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our Soviets we do not answer by doing the same upon the representatives
 of these Governments. The official agents with diplomatic capacity
 of these same Governments are enjoying the immunity that their
authorities refuse to the members of our Soviets. In adopting this attitude
 towards the official Representatives of Great Britain and France,
we are also taking into consideration your insistent demands, seeing in
you the representative of a people who, with your words, «will not do
anything against the Sovietss. When we answer the measure of war
carried out against us with measures of precaution like putting into
concentration camps nationals of the invading powers, we are considering
 them as civilian prisoners. And these measures of precaution we
apply only to members of propertied classes who are our adversaries:
no such measure is applied to our natural allies the workers of these same
countries who are now residing here. The working classes of the whole
world are our friends, and even now, to those countries whose armies
are perpetrating against us undisguised violence, even to their people we
declare «Peace to the houses of the poor». Seeing that you have declared
that your people does not wish to overthrow the Soviets we ask you
whether you cannot make it clear to us what Britain really wants from
us. Is its aim to overthrow the most popular form of government that
the world has seen, the Soviets of the Workers and of the Poor, is its aim
counter-revolution? Seeing its acts we can think that it is so. We can
think that it intends to restore the worst tyranny of the world, odious
tzarism. Or does it want a specific conquest, a definite town or some
strip of land that it can name to us? Remembering your friendliness
I hope that you will help to enlighten us upon this problem which faces
us at the present moment.
Yours truly, TCHITCHERIN.