V. I. Lenin

Draft Decree On Consumers’ Communes [1]

The war, brought about by the conflict between capitalists for
the division of the spoils of depredation, has resulted in
untold ruin. This is intensified by criminal speculation and
profiteering, particularly among the wealthy classes, which have
brought the tortures of hunger and unemployment to hundreds of
thousands and even millions of people. The need to adopt
extraordinary measures to aid the starving and to wage merciless
war on speculators has induced the workers’ and peasants’ government to enact the following regulations as
a law of the Russian Republic:

Every citizen of the state shall belong to a local (village,
volost, hamlet, section of a town, section of a street,
etc.) consumers society.

The grouping of families in the consumers’ societies shall
be voluntary, except for the proviso that not less than
two-thirds of the number of families in each society must belong
to the non-affluent classes (i.e., workers, peasants not
employing hired labour, and so on).

Apart from the purchase and distribution of products, every
consumers’ society shall engage in the sale of local products. The boards of the consumers’ societies shall set
up committees of supplies, and no transport of products
shall be permitted without the written sanction of the appropriate committee of supplies.

Existing consumers’ societies are hereby nationalised and
shall be obliged to admit to membership the whole population of
the localities in which they are situated, without exception.

If they so desire private individuals may purchase products in
the central stores and not in their local shops, but only on
condition that the relevant entry is made in the book of the
local consumers’ society.

The transport, purchase and sale of products without a permit
from the committees of supplies shall he punishable by the
confiscation of the whole of the property of the offender, by
imprisonment for a period of not less than six months and by
senteuce to compulsory labour.

Permits for the transport or the purchase and sale of products
shall be (Irawn up in duplicate and signed by not less than
three members of the board of the committee of supplies
concerned, one copy being filed by the board.

Each permit must state from which and to which consinners’
society the products are being consigned.

Telegraph offices shall give priority to the telegrams of the
committees of supplies.

All committees of supplies shall act under the control and in
accordance with the instructions of the local Soviets of
Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants Deputies.

Every individual shall be entitled to acquire at his consumers’ society any product, without any restrictions
whatsoever, except for such regulations as may be established to
limit the import of products from abroad.

Products produced for sale must be delivered to the local
committee of supplies at uncontrolled prices, except in cases
when fixed prices are established by law. Money received for
products sold shall be entered to the account of the owners in
the local (village, volost, city, factory or other)
branch of the People’s Bank.

Every Soviet of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’
Deputies must appoint a group of inspectors, auditors and
instructors to assist the population to establish consumers
societies (committees of supplies) and check their accounts and
all their business.

Instructions on keeping the accounts and on the correspondence
of the committees of supplies will be issued separately.

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Notes:
[1]
Written December 25-28, 1917 (January 7-10, 1918). Lenin said in
his Preliminary Theses that in writing the draft he had made use
of the following documents: Directive of the People’s
Commissariat for Food to the local Soviets of December 22, 1917
(January 4, 1918), on organising the food supply machinery; the
Commissariat’s project for a Commissariat for Supply, and
also the Supreme Economic Council’s project for district
economic councils.