"The reason for this is that they are afraid that the arrival of capable foreign entrepreneurs will pay their workers more salaries, which will cause envy and resentment among the workers of the state-owned enterprises. These circumstances should be unknown to Herio. But there is not and cannot be said to be a victory for the Left Commonarians. Comrade Lenin added: 'The problem is that the unjust refusal of the British to allow us to participate in the conference has aroused great indignation in Russia, uniting not only the right communarians with the left, but also the broad masses of non-party workers and peasants in Russia. This would be tantamount to burying the concession completely. ”

"In his last question, Helio referred to the recent arrest of agents of some foreign companies in Russia, asking: 'Does this mean the resumption of nationalization and confiscation policies?' Comrade Lenin told him not to believe this, and he said that it was not industrialists who were arrested, but 'some black market foreign exchange dealers' who were smuggling silver and gold, reselling them abroad. Comrade Lenin told him that at this regular session of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, which is being held, the whole work of the political axe is also to fix in the most firm form in law what is called the 'new economic policy', in order to exclude any possibility of deviating from this policy. ”

"On October 31, four days after the publication of Comrade Lenin's reply to Helio's question, I learned that Comrade Lenin was going to address the morning meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the 'parliament' of the Soviets. It was his first public speech since April. The guards at the Kremlin gate looked at my documents and showed me the way to the Tsar's Palace. ”

"Fifty-eight wide marble staircases lead up from the hall of the population to the Golden Luang Temple. At the top of the staircase, Repin's painting of Alexander III receiving representatives of the peasants occupies the entire wall. A long corridor leads to the Golden Luang Hall, which is decorated with tall marble pillars and fine glass vases more than one person high. The Golden Luang Hall itself is a lavish hall. It is illuminated by hundreds of tiny light bulbs, which are mounted on ten large chandelier stands made of refined glass. The walls still hang the graphic emblems of the emperor's family - the double-headed eagle, the crown, and so on. But now in place of the throne is a platform high above the ground. On top of the platform was a long table covered with red cloth. Behind the table sat the leaders of the Soviets. Lenin and Stalin were not present. ”

"Nikolai? Krylenko first made a report on the Soviet judiciary. The delegates, some dressed in the leather jackets worn by the political commissars, some in military overcoats and French military blouses from the Civil War, and rough leather boots on their feet, wiped themselves on the ornate parquet floors, and sat in groups on the small gilded chairs used in the ballroom. I sat among them and didn't feel any restraint. ”

"After a while, Comrade Lenin walked in through the side door without any escort (accompanied by Russian representatives and Russian and foreign journalists). He sat in a gilded chair. For a moment at first, no one paid attention to him. But then the people turned their heads to him, and then there was a whisper: 'Comrade Lenin,' and then there was applause. The chairman of the conference invited Comrade Lenin to the podium. ”

"In the eyes of the average person, Comrade Lenin was not tall, bald, with dry, brownish-yellow skin, and a reddish-yellow beard that was small and scarce. He seemed to be hurrying to the pulpit on tiptoe. Then there was applause. But there were neither high cheers nor shouts of 'long live'. Pointing to the pocket watch he had taken out of his pocket, he told everyone that the doctor was not allowed to speak for more than 20 minutes. I could not understand a single word of his speech, or at best, I understood only 5 or 10 sentences, but then I read his speech in its original language, and I read it again not long ago. In terms of quality, this speech is no less than the one he gave at the height of his mental power. ”

"Comrade Lenin began with two pieces of news: the Red Army had driven the last remaining White Guards out of Russia the other day. He said: 'It is not only the merits and strength of the Red Army that play a role here, but also the international situation and our diplomatic activity. I am sure that our diplomats will be able to defend the interests of the federal republics and the Russian Federation (which is actually appeasing the republics of the 'reading'. ）”

"Lenin then turned the subject to internal affairs, saying: 'We have achieved a great deal in this regard.' Examples of these achievements are the adoption of the Labour Code and the establishment of the eight-hour working day. In the capitalist countries, where unemployment is rampant, and the capitalists are organising an attack on the working class, we have the lowest level of education, the least developed productive forces, and the worst ability to work in comparison with them. It is because we are aware of all this, and are not afraid to say from the podium, that we have done more to change this situation than any other country - and because of this, we will be able to catch up with them at a speed that no other country can dream of. ’”

"Comrade Lenin also congratulated the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on the adoption of the Land Code and the Criminal Code. He said that necessary changes to these codes may soon be necessary. 'Of course, all of you are well aware of this, that the speed of legislation like ours has probably never been achieved by any other great power. It will be interesting to see whether, in the near future, they will have to try to catch up with Soviet Russia a little bit in this respect. ”

But Comrade Lenin also pointed out that the struggle against the bureaucracy proceeded much more slowly than hoped. In August 1918, the Bolsheviks conducted a survey of the Moscow apparatus, at which time there were 231,000 state and Soviet employees, both in the central and in the city of Moscow. At that time, it was decided to streamline the organization. In October 1922, another investigation was conducted. I thought the organization must have shrunk. But it turned out to be 243,000 people. Comrade Lenin said, 'Such institutions, which have more than doubled throughout the country, often do not work for us, but against us, and this is a reality, and there is no need to be afraid to say it, even from the rostrum of the highest legislative organ of our republic. ’”

"Comrade Lenin hoped that this phenomenon would improve. But he also pointed out that 'it will be many years before we can improve our state apparatus and raise it to a higher level of culture, not just for individual individuals, but for the whole apparatus.' ’”

"After Comrade Lenin's speech, he announced a break. At this time, all the delegates began to set up and prepare to take group photos. Some of the delegates lay on the floor with their bodies stretched out. In the central row, from left to right, sat Kamenev, Lenin, Zinoviev, Kalinin and myself, as well as a number of other foreign guests. After posing and the photographer's request to 'take one more photo', we surrounded Comrade Lenin. Congratulations on his recovery. Lenin replied in English with a smile: 'I don't know Chinese. He turned around and ran away from the foreign guests with a smile. ”

"Comrade Lenin, having returned to Moscow from Gork on October 2, returned to his old habits and began to urge those with whom he worked again. This was caused by his nervous disturbance, which in turn made his nerves even more disturbed. But if he cares about his own health, he will be even more nervous, and he will have a premonition that some unexpected disaster is coming. There is no doubt that Comrade Lenin's administrative talent and abundant energy saved the Soviet system from extinction at his youngest age. Comrade Lenin not only realized the October Revolution, but also protected it from extinction in the difficult years after it. ”

"From 5 November to 5 December, the Fourth Congress of the Third International was held in Moscow and Petrograd. Comrade Lenin received many delegations and individual representatives. At the beginning of November, as usual, he drew up a detailed outline of his report to be delivered at the congress. On November 13, he made the report in the Kremlin's Golden Luang Palace. I and other bourgeois journalists came to listen to the report. This time Comrade Lenin spoke German, and I understood German. ”

"The Russian Bolshevik Party is the head and purse of the Third International, but it agrees that it should formally submit itself to the jurisdiction of the Third International, and that it should therefore be required to give a summary report at every congress, as is the case with the delegations of other countries. It was this report made by Comrade Lenin. ”

"Comrade Lenin's voice was quite loud when he made his report, as fast as a machine gun. He said: 'The scope of my lecture is very limited. The title "The Fifth Anniversary of the Russian Revolution and the Future of the World Revolution" is too broad and too great for a single person to explain it thoroughly in a single speech. Therefore, I will touch on only a small part of the subject, which is the issue of the 'New Economic Policy'. Comrade Lenin said that this was an important question, and since he himself was "studying this question at the moment", it was of the utmost importance to him. ”

"As before, he spoke first of state capitalism, and referred to one of his old arguments: 'State capitalism, though not a form of social benevolence, is a more appropriate form for us and for Russia than it is now.' In other words, it is a more advantageous form than 'wartime communalism'. He admitted. They were unprepared for such a retreat. He reminded the delegates that that was his view of state capitalism in 1918. These few short lines of polemical writing were by no means a plan of retreat at the time. For example, the very important point of trade freedom that is fundamental to state capitalism is not mentioned here. This confirms Comrade Lenin's preliminary view that by state capitalism he meant private capitalism as permitted by the state, and not by the state ownership of enterprises and the management of enterprises by the state. ”

"Comrade Lenin asked the foreign party comrades present (including the representatives of our Chinese party) the question of a possible retreat. He said: "This is a problem that we must pay attention to at a time when there are such fundamental changes in the world as the overthrow of capitalism and the very difficult construction of socialism. In the course of a revolution, there are often times when the enemy is caught off guard, and if we attack them at such a time, it will be easy to win. But this is not a problem, because if our enemy is quite calm, he will gather forces in advance and so on. Then he would easily provoke us to attack and throw us back to where we were years ago. So even from a practical point of view, any party that is preparing a direct attack on capitalism in the near future should now consider how to secure its retreat. ’”

"Comrade Lenin continued: 'At the end of the Civil War, we were confronted with a great - and I think the greatest - political crisis within Soviet Russia. This internal crisis exposed not only the discontent of a considerable part of the peasantry, but also the discontent of the workers. Now, a year and a half later, at the end of 1922, we are able to make some comparisons. I believe that we can answer with a clear conscience that the past year and a half has proved with absolute certainty that we have withstood this test. ’”

"'Let's start with our financial system and the notorious Russian ruble. The number of Russian rubles has already exceeded 1000 trillion, and in my opinion, for this alone, the Russian ruble is famous enough. That's a lot. But this is true even from an economic point of view, because zero can be crossed out. If we can stabilize the ruble for a long time, and then forever, then we win. At that time, these astronomical figures, trillions, trillions, trillions were nothing. In 1921, the price of the paper ruble remained stable for less than 3 months. The year 1922 has been going on for more than 5 months. Today we have learned to move forward. Now that we have learned this, I believe that we can learn to achieve further on this path in the future, as long as we do not do anything particularly stupid. However, the most important thing is commerce, that is, the flow of goods. We've been getting business up and running for two years. So I think it's fair to say that we can be happy with that. You know, we're alone. ’”

Later, Comrade Lenin spoke again about their social goals. The main thing, of course, is the peasants. In 1921, the peasants became dissatisfied with the Bolsheviks, followed by a famine, in the words of Comrade Lenin, 'the evil fruit of the civil war'. His words give the impression that there had never been a famine in Russia. It was as if the armed grain convoys of the Bolsheviks had nothing to do with it. But, Comrade Lenin added, for a year the peasants paid the state hundreds of millions of poods in grain taxes, 'and hardly any coercive means were used.' Before 1921, peasant revolts were a widespread phenomenon in Russia, but today they are almost completely gone. The peasants are satisfied with their present situation, and we can rest assured that this assertion is made. ’”

"Comrade Lenin then spoke of the production of light industry, that is, the production of necessities. Here Comrade Lenin pointed out that 'there has been a general upsurge in light industry, and consequently there has been a certain improvement in the living conditions of the workers in Petrograd and Moscow. This is worse in other areas,' and then Comrade Lenin referred to the question of heavy industry: 'We do not yet have a profitable concession project. But commerce had enabled the Soviet axe to devote some of its capital - about 20 million gold rubles - to the development of heavy industry. To save Russia, it is not enough to have a good harvest in agriculture, and it is not enough to have light industry in good condition, we must also have heavy industry. Heavy industry needs to be financed by the state. If we can't find it, then we're going to perish, and we can't become a civilized state, let alone a socialist-beneficial. But 20 million rubles are already there. It can be seen that we have achievements. ’”

"Comrade Lenin said: 'There is no doubt that we have done and will do many stupid things. No one can judge this better and see this more clearly than me. Why do we do stupid things? This is not difficult to understand: first, we are a backward country. Secondly, the level of education in our country is extremely low. Thirdly, we do not have access to foreign aid. Those so-called civilized countries are against us. In fact, it often happens that here, above, where we are in charge of state power, the functionaries of the organs are still barely carrying out their duties, but below they are often opposed to our measures. In order to train new workers, we have set up Soviet schools and preparatory universities, and if we do not do it in a hurry, we will be able to produce in a few years a large number of young people who can radically change the face of our institutions. ”

"Towards the end of his report, Comrade Lenin exhorted the delegates: 'I think that the most important thing for all of us, both Russian and foreign, is that after the success of the Russian revolution, we should learn. Party organizations in foreign countries should absorb some of Russia's experience. Our study is a general study, but your study should be a special study, a true understanding of the organization, structure, method, and content of revolutionary work. If this is done, I am convinced that the future of the world revolution is not only good, but very good. ”

"Finally, Comrade Lenin stepped down from the rostrum amid the enthusiastic cheers of the delegates and guests."

Writing this, the young man in prison lifted the round glasses on the bridge of his nose and let out a long breath.

Although he didn't understand why those who arrested him wanted him and his fellow refugees to write "self-statements", he didn't care about it now. At this time, his thoughts were in full swing, as if he was in the golden hall of the Kremlin again.

(To be continued)