V. I. Lenin

Rough Draft of Theses Concerning the Peasants [1]

1. Satisfy the wish of the non-Party peasants for the substitution of a tax in kind for the surplus appropriation system (the confiscation of surplus grain stocks).

2. Reduce the size of this tax as compared with last year’s appropriation rate.

3. Approve the principle of making the tax commensurate with the farmer’s effort, reducing the rate for those making the greater effort.

4. Give the farmer more leeway in using his after-tax surpluses in local trade, provided his tax is promptly paid up in full.

Endnotes

[1] Lenin wrote a rough draft of the theses on February 8, 1921, at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Party’s C.C., which dealt with the problems of the spring sowing campaign and the condition of the peasants. It was the first document defining the new economic foundation of the workers’ and peasants’ alliance, charting the transition from War Communism to the New Economic Policy. It was taken as a basis for the draft resolution on the substitution of a tax in kind for the surplus appropriation system, which was adopted by the Tenth Party Congress on March 15, 1921.