Thus, it turned out that trade union work "among the people" mean fulfilling the first part of this task, and legal criticism meant fulfilling the second part. This statement proved to be such an excellent weapon against Economism that, had there been no Credo, it would have been worth inventing.
The Credo was not invented, but it was published without the consent and perhaps even against the will of its authors. At all events the present writer, who was partly responsible for dragging this "programme" into the light of day,[1] has heard complaints and reproaches to the effect that copies of the résumé of their views which were dubbed the Credo were distributed and even published in the press together with the protest! We refer to this episode because it reveals a very peculiar state of mind among our Economists, viz.: a fear of publicity. This feature is common among the Economists, and not among the authors of the Credo alone. It was revealed by that most outspoken and honest advocate of Economism, Rabochaya Mysl, and by Rabocheye Dyelo (which was indignant over the publication of Economist documents in the Vademecum), as well as by the Kiev Committee, which two years ago refused to permit the publication of its profession de foi[2] together with a protest that had been written against it,[3] and by many other individual representatives of Economism.
This fear of criticism. displayed by the advocates of freedom of criticism cannot be attributed solely to craftiness (although no doubt craftiness has something to do with: It would be unwise to expose the young and as yet puny movement to the enemies' attack!) No, the majority of the Economists quite sincerely disapprove (and by the very nature of Economism they must disapprove) of all theoretical controversies, factional disagreements, of broad political questions, of schemes for organising revolutionaries, etc. "Leave all this sort of thing to the exiles abroad!" said a fairly consistent Economist to me one day, and thereby he expressed a very
- ↑ Reference is made here to the Protest Signed by the Seventeen against the Credo. The present writer took part in drawing up this protest (the end of 1899). The protest and the Credo were published abroad in the spring of 1900. [See V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. II.—Ed.] It is now known from the article written by Madame Kuskova, I think in Byloye [Past] that she was the author of the Credo, and that Mr. Prokopovich was very prominent among the Economists abroad at that time.
- ↑ Profession of faith.—Ed.
- ↑ As far as we know the composition of the Kiev Committee has been changed since then.
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