INTERNATIONAL. ==> = [In World Outlook September 27, we provided a translation of the com ~ plete text of an attack on the Fourth International, World Party of the — Socialist Revolution, published by Izvestia, the Moscow daily newspaper. >. The article, signed by one "S. Ivanovitch,” which is equivalent to "S, Doe," was answered by Pierre Frank, a member of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International, His letter of reply to the editor of Izvestia was published in World Outlook October 4.
[This attack against the Fourth International has now been followed by a fresh one, perhaps more significant, since it appears in Communist, theoretical organ of the Central Committee of the Communist party of the Soviet Union. (The September number, which has. just come off the press,). The editors of Communist evidently intend to provide a line for "theoreti«. cians" throughout the world who favor Moscow as against Peking. An inter~. national campaign against "Trotskyism' has thus been launched.. Poe
[The program of Trotskyism; that is, revolutionary socialism, is very much involved in the. Moscow=-Peking conflict, It therefore deserves to be seriously considered on its own merits. However, neither side is prepared to do this inasmuch as both cling to their heritage of Stalinism, Conse~- . quently it is somewhat dangerous, especially for Khrushchev, to raise the. issue. Trotskyism, seriously considered, can prove to be contagious. — . [Khrushchev apparently believes that "Trotskyism" can be used as a stick to beat the Chinese if proper prophylactic measures are taken-to keep it reduced to a mere epithet instead of a program and. movement representing revolutionary socialism. The precaution is to ridicule the Trotskyist move-~ ment, -Hence the rather absurd combination of discussing Trotskyism in the highest theoretical, organ at Knrushchev'!s disposal yet reducing it to the . "Correspondence with Readers” colum in the form of a reply to an alleged inquiry .about the Fourth International, (Must we believe that Communist really:gets inquiries about the Fourth International from its readers!) -Asa further effort at ridicule, the article is humorously signed "S.Ogourtsov" (S. Cucumber), oe
[checking the names of staff members of Communist, we find a number of vegetables listed but no "Cucumber," For this job a different government bureau, more closely linked to the political police, may have provided the cool touch required. The anonymity of the piece, however, does not destroy its authoritativeness among the theoretical pumpkins for whom the utter-— ances of a cucumber are no laughing matter. We can now expect many a column in the world=wide press of the Khrushchev faction featuring articles in which sliced cucumber is a prominent ingredient.
[We publish below the full text of this precious document. -- Editor.]
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