Date: 1921-12-28
Source: ru:PSS/v44

IX ALL-RUSSIAN CONGRESS OF SOVIETS
DECREE ON ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, ADOPTED BY THE IX ALL-RUSSIAN CONGRESS OF SOVIETS ON DECEMBER 28
The IX All-Russian Congress of Soviets, having reviewed the reports and accounts submitted by the People’s Commissariats on economic activity for the reporting year, hereby issues, as a supplement to and generalization of the Congress’s resolutions on specific economic matters, the following guiding directives for the unwavering implementation of all Soviet institutions—both at the center and in the localities:

1. The Congress of Soviets designates the primary and most urgent task of all economic bodies as follows: to achieve, at all costs and in the shortest possible time, solid, practical advances in the provision of the peasantry with a greater quantity of goods essential for the revival of agriculture and the improvement of the living standards of the working masses of the peasantry.

2. All industrial management bodies must bear this goal in mind as their paramount objective, while at the same time ensuring that there is not the slightest relaxation in the task of supplying 100% of the Red Army’s needs—a task that must be placed above all else in the interest of preserving the Soviet Republic’s defensive capacity.

3. The improvement of workers’ conditions must likewise be subordinated to this goal: all labor organizations—especially trade unions—are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that industrial production is organized in such a way as to meet the needs of the peasantry swiftly and comprehensively; moreover, the degree of success achieved in this regard must directly determine the extent to which industrial workers’ wages are increased and their standard of living is improved.

4. The activities of the People’s Commissariat of Finance must also be aligned with this goal. The IX Congress of Soviets entrusts the Commissariat with the task of, with the utmost exertion of effort and the greatest possible speed, reducing—and ultimately bringing to an end—the practice of issuing paper money and restoring sound monetary circulation based on gold currency. The replacement of monetary emission with tax revenue must be carried out steadily and without the slightest delay or procrastination.

5. All bodies and institutions responsible for domestic and foreign trade—namely, Centrosyuz, the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Trade, and others—must place this same goal at the forefront of their work. It is only through swift, practical results in fostering trade between agriculture and industry that the Congress of Soviets will measure—and instruct the leading organs of Soviet power to measure—the achievements of these institutions. In particular, the Congress of Soviets directs that greater use be made of private enterprises in the collection of raw materials, their export, and the comprehensive development of trade, while recognizing the role of state organs as both regulators and guides, and relentlessly combating all forms of delay and bureaucratic red tape that impede the vital work of commerce.

6. The IX Congress of Soviets calls upon all bodies and institutions engaged in economic affairs to devote far more attention and energy than hitherto to the task of drawing into state service in this field every capable individual among the ranks of non‑party workers and peasants who possesses even the slightest degree of distinction.
The Congress establishes that we have lagged behind in this regard—that insufficient systematicity and persistence have been displayed in this area—that the expansion of the pool of economic and state leaders in this respect is not only absolutely necessary but urgently required—that every success in the revitalization of the economy must, in particular, be rewarded more regularly, both with the Order of the Labor Banner and with cash bonuses.
The Congress of Soviets draws the attention of all economic bodies and of all kinds of class-based, non‑purely governmental

IX ALL-RUSSIAN CONGRESS OF SOVIETS
organizations to the absolute necessity of pursuing even more resolute efforts to attract specialists to the cause of economic construction—by which we mean not only representatives of science and technology, but also individuals who have acquired practical experience and knowledge in the fields of trade, large-scale enterprise management, oversight of economic operations, and the like. The improvement of specialists’ conditions and the training of broad circles of workers and peasants under their guidance must become a matter of constant concern for the central and local institutions of the RSFSR.

7. The IX Congress of Soviets demands that the People’s Commissariat of Justice exercise far greater energy in two respects:
first, that the people’s courts of the republic rigorously monitor the activities of private merchants and entrepreneurs, allowing no restriction whatsoever on their business operations, yet at the same time meting out the severest penalties for even the slightest attempts to deviate from the steadfast observance of republican laws, while educating the broad masses of workers and peasants in the art of independent, prompt, and businesslike participation in the oversight of legal compliance;
second, that the people’s courts devote greater attention to the prosecution of bureaucratic inefficiency, procedural delays, and economic mismanagement. Such cases are essential not only for increasing accountability for the evils that are so difficult to combat under our current conditions, but also for drawing the attention of workers and peasant masses to this most critical issue—and for achieving a practical goal: substantial economic progress.
The IX Congress believes that the task of the People’s Commissariat of Education in the new period is to train specialists in all fields as quickly as possible, drawing them from among the ranks of peasants and workers, and it proposes further strengthening the connection between school-based and extracurricular educational work and the pressing economic challenges facing both the republic as a whole and each individual region and locality. In particular, the IX Congress of Soviets establishes that, despite the fact that much remains to be done in implementing the VIII Congress of Soviets’ decision to promote the electrification of Russia, it is still

far from sufficient—and it calls for the regular organization, at every electric power station, through the mobilization of all available resources, of discussions, lectures, and practical workshops designed to familiarize workers and peasants with electricity, its significance, and the plan for electrification; in those counties where not a single electric power station yet exists, small electric power stations should be built—with the greatest possible speed—even if only modest in scale—so that they may serve as local centers for the aforementioned work of propaganda, education, and the encouragement of every form of initiative in this field.
Written December 25, 1921.
Printed December 30, 1921.
In the newspaper “Izvestia of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee,” No. 295.

Printed from manuscript