V. I.

Lenin

The Petrograd
Gazeta-Kopeika [1] in its issue of April 14 published the following report:

PRIVATELY-OWNED LANDS TO BE REQUISITIONED

Kishlnev, April 13. In view of the fact that there are great tracts of uncultivated land in the uyezd that are not
leased on account of the high rent, the Akkerman Soviet of
Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies has recommended all village and volost committees to requisition all unused privately owned lands for crop cultivation through the Commissar in cases where voluntary agreements are impossible .

If this report is true, it is extremely important. Obviously,
the Akkerman Soviet is guided by practical considerations, and
is no doubt closely and intimately acquainted with local
conditions. It considers correctly that the crops must be
increased at all costs to the fullest possible extent. But how
can this be done when the landowners have raised the rents
scandalously?

By voluntary agreements with the landowners?

This is what Minister Shingaryov emphatically advises from
Petrograd; he threatens the peasants, and protests vehemently
against arbitrary action. It is all very well for Shingaryov to
argue from Petrograd. It is all very well for him to defend the
landowners in the name of the government of the capitalists.

But how about the situation of the peasants locally? Does not
the Akkerman Soviet appraise the situation more correctly when
it speaks of “voluntary agreements” being “impossible”?

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Notes:
[1]