V. I.

Lenin

152

TELEGRAM TO CHIEFS OF REQUISITIONING DETACHMENTS ON ALL RAILWAYS [1]

The Council of People’s Commissars has been informed of quite intolerable behaviour, damaging to Soviet power,
by some requisitioning detachments. The detachments have
been sent for responsible service on the railways, for the
struggle against actual profiteering. Chiefs of detachments
are instructed to maintain the most stringent discipline in
their detachments, for the absence of which, as for all offences
by the detachments, the chiefs will be held to strict account
before the merciless judgement of the Revolutionary
Tribunal. Detachments should be informed that the Council of
People’s Commissars is convinced that class-conscious workers will not tolerate any breach of the strictest proletarian
discipline, and will treat with the greatest severity those
who by their behaviour are disgracing Soviet power. But if
obvious hooligans have found their way into the detachments,
and refuse to obey the instructions of the central authorities
and their chiefs, or disgrace the Soviet Republic by taking
bribes from grain speculators, they must be immediately
arrested by their chiefs and the local Soviets of Deputies,
and delivered under guard to Moscow for committal to most
severe judgement by the Revolutionary Tribunal.

Ulyanov (Lenin )
Chairman, Council of People’s Commissars