NOTES ON N. L. MESCHERYAKOV’S LETTER AND THE DRAFT RESOLUTION OF THE POLITBURO OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE RCP(b)
… Now, regarding the newspaper “Cooperative Affairs.”
1) The Board of Centrosoyuz, composed exclusively of communists, maintains that the newspaper is indispensable if cooperatives are to successfully carry out their arduous and novel organizational tasks and fulfill the trade mandates entrusted to them.
2) The newspaper’s editorial staff consists solely of communists: A. Sarabyanov, Shvetsov, KUTUZOV-ILIMSKY, and others.
7? 3) A delegation of Western cooperative leaders is on its way to Russia. The closure of the newspaper will be exploited by old-guard cooperators, thereby impeding cooperative work—ha-ha!! 4) The newspaper’s closure will be leveraged at the Genoa Conference.
5) Up to this point, the newspaper has contained nothing whatsoever that would contradict Soviet power or communism… February 11, 1922.
N. Mescheryakov
To Comrade Molotov, for the Politburo: In light of the manifest inadequacy of Comrade Mescheryakov’s arguments, I propose:
1) To instruct the Board of Centrosoyuz to replace the daily newspaper “Cooperative Affairs” with a weekly publication;
2) To redirect all resources and personnel thus freed entirely toward enhancing the operational effectiveness of the central organization.

NOTES ON N. L. METTERYAKOV’S LETTER on the verification and promotion of sound cooperative trade practices at the local level;
3) To submit monthly reports on the implementation of § 2 to the Politburo;
4) To strengthen collaboration with “Economic Life” 172.
February 14.
Lenin
Written on February 14, 1922.
First published in 1959 in Volume XXXVI of the Lenin Collection.

Printed from the manuscript.