V. I.

Lenin

767

To:   L. B. KAMENEV

1

Kamenev

Comrade Kamenev:

I have just seen Mikhailov. I am having second thoughts
again . I am against the Urquhart concession. Let’s get
together at my place at 9.30 today (I shall be at the dentist at
8.30). [1]

Lenin

| Written on October 4, 1922 | |

2

Comrade Kamenev:

Today I have a swollen cheek and am running a temperature. I plan not to leave either for the C.C. this morning
or for the C.L.D. tonight.

Let’s keep in touch by paper.

Then, could I see Comrade Chubar ?

Ask him whether he can come to see me this morning, now, before 2
o’clock? [2]

Yours,

Lenin

| Written on October 6, 1922 | |

3

Comrade Kamenev:

You haven’t forgotten to take from Krasin the formulations of the second argument against the Urquhart
concession (our dissatisfaction with the trade agreement, its
defects)? You must take it.

Lenin

P.S. What’s new at the plenum? [3]

| Written on October 6, 1922 | |
| --- | --- |
| Printed from the original | |

---
Notes:
[1]
On October 5, the Plenum of the R.C.P.(B.) Central Committee
and on October 6, the C.P.C. adopted decisions rejecting the
preliminary agreement with Leslie Urquhart (see Izvestia VTsIK
No. 226, October 7, 1922).

However, Lenin, the Party C.C. and the Soviet Government
did not rule out the possibility of returning to the question of
granting Urquhart a concession. In this connection Lenin believed
it to be necessary once again to verify most thoroughly all
the terms of the concession. In particular, he proposed a
reduction in area of the concession and the amounts Urquhart was to
receive (see this volume, Document 768, and also present
edition, Vol. 42, p. 424).

[2]
On October 9, 1922, Lenin saw V. Y. Chubar, head of the State
Coal Industry of Donbas.

Lenin attached great importance to the rehabilitation of the
Donets Coal Basin, showed a constant interest in its work and
did everything to help restore and develop it. On October 6, 1922,
V. A. Smolyaninov sent Chubar a letter containing Lenin’s request
to reply briefly to questions about the supply of Donbas. “Let us
know the result of your talks. How much do you want and how
much are they giving you?”

To the letter is attached a note from Smolyaninov addressed to Lenin. It says: “Vladimir Ilyich, I have sent off the letter to
Chubar. Perhaps I should send copies to Kamenev and Rykov?
6/X.” Below that Lenin wrote: “You should” (Central Party
Archives of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the C.P.S.U.
Central Committee).

[3]
The Plenum of the R.C.P.(B.) Central Committee was held from October 5 to 7, 1922. Lenin attended the October 5
sitting, but not the others because of illness.

The register of Lenin’s outgoing documents, under the head
“Execution”, has a secretarial note saying that L. B. Kamenev’s
reply was received on October 7 and “handed to Vladimir Ilyich”
(the reply has not been found).