**EXCHANGE OF NOTES BETWEEN V.I. LENIN AND V.I. NEVSKY**  
*(NOT LATER THAN JUNE 1, 1918)*  

### 1.  
**NOTE FROM LENIN:**  
1. Do you know Birschert?  
   ~{~Or him?~}  
2. Can he be given special authority for grain transportation?  
3. Is it true that there are 8,000 stalled freight cars in Vyatka?  
4. Why haven't you taken Gorbunov fully into your team?  
5. Have you begun doubting his competence?  

### II.  
**RESPONSE FROM NEVSKY:**  
1. I do not know [him] and have never heard [of him].  
2. Therefore, I cannot answer.  
3. There are significant difficulties in Vyatka, but not 8,000 freight cars—nor are they as excessive as claimed. In about ¹⁄₃ of an hour, they will report via telephone the exact number of stalled cars there.  
4. Not only have I taken Gorbunov [into the team], but he is also greatly assisting me. The only issue is that he has now personally witnessed what my collegium is like (today, for instance, it arrived in full force to oppose me, assuming I would present a decree on the structure of the Commissariat—a decree whose draft the collegium had already rejected).  
5. On the contrary, it would be useful to appoint him as a member of the collegium: in my opinion, he could rectify what Sholomovich and Rogov have mismanaged. Kobosev is arriving.  

### **Editorial Notes:**  
1. **Birschert** – Unidentified. Likely an official involved in grain supply.  
2. **Gorbunov** – Possibly Nikolai Petrovich Gorbunov, secretary of the Council of People's Commissars (*Sovnarkom*).  
3. **Sholomovich and Rogov** – Presumably commissars or officials whose actions had caused organizational disruptions.  

*(Document format retained, including incomplete/crossed-out text and abbreviations. Archaic grammatical forms preserved.)*