Bolshevik Leaders correspondence

Bolshevik leadership Correspondence. 1912-1927
Collection of documents 1996.
Compiled by: A.V.Kvashonkin, L.P.Kosheleva, L.A.Rogovaya, O.V.Khlevnyuk.

P. S. Zaslavsky to V. M. Molotov

July 22, 1921

Copy.

Secretary of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party

Comrade Molotov.

Recently, at general meetings of party members in the districts of Moscow, a feature of untimeliness and opposition has become sharply distinguished. Party members from among the masses, the middle peasants, and very often even responsible workers, take a completely unacceptable tone in relation to the latest decrees .

The policy is too drastically changed. The principle of payment. Permissibility of leasing enterprises to old owners. The plan to create a base for large-scale industry, the collapse of this plan. Creation of the All-Russian Committee [committee] with the representation of the bourgeoisie. A whole bunch of decrees. All this creates confusion, which increases hunger.

Accurate and advance information is needed, but it is not available. As a result, it is not the communists who influence the non-Party masses, but, on the contrary, the communists subconsciously absorb what the White Guard sows.

On July 21, I raised a question at the bureau of the MK RCP about the need for information from non-party people, because the conferences were canceled 2. The masses feed on rumors and gossip. I suggested returning to the Friday rallies. This proposal caused a lot of protests. The [comrades] began to say that the Communists would be dragged by the feet. Only the mass agitator, comrade Anton Loginov, supported my proposal. Tov. Minkov, replacing the secretary of the MK, stated literally the following. What kind of rallies are there now, when the issuing decrees themselves do not know their purpose and are surprised at their results (k[a]k with the passenger fare). When the interim secretary of the MK says so at an official meeting of the bureau, where two dozen people from the districts are present, this, you know, is a very revealing thing. And at workers' meetings, the mood of opposition is growing stronger. It is similar to the mood of the workers' opposition, but more dangerous, because it rushes from below. There is no diplomacy here, which the generals had without an army.

I am writing to you to think about and clarify these questions: 1) about the backwardness and dullness of the communist organizations and 2) about the isolation of the organization from the non-party masses.

Tov. Lenin advised to come up with new forms of communication instead of non-party conferences. These forms do not exist. The ground for confusion is very favorable even in Moscow 3 .

With regards, Secretary of the City[committee] of the Moscow Organization of the RCP P. Zaslavsky.

22/VII-21

RTSKHIDNI. F. 5. Op. 2. D. 66. L. 46. Certified typewritten copy.

Notes:

1 We are talking about decrees adopted in the framework of the NEP.

2 This refers to the non-partisan conferences held in 1918-1925. to inform non-party workers, peasants and Red Army soldiers on questions of party policy. The break in the work of the non-party conferences in the spring and summer of 1921 was caused mainly by a wave of workers' uprisings and the activity of the "workers' opposition".

On July 23, 1921, Zaslavsky's letter was sent by Molotov to Lenin. In a telephone message to Molotov on July 25, 1921, Lenin said that he would talk personally on the phone or during a meeting (V. I. Lenin. Biographical Chronicle. T. 11. P. 96).