To People's Commissar [Shchutei] Messages]
29 III 1921
Comrade Emshanov!
I ask you to inform me, who in the People's Commissariat of Railways is in charge of distributing tanks (for oil) along the network and transporting oil along the railways.
* There is a note by Lenin in the margins: "Type on a typewriter and give me to sign in 3 copies and send" Ed.
STRUGGLE FOR TRANSPORT FOR OIL
1) Who is responsible for this?
2) What exactly has the People's Commissariat done in execution of the decision of the Council of Labor and Defense (15 or 17.XII. 1920)
1 on this issue?
3) When was the order attaching oil tanks to different railways adopted and by whom, and when and by whom was it canceled?
4) What is the current distribution of tanks on the network?
If what is indicated in your "reference-report"
2 (paper without a date) (received 29.111) in the last column of the 1st table
("Actual presence" as of what date?), then how to explain
the inclusion of 2.355 tanks on 8 railways (183 + 161+22+88+9-1-493 + 1405+
194=), although there are "filling assignments" on these railways
5) Is it possible to present me with more complete data on the availability and operation of tanks, dividing the railways into 3 groups and giving the totals:
how much oil was transported? by month? number of tanks? by 3
groups:
(a) (1) railways carrying oil from the Volga (b) (2)
from the Caucasus (Grozny and Baku)
(c) (3) railways not carrying oil?
6) Why is the speed of oil trains taken as 6 versts per hour?
Are there any technical obstacles (and what are they) to achieving the maximum speed (like military trains)? What was our pre-war speed? What is our actual speed in 1920, minimum and maximum?
Please let me know which of the indicated information you can provide immediately and which in the shortest possible time (what specific timeframes?)?
With com. greetings, Lenin.
1 On December 15, 1920, the Council of Labor and Defense approved the plan submitted on December 14, 1920 by the Supreme
Council for
Transport for the transportation of oil, which provided for the transportation of 164 tank cars of oil per month. The resolution of the Council of Labor and Defense addressed
practical issues related to the transfer of oil, including the repair
of tanks and the reasonable use of capacity, and the establishment of mileage norms.
Special measures were outlined to supply workers in the oil
fields and railway transport with food and clothing.