ON THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT OF THE VCHK.
DRAFT RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF DEFENSE *.
[January 16, 1920]
The VChK is required, within a three‑week period, to issue detailed instructions that not only define the procedures governing the operations of the VChK’s Transport Department, but also establish strict accountability for agents of the VChK’s Transport Department in cases of negligence or failure to report instances of sabotage or speculation.
In particular, agents of the VChK’s Transport Department must maintain close contact with communist and trade union cells—especially those composed of genuinely proletarian railway workers who do not engage in speculative activities [and who, having access to official travel privileges], exploit their official positions for systematic speculation.
1 The draft resolution proposed by Lenin was approved at the meeting of the Council of Defense on January 16, 1920, during the discussion of S. T. Kovylkin’s report “On the Reorganization of the Special Committee and the VChK’s Transport Department” (see Council of Defense Resolution No. 94, dated January 16, 1920).