Translated from: ru/1905/1905-05-08_iz_pisma_za_granitsu_v_bolshevistskiy.txt

I am late with my letter, Comrade. I had neither the time nor the inclination to write. I had to travel all over the Caucasus, speak at debates, encourage comrades, and so on. There was a general offensive from the Mensheviks on every side, and it was necessary to repulse them. We had almost no people (and still have very few, two to three times fewer than the Mensheviks), and one had to do the work of three... The state of affairs is as follows. Tiflis is almost entirely in the hands of the Mensheviks. Half of Baku and Batumi is also with the Mensheviks. The other half of Baku, part of Tiflis, all of Yelisavetpol, the entire Kutaisi district with Chiatura (a manganese-mining district, 9,000-10,000 workers), and half of Batumi are with the Bolsheviks. Guria is in the hands of the conciliators, who have decided to go over to the Mensheviks. The stock of the Mensheviks is still rising.

Ostrovsky, A.V. Who Stood Behind Stalin. p. 232.