NOTE TO V. M. MIKHAILOV  
WITH A DRAFT DECREE OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE RCP(b) ON THE QUESTION  
OF THE AGREEMENT WITH THE RUTGERS GROUP  

19.X [1921]  

Comrade Mikhailov!  

I am enclosing the response of the Rutgers group to the decision of the Council of Labor and Defense (i.e., the decision of the Central Committee).  

In my opinion, this amounts to an acceptance of our conditions.  

I am therefore enclosing a draft decision of the Central Committee and request that it be circulated urgently among the members of the Politburo. Highly urgent.  

Regards,  
Lenin  

In view of the fact that the initiative group (Comrades Rutgers, Haywood, and Calvert) has accepted the conditions proposed by the decision of the Council of Labor and Defense dated 17.X, the Central Committee resolves and instructs the Council of Labor and Defense to decree:  

The Council of Labor and Defense decrees:  

1) to consider the agreement with the group as concluded;  
2) to instruct Comrade Bogdanov to immediately draft and submit for signature to the Chairman of the Council of Labor and Defense telegrams with the most urgent directives regarding the procurement of firewood, timber, etc.;  
3) to instruct the presidium of the Supreme Council of the National Economy to finalize the amended contract text within two days for its approval by the Council of Labor and Defense on Friday, 21.X.1921;  
4) to issue Comrade Rutgers $5,000 on Saturday, 22.X., in accordance with the contract, immediately after its approval by the Council of Labor and Defense on 21.X.  

Furthermore, without formalizing this as a decision of the Council of Labor and Defense, the Central Committee instructs both Comrade Bogdanov and the Kuibyshev commission and the Council of Labor and Defense to introduce amendments to the contract in such a way that: (1) the Council of Labor and Defense retains the right to participate in the selection of additional candidates for the "Organizing Committee" prior to their final approval; (2) all expenses incurred by the Soviet government under any circumstances do not exceed $300,000;  

(3) in the event of the contract's termination, the Soviet government bears no financial obligations (or bears only those deemed lawful by the courts of the RSFSR or the VTsIK of the RSFSR).  

Lenin  

1 The draft decree, written by V.I. Lenin, was adopted by the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) on October 20, 1921. V.I. Lenin's proposals were incorporated into the agreement signed that same day with the organizational group of American workers (the Rutgers group), which was approved by the Council of Labor and Defense on October 21 and by the Council of People's Commissars on October 25. In November 1921, the Soviet government concluded a contract with this group. According to the contract, the American workers were to bring with them a certain quantity of materials, tools of production, and provisions, while the Soviet government allocated $300,000 for the purchase of machinery and equipment abroad. Based on this agreement, the "Autonomous Industrial Colony 'Kuzbass'" was established on part of the territory of the Kuznetsk coal basin, directly subordinate to the Council of Labor and Defense. See also the present collection, p. 331.