Letter to Vasily Schmidt, Leon Trotsky, Alexander Tsiurupa, Alexei Rykov, Mikhail Tomsky, Alexander Shliapnikov, April 2, 1921

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2.IV.1921

Comrade Schmidt, People’s Commissar for Labour

Trotsky, People’s Commissar for Defence

Tsyurupa, People’s Commissar for Food

Rykov, Supreme Economic Council

Tomsky, All-Russia Central Trade Union Council

Comrade Shlyapnikov, the initiator of the present proposal

I request you to call a conference of the afore-mentioned People’s Commissars (+Chairman of the All-Russia Central T.U.C.) or persons specially authorised by them to deal with this question of

improving the factories and plants through a reduction in the number of mouths and workers (from among peasants, mobilised armymen, etc.) unproductively listed at the factories; for a definite period, the old quantity of foodstuffs should be made available to each enterprise in order to increase labour productivity.

The conference should end its deliberations as soon as possible, namely: it is desirable to place the matter before the CC Politbureau on Tuesday morning (by noon), 5/IV. 1921.

The convocation is up to Comrade Schmidt.[1]

V. Ulyanov (Lenin)

Chairman, CPC

  1. That same day, April 2, 1921, People’s Commissar for Labour, V. V. Schmidt, called an interdepartmental conference to discuss the questions brought up by Lenin. Its decision said: “In the event of a balanced reduction in the total number of unproductive workers listed as employed in the given production, the quantity of foodstuffs assigned for it by the People’s Commissariat for Food before the reduction of the unproductively employed workers shall be retained for this production” (Central Party Archives, of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the CPSU Central Committee).