V. I. Lenin

Speech On

Local Economic Bodies

Delivered At A Sitting Of The All-Russia Central Executive Committee

May 30, 1921 [1]

Comrades, I have very little to add to what Comrade Osinsky has said, for
he has already explained the preliminary draft of the Instructions, copies
of which you have, and the main idea underlying it. As there are details
in this matter which virtually determine the whole issue, it was decided
not to limit its examination to the Council of Labour and Defence and the
Council of People’s Commissars, but to bring it before the Party
conference, where the Instructions were approved in principle, and before
the supreme legislative body-the Session of the All-Russia Central
Executive Committee. Local workers must make a careful verification of the
methods by which this law is to be implemented, and it may be necessary at
first to lay down a number of supplementary rules.

Care must be taken that this measure is not, in any circumstances,
converted into just another source of increased red tape. This would not
be unlikely if we were to receive too many reports, or if the methods of
compiling them did not guarantee that they could be checked. Comrades, we
must give thought to the methods of compiling the reports, and you may
find it appropriate to elect a special commission which, guided by the
suggestions that will be made here and the instructions and directives you
give it, will put the matter of the reports into final shape. We already
have a fair amount of material on this question. Naturally, if reports are
to be submitted, they must come not only from the various economic bodies,
but also from the People’s Commissariats, that is, including those
which do not run branches of the economy but are nevertheless closely
connected with economic work. One of the main objects of printing the
reports is to bring them within reach of the non-Party masses, and of the
population in general. We cannot use mass production methods and print
these reports in large numbers, and so we must concentrate them in the
libraries. That being the case, we must arrange for brief printed
summaries of these reports, giving the gist of what is of most interest to
the population. The technical facilities for this are available. Before
coming here to speak I made inquiries of the representative of the Central
Paper Board. He has sent me a precise report covering 339 uyezd centres,
and showing that each of those has the printing facilities and the paper
to print very brief reports. He has based his calculations on the
assumption that the smallest of these uyezd centres would print 16 pages
in octavo, once a month, of course. But once a month is too often. Whether
you decide on once in two months, or in four, or perhaps even a longer
period, will evidently be determined by the reports we get from the
localities. He has assumed that there would be 1,000 copies, and has
accordingly estimated that the required quantity of paper is now
available. A thousand copies would enable us to supply these reports at
least to every uyezd library and so bring them within the reach of all who
are interested in them, particularly the masses of non-Party people. Of
course, this will initially have to be an experiment; no one can guarantee
that it will be successful at once, and that there will be no defects.

To conclude my brief supplementary remarks I should like to emphasise one
other thing. One of the most important tasks confronting us at present is
that of massive enlistment of non-Party people for this work, ensuring
that apart from Party members and in any case officials of the department
concerned, the largest possible number of non-Party people should have an
interest in the work and be enlisted in it. It appeared to us that this
could net he achieved in any way except by publishing the reports, at any
rate, the more essential part of them. Some establishments send in
extremely full reports. All the information that we have had on this
question up to now shows that some local bodies are excellently
organised. At all events, the work in the localities is constantly
providing us with a great deal of very encouraging material. What we
really lack is the ability to publicise the best examples-which are not
many and set them up as models which all should be obliged to emulate. Our
press does not publicise these really exemplary local organisations which
have practical experience. Printing these reports and bringing them within
the reach of the broad masses of the population, by supplying copies to
every library, if only on the uyezd level, should help provided
conferences of non-Party people are properly convened-to enlist far
greater numbers in the economic drive. Any number of resolutions have been
passed on this subject, lit some places, something has been done, but
taking the country as a whole, certainly far too little is being done. By
this method, however, we shall improve the work of the establishments and
make it possible for every local worker in every responsible economic post
to provide the centre with signed reports containing precise and definite
information on his practical experience, which could he used as a
model. This seems to he what we lack most at the present time.

Let us leave it to practice to decide how these reports are subsequently
to be summarised and studied, and utilised at conferences, congresses and
by establishments. Considering the available experience of local workers,
the main thing now is to approve this decree and put it to the test and be
sure to obtain results by the forthcoming All-Russia Congress (some time
next December) which would show just how this measure could be developed,
improved, modified and enlarged on the basis of experience.

These are the brief supplementary remarks that I should like to confine
myself to for the time being.

Endnotes

[1] The Third
Session of the All-Russia Central Executive Committee met on May 30-31,
1921, to discuss M. I. Kalinin’s report on the activity of its
Presidium; the sowing campaign; agencies co-ordinating the activity of
economic Commissariats and local economic bodies; substitution of a tax in
kind for appropriation; Potrograd industry, and reorganisation of
tribunals. It. heard reports by the Tver Gubernia Executive Committee and
the Siberian Revolutionary Committee. Lenin spoke on local economic agencies
at the afternoon sitting, and made notes of the debate on the question (sea
Lenin Miscellany XX, p. 91).