NOTES ON THE DRAFT RESOLUTION OF THE XI CONFERENCE OF THE RCP(b) CONCERNING PARTY PURGE
With regard to Zalutsky’s draft resolution on party purification, I would like to make two remarks.
1) In Section 3(a), Zalutsky proposes temporarily—over a period of six months—to close off access to the Party. In my view, this is not the right approach. From my own perspective, I would suggest not closing off access altogether, but instead imposing stricter criteria—specifically, a longer candidacy period. If a year-and-a-half term seems excessively long for genuine workers, then that period could be shortened; indeed, one might even consider reducing it to three-quarters of a year, or even down to half a year, as Trotsky has proposed. However, in my opinion, under such short candidacy periods it is essential to require a qualified majority within the decision-making bodies responsible for admissions—for example, stipulating that a minimum of four-fifths of the members must approve any reduction in the admission period. Moreover, this four-fifths majority should not be required solely by the lowest-level Party cell responsible for making admissions, but rather by several different bodies acting in mutual verification (for instance, in addition to the local cell, also by the provincial Party committee and other relevant bodies). I would have no objection whatsoever to easing the process of admitting genuine workers into the Party—but unless we establish extraordinarily stringent criteria for determining who can truly be regarded as a worker in large-scale industry, a flood of opportunists will once again slip through this very loophole. As for Red Army soldiers, I believe even stricter requirements are necessary: first, because the vast majority of them are not workers at all, but peasants; and second, because they are far too young—and still need to be tested through practical experience.

2) In Section 4(a), Zalutsky proposes revising the planned work programs targeting the Komsomol. It seems to me that, on this point, we must establish more rigorous standards and conduct thorough checks to ensure that those admitted into the Party from the Komsomol have, first, genuinely engaged in serious study and acquired meaningful knowledge, and, second, that they have completed an extended period of substantial practical work—whether in economic, cultural, or other fields.
Lenin
Dictated over the telephone on December 22, 1921.
First published in 1959 in Lenin Collection XXXVI.

Printed from the secretary’s record (a typewritten copy).