V. I.

Lenin

289

To:   N. P. BRYUKHANOV

July 10

Comrade Bryukhanov, I have received a letter from Lobachov dated July 9,
indicating a sharp deterioration in the supply situation
in Petrograd and Moscow. He asks for instructions.

In my opinion, you should draw up measures to intensify
the work. I propose (1) that you should press immediately , in particularly
urgent, accelerated, revolutionary fashion for collection of the tax in Moscow Gubernia (the rye has already been
harvested). Moscow workers, in particular, should be mobilised for this, to assist the food supply organisations.

(2) In general, mobilise more workers for food supply, plundering the People’s Commissariats, in accordance with
yesterday’s decision of the Political
Bureau [1] (take a copy of it).

(3) Once more send precise orders to the Ukrainian and
Siberian People’s Commissariats of Food.

(4) Delegate an emergency expedition (together with the
Central Union of Consumers’ Co-operative Societies) to
Podolsk Gubernia where, they say, there are masses of grain
and it costs 6,000 rubles a pood in Soviet currency.

( In general, my impression is that, as regards purchases
and barter, the People’s Commissariat of Food is asleep ,
and lagging behind disgracefully. No initiative. No bold
work.)

With communist greetings, Lenin

Please reply to me on July 11.

---
Notes:
[1]
On July 9, 1921, the Political Bureau of the C.C. of the R.C.P.(B.)
passed a decision “On Intensifying Food Work”. It stated: “The
Organising Bureau should confirm the need to take the maximum
number of Communists and, in exceptional cases, other particularly valuable comrades, from their present work and transfer
them to food work, even at the cost of causing a temporary
closing-down of nine-tenths of departments in some institutions and
even whole People’s Commissariats that are not absolutely
essential.”