V. I.

Lenin

SPEECHES AT A MEETING OF THE C.C. OF THE R.S.D.L.P.(B.). JANUARY 24 (FEBRUARY 6), 1918 [1]

MINUTES

1

Comrade Lenin believes that the agenda of the Congress should consist of the Party Programme, the question of
peace, and tactical questions.

2

N. I. Bukharin, Y. M. Sverdlov and J. V. Stalin table concrete
proposals for the agenda of the Party’s Seventh Congress.

Comrade Lenin agrees with all the previous speakers, but he is worried by the vast number of October Bolsheviks
in the Party, a fact which may hinder the Congress in working out a consistent programme.

3

Comrade Lenin considers it essential that in admitting members a mandatory inscription be made concerning the
date of joining the Party: before Oct. 25 or after; and that
it is essential that new members recognise the mandatory
nature of the tactics which the Party found correct in relation to the October Revolution.

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Notes:
[1]
The Central Committee meeting on January 24 (February 6),
1918 dealt with one question, namely, the agenda of the Seventh
Party Congress. On the basis of the proposals submitted, the
Central Committee approved the following agenda for the Congress: =

1)
review of the programme; =

2) current situation (internal
situation, external situation, economic situation); =

3) trade unions,
factory committees, etc.; =

4) organisational question; =

5)
miscellaneous. A commission headed by Lenin was set up to work out
the Party’s programme (see Protokoly TsK RSDRP . Avgust 1917-fevral 1918 [Minutes of the Central Committee of the
R.S.D.L.P., August 1917–February 1918], Moscow-Leningrad, 1929,
pp. 223–25).

When speaking of the October Bolsheviks Lenin had in mind
those members of the Party who joined-it after the October
Socialist Revolution. The Central Committee decided that only
those members who had been in the Party for more than three
months, that is, those who had joined it before the Revolution,
were entitled to voice and vote at the Congress. In opening the
Seventh Congress Y. M. Sverdlov, who was in the chair, announced
the C.C. decision that “the Congress is to be deemed competent
only if more than one-half the delegates of the preceding, Sixth
Congress of the Party are present” = (see Protokoly syezdov i konferentsy VKP(b). Sedmoi syezd [Minutes of Congresses and
Conferences of the R.C.P.(B.). Seventh Congress], 1928, p. 1).