TO THE TAMBOV PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

20. IV. 1919

Tambov
To the Provincial Executive Committee

I enclose a telegram from Tambov344. I ask you to arrange once again a general meeting of these 252 (it is unclear whether these are all members of the cooperative or only a part and from what total number) and explain to them the following:

"The Council of People's Commissars has adopted a decree on the creation of consumer communes in the interests of the correct distribution of products. It is unfair that only a part of the population participates in the distribution of products necessary for the entire population, as it was under capitalism. In all countries, cooperatives under capitalism primarily cover the upper strata of workers and peasants. It is necessary that now not only the upper strata, but all, without exception, all working people, participate in the distribution of products.

There is hardly one of the great founders of the worldwide cooperative movement who would not point to the transformation of this movement into socialism. Now is precisely the time, and all the best elements of cooperation sympathize with such a development of cooperation, as was the decree on the transformation of cooperatives into consumer communes, encompassing all working people without exception.

The rights of control, fully independent, as well as the rights to conduct business independently, remained with the members of the consumer communes. That is why I ask the meeting to reconsider its decision, to recognize the binding nature of the decree of the Council of People's Commissars, and not to bring the worker-peasant power to undesirable coercive measures.

Chairman of the SNK V. Ulyanov (Lenin)"

Read this part in quotation marks at the meeting, print it in the local newspaper. Explain in more detail (and tac-

TELEGRAM TO I. I. VATSETIS AND S. I. ARALOV. APRIL 1919

tfully, without sharpness) what I said. Telegraph the execution.

Chairman of the SNK V. Ulyanov (Lenin)

First published in 1958 in the journal

Printed from the manuscript "Questions of History of the CPSU" No. 1

TELEGRAM

TO THE ZHLOBIN RAILWAY