V. I. Lenin

1

To Comrade Stalin with the request to pass this round to
all members of the Political Bureau

Comrade Stalin, Appended are two reports. The first from Professor Osadchy, an expert on
electricity, about radio-telegraph and telephone communication; the second
is from Bonch-Bruyevich (who is not related to the well-known
Bonch-Bruyevich brothers, one of whom was the Executive Secretary of the
Council of People’s Commissars, and the other an outstanding tsarist
general). This Bonch-Bruyevich, whose report I append, is a prominent
specialist and inventor in radio engineering and one of the principal
figures at the Nizhni-Novgorod Radio Laboratory.

These reports show that it is technically quite feasible to broadcast
human speech over any distance by wireless; furthermore, it is also possible
to use many hundreds of stations that could broadcast speeches, reports and
lectures delivered in Moscow to many hundreds of places throughout the
Republic, situated hundreds and, under certain conditions, thousands of
versts away from Moscow.

I think that from the standpoint of propaganda and agitation, especially
for those masses of the population who are illiterate, and also for
broadcasting lectures, it is absolutely necessary for us to carry out this
plan. Considering the unfitness of most of the bourgeois professors of
social sciences whom we are using and even the harm caused by them, we have
no other way out than to enable our few communist professors, who are
capable of delivering lectures on social sciences, to deliver these lectures
for hundreds of localities in all parts of the Federation.

I am, therefore, of the opinion that under no circumstances should we
stint funds to complete the organisation of wireless communication and
produce efficiently working loudspeakers.

I propose that we pass a decision to allocate, as an extraordinary
measure, a sum of up to 100,000 rubles from the gold fund over and above the
estimate to organise the work at the Nizhni-Novgorod Radio Laboratory in
order to accelerate to the maximum the completion of the work it has begun
to instal efficient loudspeakers and many hundreds of stations
throughout the Republic, which can repeat for the broad masses the
speeches, reports and lectures delivered in Moscow or some other centre.

The Council of Labour and Defence must be instructed to organise special
supervision over the expenditure of this fund and, perhaps, if it proves to
be expedient, to institute bonuses from the above fund for specially rapid
and successful work.

Let me add that today’s Izvestia carries a report about an
English invention in radio-telegraphy that transmits radio-telegrams
secretly. If we managed to buy this invention, radio-telephone and
radio-telegraph communication would be of further tremendous significance
for military purposes.

Lenin

May 19, 1922

2

Comrade Stalin, Re today’s paper from Bonch-Bruyevich I think that we
cannot finance the Radio Laboratory from the gold fund without special
assignments.

I therefore propose instructing the Council of Labour and
Defence to find out what expenditures are necessary to enable the Radio
Laboratory to accelerate to the maximum the improvement and production of
loudspeaking telephones and receivers. This is the only thing for which we
should, in my opinion, allocate a definite sum of gold over and above the
estimate.

Lenin

May 19, 1922