Vladimir Lenin

Draft decree on the nationalisation of the banks and on measures
necessary for its implementation

The Draft Decree was tabled by Lenin for the approval of the Supreme Economic Council in mid-December 1917

T he critical food situation and the threat of famine caused by the profiteering
and sabotage of the capitalists and officials, as well as by the
general economic ruin, make it imperative to adopt extraordinary
revolutionary measures to combat this evil.

To enable all citizens of the state, and in the first place all
the working classes to undertake this struggle under the
leadership of their Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants'
Deputies, and normalise the country's economic life immediately
and comprehensively, stopping at nothing and acting in the most
revolutionary manner, the following regulations are decreed:

1. All joint-stock companies are proclaimed the property of the
state.

2. Members of boards and directors of joint-stock companies, as
well as all shareholders belonging to the wealthy classes (i.e.,
possessing property to the value of over 5,000 rubles or an
income exceeding 500 rubles per month), shall be obliged to
continue to conduct the affairs of these enterprises in good
order, observing the law on workers' control, presenting all
shares to the State Bank and submitting to the local Soviets of
Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies weekly reports on
their activities.

3. State loans, foreign and domestic, are annulled
(abrogated).

4. The interests of small holders of bonds and all kinds of
shares, i.e., holders belonging to the working classes of the
population, shall be fully guaranteed.

5. Universal labour conscription is introduced. All citizens of
both sexes between the ages of sixteen and fifty-five shall be
obliged to perform work assigned to them by the local Soviets of
Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, or by other bodies
of Soviet power.

6. As a first step towards the introduction of universal labour
conscription, it is decreed that members of the wealthy classes
(see point 2) shall be obliged to keep, and have entries
properly made in, consumer-worker books, or worker budget books,
which must be presented to the appropriate workers' organisations or to the local Soviets and their bodies for
weekly recording of the performance of work undertaken by
each.

7. For the purpose of proper accounting and distribution of food
and other necessities, every citizen of the state shall be
obliged to join a consumers' society. The food boards, committees of supplies and other similar organisations, as well
as the railway and transport unions, shall, under the direction
of the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies,
establish supervision to ensure the observance of the present
law. Members of the wealthy classes, in particular, shall be
obliged to perform the work to be assigned to them by the
Soviets in the sphere of organising and conducting the affairs
of the consumers' societies.

8. The railway workers' and employees' unions shall he obliged
urgently to draw up and immediately begin to carry into effect
emergency measures for the better organisation of transport,
particularly as regards the delivery of food, fuel and other
prime necessities, and shall be guided in the first place by the
instructions and orders of the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers'
and Peasants' Deputies and then of the bodies authorised by the
latter, and of the Supreme Economic Council.

Similarly, the railway unions, working in conjunction with the local Soviets, shall be responsible for
most vigorously combating speculation in food and mercilessly
suppressing all profiteering, not hesitating to adopt revolutionary measures.

9. Workers' organisations, unions of office employees and local
Soviets shall be obliged immediately to set about switching
enterprises which are closing down or are to be demobilised, and
also unemployed workers to useful work and the production of
necessities, and to search for orders, raw materials and
fuel. While under no circumstances postponing either this work
or the beginning of the exchange of farm produce for industrial
goods pending receipt of special instructions from higher
bodies, the local unions and Soviets shall be strictly guided by
the orders and instructions of the Supreme Economic Council.

10. Members of the wealthy classes shall be obliged to keep all
their monetary possessions in the State Bank and its branches,
or in the savings-banks, and shall be entitled to withdraw not
more than 100-l25 rubles a week (as shall be established by the
local Soviets) for living expenses; withdrawals for the needs of
production and trade shall be made only on presentation of
written certificates of the organs of workers' control.

To supervise the due observance of the present law, regulations will be introduced providing for the exchange
of existing currency notes for new currency notes. All the
property of persons guilty of deceiving the state and the people
shall be confiscated.

11. All offenders against the present law, saboteurs and
government officials who go on strike, as well as profiteers,
shall be liable to a similar penalty, and also to imprisonment,
dispatch to the front, or hard labour. The local Soviets and
bodies under their jurisdiction shall urgently decide upon the
most revolutionary measures to combat these real enemies of the
people.

12. The trade unions and other organisations of the working
people, in conjunction with the local Soviets, and with the
collaboration of the most reliable persons recommended by Party
and other organisations, shall form mobile groups of inspectors
to supervise the implementation of the present law, to verify
the quantity and quality of work performed and to bring to trial
before the revolutionary courts persons guilty of violating or
evading the law.

The workers and office employees of the nationalised enterprises must exert every effort and adopt extraordinary
measures to improve the organisation of the work, strengthen
discipline and raise the productivity of labour. The organs of
workers' control are to present to the Supreme Economic Council
weekly reports on the results achieved in this respect. Those
found guilty of shortcomings and neglect are to be brought