The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 24, 1925, Page 9

ARTICLE VIL An Interview With Lenin. ENIN took great interest in Am- erica. For this reason he often invited to his cabinet comrades who were acquainted with American con- ditions. I happened to be one of them. This was at the time when the Com munist International was exerting al its efforts to unite the different Com- munist tendencies in America. The munist factions were, of course, too partial in this question. comrades among them who cared nothing about affiliation or unification. One side flung accusations at the other. The “C. P.” (Communist Party) considered the U. C. P. (Unit- ed. Communist Party) fatal centrists and opportunists; on the other hand, | t : the U. P. C. thought the C. P. narrow} } dogmatic sectarians, who were against | Along | any Communist mass-action. came the “C. U. C.” (Communist Uni- fication Committee) and spared neith- er side. . The represéntatives of the various factions agreed, however, on one point. that in America there could be ne question at that time about an open and legal Communist party. Even though there would be a unification o/ all Communist forces into one party the united party would be forced t exist as an underground and illega organization. Lenin paid little or no attention t the facts and arguments of the fight. ing groups. He was all the time o the opinion, that whatever the con ditions in America were at the time one thing was certain—the Commun ist Party must exert ite efforts to car ry on Communist mass propagand: among the masses. For this purpose it was necessary to attract all the left elements of th socialist party and bring about a so idification, one way or another, of th radical forces. That was why Lenin found it necessary to consult thos: comrades who had lived in Americ: before the outbreak of the Russia: revolution, who were able to remai impartial concerning the fractiona conflicts in the American Communis movement. And because the movement of th: | There were'y. and Lenin attended a “Subotnic’ ‘together workers of America always interestec | me and now though I was in Russia. | I was nevertheless in close contac with the American delegates, Lenir invited me to his cabinet to a privat< talk. The manner of the invitation great: surprised me. No denite date no: hour was set. The question was: What is the most convenient day fo me and all this thru the telephone I, of course, answered, that I war ready to come at any time Comrad« Lenin would find it possible to inter- view me. That same day, late at night, com- ing home from a party meeting, J found a note, in which I was requestec by Lenin to be at his office at two in the afternoon the next day. But t make sure that I could keep the ap pointment the secretary of the coun- cil of the people’s commissars (“Sov- narcom”) would phone me at nine in the morning. The watchman who brought me this note looked at me with great respect. I felt that he looked at me with ad- miration. When he asked me to give him a cigaret, he eagerly uttered: “Will you be tomorrow at Ilyich’s himself? Eh, I wish I had a chance tc speak to him personally, I know it isn’t hard, he receives everybody without any formalities, but I can’t bother him just for the sake of sat- isfying my curiosity.” The next moring exactly at nine the telephone rang. The secretary told me that at two Lenin had a recess period between sessions of the cen- tral committee of the Russian Com- munist Party. That the doorman a’ the entrance to Kremel would let me pass and I'd be escorted to the office of the “Sovnarcom.” I have had various occasions to be in Kremel to party meetings, military drill and journalistic purposés. I had Lenin As I Saw Him - in fact what would be called a regular pass. But this time I did not have tc go thru any formalities. As soon ar I mentioned my name to the doorman he ordered a Red army soldier to di. rect me to the office of the “Sovnar- com.” Having arrived half an hour ahead of time, the Red junker, a young Rus 1 sian of find appearance, offered tc show me the Kremel in the meantime |However, I did not accept his offer | : representatives of the American Com- Knew the Kremel well, 1 had visited all its historical places many a time. The junker told me that last Saturday (“Subotnic” means extre work done on Saturdays for starving Russia); they chopped wood for the Kremel military school, and Ilyich ; (Lenin) proved to be the fastest work- er. He chopped the wood with a par- icular diligence, telling jokes, and making everybody laugh. “Yes,” said the young soldier good naturedly, “one feels in the presence of Ilyich like his equal, he shakes hands with every own eyes our village electrificd. Un- der the czars regime we have hac nothing. Now, under the Soviet re gime, things are different. We dre the rulers.” Another pecsant of middle age chimed in: “The neighborhood vil- lage already has those ‘Ilyich’s lamps,’ why shouldn’t we have them?” The name “Ilyich lamps” for elec tricity made everybody smile. “What | names people can invent,” my escort the Red soldier, joyfully remarked. The chief secretary, Comrade Pade jeva, directed me to Lenin’s cabinet. In the large corridor, where a high fron stove stood majestically, a few visitors were seated on a bench among whom I noticed Maxim Gorky, talking to the young door-maid. I was led into the cabinet. It was a Jarge hall with many high Venetian windows facing one of the main boulevards of the Kremel. The walls were covered with book shelves. | In the middle there was a long tabl with papers, books and telephones ga- NICOLAI LENIN. body, and always takes an interes’ in our well. being; he wants to know how we are getting along, what books we read. We are all comrades. Last Saturday, at the ‘Subotnic,’ some of the comrades were ashamed to smoke in his presence. Ilyich noticed it and made the following remark: ‘It’s bet- ter when one does not smoke at all, but when one is used to smoking, there is no reason why he should be ashamed to do so in the presence of a comrade.’ ” When the yong soldier told me this story his eyes sparkled with joy. In the office, a large bright room simply furnished, several girls work. ed on typewriters. There were a few delegations waiting; among them one could see some elderly peasants dressed in gray dowlas coats and shoes made of bark. This delegation was attended to by the leader of the co-operatives, Khinchook, a wel known former menshevik, who war the president of the Moscow Soviet under the Kerensky regime and turn- ed Communist. I learned that these peasants came from Tula; they had tc decide on the electrification of their village, so they came to ask Lenin's aid. One of the delegates, quite an old man with a long gray beard, was their spokesman: “A school we have in our village already, a club of Com munist youth, too. The club has a library, it is therefore high time tha‘ wo should have electricity, We're old people, let’s then, live to see with ou lore, several simple chairs stood around the table and a sofa in a cor- ner of the room. There were no pic tures on the walls, no ornaments. There was only one large map on the wall. Tho only luxury to be found ir the room was a Persian carpet cover. ing the entire floor. But everything basked in an abundance of light and spaciousness. Thru the windows onc could see a beautifal panorama on the lake Moscow, surrounded by golden church domes. Having to wait ten minutes, I cast my eyes on the New York Times, Call, and Weekly People, that were lying on the table, also sevéral English books, among them Upton Sinclair’s “Brass Check.” From another room, the door of which was open, I heard Zinoviev and Trotsky, whose voices were familiar to me ere long. Lenin came out, and extending his hand to me, as to an old friend, ex- cused himself for keeping me waiting “Young ought to know,” he smilingly added, “ when we begin to discuss < question time ceases to exist. I at once felt intimate, as if I had met a very close friend whom I hav: not seen for a long time. Soon our conversation was in it’s full swing The sprightliness of his face especial ly impressed me. Not a gray hair i his beard. His small keen eyes pierc. with a fire of youthfulness. Dresse¢ in a black, light alpaca jacket and wrinkled necktie with his blond By Schachno Epstein French pointed beard, Lenin looked like a provincial Russian proprietor. Peculiar, however, is his roundly pointed forehead full of narrow wrinkles. When he smiles his jaw- bones are bulge out. Lenin showed a special interest in the conditions of the socialist party in America, in its left wing. What jelements is it composed of? Did 1} know the leaders. He was of the opin- ion that it is necessary to draw them near, and not repel them, as it was unfortunately done by the American Communists. Naturally, we hare to criticise them and sharply so, but the criticism must be a friendly one. The same attitude must prevail toward th« progressive elements in the unions. “You and Comrade Ogursky have rec- ommended Schlesinger,” Lenin re- marked. “I don’t know just how much one can rely upon Schlesinger, he im. presses me as a very limited person- jality, is somewhat insane, rather in sincere, but if he is really as radical as he said he is, so bitterly opposed to Samuel Gompers, we have to support him in his struggle against the con- servation in the trade unions.” I told Lenin what I knew about Schlesinger, how he behaved after hi: return from Russia and Lenin motion- ed with his hand: “Hm, well, such a person doesn’t deserve too much at tention; what they want is publicity to advertise themselves. Their deeds however, tell what they are. What i: 1ecessary in such cases is to discuss their doings, ignoring their personal- ity. That is the worst thing for them.” I was surprised to learn that Lenin detected at once the weak side of Schlesinger. We turned into a discussion of the problems of the working class move ment of America, and Lenin displayed thoro knowledge of American con. ditions. In his estimate the play c illegality in America was of no or lit tle importance. The chief aim of the American Communists should be tr create a wide left mass-movement. Tr cling strictly to the slogan of armed insurrection, of proletarian dictator ship in America is no more than a left wing child-disease. The moment the left wing movement becomes a movement of the masses, so that in America there will spring up a party of the toiling masses ready to fight sapitalism, the slogans of proletarian tictatorship will become the natural “esult. To jump over from “A” to “Z” is impossible. America is not Russia and not even England. American cap | ital came out of the world war strong- er than it was before the war, there- | fore it is first of all necessary to awak. en the most elementary political con- sciousness of the American toiling masses. For this purpose a small legal “daily” is of far greater import ance, than a big underground organ- \izational apparatus. The Americans lcommitted an unforgivable error ir not supporting Eugene VY. Debs in thc last (1920) presidential elections. To bury oneself in a shell and fancy that one is making revolutions is not be- coming to a Communist who must stand on solid ground and not soar in the ethereal spheres of abstract slogans and speculations. “IT argue about it,” says Lenin fully convinced, “with the American com- Trades, and it is remarkable that just those comrdes, who went thru the rev- olutionry school in Russia and are now active in the American move ment, cannot and will not understand this. They think that America must follow the road of Russia. The gen. uine American comrades do under stand the importance of being a legal party, and to them, therefore, belongs | the leadership of the movement. There lare among them people who have a |thoro understanding of the trade un- ‘ions, and the trade unfons are the foundation of the entire left wing movement. So long as the Commun- ists will not penetrate the ranks o the trade unions, they will remain stationary.” In passing, Lenin mado a few re marks about the Jewish working class movement, And here too he showed (Continued on page 6) o <a tt CCCCLC