Published in Pravda No. 37, May 4 (April 21), 1917.
Citizen V. Chernov writes in Dyelo Naroda of April 16:
“He {Lenin} did not even think that, even from his own point of view, Britain’s consent to his journey would have been better in that it would have been due to the pressure of the Russian revolution, whereas Germany’s consent may appear more suspicious as to its motives.”
Conclusion: Lenin is something of a maniac.
Very well. But what about the thirty arrivals who belong to different parties, including the Bund? Are they all maniacs? Did none of them “even think”?
Further. How about the telegram from Martov, Natanson (the leader of the S. R. Party, mark you), Axelrod, and others, saying: “We find it absolutely impossible to return to Russia via England”? (See Rabochaya Gazeta for April 15.)
Does this mean that both Martov and Natanson are maniacs, that they too “did not even think”?
But these witnesses, who do not belong to our Party—Natanson is a witness belonging to V. Chernov’s party—confirm the fact that it was absolutely impossible to make the journey any other way!
What is the conclusion? It is this—either V. Chernov is a queer fellow who uses phrases to avoid the facts, or he has allowed himself to be so frightened by philistine-chauvinist gossip and slander that he has lost his head.
Source: Marxist Internet Archive