*May 24, 1918, 17:05*  

**To all workers of the Kineshma district.**  

Comrade workers,  
The rural kulaks of the grain-producing provinces are concealing and refusing to surrender vast grain reserves meant for the starving workers. The kulaks prefer to sell grain at exorbitant speculative prices, which only the urban bourgeoisie can afford—not the poorest, starving population. By speculating on grain, the kulaks also seek to speculate on the goods they receive in exchange for it.  

The urban bourgeoisie is agitating for the abolition of the grain monopoly, fixed prices, and the introduction of free trade in grain. From agitation, the bourgeoisie is moving to provocation, skillfully and covertly inciting hungry workers to demonstrations, unrest, and disorder, aiming to seize power for themselves.  

The Council of People's Commissars is fighting with all its might to uphold the grain monopoly, without which only the bourgeoisie will prosper, while the poorest population will be left entirely without bread.  

**Comrade workers, do not fall for the provocations of dark forces!** Do not play into the hands of the bourgeoisie and counter-revolutionaries, who seek to use you to advance their own interests and destroy all the gains of the revolution. By thoughtless demonstrations and unauthorized bartering, you only disrupt the difficult work of securing bread for yourselves.  

The Council of People's Commissars is now conducting large-scale exchanges of goods for grain and has begun requisitioning hidden grain stocks from the rural bourgeoisie through armed detachments.  

**If you wish to help, to support your workers' and peasants' government, act in an organized manner:**  
- Select from among yourselves the most knowledgeable and reliable comrades.  
- Form **food detachments** to assist in the procurement and fair distribution of grain.  

**Only through discipline and unity can we defeat speculation and ensure bread for the working people!**  

*Published from the typewritten text of the telegram.*  

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**Key Terms:**  
- **Kulaks** (деревенские богатеи) – Wealthy peasants, rural exploiters.  
- **Grain monopoly** (хлебная монополия) – State control over grain distribution to prevent speculation.  
- **Council of People's Commissars** (Совет Народных Комиссаров) – The Bolshevik government body.  
- **Food detachments** (продовольственные отряды) – Armed worker units enforcing grain requisitions.  

**Context:**  
This telegram reflects the Bolsheviks' struggle during the early Soviet period against grain hoarding and capitalist sabotage amid famine. It frames the conflict as a class war, urging proletarian discipline against bourgeois counter-revolution.