To Comrade Kursky, People's Commissar of Justice.

17 January 1922

I have received two communications from the People's Commissariat of Justice — of 14 November and of 20 December — concerning the "fulfilment" of my assignment to organise a systematic campaign against red tape.¹

In the first communication you write:

"It is necessary with great difficulty to single out 'cases in which this organisational defect (meaning the cumbersomeness and bureaucratic complexity of our apparatus, interdepartmental relations, friction, etc.) does not manifest itself so decisively, and red tape is the deed of individuals, and not the objective consequence of the lack of adjustment of our apparatus.'"

With such an approach, of course, nothing will come of the fight against red tape. We must learn to bring to account and punish with exemplary severity precisely the responsible culprits of these "organisational defects," and not some other persons. You will never catch a saboteur through red tape.

The second communication from the People's Commissariat of Justice, signed by Krasikov,² and the appended reports of investigators "on extremely important cases" — by Vyukov,³ Roizman⁴ and an employee of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate — Kedrov⁵ — truly discover America. These reports, in a rather illiterate form, set forth hackneyed truths about bureaucracy, the complexity of the apparatus, etc., etc.

In a word, it is evident that the matter of fighting red tape has not advanced one iota.

In essence, I have received no exhaustive answer to any of the five assignments I set.

I propose that the question be examined once again and that the fight against red tape be organised in a businesslike manner, according to all the rules of military art.

I request that you send me a report on the progress of the campaign every month by the 20th, without preliminary reminders.

Chairman of the Council
of People's Commissars
V. Ulyanov (Lenin)

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¹ The reference is to the assignments indicated in Lenin's letter of 3 September 1921 (see above, p. 35). On 4 November 1921, a second reminder about these assignments was sent over Lenin's signature. This reminder was evidently composed by one of the secretaries and repeated verbatim the last five points of Lenin's letter of 3 September.

² P. A. Krasikov (b. 1870) — was a member of the collegium of the People's Commissariat of Justice. At present — Procurator of the Supreme Court of the USSR.

³ A. A. Vyukov — in 1920–1921, investigator of the People's Commissariat of Justice; at present — legal consultant of the People's Commissariat of Posts and Telegraphs.

⁴ P. I. Roizman — in 1922, investigator of the People's Commissariat of Justice; at present — legal consultant of the People's Commissariat of Posts and Telegraphs.

⁵ S. N. Kedrov — was a worker of the Technical-Industrial Inspectorate of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate.