Date: 1918
Source: ru:LS/v18

Source: Lenin Collection, Volume XVIII

DECREE ON THE ORGANIZATION AND SUPPLY OF RURAL POORPEOPLE
Section 1
All residents—both local and newcomers to villages and hamlets—may be elected to and serve on volost and rural poor committees, without any restrictions whatsoever, with the sole exception of those who are known to be kulaks or wealthy landowners possessing surplus grain or other foodstuffs, operating commercial or industrial enterprises, employing hired labor, or engaging in similar activities.
Note 1: Those who rely on hired labor to manage households that do not exceed subsistence levels may both elect and be elected to poor committees.
Note 2: Members of rural and volost poor committees shall perform their duties without remuneration from state funds.
§ 3.
The responsibilities of volost and rural poor committees include the following:
1) The distribution of grain, essential commodities, and agricultural implements [among rural poor people].
2) The provision of assistance to local food supply authorities in seizing grain surpluses from the hands of kulaks and wealthy landowners.
3) Other tasks may also be assigned to volost and rural poor committees.
§ 4.
[The procedures for electing members to volost and rural poor committees, their activities, and their relationships with one another shall be determined by the Provincial Food Supply Authorities, in consultation with the Sovdepas, in accordance with local conditions.]
[5] § 4.
The individuals whose supply of grain, essential commodities, and agricultural implements constitutes the responsibility of volost and rural poor committees shall be determined by the committees themselves, [with the consent of the county food supply authorities.]
Note: Resolutions adopted by volost and rural poor committees in this regard, with the consent of the county food supply authorities, may be revoked [by the Provincial] Food Supply Authorities if they contravene the fundamental objectives underlying the organization of rural poor people.

§ 5.
All activities of volost and rural poor committees shall take place under the direct supervision and guidance of local food supply authorities.
[6] § 6.
[Volost committees are entrusted with] special [funds] for reserves of grain, essential commodities, and agricultural implements, established [by the county] local food supply authorities [in accordance with guidelines set forth by the Provincial Food Supply Authorities.]
[The task of distribution, as stipulated in the present decree, is transferred to the jurisdiction of volost committees.]
[7] § 8.
[Grain, essential commodity, and agricultural implement reserves are formed] according to existing stockpiles and the degree of need within the population, and are placed under the jurisdiction of volost poor committees.
Note: Distribution lists
[for the poor], compiled by rural poor committees and approved by volost committees, may be challenged by county food supply authorities.
§ 6.*
The special grain, essential commodity, and agricultural implement reserves established by local food supply authorities—based on available stocks and the level of need within the population—are placed under the jurisdiction of volost poor committees.
[9] § 7.
The distribution of grain, essential commodities, and agricultural implements under the preferential terms outlined below
[among rural poor people] is carried out by rural poor committees according to lists they themselves compile and which are approved by volost poor committees.
*
Paragraph 6 was formulated to replace the revised versions of §§ 8 [6] and 8 [7] in the original draft. Ed.

DECREE ON THE ORGANIZATION AND SUPPLY OF RURAL POORPEOPLE
AND Z
[10] § 8.
The distribution of grain, essential commodities, and agricultural implements shall be carried out in accordance with norms developed and approved by the Provincial Food Supply Authorities, in strict compliance with the general supply plans of the People’s Commissariat for Food Supplies and with the standards established by the Provincial Food Supply Authorities.
Note: Depending on the degree of grain scarcity in consuming regions and on the success of grain seizures from the hands of kulaks and wealthy landowners, the size of the grain rations distributed to the poor may vary at different stages of distribution, as determined by the Provincial Food Supply Authorities.
[11] § 9.
Temporarily, until further notice from the People’s Commissariat for Food Supplies, the following [basic] principles governing grain distribution are established:
a) From grain surpluses fully seized from the hands of kulaks and wealthy landowners and deposited into state grain reserves prior to July 15 of this year, grain shall be distributed to rural poor people free of charge, at the expense of the state, according to established norms.
b) From grain surpluses seized from kulaks and wealthy landowners after July 15 but no later than August 15 of this year, grain shall be distributed to the poor according to established norms, at a price discounted by 50% off the fixed price.
c) From grain surpluses seized from kulaks [and wealthy landowners] during the second half of August, grain shall be distributed to the poor at a price discounted by 20% off the fixed price.
[12] § 8–10.
1) Temporarily [until further notice from the People’s Commissariat for Food Supplies], the following principles are established for the distribution of grain:
3)
Essential commodities and the simplest agricultural implements shall be made available to the poor by volost committees through rural
committees [on the following basis:] a)
In [certain] volosts where, by July 1st, grain [and all agricultural] surpluses have been completely
seized from the hands of kulaks and wealthy landowners, essential commodities

LENIN COLLECTION
and the simplest agricultural implements shall be provided to the poor at a discount of 50% off the established prices.
b) In [certain] volosts where grain surpluses are seized from kulaks and wealthy landowners by August 15, essential commodities and the simplest agricultural implements shall be provided at a discount of 25% off the established prices.
c) In [certain] volosts where grain surpluses are seized from kulaks and wealthy landowners during the second half of August, essential commodities and the simplest agricultural implements shall be provided to the poor at a discount of 15% off the established prices.
S I.
Complex agricultural implements shall be placed at the disposal of volost poor committees for the purpose of organizing [collective field harvesting], for the communal cultivation of fields and the harvest of crops by rural poor people—provided that in areas where volost and rural poor committees actively assist food supply authorities in seizing surpluses from the hands of kulaks and wealthy landowners, no fee shall be charged for the use of such implements.
S 12.
To implement this decree, the People’s Commissariat for Food Supplies shall be allocated the necessary financial resources, without limitation on amount, as needed.

EXCHANGE OF TELEGRAMS
BETWEEN Y. M. SVERDLOV AND V. I. LENIN
June 10, 1918
I.
SVERDLOV’S NOTE.
The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries are vigorously insisting on postponing, even if only for a single day, the discussion of the decree on the poor. Tsyrupa
We believe it is possible to agree to this, because all