## ORGANIZATION OF FOOD SUPPLY DETACHMENTS
10 MAY — 29 OCTOBER 1918
10047
LETTER TO A. D. TSIURUPA ON THE CREATION OF FOOD SUPPLY DETACHMENTS FROM PETROGRAD WORKERS.1
Comrade Tsiurupa, People's Commissar for Food Supply.
[10 May 1918]
The bearer is Andrei Vasilievich Ivanov, a worker from the Putilov Factory (known to Shliapnikov and possessing old party credentials from the tsarist era).
I told him about the decree of yesterday and the resolution concerning the urgent mobilization of workers by the Commissariat of Labor. ** I expressed my opinion to him:
if the best Petrograd workers do not form, through selection, a reliable workers' army of 20,000 disciplined and ruthless soldiers to conduct a military campaign against the rural bourgeoisie and bribe-takers, then famine and the destruction of the revolution are inevitable.
I ask you to confirm this to the bearer and to give a brief statement that you will grant such detachments full powers under the same conditions.
I kindly request that you provide him with such a statement for reading in Petrograd, and return this letter to the bearer.
Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars.

The letter to A. D. Tsiurupa was apparently written on 10 May, i.e., the day after the adoption by the Sovnarkom and the Central Executive Committee on 9 May of the decree granting the People's Commissar for Food extraordinary powers to combat the rural bourgeoisie. The fact that the decree mentioned in the text refers to this specific food supply decree is evidenced by the following: A. V. Ivanov visited Lenin before he wrote his letter to the Petrograd workers "On Famine," in which Lenin writes: ... "I recently had a visit from your party delegate, a worker from the Putilov Factory" (Collected Works, Vol. XXIII, p. 26). This letter was written on 22 May, so A. Ivanov visited Lenin a few days before * 22 May and the day after the decree was adopted, as indicated in the letter to A. D. Tsiurupa. During this period, only one decree on the food supply issue was adopted by the Sovnarkom on 9 May, as mentioned above.
* See p. 85. Ed.
** See p. 88. Ed.

8 A. V. Ivanov — a worker at the Putilov Factory, chairman of the factory purchasing commission.
23468
TELEGRAM TO THE KINESHMA SOVIET CALLING FOR THE FORMATION OF FOOD SUPPLY DETACHMENTS
24 May 1918 17:05
To all workers of the Kineshma district. Comrades workers, the rich peasants of the producing provinces are withholding and not handing over huge stocks of grain for the starving workers. The rich prefer to sell grain at exorbitant speculative prices, which only the urban bourgeoisie can afford, but not the poorest, starving population. By speculating on grain, the rich also aim to speculate on goods they receive in exchange for grain. The urban bourgeoisie is agitating for the abolition of the grain monopoly, fixed prices, and for the introduction of free trade in grain. From agitation, the bourgeoisie moves to provocation, skillfully and imperceptibly inciting the hungry workers to demonstrations, unrest, and disorder, aiming to seize power. The Council of People's Commissars is doing everything in its power to defend the grain monopoly, without which only the bourgeoisie will prosper, while the poorest population will be left without any grain. Comrades workers, do not give in to the provocations of dark forces, do not play into the hands of the bourgeoisie and counter-revolutionaries who want to use your hands to grab the fire and destroy all the gains of the revolution. With your thoughtless actions and independent bartering, do not bring disorganization into the difficult work of procuring grain for you. The Council of People's Commissars is now conducting large-scale exchanges of goods for grain and has begun to requisition grain stocks from the rural bourgeoisie with armed detachments. If you want to help and support your workers' and peasants' government, act in an organized manner: select the best experts from among yourselves.
* Printed from the text of the telegram, typed on a typewriter. Ed.