LETTER TO A. D. TSYURUPA AND V. L. PANYUSHKIN *
Summer 1918
From Panyushkin’s report, it is clear that he is working diligently and effectively—but he is also scattering his efforts in an utterly reckless manner, taking on 100 different tasks at once.
This is unacceptable.
Panyushkin must be given a strictly defined, precise, and formally documented
o r d e r :
(1)
to seize and confiscate all surplus grain from the kulaks and wealthy peasants throughout the Tula Governorate,
(2)
to transport all of this grain immediately to Moscow, (3) and under no circumstances whatsoever to take on any other task before this order has been fully carried out.
To accomplish this task, we must secure as many freight trucks as possible.