APPARATUS OF THE COUNCIL OF PEOPLE'S COMMISSARS, THE STO AND THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIATS

LETTER ON THE APPLICATION OF “direct contact”*.
To Comrades Eupukidze, Karpinsky, Dzerzhinsky, Zalutsky, Mikhailov,
Molotov
December 3, 1921
Dear Comrade!
From the practice of the reception office of the Council of People's Commissars in dealing with complaints and applications, in especially serious and urgent cases, the usefulness of applying “direct contact” has become clear — i.e., personally addressing individual Party comrades who hold a sufficiently influential position in the localities. This achieves a reduction in the delays inevitable through the usual departmental channels, and generally the required impact is increased.
An example is the case of the terrorism of a kulak “nest” that had attached itself to Soviet power and the Party in the (new) Yelansky Uyezd of the Saratov Governorate. Within 40 days, it was possible to receive a return telegram from the authorized representative of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission in the Volga region, requested in this “comradely” manner, stating that "all measures have been taken to identify the perpetrators." There are similar results in other cases as well.
But the development of this method is only possible with sufficient knowledge of the actual composition of responsible workers in the localities. Therefore, the request is to urgently compile and send to the address of the reception office of the Council of People's Commissars, Vozdvizhenka 4, corresponding lists of reliable comrades with good experience who, in your opinion, are particularly suitable for such "pressure," from among the members of executive committees, governorate Chekas, etc., 1-2 per governorate.

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V. Ulyanov (Lenin).
P.S. A complete guarantee of the conscientiousness of such comrades is necessary, namely: as detailed as possible a record of their Party and Soviet service, and a personal guarantee of their unconditional honesty from several old Party members.
*1.
* Printed from a machine copy; signature handwritten. Archive of the NMEL, No. 28954, contains a similar letter signed by Lenin, sent to "7 comrades according to V.I.'s instructions." -Ed.