1 V. B. Spiro — Left Socialist-Revolutionary. In March 1918 he arrived in Moscow
as a representative of the "Southern Committee for the Defense of the Revolution" (Council of Five)
to conduct negotiations with the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR concerning the
allocation of 100 million rubles for organizing the defense of Crimea.
Having returned to Crimea after the conclusion of the Fourth Extraordinary All-Russian Congress
of Soviets, Spiro spoke out against the Congress's decisions and the conclusion of the Brest Peace
Treaty, and supported the separatist tendencies of the Central Fleet. By a decree of the Council of
People's Commissars of April 6, 1918, Spiro was arrested for official misconduct, which expressed
itself in direct obstruction of the orders of Soviet power and the decrees of the Council of People's
Commissars.
G. K. Ordzhonikidze — Extraordinary Commissar of Ukraine, and subsequently of southern
Russia.

TELEGRAM TO G. A. USIEVICH 1
[March 25, 1918]
Urgent
To Usievich, member of the Extraordinary Commission for the Unloading of the Kursk Railroad
Orel

We will endeavor * to take all necessary measures today itself. Report the
surnames of the commissars who threatened execution.

Lenin

Published according to the text written by an unknown hand on a telegraph
form, signed by V. I. Lenin

The telegram was sent in response to a note from G. A. Usievich,
received via direct line by the Military-Revolutionary Committee
of the Kursk Railroad on March 25, 1918, for immediate transmission to the staff
of the Moscow Military District to N. I. Muralov, to the presidium of the Moscow
Soviet, and to the Food Committee. In his note Usievich reported
that the presence in Orel of commissars from various departments was hindering the work of
unloading the railroad, since "all of them issue orders contradicting each other
to the railroad workers, threatening execution and trial before the Military-Revolutionary
court."
Simultaneously with the dispatch of the telegram to Orel, the Council of People's Commissars
on March 25 adopted a decree by which the Commissariat of Transportation was instructed
to appoint a plenipotentiary to oversee the unloading of the stations at Kursk and Orel,
who would have the right to remove commissars and commissions, *
The word "will endeavor" [postараемся] was inserted by hand by V. I. Lenin
in place of the word "will be" [будут].