Date: 1918-01
Source: ru:LS/v35

1917–1918
YEARS
To elaborate the following foundations of the decree on nationalization and to submit them to the Sovnarkom within two days.
3. The nationalization of the entire fleet is hereby decreed.
4. Responsibility for maintaining order aboard ships, for their preservation, and for related matters is assigned directly to the ship’s crews, and subsequently to the unions of shipworkers in each basin or sea.*
5. For the time being, until a congress is convened and unity is achieved, the Central Committee and Centrovolga** are recognized as the central administrative bodies of the entire nationalized fleet.
Should voluntary unification prove impossible, it shall be brought about by the Soviet authorities through coercive measures.
6. The central administrations shall operate under the full subordination of the local and central organs of Soviet power.

ADDENDUM TO THE DRAFT
Add to the immediate decree on nationalization:
(a) the arrest of all management boards (both domestic and foreign); (b) strict liability for damage to vessels and the like.
1 ! 1:: 7
RESOLUTION
OF THE COUNCIL OF PEOPLE’S COMMISSARIATS
ON THE MARINE AND RIVER TRADING FLEET
January 18 (31), 1918
1)
The Council of People’s Commissars affirms that both the Central Committee and Centrovolga are fully in agreement regarding the necessity to immediately nationalize, without compensation, all marine and river vessels used for commercial purposes.
*
Regarding paragraph 4, V. I. Lenin made a marginal note in pencil, suggesting the addition of §3 from the resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. In the third paragraph of the resolution referenced by V. I. Lenin, it is stated: “Pending resolution of the question of fleet nationalization, all marine and river cargo and passenger vessels shall be placed under arrest, and compulsory repairs shall be carried out on these vessels at the expense of their owners, under the supervision of shipworker organizations.”
* * As above, V. I. Lenin also noted here the inclusion of §1 from the same resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The first paragraph of this resolution reads: “It is proposed that the Central Committee of the Union of Rivermen and Seamen, together with Centrovolga, unite at the forthcoming Congress of Rivermen and Seamen and immediately enter into active contact” (Archive of the Institute of Marxism–Leninism, document L? 11136).

2) Therefore, the Council of People’s Commissars resolves to carry out this nationalization without delay, entrusting the task to a special commission composed of representatives from the Naval Commissariat, two delegates from the Central Committee, two from Centrovolga, and a chairman appointed by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
3) The nationalization of the entire fleet is hereby decreed.
4) Responsibility for maintaining order aboard ships, for their preservation, and for related matters is assigned directly to the ship’s crews, and subsequently to the unions of shipworkers in each basin or sea.
Pending consideration of the question of fleet nationalization, all marine and river cargo and passenger vessels shall be placed under arrest, and compulsory repairs shall be carried out on these vessels at the expense of their owners, under the supervision of shipworker organizations.
5) For the time being, until a congress is convened and unity is achieved, the Central Committee and Centrovolga are recognized as the central administrative bodies of the entire nationalized fleet.
Should voluntary unification prove impossible, it shall be brought about by the Soviet authorities through coercive measures.
It is proposed that the Central Committee of the Union of Rivermen and Seamen, together with Centrovolga, unite at the forthcoming Congress of Rivermen and Seamen and immediately enter into active contact.
6) The central administrations shall operate under the full subordination of the local and central organs of Soviet power.
Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars
V. Ulyanov (Lenin)
People’s Commissar
Stalin
Printed from the original, signed
by V. I. Lenin and
I. V. Stalin.
40668
TO THE PEOPLE’S COMMISSAR FOR MILITARY AFFAIRS
N. I. PODVOISKY
January 22 (February 4), 1918
Circularly
The Council of People’s Commissars requests that, whenever funds are dispatched, every possible measure be taken to ensure that the money actually reaches its intended destination. To monitor…