal- ing to the error made by Rosa Luxem- burg in 1903 against the views of the Communist International as for in- stance in the organizatory question. It will be particularly useful to these comrades to read what Lenin writes in this regard. There are sensation- mongers who are talking of the “crisis” of the Communist International. For these comrades it will be particularly useful to read what comrade Lenin writes about “the noiseless, unassum- ing, deliberate, unhasting, but pro found work of constructing real Com- munist parties in Europe and Amer- ica.” And it would be of very, very great advantage if many “critics” oj the policy of C..P. of Russia were tc read, mark and learn what Vladimir Tlyitch writes on the “Ascent of High Mountains” and in particular on the “Evil Effects of Faint-Heartedness.” Moscow, April 15th, 1924. G. ZINOVIEV. I. An Example. Let us imagine a man who is at- tempting the ascent of a very high and hitherto unclimbed mountain. Let us assume that he has succeeded, after having overcome unheard of difficul- ties and dangers, in climbing far higher than his predecessors, but that, nevertheless, he does not reach the top. He arrives at a position where} to go forward in the chosen direction and path appears to be not only dif- ficult and dangerous, but downright impossible. He is compelled to turn back, to go downwards, to seek new paths, even if longer but nevertheless promising the possibility of arriving at the summit. The descent from that height which had never at any time previously been attained and on which our imagined traveler found himself, involves even greater dangers and difficulties than those encountered in|- the ascent. One is more likely to lose the way, it is not so easy to find the place where one has to place his foot, there no longer exists that feeling of highest elation evoked by the move- ment of direct ascent towards the goal etc. One must bind oneself with a rope, waste whole hours in order to hew out with an axe steps or plat- forms where one can firmly attach the rope, one must move with the slowness of a snake, and in addition to this move backward, downward, farther from the goal and none the less one cannot see whether this des- perately dangerous and torturing des- cent is at an end, whether one has reached a tolerably reliable new path, following which one can again pro- ceed, more boldly and rapidly, up- wards to the summit. It is only natural to assume that a man in such a situation, notwithstand- ing the fact that he has climbed to such an unheard of height would ex- perience periods of faint-heartedness. And it is probably that these periods would be more numerous, more fre- quent, more burdensome, if he could hear the voices of those who, safe be- low in the valley, are watching him thru their field-glasses, making this most dangerous descent which even cannot be called (as do the “Smenoy- yekhevtsi’*) a descent “with the brakes on,” as this presumes a proper and approved equipage, an already prepared path and a previously tested mechanism. And here we have neither equipage nor paths nor in general any- thing which has been tested before. The voices from below express a malicious joy, they triumphantly shout: he will break his neck, it serves him right, he should not have been so hare-brained. Others are trying to conceal their malicious attitude, they pose as being sorry and (*.) “Smenovyekevtsi” those who change the direction, i. e., the move- ment among Russian intellectuals in emigration in favor of now backing the Soviets, though not Bolshevism; a movement which has become ever stronger in the last three years and having as its central organ the “Nakanyune” (On the eve) one of the Russian daily papers being published in Berlin. Ed. Observations of a Publicist _ - say: we regret to state, that our fear has been justified. Had we not, after having devoted all our lives to pre paring a reasonable scheme for the ascent of this mountain, demanded a postponement of the ascent, until our scheme had been definitely elaborated? And if we have been opposing so pas- sionately the path which has been abandoned by the mad-man himself (just look, he is turning back, he is going downward, he spends whole hours in preparing the bare possibility of moving himself on one yard. And he insulted us with the most insolent words, when we systematically de- manded moderation and precision); if we have condemned the mad-man so sharply and warned everybody from imitating and helping him, we have acted exclusively out of our love for the great plan for the ascent of this mountain, and in order not to com- promise this great scheme in general. Happily our imagined traveler, in the conditions of the example we have chosen, cannot hear the voices of these “true friends” of the idea of the ascent, otherwise it would have an ill effect upon him and this would not conclude to clearness of head and firmness of foot, especial- ly at such a great altitude. Il. Without Metaphor, An example is no proof. Every com- parison is faulty in some respects. These are undisputed and generally known facts but they must neverthe- less be called to mind, in order to bet- ter show how far any comparison in general is valid. The Russian proletariat in its revo- lution clambered to an enormous height, not only as compared with 1789 and 1793, but also as compared with 1871. We must take into account as soberly, clearly and observantly as possible what we have already “put an end to” and what we have yet to achieve: then our heads will remain all the clearer and we will not be sub- ject to giddiness nor illusions nor de- pression. A BALLAD OF THE TOWN By HENRY ACKLEY. Spirit of steam and steel, Spirit of men that feel, Spirit of a growing commonwealth. We stood on a swinging beam, Me and my pal Joe. He says, “That’s quite a stream Of biped ants below.” “Look,” he says, “to the west, Over the drifting smoke; That hill is lifting like a woman’s breast, And a man would be some bloke, If he didn’t have thoughts come up in him That swell his soul—my eyes are dim.” Iron to iron the rivets crept, While thru the air our hammers swept, And Joe drowned out the noise, His booming voice sang: “Boys, We are they with sweat anointed, We are they in faith appointed, ~ With straining sinews to achieve A glory that the gods conceive; Thus, to the unformed ages given, Thus, by an unknown purpose driven, We ride with Death where the log-boom breaks. We breathe his breath where the furnace shakes, We finger his form where the wheels are whirled, And soon to his knotted arms are hurled; Our bones in the eddies lost, Our bones to the ash-pit tossed.” The riveting ceased, and ceased the song, And Joe looked ‘round in his humorous way, And said, “I’m glad, I’m here where I belong, I've landed a job and I get good pay.” “Well, then,” I said, “dig down in your a And since you must sing, get off o’ strain! I wo, Have work to do!” * But he kept on with the same refrain: “The mice play far from the cat’s cruel claws, But the purring mill extends fits paws; Our children are belched from the mine's grim faws'—~ He never finished; just then he rose Swinging his hammer, he toppled—the elose! = By V. I. Lenin We have “put an end” to the bour- geois-democratic revolution as “pure- ly” as never before in the world. This is.a very great gain which no power can deprive us of. We have found the way out of the most reactionary imperialistic war by revolutionary means. This too is a gain of which no power in the world can deprive us and is even of more value, in as much as reactionary im- perialistic slaughters are unavoidable in the near future, if capitalism re- mains. But the people of the twentieth century will not very easily be fobled off a second time with “Basle Mani- ‘festoes,” by means of which in 1912 and in 1914—18 the heroes of the Sec- ond and Second and a half Interna- tional befooled themselves and — the workers. We have created the Soviet-type of the state and thereby inaugurated a new world-historical epoch, the epoch of the political state of the proletariat which is to follow the epoch of the dominion of the bourgeoisie. This too can no more be taken away, tho only by the practical experience of the working class of several countries it will be possible to “achieve” the Sov- iet-type of state. But we have not even completed the foundation of socialist economy. This can still be taken away by the forces of dying capitalism opposed to us. We must plainly realize and openly acknowledge this, because nothing is more dangerous than illusions (and the feeling of giddiness, especially at great heights). And there is absolute- ly nothing “terrible,” nothing which would justify even the least depres- sion, in acknowledging this bitter truth, for we have always been preach- ing and reiterating this primitive truth of Marxism: that for the victory of socialism the common efforts of the workers of several advanced coun- tries are required. But we still re- main quite alone, and in a backward country, in a country which has been shattered more than others, we have accomplished incrédible things, More- over, we have conserved an “army” of revolutionary proletarian forces, we have maintained its “maneuvering capacity,” we have conserved clarity of thot, permitting us to judge sober- ly, where, when and how far we have to retreat (in order to advance more forcefully) where, when and how we have to set working on that which has not been accomplished. Those Com- munists who imagine that one can complete, without errors, without re- treats, such a world-historical “under- taking” as the laying down of the foundation of socialist economy (espe- cially in a country of petty peasantry) must be regarded indeed as hopeless- y lost. Those communists have not failed (and are likely to fail). who are not given over to illusions or to de- pression, who maintain force ‘and tha adaptibility of the organism for a re- peated “beginning afresh,” when deal- ing with a difficult task. Just as little as we can permit our- selves to give way to the least defres- sion, as little have we cause for so doing, as in spite of all the devasta- tion, misery, backwardness and hun- ger, we have begun to move some- what * ~vard in the sphere of prepara- ntinued on page 6) 8 ,KOLAROV " Seeretary Communist International