{"id":28759,"date":"2021-04-12T23:10:59","date_gmt":"2021-04-12T15:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?page_id=28759"},"modified":"2021-04-12T23:11:02","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T15:11:02","slug":"a-letter-to-martin-abern-january-29-1940","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/a-letter-to-martin-abern-january-29-1940\/","title":{"rendered":"A Letter to Martin Abern (January 29, 1940)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"tdi_1\" class=\"tdc-zone\"><div class=\"tdc_zone tdi_2  wpb_row td-pb-row\"  >\n<style scoped>\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n.tdi_2{\r\n                    min-height: 0;\r\n                }\n<\/style><div id=\"tdi_3\" class=\"tdc-row\"><div class=\"vc_row tdi_4  wpb_row td-pb-row\" >\n<style scoped>\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n.tdi_4,\r\n                .tdi_4 .tdc-columns{\r\n                    min-height: 0;\r\n                }.tdi_4,\r\n\t\t\t\t.tdi_4 .tdc-columns{\r\n\t\t\t\t    display: block;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_4 .tdc-columns{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_4:before,\r\n\t\t\t\t.tdi_4:after{\r\n\t\t\t\t    display: table;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\n\/* inline tdc_css att - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n\n.tdi_4{\nmargin-top:50px !important;\n}\n\n.tdi_4 .td_block_wrap{ text-align:left }\n\n<\/style><div class=\"vc_column tdi_6  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span8\">\n<style scoped>\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n.tdi_6{\r\n                    vertical-align: baseline;\r\n                }.tdi_6 > .wpb_wrapper,\r\n\t\t\t\t.tdi_6 > .wpb_wrapper > .tdc-elements{\r\n\t\t\t\t    display: block;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_6 > .wpb_wrapper > .tdc-elements{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_6 > .wpb_wrapper > .vc_row_inner{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_6 > .wpb_wrapper{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t    height: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\n<\/style><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\" ><div class=\"wpb_wrapper wpb_text_column td_block_wrap td_block_wrap vc_column_text tdi_7  tagdiv-type td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\"  data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_7\" >\n<style>\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n.vc_column_text > .td-element-style{\r\n\t\t\t\t\tz-index: -1;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\n<\/style><div class=\"td-fix-index\"><h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">A Letter to Martin Abern<\/h1>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"information\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"info\">First Published:<\/span> Leon Trotsky, <strong>In Defense of Marxism<\/strong>, New York 1942.<br \/>\n<span class=\"info\">Checked against:<\/span> Leon Trotsky, <strong>In Defence of Marxism<\/strong>, London 1966, pp.188-189.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"date\" style=\"text-align: right;\">January 29, 1940<\/p>\n<p class=\"fst\">Dear Comrade Abern:<\/p>\n<p class=\"fst\">I received the communication about your alleged expression \u201cThis means split\u201d from Comrade Cannon. He wrote on December 28th, 1939:<\/p>\n<p class=\"quoteb\">Your document has already been widely distributed in the party. So far I have heard only two definite comments from leaders of the minority. Abern, after he had read the title and the first few paragraphs, remarked to Goldman, \u201cThis means a split.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"fst\">I know Cannon as a trustworthy comrade and I didn\u2019t have the slightest reason to doubt the veracity of his communication.<\/p>\n<p>You say this report \u201cis a lie.\u201d I know by a long experience that during the sharp fight, misunderstandings of such a kind are very often without bad will from one side or the other.<\/p>\n<p>You ask me whether I made any effort to check the veracity of this report. None at all. If I had spread it in private correspondence as a fact known to me, it would not have been loyal. But I published it with a remark \u201cit has been reported\u201d and so gave you the full possibility to confirm or deny the report. I believe this to be the best checking possible in a party discussion.<\/p>\n<p>You say in the beginning of your letter: \u201cI have disregarded in the past a number of false statements, but I note among other things, in your open letter &#8230;\u201d etc. What signifies here the phrase, \u201ca number of false statements\u201d? From whom? What signifies the expression, \u201camong other things\u201d? What kind of things? Don\u2019t you believe that your expressions can be understood by inexperienced comrades as vague insinuations? If, in my article, there are \u201ca number of false statements\u201d and \u201cother things,\u201d it would be better to enumerate them exactly. If the false statements are not from me, I don\u2019t understand why you introduce them in your letter to me. I can also hardly understand how one can \u201cdisregard\u201d a number of false statements if they have any political importance: it could be interpreted as a lack of attention toward the party.<\/p>\n<p>In any case I note with satisfaction that you categorically deny the sentence \u201cthis means split.\u201d I interpret the energetic tone of your letter in this sense, that your denial is not a formal one, that is, that you deny not only the quotation, but that you consider as I do, the idea of split itself as a despicable betrayal of the Fourth International.<\/p>\n<p class=\"author\">Fraternally yours,<br \/>\nLEON TROTSKY<\/p>\n<p class=\"fst\">Coyoacan, D.F.<br \/>\nCopy to Cannon<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_column tdi_9  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span4 td-is-sticky\">\n<style scoped>\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n.tdi_9{\r\n                    vertical-align: baseline;\r\n                }.tdi_9 > .wpb_wrapper,\r\n\t\t\t\t.tdi_9 > .wpb_wrapper > .tdc-elements{\r\n\t\t\t\t    display: block;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_9 > .wpb_wrapper > .tdc-elements{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_9 > .wpb_wrapper > .vc_row_inner{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_9 > .wpb_wrapper{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t    height: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\n<\/style><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\" data-sticky-enabled-on=\"W3RydWUsdHJ1ZSx0cnVlLHRydWVd\" data-sticky-offset=\"20\" data-sticky-is-width-auto=\"W2ZhbHNlLGZhbHNlLGZhbHNlLGZhbHNlXQ==\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper td_block_wrap vc_widget_sidebar tdi_11 \" ><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":22,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28759","page","type-page","status-publish"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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