24 November 1920

The railways face the danger of being left without fuel before the onset of the sledge season. The crisis can and must be eliminated through resolute, coordinated work by the forestry committees with the unconditional fulfillment of their obligations by all institutions. By decrees of the Council of Labour and Defence of 6 and 22 October, work on supplying the railways with fuel has been equated to military-operational assignments. I propose that the provincial executive committees take urgent measures so that: 1) the provincial forestry committees, railway forestry committees, and district forestry committees fulfill the planned assignments of the Chief Forestry Committee on the procurement and transport of firewood; 2) the provincial labour committees conduct forcefully and systematically the labour-animal obligation according to the requirements of the forestry committees; 3) the working and draught force engaged in the procurement, transport, sawing, and loading of firewood is not diverted to any other work; 4) the provincial supply committees supply the forestry committees in accordance with the directives of the People's Commissariat of Supply with complete food and forage rations; 5) the forestry committees provide the Chief Forestry Committee with accurate weekly reports of how much firewood has been transported to which railway and how much has been sawn.

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars
Lenin

TO ALL PEOPLE'S COMMISSARS

27 November 1920

The Commission under the Council of Labour and Defence for rendering assistance to the Western and South-Western Fronts was created on 30 April. Its purpose—to inform the Council of Labour and Defence what has been actually undertaken and achieved by each People's Commissar in his department in the matter of assisting the anti-White fronts. Now such detailed reports with conclusions—whether the People's Commissars are working sufficiently in the matter of assisting the front—are submitted to the Council of Labour and Defence by Comrade Avanesov every two weeks at the periods indicated in our telegram (decree of the Council of Labour and Defence of 2 July).

In view of the fact that many People's Commissars in their weekly reports submitted to the Council of Labour and Defence and to the Revolutionary Military Council do not provide exhaustive information about their work, the Council of Labour and Defence has decreed:

1) Weekly information submitted by the commissariats to the Council of Labour and Defence and to the Revolutionary Military Council must be supplied with numerical material indicating not only what has been quantitatively accomplished by the commissariat, but also how fully (in percentages) the need declared by the army or its institutions has been satisfied.

2) When a report refers to the adoption of certain measures or issued directives, there must necessarily be an indication of when their execution is expected.

3) All directives concerning the intensification of work to assist the Western and South-Western Fronts are binding on all institutions.

Chairman of the Council of Labour and Defence
V. Ulyanov (Lenin)

TO THE COMMISSION ON THE ABOLITION OF MONETARY TAXES

30 November 1920

It is necessary to think more deeply (and study in more detail the relevant facts) into the conditions of the transitional epoch.