V. I. Lenin

Speech On The Nationalisation Of The Banks

Delivered At A Meeting Of The All-Russia Central Executive Committee
December 14(27), 1917 [1]

Minutes

The last speaker tried to intimidate us by asserting that we
are heading towards an abyss, towards certain destruction. There is,
however, nothing new for us in this intimidation. Novaya Zhizn,
the newspaper that expresses the views of the group to which the speaker
belongs, said before the October days that our revolution wou!d bring
nothing but disorders and anarchic riots. Talk about our travelling the
wrong road is, therefore, a reflection of bourgeois psychology that even
disinterested people cannot get rid of. (Voice from among the internalionalists: Demagogy!") No, that is not demagogy, it is your
constant talk of the axe that is real demagogy.

The measures proposed in the decree are only an effective way of
ensuring control.

You speak of the intricacy of the machinery, of its fragility and of the
involved nature of the problem—these are elementary truths that
everybody is aware of. But if these truths are merely used to put a brake
on all socialist undertakings, we say that anyone who takes that line is a
demagogue, and a dangerous demagogue at that.

We want to begin an inventory of the vaults, but the learned specialists
tell us there is nothing in them but documents and securities. Then what is
there bad about representatives of the people checking them?

If what they say is true, why do those same learned specialists who
criticise us not come out with it openly? Whenever the Council makes
decisions they declare that they agree with us, but only in principle. This
is the way of the bourgeois intelligentsia, of all conciliators, who ruin
everything with their constant agreement in principle and disagreement in
practice.

If you know so much about all these things and have the experience, why
don't you help us. why do we meet with nothing but sabotage from you in our
difficult task?

You proceed from a correct scientific theory, but for us theory forms
the basis of actions to be undertaken, it gives us confidence in those
actions and does not scare the life out of us. Of course it is difficult to
make a beginning and we often come up against fragile things; nevertheless
we have coped with them, are coping with them and shall continue to cope
with them.

If book-learning were to serve no other purpose than that of hampering
every new step and instilling eternal fear of the new, it would be
useless.

Nobody, with the exception of the utopian socialists, has ever asserted
that victory is possible without resistance, without the dictatorship of
the proletariat and without seizing the old world in an iron grip.

You accepted this dictatorship in principle, but when that word is
translated into Russian, called an “iron grip ” and applied in
practice, you warn us of the fragility and involved nature of the
matter.

You stubbornly refuse to see that the iron hand that destroys also
creates. It is an undoubted advantage to us to go over from principles to
deeds.

To effect control we have called upon the bankers and together with them
have elaborated measures that they agreed to, so that loans could be
obtained under full control and properly accounted for. But there are
people among the bank employees who have the interests of the people at
heart and who have told us:“They are deceiving you, make haste and
check their criminal activity that is directly harmful to you“ And we
did make haste.

We realise that this is an involved measure. None of us, even those who
are trained economists, will undertake to carry it out. We shall invite the
specialists who are engaged in that work, but only when we have the keys in
our own hands. Then we shall even be able to draw advisers from the former
millionaires. We invite anybody who wants to work as long as he does not
try to reduce every revolutionary enterprise to mere words; that is
something we shall not stand for. We use the words "dictatorship of the
proletariat" in all seriousness and we shall effect that dictatorship.

We wanted to take the line or agreement with the banks, we gave them
loans to finance factories, but they carried out sabotage on an
unprecedented scale, and practical experience has forced us to adopt other
measures of control.

A comrade from the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries has said that in
principle they would vote for the immediate nationalisation of the banks
and afterwards work out practical measures in the shortest possible time.
But he was wrong in that, because our draft does not contain anything but
principles. The Supreme Economic Council is waiting to discuss them, but if
the decree is not approved the banks will immediately do everything to
further disrupt the economy.

The adoption of the decree is urgent, otherwise opposition and sabotage
will ruin us. (Stormy applause.)

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Notes:
[1] Delivered to the All-Russia Central Executive
Committee on December 14 (27), 1917, in connection with a discussion of the
decree nationalising the banks.

Work on practical measures for the nationalisation of the
banks was started as soon as the socialist revolution won out. The State
Bank was seized on October 25 (November 7), 1917. Having overcome the
sabotage of the bourgeois officials, Soviet power soon established
practical control of the State Bank and set up control over private banks
as a transitional measure to their nationalisation. However, because of
sabotage by the bankers, the Soviet Government speeded up the
nationalisation of private banks. On the morning of December 14 (27), the
Government ordered workers' detachments and fled Guard units to seize
all banks and credit institutions in Petrograd. That same day, the
All-Russia Central Executive Committee adopted decrees “On the
Nationalisation of the Banks” and “On the Inspection of Steel
Safes in Banks”.

Both decrees were published in Izvestia No. 252 on December15
(28).