1. The complete disorganisation of the entire economic life of Russia has reached such a point that a catastrophe of unheard-of dimensions, which is completely stopping a whole number of the most important industries, depriving the rural masters of the possibility of conducting their farms on the necessary scale, interrupting railway communications, and depriving the multimillion industrial population and the cities of the supply of bread—such a catastrophe has become inevitable. Moreover, the disruption has already begun, having affected a number of branches. A successful struggle against the disruption is possible only with the utmost exertion of the people's forces and the adoption of a number of immediate revolutionary measures both locally and at the centre of state power.

2. Neither by bureaucratic methods, i.e., by creating institutions with a predominance of capitalists and officials, nor under the condition of safeguarding the profits of the capitalists, their omnipotence in production, their domination over finance capital, their commercial secrecy with regard to their banking, commercial and industrial affairs, can salvation from the catastrophe be found. This has been established with absolute clarity by the experience of a whole series of partial manifestations of the crisis in individual branches of production.

3. The path to salvation from the catastrophe lies only in the establishment of genuine workers' control over production and distribution of products. For such control it is necessary, firstly, that in all decisive institutions a majority of at least three-quarters of all votes be ensured for the workers, with the obligatory participation both of entrepreneurs who have not withdrawn from business and of technically and scientifically educated personnel; secondly, that the factory and works committees, the central and local Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, as well as the trade unions, receive the right to participate in control, with all commercial and banking books opened to them and the obligation to communicate all data to them; thirdly, that representatives of all the major democratic and socialist parties receive the same right.

4. Workers' control, already recognised by the capitalists in a number of conflict cases, must be immediately developed, through a series of carefully considered and gradual, but without any delay implemented, measures, into complete regulation of production and distribution of products by the workers.

5. Workers' control must be extended, on the same rights, to all financial and banking operations, with clarification of the entire financial position of affairs and with the participation of the immediately organised Soviets and congresses of bank, syndicate and other employees.

6. Salvation of the country from the catastrophe requires that the working and peasant population be inspired, not by words but by deeds, with the most complete and unconditional confidence that the leading and sovereign institutions, both locally and at the centre of the state, do not stop short at transferring into the hands of the people the greater part of the profits, income and property of the largest and big banking, financial, commercial and industrial magnates of the capitalist economy. Without actually carrying this measure into life, it is impossible either to demand or to expect the carrying out of truly revolutionary measures and a truly revolutionary exertion of energy on the part of the working and peasant masses of the population.

7. The aim of the nationwide organisation must be, in view of the complete disorganisation of the entire financial system and of all monetary affairs, in view of the impossibility of putting it on a healthy footing while the war lasts—the organisation, on a broad, regional, and then on a nationwide scale, of the exchange of agricultural implements, clothing, footwear, etc., for bread and other agricultural products. The broad participation of urban and rural cooperatives in this work.

8. Only after the implementation of the indicated measures is it possible and necessary to implement universal labour service. This measure, in its turn, requires the introduction of a workers' militia, with unpaid service of the workers in it beyond the eight-hour working day, for the transition to a universal people's militia with payment for the labour of workers and employees by the capitalists. Only such a workers' militia, and the universal people's militia growing out of it, can and must implement, not bureaucratically and not in the interests of the capitalists, but truly in the interests of saving the people from the catastrophe, universal labour service. And only such a militia can and must introduce truly revolutionary discipline and achieve the utmost exertion of the forces of the entire people for salvation from the catastrophe. Universal labour service alone is capable of achieving the greatest economy of the forces of popular labour.

9. One of the most important tasks among the measures for saving the country from the catastrophe must be the transfer of working forces, in large numbers, to the production of coal, raw materials and to transport. Equally necessary is the gradual transfer of working forces from the production of war munitions to the production of products necessary for the restoration of the economy.

10. The planned and successful implementation of all the indicated measures is possible only with the transfer of all state power into the hands of the proletarians and semi-proletarians.

*Sotsial-Demokrat* No. 64, May 25 (June 1), 1917

Printed from the manuscript