Soviet Archives - Collection of Government Documents on Workers

From the Collection of enactment and decrees of the government for 1921, Administration of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR

Download PDF this collection

No 78 Article No. 366.

Decree of the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars.

On the regulation of handicrafts and non‐nationalized industry.

In order to more correctly and regularly supply the Red Army and the population with products of the handicraft, handicraft and smallscale industries, as well as in order to combat speculation with such, the following rules are being introduced for State regulation of handicraft, handicraft and small‐scale industries.

Section I. About small artisans‐handicraftsmen and their associations.

Art. 1. This section applies to: a) owners of small and craft enterprises working alone or as part of a family without employing hired labor in their production, b) cooperative associations of the aforementioned individuals and their families.

Note 1 . In the application of this decree, family members are considered exclusively relatives of all degrees and adoptive parents who live together with the householder, who run the same household with him and who do not receive any form of wages from the householder for their work.

Note 2... In addition to family members, owners employed in businesses covered by this section are allowed to have apprentices for training in the industry, however, not more than two per householder and at least 14 and not older than 18 years of age. Enterprises working in cities, as well as in factory settlements, are required to register their students in the Labor Departments. With the presence of a common production workshop in the artels and associations of these enterprises, such artels in relation to apprenticeships are subject, in addition, to the rules on apprenticeships issued by the Main Directorate for Handicraft and Small Industries and Industrial Cooperation (Glavkustprom) by agreement with the All‐Russian Central Council of Trade Unions. Businesses working in villages

Art. 2. All specified in Art. 1 enterprises are classified by this decree as a handicraft industry, are under the jurisdiction of the Glavkustprom and its local bodies and are not subject to nationalization, municipalization, or confiscation except in especially exceptional cases and by special resolutions of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of National Economy. The stocks of raw materials, materials, fuel or items of equipment collected by the said handicraftsmen for the conduct of their production are not subject to either confiscation, requisition, or in any other way from the disposal of their owners. At the same time, participation of one and the same person in two or more cooperative associations of the same or different types of production is prohibited.

Art. 3. All handicraft enterprises subject to this section, regardless of whether they work from raw materials and materials received from state bodies and cooperative organizations, or procured by them, being an auxiliary form of production in relation to large nationalized industry, are obliged to accept for execution all orders of state bodies proposed by him, in relation to the distribution and sale of finished products of their production, are subject to the rules established by this decree.

Art. 4. Handicrafts products made by them from raw materials provided to them by State bodies or cooperative organizations shall be handed over to those bodies or cooperative organizations from which they received the order, or to those to whom the latter indicate. Accounting and distribution of orders and raw materials are carried out exclusively through the Glavkustprom of the Supreme Council of National Economy and the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Agriculture, and for local needs within the local market by local authorities of the Glavkustprom. Any distribution of orders and raw materials between handicraftsmen by other state bodies besides the Glavkustprom or its local bodies or without an agreement with it is prohibited.

Note . Any institution that needs any product available to artisans is obliged to enter into an agreement with the Glavkustprom or its local authorities on the distribution of orders and raw materials among these artisans for the production of these products.

Art. 5. Products produced by artisans from their own raw materials, not by orders of state bodies, are handed over by artisans to those state bodies, which are entrusted by the State to collect such products, or to the fishing sections of the Central, Provincial and Regional Union of Consumer Societies and other cooperative associations provided for and acting on the basis of Regulations of April 19, 1920 (1920, No. 30, p. 147 ). But products made by handicraftsmen for individual orders of individuals from materials belonging to them and ordered by them for personal consumption are not subject to delivery.

Art. 6. As an exception from the above rule (Art. 5), handicraftsmen and associations are allowed within the local market (in the nearest villages, bazaars, fairs) to sell products of their own production, necessary for the daily life of the population, of the following industries: pottery, crockery, brick, tile , chalk, lime, matting, scouring, production of tubs, barrels, vats, bast shoes, jambs, sledges, carts, firewood, baskets, furniture, wicker products, wheels, rims, boards, tesa, maple, shovels, weaving accessories, chests, coffins, plows, harrows, violins, balalaikas, harmonies, carpentry, coal, resin, tar, carpentry, bark production, products from straw and reeds, watchmaking, rope craft, production of nets, embroidery, hair sieves, combs, icon painting,

Art. 7. Craftsmen and their associations that carry out trade on the basis of Art. 6 from permanent premises (shops, warehouses, chests), are required to register these premises and obtain the appropriate permission to trade from local authorities. Local Provincial Councils of National Economy are given the right to tax the prices for the above products, immediately notifying Glavkustprom, which is given the right to cancel or change them. The same Provincial Councils of the National Economy in some cases, with the preliminary approval of the Glavkustprom, can withdraw certain categories of products from the above list or admit new categories to free sale.

Art. 8. Sale of products of the handicraft industry is allowed only directly by the manufacturers of these products or their cooperative associations. Any intermediary activity in the sale of these products to individuals or their associations is prohibited.

Art. 9. Craftsmen, artisans and their associations, handing over their products to state bodies, showing increased productivity in their work, or producing products of especially good quality, have the preferential right to receive raw materials, tools of production and financial assistance from the state and, moreover, with the consent proper authority can be awarded with banknotes or commodities. The procedure for awarding bonuses is established by the bodies that gave the order, by agreement with the Glavkustprom and the All‐Russian Central Council of Trade Unions and their local bodies.

Art. 10. All activities of both individual handicraftsmen and their associations are subject to the general control and leadership of the Glavkustprom and its local bodies.

Art. 11. Craftsmen living and working in rural areas are registered with the local Volost Executive Committees, living in cities and factory settlements ‐ in the cooperative‐handicraft departments of the Council of National Economy. Handicraftsmen registered in a certain order in handicraft associations are not subject to individual registration.

Section II. About small‐scale, non‐nationalized enterprises that use hired labor in their production.

Art. 12. The action of this section applies to craft and small‐scale industrial enterprises not nationalized and not municipalized and employing no more than 5 workers in their production in the presence of an engine and 10 in its absence.

Note . Participation for an individual owner in more than one undertaking of this kind is prohibited.

Art. 13. All enterprises specified in this section are under the jurisdiction and operate under the control of the Glavkustprom and its local authorities, however, the difference from handicraft enterprises is that the action set out in Art. 2 of section I of this decree of the rules on the protection of property, materials and raw materials of handicraft enterprises does not apply to these enterprises.

Art. 14. Accounting and distribution of orders for enterprises of the specified categories is carried out. Glavkustprom and its local authorities. Distribution of orders and raw materials among these enterprises to other state bodies and public organizations, in addition to the Glavkustprom, is prohibited.

Art. 15. All manufactured products, regardless of what raw materials they are made from, are handed over to the Glavkustprom and its local authorities or other government bodies and cooperative organizations at the direction of the Glavkustprom and its bodies. The sale of these products to the free market is prohibited.

Art. 16. The owners of the enterprises provided for in this section are obliged to register their enterprises within a certain period of time and take care of obtaining permission from the Handicraft Cooperative Departments of the Provincial Councils of the National Economy for the right to continue to exist. Enterprises that reopen are obliged to attend to obtaining the same permission for the right to open.

Note . The period during which these enterprises must be registered is determined by the Presidium of the local Provincial Councils of National Economy and cannot exceed three months from the date of publication of this decree.

Art. 17. When registering and issuing permits for both existing and newly opened enterprises of a specified nature, the CooperativeHandicraft Departments must request the conclusions of the relevant production departments of the Provincial Councils of National Economy. In case of disagreement of the Cooperative‐Handicraft Department with the conclusion of the production department, the issue for the final resolution is transferred to the Presidium of the Provincial Council of National Economy. All re‐registered and newly opened handicraft, handicraft and small‐industrial enterprises of the Cooperative Handicraft Departments are brought to the attention of the Workers ʹand Peasantsʹ Inspection and Labor Departments.

Art. 18. Enterprises that have not received permission to continue to exist are subject to closure, and all their property and equipment are confiscated in the manner specified in the decree on requisitions and confiscations (No. 29, article 143).

Note . From the day this decree is issued, the enterprises listed in this section are prohibited from selling or otherwise disposing of household and technical equipment, materials and products.

Art. 19. The owners of handicraft and small‐scale industrial enterprises provided for in this section of the decree are granted the right, with the permission of the relevant trade union and under the supervision of the latter, to have apprentices, but not more than 50% of the number of workers employed in the enterprise. The owners of the aforementioned enterprises are subject to all decrees and rules governing labor and regulations issued on this subject with regard to labor protection and tariff standards.

Section III. About other non‐nationalized enterprises using hired labor in their production.

Art. 20. This section applies to all enterprises not nationalized, not municipal at the time of the publication of this decree and not falling under sections 1 and 2.

Art. 21. Any distribution among the specified enterprises of all kinds of orders, raw materials, materials and tools of production by anyone, as well as the sale of finished products of their production to anyone else, except through the corresponding production centers of the Supreme Council of National Economy and its local bodies according to the program and prices set by them, is prohibited.

Art. 22. The procedure for managing the production activities of this type of enterprise, the distribution of orders among them and the delivery of production products is regulated by a special decree.

Art. 23. Provided by art. Art. 16, 17 and 18 of Section II, the rules on the procedure and conditions for registration, issuance of new permits and liquidation of enterprises also apply to enterprises of this category, with the only difference that their registration should take place not in the Cooperative Handicraft Department, but in the corresponding production department local Provincial Council of National Economy. Requirements of Art. 19 of the same section on labor protection and tariff standards equally apply to these enterprises.

Section IV.

Art. 24. General control and audit of the enterprises specified in this regulation is assigned on a general basis to the Workers ʹand Peasantsʹ Inspectorate. Supervision and control over their production activities for enterprises falling under the provisions of I and II sections ‐ to the Glavkustprom and its local bodies, in accordance with the instructions approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the National Economy. For enterprises falling under Section III ‐ to the corresponding production Centers of the Supreme Council of National Economy with the approval of the Presidium of the latter. Control over the observance of the rules on labor protection and tariff rates is assigned to the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Labor.

Art. 25. The Presidium of the Supreme Council of the National Economy is obliged to work out all the necessary instructions for the implementation of this decree within a month.

Signed by: Chairman of the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars V. Ulyanov (Lenin) .

Administrator of the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars Vlad. Bonch‐

Bruevich .Secretary L. Fotieva .

September 7, 1920.

Amendments to Articles 71, 80 and 81 of the General Tariff Regulation. ( Izv. No. 18, S. U. 6‐43 ).