To Pyatakov Stalin

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

Stalin Correspondences

J. V. Stalin to G. L. Pyatakov

July 13, 1926

Tov. PYATAKOV.

Your paper dated July 13 has been received. A similar proposal was received by the Secretariat of the Central Committee on July 10, signed by Tomsky, Molotov and Bukharin 1, where the authors of the proposal are asked to raise the issue at the next meeting of the Politburo and resolve it by the time the collective agreements are renegotiated. Considering the issue to be quite overdue, the Secretariat decided to raise it at the next meeting of the PB after the Plenum. The Secretariat does not consider it possible to accept your proposal to raise the issue at this (July) Plenum, in view of the fact that the issue has not yet been prepared by you for raising, the control figures for the industry are not yet ready for you, as you write about this, the opinion of the Supreme Economic Council is still unknown (according to the information it turned out that Comrade Dzerzhinsky did not know anything about your letter), the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions had not yet discussed the issue, and, finally, the agenda of the Plenum had already been finally adopted by the PB, and for some reason you did not demand replenishment of the order of the day of the Plenum at the Monday (July 12) meeting of the PB, although You attended it. I remind you that according to the regulations adopted by the PB, issues should be included in the agenda of the PB three days before the meeting. I believe that this requirement should be attributed to an even greater extent to the procedure for compiling the agenda of the Plenum.

SECRETARY OF THE CC I. Stalin.

13.VII.26

RTSKHIDNI. F. 558. On. 1. D. 5281. L. 1. Typewritten text. The signature is a facsimile.

Notes:

1 See Document No. 215.

No. 217

F. E. Dzerzhinsky - V. V. Kuibyshev

July 13, 1926

13/VII-26

PERSONAL

SECRET. COPY.

Tov. Kuibyshev.

Dear V.V.

I received from Comrade CHUTSKAYEV a copy of his appeal to the P/Bureau in connection with the results of an examination of 14 self-supporting bodies. I think that the methods of our work are such that we waste a lot of energy, time and achieve minimal results - due to incorrect relations between the RCT and other departments. A heap of deadly facts relating to completely different institutions in one report, and embracing completely different times and obtained as a result of a long examination, and not promptly reported to those departments within which the audited institutions are located, cannot give positive results in the sense of elimination and prevention evil. The publication of such collected and concentrated facts leads to unheard of despondency, because at the same time there is no notification that this is evil, these facts, noticed, are immediately eliminated, and the guilty suffered such and such a punishment. I understand such publications on the part of the RCT, because I am against any cover-up, but by publishing evil - publishing on behalf of the authorities - without publishing at the same time that the evil has already been eliminated - this is demonstrating one's powerlessness. After all, RKI is a body of power. I understand all sorts of publications and revelations of slaves and villages and economic correspondents - but not of the authorities. This is one. On the other hand, if the RCT, having noticed somewhere evil in someone, immediately informed the head of the department with a demand to eliminate this evil and report on the elimination, then the result would have been completely different. Then the speed of eliminating evil would be achieved. With us, it is done quite differently: the noticed evil is kept secret until the entire broad examination is completed, until it passes through all hierarchical instances, i.e.

I have a Revision Department in the VSNKh, which is directly subordinate to me, if the RCT agreed to my proposal, I would instruct Comrade Samsonov, who is at the head of this Department, to specifically organize the elimination of the shortcomings noticed by the RCT, since they are indisputable, under my general leadership.

13/VII-26

F. Dzerzhinsky.

RTSKHIDNI. F. 76. Op. 2. D. 198. L. 12. Certified typewritten copy.