V. I.

Lenin

The report made in Petrograd recently by a delegation of Donets
workers exposed the Donets coal mine owners, who are criminally
disrupting and stopping production, and (for the sake of safeguarding their “sacred” right to enormous profits) are
condemning the workers to unemployment, the country to starvation, and industry to a crisis through a coal shortage.

Today we have received a telegram reporting similar outrageous
and criminal conduct on the part of the coal mine owners at the
other end of Russia. Here is the text of the telegram sent to
the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies and to three
cabinet ministers (with our corrections in parenthesis):

“ On April 29 the (Soviet) of Soldiers’ Deputies and the Union of
Employees at Michelson’s Sudzhensk coal mines removed from
office the nine-man administration owing to the criminally
provocative manner in which they ran the business, which
threatened to lead to a shutdown. The management has been placed
(in) the hands of a Council of Engineers—.a technical board
directly controlled by the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’
Deputies. A committee from the executive bodies in Tomsk has
investigated and approved our decision.

“ In a telegram dated May 11 Michelson refused to pay the
workers. We demand full restoration. Restoration impossible. [1]

The mines are facing anarchy, the workers—disaster. Take urgent steps to send half a million
rubles, decide the fate of the mines, confiscate them. The mines
are working for national defence, daily output is 135,000
poods. A stoppage may affect railway traffic and (operation of
the) factories. So far work is normal. Wages for March and April
not paid in full. Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, and
Union of Employees.”

No more fitting expression than that used by the Soviet and the
Employees’ Union in their telegram could be found, namely, that
the capitalists are running the business in a “criminally
provocative manner”.

All the members of the Provisional Government, the so-called
socialist ministers included, will be accomplices in this crime
if they continue to “grapple” with the impending debacle by
means of resolutions, commissions, conferences with employers,
if they continue “to waste words where they should use their
power” (against the capitalists).

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Notes:
[1]
The meaning is not clear. Does it mean that in case of a
stoppage it will be difficult and almost impossible to get the
mines restarted?
— Lenin