ON CHILDREN'S HOMES

Forgive me for the frank expression of my opinion and accept a communist greeting from one who hopes that you will be taught a lesson by prison for the inaction of the authorities, and from one deeply outraged by you — Lenin.

Extract from the minutes of a session of the Presidium of the Moscow Soviet of October 7, 1918:

"H e a r d: On the decoration of Moscow for the October anniversary with busts.

R e s o l v e d: To notify the Council of People's Commissars and Comrade Lenin separately of the fact that it has come to the attention of the Moscow Soviet that the People's Commissariat of Education has manufactured a number of busts (it is reliably known that busts of Robespierre and Nikitin have been cast), that to all requests of the Moscow Soviet through Comrade Vinogradov concerning the handing over of these busts for installation in the city of Moscow, the Commissariat gives no information whatsoever, and that, in view of the foregoing, the Moscow Soviet is obliged to relieve itself of responsibility for the decoration of Moscow with busts on the anniversary of the October Revolution, and hereby informs you of this."

12050

ON CHILDREN'S HOMES¹.

DRAFT RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF PEOPLE'S COMMISSARS.

[November 19, 1918]

1) Reject the draft decree of the [People's] Commissariat of Social Welfare.

2) Entrust the Commissariats of Social Welfare and Public Education, in accordance with § 3 of the decree of June 5, 1918 (article 507 of the Collection of Laws, No. 39)², to come to agreement on the procedure and timeline for the transition.

3) Entrust both Commissariats to gather and present to the Council of People's Commissars within a two-month period information on the actual state of orphanages and similar institutions, their number, and so forth.

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1 The resolution presented here was adopted at a session of the Council of People's Commissars on November 19, 1918 in connection with the consideration of a decree of the People's Commissariat of Social Welfare on leaving children's homes under its jurisdiction.

2 On June 5, 1918, in *Izvestiia VTsIK* No. 113, a decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the transfer to the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat of Education of educational and training institutions of all commissariats" was published. § 3 of this decree: "Authorize the People's Commissariat of Education to form special commissions composed of representatives of the interested commissariats and the People's Commissariat of Education to establish the terms and procedure of the transfers indicated in point 1 and to complete them by July 15, 1918." (*Collection of Laws and Ordinances*, No. 39, of June 8, 1918).