V. I.

Lenin

Antonov, Rostov-on-Don, wherever he may be

Our warmest greetings to all the dedicated fighters for
socialism, and greetings to the revolutionary Cossacks.
In reply to your telegram from
Novocherkassk [1] we inform you: let a plenipotentiary congress of urban and rural
Soviets of the whole Don Region work out its own draft land
law, and submit it to the Council of People’s Commissars
for endorsement. That will be better. I have nothing against
the autonomy of the Don Region. The geographical boundaries of this autonomous region must be fixed by agreement
with the population of the neighbouring zone and the autonomous republic of the Donets Basin. We cannot send you
a delegate, everyone here has his hands full. We ask you
to represent the Council of People’s Commissars, or to appoint someone at your discretion.

Lenin, Stalin