"There is a rivalry between Moscow and Petrograd," he informed me "which threatens to become something very serious."
"Very much like the rivalry between Manchester and Liverpool or Lancashire and Yorkshire, I suppose?" was my reply.
"Not in the very least" was his answer. "Perhaps rivalry is not the right word. Rather is it a conflict; or only a rivalry in the sense of striving to keep the Communist ideal untarnished."
I was interested, and bade him continue.
"There are certain elements in Moscow which are still tainted with the spirit of compromise. Even Lenin himself is not above suspicion. There is a great and growing opposition to Lenin in Red Petrograd. We do not like his tenderness for the interests of foreign concessionaires. We do not approve of the toleration shown in Moscow to the counter-revolutionary Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries. It is necessary we yield nothing to those who are not fully with us in our programme and our methods. These traitors will undermine the fabric of the Communist Republic. Lenin himself must go if this is his way."
The man was a bitter and gloomy fanatic. But his words were interesting. "You do not suggest that Lenin is seeking compromise for his own ends, do you?" I asked, unwilling that
