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Transcripts from Soviet ArchivesReview of the political state of the USSR in December 1926
WORKERS
The number of industrial conflicts in December gives a decrease (36 strikes against 47 in November). However, the number of participants gives an increase ‐ 5509 people against 3843 in November, which is explained by a number of major conflicts in the textile industry (2 strikes with more than 2 thousand participants at the enterprises of the Tver Cotton Trust, etc.). The strikes were caused by the insufficiently attentive attitude of the grassroots trade‐union organization to the renegotiation of the collective agreement and pressure from the administration. The number of strikes in the metal industry is negligible, but the continuing decline in wages for skilled workers is causing a large number of conflicts; on this basis, a deliberate lowering of the production rate by workers, leaving enterprises, etc., was noted. Reduced wages for skilled transport workers are also causing a significant number of conflicts. The fact
Metalworkers
Strikes. In December, there was a sharp decline in the number of strikes among metalworkers (9 strikes with 1632 participants versus 16 and 2612 in November). Noteworthy is the repeated strike of 1,000 workers at the Bytoshevsky iron foundry of the Maltsevsky combine on December 10 (the first strike took place on November 27‐29) on the basis of delayed wages for more than 2 months; It is characteristic that the management of the artel (the plant is under the jurisdiction of the workers ʹartel) refused to the workersʹ demands to report to them on the economic situation of the plant, saying that it had not prepared for the reporting report. This increased the discontent of the workers and on December 13 they stopped working again (1,1‐8).
Reduced wages. A decrease in the wages of groups of skilled workers (in some cases from 50 to 80%) was noted at 22 metal plants, mainly in Moscow and Leningrad. Dissatisfaction with the decline in wages in a number of factories has spilled over into sharp forms: facts of skilled workers leaving production have been noted. At the Krasny Oktyabr plant (formerly Dumo) in Stalingrad, a meeting of workers decided to set pre‐war prices, the administration was greeted with shouts: ʺTake her out in a wheelbarrow,ʺ a leaflet calling for a strike was found. Leaflets were distributed at the Kolchuginsky honey processing plant (Gospromtsvetmet) demanding ʺthe removal of administrators who deceive the workers,ʺ while it was indicated that ʺthe economy is being carried out at the expense of workers, since most of them have reduced their wages to 80‐100%.ʺ At Krasny Vyborzhets, the foundry workers deliberately reduced the production of castings (one worker who increased the number of castings was beaten). At the Baranchinsky plant ʺVoltaʺ GET (Ural), where the administration has been systematically reducing wages since April and by December 1, the decline in some workshops reached 80%, there is a departure of skilled workers from production (1.9‐13).
Abbreviations. In December, reductions in significant groups of workers (from 100 to 300 people), mainly auxiliary workers, continue to take place at a number of factories in Moscow, Leningrad, the Urals and Ukraine. The main reasons for the reduction are interruptions in the supply of raw materials, lack of orders and cutbacks in production programs. At the Katav‐Ivanovsky plant (Yuzhuraltrest) 350 workers have been laid off, at the Kolomensky plant (Moscow) ‐ 150 workers. The discontent is aggravated by the fact that the reduction is made in winter. In some factories (Leningrad, Ukraine), workers are in favor of replacing the reduction with a transition to reduced working hours. At the Belokholunitskiy Plow Building Plant (North Vyatka Mountain District), the working week has been reduced to 3 days due to the lack of raw materials. At the plant ʺKommunarʺ No. 1 (g. Zaporozhye) in connection with the upcoming reduction, the relationship between urban workers and workers who have agriculture aggravated: “If the trade unionists allow the dismissal of the proletarian workers, but the peasants are left, and the workers will arm themselves with sticks and expel the peasants themselves, since the slogan is:“ land ‐ to the peasants , factories ‐ to workers. ʺ By individual factories
workers accuse the administration of not stocking up on materials on time (Urals) (1.14‐17).
Delayed wages. Delay in wages in December is observed mainly at local industry enterprises (only 15 cases, of which 7 are cases of long delays).
A particularly acute situation was noted in all factories of the Pavlovsky district administration (Nizhny Novgorod province); On December 1, meetings were held to clarify the dire financial situation; at factory No. 1, the speaking director was not allowed to speak with shouts of ʺdown with the PRUMPʺ; some workers spoke out in favor of a strike (the salary for the first half of November was not paid in December). At the Gubselmashtrest plant ʺRed Plowʺ (Tula), by December 11, workers had not yet received wages for October and November (1.18‐20).
Textile workers
Strikes. Among textile workers, a significant increase in the number of strikes was noted in December (14 with 3039 participants versus 8 with 219 participants in November). The most significant of them arose out of dissatisfaction with the working conditions of the new collective agreement, and when the agreement was concluded, there was no explanatory work on the part of the trade organizers. At the factories of the Tver Cotton Trust, in connection with a decrease in wages under the new collective agreement by 6‐8 rubles. Some categories of workers of the lower ranks ‐ stavelytsiks, planers and piecers, went on strike over 3,000 people (including 740 workers of the Dyeing Factory joined the strike on January 3). The strike, which began at the Spinning Factory on December 29, spread to the Krasilnaya and Tabolka factories, where their delegates were sent on strike. Under the influence of a group of initiators at the Spinning Factory, it was decided to send a telegram to summon the representatives of the All‐Union Central Council of Trade Unions. In the minutes of the meeting, which was attended by only 150 people, it was indicated that all the workers of the Spinning Factory (1795 people) were present, the secretary of the factory committee, under pressure from the workers, put a seal on the minutes. The spinners began work only on January 3, after a meeting organized by representatives of the gubernia and union bodies who had arrived, who proposed to elect delegates to discuss the issue of raising wages. On January 3, dyers also stopped working; at a meeting of workers of the dyeing department, a group of initiators incited to expel the representatives of the provincial centers from the meeting. In the weaving department, agitation was conducted to support the strikers. Strikes could have been prevented if the administration and the branch of the Union of Textiles promptly explained to the workers the essence of the new collective agreement (no conference was held to clarify the collective agreement). On December 22, 200 weavers went on strike at the Krasny Perekop Paper Spinning Factory (Yaroslavl Gubernia) on the basis of a small increase in the new collective agreement (from 8 ʹ/2 digits at 3%) (1.21‐32).
Dissatisfaction with the decline in wages. A decrease in wages was noted at 30 factories (23 of them in Moscow) and is mainly due to the underdevelopment of the norm due to poor quality raw materials; in some cases, the reduction reaches 50% or more. At the Litvinovskaya factory ʺCreator Rabochyʺ (Penza), workers within 3 months declare to the administration and the head of the committee that they get underproduction because of the poor quality of the yarn, but the quality of the latter does not improve; dissatisfaction is aggravated by the administrationʹs demand for the release of good cloth. At the Weaving Factory them. Zhelyabov Leningradtekstiltresta On December 1, workers of the preparatory department went on strike out of dissatisfaction with bad yarn. A number of minor conflicts were noted in the Kostroma republican factories, where the earnings of certain groups of weavers fell by 60%. Discontent is compounded by the fact that the administration of some factories is trying to deceive the workers by presenting bad (puchezh) yarn as good. In a number of factories, workers are demanding payments for under‐production or higher rates (1.37‐39).
Labor intensification measures. Measures to intensify labor (work in troikas, accelerated movement of machines) arouse discontent among workers in a number of factories (Moscow, Leningrad, IvanovoVoznesensk). In many cases, the earnings of those working under the new system are reduced due to imperfect equipment of machines, poor quality of yarn and the transition to the production of new types of fabrics. At the Weaving and Spinning Mill them. Anisimova
(Leningrad)
weaversʹ earnings fell by 4%. At the Glukhovskaya monastery Lenin (Bogorodsko‐Shchelkovsky Trust), a group of workers of up to 100 people were summoned to the building of the factory committee, stating that they would not allow the transition to 3 machines: ʺWe did not fight for that, to be strangled more strongly than under the owner.ʺ Particularly strong dissatisfaction was caused by the downsizing with the transition to a 3‐machine system. At the weaving and finishing factories of the Ozersk trust in Moscow province, where 102 workers were laid off, weavers who refuse to work in troikas are transferred to the reserve (1.33‐36).
Miners
Strikes. In December, there were three strikes with 114 members (in
November one with 30 members). At the mine. Rakovsky (NikopolskoMangansevoye Ore Administration of Krivoy Rog District), a shift of workers went on strike because of difficult working conditions; it is characteristic that the factory and the administration found out about the strike only the next day. At the Naklonnaya mine of the Vetka mine (Stalinʹs Combine), the strike was caused by poor‐quality overalls (torn boots were issued) (1.40‐43).
Dissatisfaction with low wages. Dissatisfaction with low wages is noted in a number of coal and iron ore regions (Center, Kryvyi Rih, Kuzbass, DVK). At the Krivoy Rog mines (Ukraine), low wages are due to difficult working conditions (the hardness of the breed does not allow to develop norms). At the mines of Kuzbass (Siberia), due to a sharp decrease in prices (in some mines by 40%), workers say: “The administration is lowering prices for us, what can we do, we will work at 80 kopecks. for the team, just not to die of hunger. ʺ At these mines, a drop in coal production is noted (1.44–47).
Departure of workers from the mines. Low wages, difficult working conditions, poor housing conditions are the main reasons for workers leaving. A catastrophic situation on this basis has arisen at the Shchekino mines (Tula province), whereas of November 1, no more than 25% of old miners and 38% of boiler workers remained. Most of the workers are moving to the newly opened iron mines. Of the newly recruited workers, 15‐20 people are dismissed daily of their own free will, and the same number comes in again; some chiefs are exclusively occupied with hiring and firing workers. As a result of the departure of skilled workers and a strong turnover of the workforce, 90% of the coal mining target was fulfilled in September, and 74% in October. The abolition of a special working train that brought workers to work (the train was canceled due to the economy regime) contributes to the increased departure of workers.
Transport workers
Strikes. In transport, three strikes were noted in December with 352 participants (in November 2 with 91 participants); strikes are generally minor. Noteworthy is the strike on December 1 in Nikolsky railway workshops (Ussuriysk railways) on the basis of wage arrears and on December 3 in the main workshops of the communications service (Northern railways), where 40 riveters demanded an increase in wages and the supply of winter overalls. The UCTs refused to the demands of the UChK Profsozh to issue overalls, saying that he would better agree to close the shop and pay severance pay to the workers; in this regard, a strike is again possible (1.48‐50).
Reduced wages. Dissatisfaction of groups of skilled workers with a reduction in wages (by 20‐25%) in connection with the revision of prices in October continues to occur in December on most roads. In some depots, a negligent attitude to work is noted (even cases of damage to steam locomotives have been noted). Among the foremen of the 3rd section of the traction service (Moskovsko‐Kurskaya railway) due to a decrease in the running‐in by 30 rubles. there is a poor repair of steam locomotives, many steam locomotives fail immediately after repairs (they get cracks or work with the help of pushers); some foremen, fearing excesses on the part of skilled workers, rarely show up at the depot. The traction service foremen of the 14th section
(Dnepropetrovsk railways) ʺItalianʺ and refused to receive a salary after cutting the extra work. The depot st. In Baku, there were calls for a strike among locksmiths and handy maintenance workers.
The material position of unskilled workers improved due to an increase in earnings due to a decrease in the wages of workers with high and medium qualifications (I, 51‐55).
Delayed wages. Delayed wages were reported at 32 railway stations; cases of long delay (from 1 to 2 months) —12. Wage delays affect depot workers and track services. On the Ussuriyskaya railway. among the workers of the depot st. Muravevo, due to the delay in wages, there was a call for a strike ʺfollowing the example of the British miners.ʺ The salary arrears of the road for November are 170,000 rubles.
Other industries
In December there were 7 strikes with 372 participants (in November 20 with 891 participants). Most of the strikes are caused by dissatisfaction with wages (I, 56‐59).
Abbreviations. The layoffs were made at 42 enterprises (of which in Moscow — at 28). The cuts are taking place in the chemical, woodworking, food‐processing, leather and printing industries and are caused, in addition to seasonal reasons, by a lack of orders, raw materials and a reduction in production programs. The reduction is carried out mainly at the expense of ancillary workforce (I, 60‐62).
Delayed wages. Delays in wages were recorded at 65 enterprises (117 facts in November); cases of long delay (from 2 weeks to 2‐4 months) ‐ 45%. Delays in wages continue to be observed mainly in sawmills, logging and woodworking factories (out of 27 cases of delays — 10 from 1 to 3 months). On some economies of the Kursk province sugar factories. the salary has not been issued since July. In the Yaryginsky state farm ʺSpartakʺ workers are not paid wages for 4 months; the discontent of the workers is aggravated by the fact that they are not supplied with food and work for 12‐14 hours. At sawmill No. 4 and 5 of Volga‐Okales (Kostroma province), a conflict occurred between workers and the administration due to delayed wages (up to 2‐3 months); the administration called the police, who beat up one worker, 80 workers quit their jobs, demanding payment.
Renewal of collective agreements
The attitude of low‐grade workers to the terms of new collective agreements. The principle of pulling up the lower grades meets with support from the majority of workers and, first of all, from the lower grades. The size of the increase also in most cases satisfies the workers of low‐grade workers.
At the same time, individual cases have been identified when the basic principles adopted for this campaign are distorted by trade and economic bodies, resulting in serious conflicts. A decrease in wages for workers of lower grades (to 6‐8) and an increase in the highest grades caused a number of serious conflicts among the workers of the Tver Cotton Trust (strikes covered over 3,000 people). At the Optical Plant (Leningrad), the extra earnings of time‐based workers of the 4th‐6th grade were cut, the workers developed a strike mood.
Discontent and pressure from skilled workers. The insignificant amount of the increase, the decrease in the earning‐in, the increase in the norms and the decrease in the prices, carried out under the new collective agreements for the qualified groups of workers in a number of factories, cause among them partial dissatisfaction. In a number of enterprises, skilled workers, dissatisfied with the size of the increase, put pressure on the administration. At the f‐ke them. Volodarsky (Bumtrest, Leningrad), prices were reduced by an average of 33%; after workers threatened to go on strike, the cut on December 10 was canceled. At mine No. 1 (Gorlovskoye Ore Mining Administration), highly qualified workers said that everyoneʹs wages should be raised, otherwise they would quit their jobs.
The question of the high cost. The question of the high cost of products continues to be raised by workers during the renegotiation of contracts. At the Zaboyshchik mine (Gorlovskoye Ore Administration) of Donugol, a proposal was made ‐ 8,000,000 rubles allocated by Donugol. to give the increase in wages to the cooperative so that it lowers food prices. At a number of enterprises in Ukraine, workers expressed concern that the increase in wages would cause a corresponding increase in food prices.
Some moments of dissatisfaction with the terms of collective agreements. Strong discontent continues to be caused by the cancellation of communal and tram money, carried out by the administration at a number of enterprises, the reduction of monthly leave to 2 weeks, etc. (textile workers, food workers, communal services, workers of tram fleets). At the GAZ plant No. 10 (Taganrog), the workers were sharply displeased by Aviatrestʹs refusal to include in the new collective agreement a clause on the transportation of workers at the expense of the trust. The ferment of workers on this basis was used by one of the employees (the son of the former owner of the power plant), who campaigned against Soviet power. The factory committee received two anonymous letters stating that ʺthe workers are tortured, what they have won with great difficulty is now being taken away from themʺ and that they will defend the clause on free transportation ʺto their last strength.ʺ At the Krasny Oktyabr plant (formerly Dumo, Stalingrad), the workers demanded to establish the organization of medical practice, increase the salary of doctors, and increase attention to students. At some Ural factories, a requirement was made to pay fines in case of delay in wages.
Shortcomings in the work of trade union organizations when renegotiating collective agreements
Most of the conflicts and grievances associated with the renegotiation of collective agreements are due to the shortcomings made by grassroots trade organizations during the campaign. At a number of enterprises (metal factories in Leningrad, textile factories in Tver), wages are calculated according to a new collective agreement, although it has not yet been discussed at workersʹ meetings. Piecework workers went on strike at the Perekop paper spinning mill (Yaroslavl), because they were not promptly explained the terms of their payment under the new contract.
At the Tagil metal plant (Ural), the regional committee of metalworkers handed over to the plant committee a draft of a new collective agreement for discussion in the shops, however, the discussion was not held and a representative of the regional committee went directly to Sverdlovsk to approve it. The workers do not know this and are waiting for its discussion at the meetings.
Marked by the fact that the union has authorized the conclusion of collective agreements on a 1 1/ 2 years (Hobotovskaya starch factory ‐ Kozlowski in Tambov Province.). It is characteristic that, in response to the workersʹ request, the Kozlovsky branch of the Union explained the extension of the term of the collective agreement with a technical misprint; later it turned out that there was a full agreement between the Union and the administration on the duration of the new collective agreement.
There have been cases when trade‐union organizers ill‐considered promise to workers a significant increase, and then are forced under pressure from the administration to take back their promises. The Cheremkhovsky District Committee of the Union of Miners, not sufficiently considering the material capabilities of the trust, independently developed new terms of the collective agreement, without coordinating the issue with business executives; according to the project, the salary should be increased by 35%. The proposal of the district committee of the Union was submitted to a meeting of the workers and was unanimously adopted by them. The administration of the trust did not agree to the terms of the Union, which resulted in a protracted conflict. The district committee calls on the workers to make concessions. The workers express serious dissatisfaction with the district committee, declaring: ʺHe promised us a lot, and now he is oppressing the administration.ʺ
Unemployed
Fermentation among the unemployed is still evident in a number of localities (Leningrad, Moscow, Ukraine, Vyatka). At the Leningrad Labor Exchange in a number of sections (metalworkers and printers), active anti‐Soviet agitation was noted.
The mood of the unemployed. In the section of printers, individuals campaigned for the creation of a secret organization of the unemployed: ʺWe need to create our own organization, raise all the unemployed, throw out the black flag and expel all the compromised communists.ʺ In the metalworkersʹ section, a group of unemployed people campaigned to organize a demonstration of the unemployed under the slogan ʺWork and Breadʺ; the day of the demonstration was scheduled for December 27. Anti‐Soviet leaflets and appeals to the unemployed of all sections were found at the labor exchange.
The performance on December 27 did not take place. Shortly before the planned performance of the OPTU, in agreement with the relevant authorities, 6 main organizers of the demonstration were arrested, which disorganized the forces of the anti‐Soviet group.
In Moscow, along with the continuing discontent of unemployed printers, discontent was noted among the unemployed of a number of sections (woodworkers, textile workers, garment workers and food workers), and the influence of an active group of printers on the rest of the sections, mainly food workers, should be noted. The ferment among the unemployed was intensified by the activities of this group (where the influence of the anarchists was strong). The group tried to lead the district meetings of the unemployed, participating in the development and implementation of resolutions. Thus, at a meeting of food workers, a resolution was adopted that contained the requirements set earlier by the printers.
To prevent further decomposing activities of this group, the organs of the OGPU, in agreement with the relevant authorities, arrested its leaders.
It should be noted that in connection with the arrest of the ringleaders of the group, the atmosphere at the labor exchange was significantly defused. In Vyatka, unemployed discontent is aggravated by shortcomings in the work of the labor exchange, the unemployed declare that ʺthe labor exchange only registers, but cannot give work.ʺ On the street in Vyatka, leaflets were posted: ʺGive bread to the unemployed or give jobs.ʺ
The issues of nepotism, protectionism, ignorance of the labor exchange on the part of employers, and wrong premises for work are put forward by the unemployed with the same urgency. “Now everyone has to look for a job for himself, now everything is done according to an acquaintance and you cannot get a job without protection” (Tula).
The mood of the demobilized Red Army and command staff. The mood among the demobilized Red Army soldiers and command personnel remains extremely tense. In a number of sections in Moscow and Kiev, among the demobilized there is talk about the need to speak. In Moscow, the demobilized filed a collective application to the head office of the Union of Soviet Trade Workers demanding the convocation of a general meeting of the demobilized.
In Kiev, an initiative group of command personnel tried to organize a demonstration in front of the executive committee, at the entrance to the executive committeeʹs premises up to 100 people joined the group.
The unfriendly attitude of business executives to the demobilized command personnel noted in a number of cases, the refusal to hire, motivated by the insufficient qualifications of the demobilized, exacerbates discontent. Many say: ʺWhen we are starving, no one sees us and does not want to provide assistance, and if there is a war, then we will be sent first.ʺ
In Tataria, where out of 28 demobilized people sent to work, 22 people were returned by the business executives; one demobilized commander sent a letter to Cde. Voroshilov, in which, while complaining about his financial situation, he cites a number of facts of the bureaucratic attitude of business executives towards the demobilized: “Now I very often wonder what it means ‐ old fighters are no longer needed, so why else was I registered in the reserve, why should I be liable for military service until 1948, why is it, when I am no longer needed, and if I am needed, then I will still be useless, since these years will have to live from hand to mouth ”(I, 1‐9).
PEASANTRY
The political mood of the countryside in the period under review was determined, as before, by the course of the tax and grain procurement campaigns. The influence of the tax campaign affects the partial deterioration of the mood of the underpowered groups of the village in some places (re‐taxation of certain groups on agricultural tax, collection of arrears of past years and repression against the debtors) and sharply aggravates the discontent of powerful groups in the village almost everywhere. The grain procurement campaign is accompanied by significant discontent with the ʺscissorsʺ, which includes all groups of the village who sell grain; the more powerful part of the peasantry is holding back more and more grain, which in places begins to affect the progress of procurement. All of this taken together is responsible for a noticeable increase in the activity of the kulaks and anti‐Soviet elements in the countryside.
The campaign of re‐election of the cooperatives that has ended and the re‐election of the soviets that are beginning are taking place in an atmosphere of a significant increase in the activity of the kulaks, which, however, enjoy extremely little influence among the poor and middle peasants of the village.
Tax campaign
During the tax campaign, dissatisfaction with the shortcomings in the taxation of various groups of the peasantry, the simultaneous collection of a number of payments and the use of reprisals against non‐payers was especially manifested.
Deficiencies in taxation of groups of the peasantry. Certain features of the current year tax (non‐taxable minimum income per consumer, taxation of side earnings) and the concealment of taxable objects by the wealthy in some regions led to over‐taxation of some of the poor and low‐power middle peasants and the under‐taxation of the wealthy and kulaks. In some cases, small‐family poor households pay significantly more tax than wealthy multi‐family households. In some places, there have been cases of exemption this year from tax (by multi‐family) wealthy and even kulak farms, who easily paid a fairly high tax in previous years. So, for example, in Nemkommun, a kulak merchant with 40 heads of cattle under the age of 3 years was completely exempted from tax, since cattle under 3 years of age are not taken into account when calculating the tax (III, 1‐13) ...
Dissatisfaction with the simultaneous collection of different payments. Strong dissatisfaction in a number of regions (the North Caucasus, the Volga region and Siberia) was caused by the simultaneous collection of agricultural taxes, tax arrears of 1925‐1926, arrears on the semester for all past years, payments to state insurance, etc. It is not uncommon for different payments, apart from tax, to total a larger amount than the agricultural tax itself. The peasants point out: ʺThe tax itself is not large, but this year there are too many different payments, and this is beyond our powerʺ (Stalingrad province). The poor people, dissatisfied with such an order of payments, on whom the whole burden of simultaneous fees falls, demand a postponement of the collection of arrears and fees, declaring: ʺSuch fees are only in the hands of the kulaks, who are able to pay everything at once, and these fees will ruin usʺ (Nemkommuna) (III, 14‐25).
The use of reprisals against tax evaders (inventory and sale of property at auction, return of non‐payers to court, etc.) greatly increased dissatisfaction with the tax among all strata of the peasantry, including the middle peasants and the poor. In some places, all the acuteness of the repressive measures was directed precisely against the underpowered strata of the village, which provided the majority of the arrears. In a number of cases, the last property of the poor defaulters was described and sold at auction, while the well‐to‐do defaulters remained unpunished. The actions of the commissioners for the collection of the Unified agricultural tax, the VIK, the village councils and the police in relation to tax evaders were in a number of cases arbitrary. So, for example, in the Vladimir province. in one village, Predvik, walking around the houses of tax evaders, threatened with a revolver, demanding immediate payment of the tax; in the Donskoy district there was a case when a poor man for arrears in the amount of 80 kopecks. an inventory of the property was made; in the Barnaul district in N. Kargatsky district, sheep were sold to a poor man for nonpayment of tax, and then it turned out that this poor man was not subject to taxation. In the Arkhangelsk region of the Tersk district, a special headquarters was created to collect debts for the semssud (III, 26‐35).
Peasantsʹ tax claims. Deficiencies in the taxation of various groups in the village give rise to a number of proposals for improving the agricultural tax system. The poor in certain provinces and districts of the Center, West and Siberia put forward the requirement that when calculating the tax, the quality of objects of taxation: livestock, land, etc., should be taken into account, and depending on their quality, the tax rates should also be increased or decreased. In some places, the poor are pushing for the abolition of the non‐taxable minimum, ʺsince the well‐to‐do and kulaks fall under this privilegeʺ (Tula province). In Vyatka Gubernia, in Tarsk, Tomsk and Novosibirsk districts, the poor put forward a requirement to take into account the availability of able‐bodied family members when taxing so that families with a large number of ablebodied families were taxed higher than families with disabled people. In the Novosibirsk District, even a demand was put forward for taxing workers. In some districts of Siberia and the Urals, prosperous and middle peasants put forward demands to abolish the progressively increasing tax rates and to establish uniform rates for all farms, and the tax should be levied only on the land. In some districts of the Urals, Siberia and the DVK, the kulaks and the well‐to‐do, and in some places with the support of the middle peasants, put forward a demand to abolish the system of taxation of individual farms, instead of which they proposed a system of calculating the tax on the entire village with the subsequent allocation to individual farms, produced by the peasants themselves (“We the tax would be spread out more correctly and the poor people would not be offended, ”declare the kulaks in the Krasnoyarsk district) (III, 36‐46).
Grain harvesting campaign
Delay of bread by wealthy groups of the village. Dissatisfaction with low prices for bread in most cases manifests itself on the part of the more powerful part of the village, in which the surplus of bread is mainly concentrated. The kulaks and the well‐to‐do continue to wait for the rise in prices, not throwing them out on the market, and if they throw them away, then in small quantities, the surplus grain they have. It is characteristic to note that in the Korenovsky district of the Kuban district out of 2,000,000 poods. the expected surplus of grain ‐ 80% is concentrated in the hands of the kulaks and the wealthy, and the rest with the middle peasants. Due to the fact that the bulk of the peasants, middle peasants and poor peasants, have already realized a significant part of their surplus, in a number of regions of Ukraine, as well as in the North Caucasus, a decrease in the rate of grain procurement is observed. Thus, in the Savransky district of the Pervomaisky district (Ukraine), the supply of grain in comparison with the beginning of the campaign decreased by 50%. A decrease in procurement is also noted in a number of areas of the Kremenchug, Lubensky and other districts. It should be noted that in some places the middle peasants also try to withstand the remaining surplus of grain until prices rise. “If the price of bread had been raised, the market would have been overwhelmed with bread,” say the middle peasants in one of the villages of the Voronezh province. (IV, 1‐8).
Demand for lower commodity prices. The main demand put forward by a significant part of the countryside in connection with the ʺscissorsʺ is increasingly the demand for a reduction in commodity prices. “The cost of goods needs to be lowered to the pre‐war level ‐ at which bread is currently standing” (Zaporozhye district), “let the price of bread be what it is now, but the price of a manufactory must be lowered so that one shirt; we will take bread, just give us goods at a suitable price ”(Stalingrad province); “Our goods are very expensive, but grain is very cheap, we need to organize ourselves, elect representatives from all the peasants who would go to the government and tell him that it should reduce the prices of goods, bringing them to the pre‐war level, otherwise the peasantry will not go to the government will give ”(Chita district) (IV, 9‐18).
The peasantry in most cases regards the ongoing reduction in prices for manufactured goods with distrust, pointing out that the countryside does not see this decline. So, in the Moscow province. the middle peasant who spoke at the meeting of the VIK said: “Before the price drop, galoshes cost 3 rubles. 70 kopecks, and now 3 rubles. 90 kopecks, prices for peasant goods are reduced, and prices for urban goods are increased. ʺ In Ryazan lips. in the village. Medvedevo, a poor peasant, when discussing the issue of lowering prices for manufactured goods, said: “Everyone was shouting about lowering prices, but in reality it turns out the other way around: boots cost 12‐14 rubles last year, now already 18‐20 rubles; vegetable oil cost 18‐22 kopecks, and now 40‐45 kopecks. ‐ hereʹs the decline in retail prices. ʺ In a number of speeches, it is pointed out that ʺthe ongoing decline in prices is completely invisible to the peasantsʺ (IV, 19‐27).
Distrust of the actual growth of industry. The high prices for manufactured goods in comparison with the prices of bread and the poorly conducted campaign to lower prices in the countryside, as well as the shortage of some goods, cause distrust in the actual development of industry and the growth of industrial production. “Factories and factories have been restored, but they are trying to get rid of us for goods beyond our strength, apparently the economy is being restored only on paper” (Moscow province). “We don’t see how you build factories and plants, and therefore we doubt that they are really being built, since with all our achievements we are sitting without vegetable oil, we don’t have cheap calico and everything is expensive, and these facts speak for the fact that the country does not getting richer, but getting poorer ʺ(Tula province). “Why are there no goods? Everywhere they are shouting that industry has reached 1912, that all factories are working as before the war, but all this is evidently a hoax, if factories were working as before the war, then there would be a lot of goods and they would be cheaper ”(Ulyanovsk province). ʺOur urban industry, in any case, does not overtake agriculture, but lags behind many times, here is an example for you: before a peasant could buy 5 yards of chintz for one pood of bread for a shirt, but now for one pood he will buy only one meterʺ ( Novosibirsk District) (IV, 28‐34).
Agitation against the export of grain and for the unlimited admission of private traders and procurers. As before, attention is drawn to the agitation of the kulaks and the wealthy, and sometimes the middle peasants against the export of grain to the market, openly calling on the peasants to unite and declare a boycott of the city (“Our agricultural products are taken for nothing, and the factory goods are not available to the peasant; we peasants need to come to an agreement and do not sell anything from their products, let the workers die of hunger ʺ;ʺ If we could organize ourselves and not take grain to the market, then we would raise our product in price ʺ), In p. The Holy Oven of the Zaporizhzhya district kulak, in a conversation with the peasants who had gathered for the gathering, said: “We need to sow for two years in a row so that the harvested crop is enough only for the personal needs of the peasant, and nothing to give to the market, doing without purchasing goods and most boycott of the industry.
As a means of raising the prices of bread and lowering the prices of goods, the kulaks and the well‐to‐do continue to push forward the demand to grant private owners unlimited freedom to procure grain and to expand the freedom of private trade.
In a number of cases, the demand is also put forward to import goods from abroad and to limit the monopoly of foreign trade. Quite often this requirement is made by traders. So, in the Oryol province. in with. The Zlobino trader agitates: “The Soviet government does not want the peasants to buy goods at cheap prices, but the goods could be provided for the peasants. Now, if the Soviet government had brought a manufactory from abroad, it would have cost 12 kopecks. arshin. The authorities are trying to rob the peasants and are not interested in lowering prices”. In with. Russian Temiryazan of Ulyanovsk province. the former merchant declares: ʺIf the Soviet government allowed private traders to import goods from abroad, then the private trader would overwhelm the peasants with these goods and sell these goods cheaper than Soviet factoriesʺ (IV, 43‐50).
Demanding lower wages and lengthening the working day for workers and employees. Dissatisfaction with the ʺscissorsʺ manifests itself in antagonism towards the city, which the kulak‐prosperous strata of the countryside use, accusing the city and workers of the high cost of industrial goods and putting forward demands for lower wages and lengthening the working day for workers and employees. “They will never reduce prices, and if they do, then first prices for agricultural products, and then for urban; they would have lowered the rates for administrative and economic personnel and workers, but would have reduced their staff, then the prices for urban goods would sooner drop ”; “It is necessary for the workers to lower rates, this will make the goods cheaper and the price of bread will increase” (Voronezh province); “Prices can only be regulated by extending the working day in factories to 12 pm, which will increase the production of manufactured goods”; ʺIt is necessary to reduce the earnings of workers, because this will lead to a decrease in the value of goodsʺ (Zaporozhye District) (IV,
The political mood of the village
Re‐election of boards of cooperatives
The atmosphere of re‐election of the boards of cooperatives. In the campaign for the re‐election of cooperative bodies, the average attendance rate ranges from 35 to 45%, giving a significant increase compared to last year in a number of districts, in some places falling to 20% or rising to 65%. The percentage of attendance at pre‐election meetings of the institute of delegates is significantly higher, reaching 90% in some places. Low attendance and general passivity of shareholders were observed due to poor preparatory work of the relevant authorities or in the difficult financial condition of the cooperative (V, 1‐10).
The middle peasants and the poor at the re‐election. The dominant role in the re‐election of the boards of cooperatives was played by the middle peasants, the bulk of whom, in a significant number of cases, blocked themselves with the poor. The latter, subject to sufficient preparatory work by local party members (holding meetings of poor people, working with activists), acted in the elections in an organized manner and was active, and in some cases played a decisive role in the elections. So, in the Pskov province. in the village. Temsha, at a meeting of a group of the poor, held a few days before the elections, nominated for ʺruling membersʺ were outlined, who passed almost entirely at the meeting of shareholders; in addition, the proposals made by the poor to increase the share contribution and create a fund for cooperating with the poor were accepted. In the Barnaul district, out of 20 artels in which re‐election of boards was held, meetings of the poor were organized in 15 artels. Participants of the poor peopleʹs meetings in the elections themselves were active, spoke out and carried out decisions made by the poor. As a result, funds for cooperation of the poor were created for 9 artels in a total amount of over 1,000 rubles.
However, in a number of provinces of the Center and North‐West, and the districts of Ukraine, the North Caucasus, Siberia and the DCK, due to the weak preparatory work of local party organizations, the poor were disorganized and passive and the initiative in the elections passed into the hands of the middle peasants, most often the wealthy and kulaks.
At the same time, part of the middle peasants often supported the kulaks and the wealthy, who sometimes, on some practical issues, managed to lead the bulk of the middle peasants. It is characteristic that not all types of cooperation had the same balance of power between the social groups of the village. The greatest success of the poor‐middle peasant bloc was noted during the re‐election of consumer cooperation bodies. In credit cooperatives, and especially in oil cartels (Siberia), the preponderance in a significant number of cases remained on the side of the kulaks and the wealthy, which is mainly explained by the corresponding social composition of shareholders, which was not always taken into account by local party organizations (in the Barabinsk district, for example, out of 62 oil cartels, the poor meetings were held only in 4) (V, 11‐26).
The question of the distribution of profits. The central issue, in addition to the election of the board, which attracted the attention of all shareholders in all types of agricultural operations, was the issue of the distribution of profits and an increase in the share contribution. The poor, on the initiative of party organizations, made almost everywhere a proposal ‐ leaving profits in the common pot, creating a cooperative fund for the poor by deducting from profits and increasing the share contribution, or offering to transfer a significant amount of profits to the fixed capital of the cooperatives. The kulaks and the well‐to‐do were sharply opposed to the proposed measure, as well as against any deductions (in favor of the British miners, etc.) and demanded the distribution of profits among the shareholders in a certain percentage “for each ruble taken”.
The following speeches are characteristic: “The available profit must be divided and we ourselves know how to act and where to put our kopeck. Since the state interferes in our affairs, then we have nothing to do here. Letʹs get out of here, citizens” (Stavropol District). “Whoever was there had the right to distribute our profits. Here it’s obvious that we are only called masters here, and there are other masters on the profits. Letʹs divide these profits equally among all and analyze ‐ they are ours. ʺ Sometimes the kulaks and the wealthy succeeded in leading the majority of the middle peasants in this matter. Yet, as a rule, the bulk of the middle peasants supported the poor (V, 31‐40).
Kulaks at the re‐election of the boards of cooperatives. On the part of the kulaks and the well‐to‐do, as well as the anti‐Soviet element, there was an increased activity and organization (see the section: ʺAnti‐Soviet manifestations in the countrysideʺ). In addition to speaking out against the candidacies of the poor and communists, the kulaks and the wellto‐do in every possible way tried to discredit the very idea of cooperation in the eyes of most shareholders. In this respect, it is interesting to note the individual actions of the kulaks and the well‐todo with a proposal to liquidate the cooperatives, especially in cases of waste and the difficult financial situation of some cooperatives. “We don’t need anything and we don’t need to do re‐elections when we have a deficit ... we need to liquidate the cooperatives” (Biysk District). Campaigning for leaving the cooperative network, for a kind of “independence” of cooperation is also characteristic. “Now the cooperation is dependent, over it are: the village council, the cell, the delegates, union, instructor, etc., and in order to develop a cooperative business we need to get out of this dependence and become an independent organization, to act the way we want ”(Kamensky Okrug). In the Krasnoyarsk Okrug in the Balakhtinsky PO, the wealthy made a proposal that the new board should be separated from the Ensoyuz system, and itself kept in direct contact with factories and plants, and thus overhead costs would be reduced (V, 27‐30).
Support by instructors of the co‐unions of the kulaks and the wealthy. Special attention is drawn to the support of the instructors of the district union and other cooperative associations of the line of the kulaks and the wellto‐do against the poor and the communists, noted in a number of cases by instructors from the district union and other cooperative associations who came specially for the re‐election campaign. So, for example, in the village. Surah of the Arkhangelsk province. A case was noted when, during the re‐election of the board of a credit partnership, an agricultural loan instructor spoke out against the Communist candidates to help the kulaks and said: ʺWhat does this have to do with the party, we do not pursue any political goals and do not need party control,ʺ and as a result, the wealthy were elected to the board. In the Pskov province. at the re‐election of the board of the Ladvinsky agricultural partnership, the poor, outraged by the behavior of the representative of Lnotorg, told the latter: “We are leaving the meeting, you can fraternize with kulaks and see anyone off”; the board includes a former military official and a former white. In the Kuban District, at a meeting of EPO shareholders stts. Olginskaya, the instructor of the Kraysoyuz, sent to hold the elections, supported the kulaks in every possible way: he disrupted the pre‐election meeting of the members of the Union of Soviet Trade Employees, saying that “it is inappropriate to talk about the new composition of the board at such a meeting”; at a meeting of asset shareholders, the instructor falsely accused the chairman of the old board, a communist, in the shortage of 260 rubles. and distorted the resolutions proposed by the secretary of the party cell, as a result, kulak candidates were elected to the board. Similar cases of instructorsʹ support of the kulak line were also noted in Saratov province, in a number of districts of Ukraine, the North Caucasus, the Urals and Siberia (V, 41‐44).
Composition of new boards of cooperatives. As a result of the re‐election of the governing cooperative bodies almost everywhere in the composition of the new boards and revision commissions, the number of poor and middle peasants increased due to a decrease in the percentage of kulaks and wealthy. In some cases, new governments are composed almost exclusively of the poor. Nevertheless, there is a significant number of cases in individual districts of the Union of contamination of boards and revolutionary commissions by kulaks and an anti‐Soviet element, and the greatest contamination is observed in credit cooperatives and oil cartels (Siberia) (V, 45‐53).
Preparatory campaign for the re‐election of the Soviets
Distinctive features of the election campaign that began in the reporting period are the exceptional attention paid by both the election commissions and all strata of the village to the work on drawing up lists of those deprived of voting rights, as well as organized preparation for re‐elections and the increased activity of the kulaks and anti‐Soviet elements.
Work on compiling lists of disenfranchised. The work on the preparation of lists of those deprived of voting rights in general gives much more disenfranchised this year than last year. In some places, the poor and part of the middle peasants are actively involved in this work. At the same time, a number of serious blunders and mistakes of election commissions are noted in the practice of applying the new election instructions. So, in the Vladimir province. in Vtorovskaya parish. As a result of an incorrect explanation of the instructions by the representative of the election commission, the Vysokovsky agricultural election commission included in the list of deprived of voting rights all citizens who have agricultural machines, including members and candidates of the All‐Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks whose parents have agricultural machines. At the same time, in a number of cases, persons subject to deprivation of rights were not included in the lists. For example, in the Chelyabinsk District in the Etkul District, the Selizbirk did not include a large contractor in the lists of disenfranchised. In with. Allak of the Kamensk District (Siberia) is charged 12 rubles from each deprived of the right to vote. To the question of a poor peasant about why 12 rubles are being charged, the secretary of the village council replied that this money is being collected for the fact that the disenfranchised will not carry elective public office (VI, 1‐10).
The attitude of various strata of the village to the increase in the number of the dispossessed. The issue of deprivation of voting rights in the current election campaign, in connection with the revision and clarification of its new instructions, attracted the attention of the entire village. While the poor and the bulk of the middle peasants in a number of districts and provinces approve the line of the party and the Soviet government in expanding the circle of persons deprived of voting rights from the kulaks, the wealthy and some middle peasants, the application of the new instruction caused sharp criticism and speeches at meetings in protection of those deprived of voting rights. In the Lenin parish. Moscow u. and the province at a meeting of young people with a poor peasant activist on the issue of re‐elections, a middle peasant said: “Why should the kulak be deprived of the right to vote, while he gives the state more benefits than the poor peasant? If the kulaks had not hired laborers, the latter would have died of hunger. ʺ In the Communist Vol. Moscow province. in the village. Aleksandrovskoye, when discussing the new instructions for re‐elections at the pre‐election meeting of the village council, the well‐to‐do and middle peasants (including the pre‐village council) said: “There is no need to deprive anyone of voting rights. Why are they deprived of the voting rights of a peasant who has an exemplary economy and supports hired workers, and a worker who receives 200 rubles? and those who keep a servant are not deprived of their voting rights”. In some places, the disenfranchised themselves sharply criticize the new instruction (VI, 12‐28). and those who keep a servant are not deprived of their voting rights. ʺ In some places, the disenfranchised themselves sharply criticize the new instruction (VI, 12‐28).
Attention is drawn to the great activity of the kulaks and the wealthy, who are preparing in advance for re‐elections. Often, well‐to‐do people arrange their meetings, where candidates for the new composition of the village councils are discussed, their lists are drawn up. In Voskresensky. Moscow province. in the village. A meeting was held at the home of one of the wealthy, which was attended by up to 15 people. At the meeting, its initiator said: “We need to kick out the current members of the village council and appoint our own, who will protect our interests. Make every effort to persuade the peasants to our side. ʺ After discussion, the prosperous and the son of a kulak were appointed as candidates for the village council. In the Zlato‐Ustovsky okrug, the kulaks are preparing for re‐elections, naming their candidates. Fists with. Karaulovka Kataevsky district are preparing for the re‐election campaign of the Soviets, conducting intensified campaigning among the population for the candidacy of the kulak in the pre‐village council. In most cases, however, the kulaks are met with organized resistance from the poor. As in the elections to cooperative boards, kulak groups play an organizing role (see the section ʺAntiSoviet manifestations in the countrysideʺ) (VI, 29‐36).
Pre‐election sentiments of the red partisans in the North Caucasus. From the facts of preparations for the elections of other groups in the village, it should be noted the tendency towards self‐organization of the former Red partisans in the North Caucasus. In the Veshensky district of the Donetsk district, a group of partisans and demobilized Red Army men, led by some local responsible workers, in connection with the difficult financial situation and unemployment, filed an application with the local authorities demanding the convening of a conference of red partisans and the selection of a ʺcommittee for assisting the partisans.ʺ Following the application for Veshenskaya stts. and farmsteads there were proclamations signed by the “initiative group”, which said: “In this campaign, the red partisans must test their strength, and win the elections. The regional authority should be in our hands. Down with the usurpers and their henchmen, we, the red partisans, won on the fronts in 1917‐1920, we will win here too”.
Anti‐Soviet manifestations in the countryside
The economic and political campaigns carried out in the countryside (grain procurement, tax, re‐election campaign for the board of cooperatives, pre‐election) are taking place in an atmosphere of undoubted activation and growth of the organization of the kulaks and the wealthy. This is evidenced by the ongoing anti‐tax agitation, the incitement of antagonism towards the city, the occasional campaign for boycotting the sales markets, individual anti‐Soviet speeches by the kulaks and the wealthy at all kinds of meetings, as well as the numerical growth of kulak groups and protests for peasant unions.
Kulak groups. In December, 84 groups of the kulaks were again registered in 42 provinces and districts of the Union (versus 25 last month). The largest number of groupings was recorded in the Center (13), the North Caucasus (24) and Siberia (15). From other areas of kulak groupings, it was recorded: in the North‐West (6), West (3), in the Ukraine (18), in the Volga region (4), in the Urals (4) and in the Far East
Command (7).
Kulak groups taking part in the re‐election of cooperation. A significant part of the registered groups (37) showed their activity in the re‐elections of the cooperatives. Often the leading role in these groups was played by the anti‐Soviet element and ʺformer peopleʺ. Attention is drawn to the organized nature of the kulaks and careful preparation for the elections of governing bodies where kulak groups operated, attempts to drag out or disrupt meetings, preliminary agitation, bypassing neighboring villages, pre‐election meetings of kulaks and the wealthy, soldering shareholders ‐ these are typical methods of the electoral struggle of kulak groups. The following facts are characteristic. In the Donskoy district in the stts. The Yegorlyk group of anti‐Soviet elements, having learned about the preliminary discussion of candidates for the rule of the cell together with the poor, also prepared for re‐elections, breaking up into polling stations. At the elections themselves, members of the group shouted from all sides: “Down with the lists, power to the people. Why is it that some poor people discussed the lists separately, and not all together”; As a result, candidates nominated by the members of the grouping, mostly anti‐Soviet persons (former landowners, etc.), passed through. In the Minusinsk district, the chairman of the old board of the agricultural partnership, a wealthy one, knowing that local active party members are at the district party conference, went to the district and picked up authorized representatives from among the shareholders of Kolchak and White Guards for the congress. Anti‐Soviet persons were elected to the board and the revolutionary committee. In the Krasnoyarsk District, a group of kulaks, having learned all the details of the upcoming electoral meeting for the re‐election of the OP board, on the day of the re‐election, from the early morning, set up a watch in the room where the meeting was to take place. The officers on duty campaigned for their candidates among all the shareholders who came to the premises. The leader of the group, a former gendarme, persuaded several wealthy people to distract the latter with a conversation in case of the arrival of the preRIK so that he could not come to an agreement with the cell. At the meeting itself, under the influence of this group, the shareholders demanded the introduction of the group leader into the board, threatening to take back the shares. As a result, the groupings were nominated, and no votes were cast for the cell candidates. The members of the group said after the meeting: ʺSo the re‐election of the village council should be carried out as wellʺ (VII, 14‐32).
Kulak groupings leading a preparatory campaign for the re‐election of village councils. It should also be noted that the organizing kulak and antiSoviet groups, aiming to prepare for the upcoming re‐election of village councils. 14 groups of this kind were registered during the reporting period. The groups hold their own meetings, pre‐nominate candidates and campaign. In Ryazan lips. in with. Gavrilovskoye, a group of former merchants was organized, which is campaigning against the election of members of the CPSU (b) to the village council, the head of the group for this purpose travels to friends of the nearby villages, nominating his candidacy to the village council. In with. A snatching Kamensk district, where 42 people were deprived of electoral rights by selizbir‐kom, which made the well‐off were embittered, a group was created that aims to fight the poor in the re‐election. At the end of December, the group held their private meeting, where the issue of excluding members of the CPSU (b) and the poor from the village council was discussed. In a number of cases, a clear anti‐Soviet element is included in the electoral groupings. So, in the Kostroma province. in with. Ababurovoʹs group of kulaks is headed by a former policeman who wants to get into the pre‐village council. In the Gomel province. in the village. Individuals at the head of the group is the organizer of the gang. In the Maikop district in the stc. Shirvan, the group of kulaks includes former chieftains and former political activists. Representatives of the kulaks and the well‐to‐do in the contaminated Soviets take an active part in preparations for the elections on the side of the kulaks, and are often part of kulak groups. In Moscow province, for example, in the village. The Lianozovo previllage council called a closed meeting of 5 clearly anti‐Soviet people, at which a list of candidates for the new village council was outlined. The same presidential council, on its own initiative, convened a meeting of the asset, at which he proposed to restore the former merchant and the former owner of the printing house in the electoral rights; the meeting decided not to deprive anyone of voting rights. In the Salsk district in the stc. Loznovskaya group of wealthy Cossacks is led by a member of the village council (VII, 33‐44).
Other kulak and anti‐Soviet groups. Of the other 33 kulak groups, which are usually organized with the aim of opposing land management, disrupting the tax campaign and other measures of Soviet power, discrediting communists and Komsomol members, etc., the group in the Saratov province, which includes former participants in the peasant uprising 1918 and members of the agrarian movement in 1905, openly at meetings advocating the organization of a cross union. This grouping has connections with other villages.
Obviously anti‐Soviet groups. In 15 cases, the groups are clearly antiSoviet. In this respect, the groupings in the Amur District are characteristic. On the territory of the Okrug, in a number of villages in the Tambov and Aleksandrovsky Districts, there are up to 7 small groups, which include kulaks and the wealthy. The activity of the group is reduced to the arrangement of meetings at which monarchical literature is read. One of the groups is recruiting new members. During the raid of a foreign gang noted in the last review on the village. Nizhne‐Poltavka grouping in the village. Gilchin, one of the former participants in the Zazei uprising of 1924, conspired to beat the communists at secret meetings.
It should also be noted that there are separate kulak groups carrying out kulak terror against the co‐elements of the village. So, in the Biysk district in the village. For one and a half years, the Akateevo kulak group committed 12 beatings of the poor, and during the summer of 1926 the group committed 5 attacks and beatings of the poor and women ‐ members of the village council. The group threatens to beat up the communist (VII, 45‐56).
Speeches for the cross union
Number and nature of appearances for the COP. During the month of December, there has been a significant increase in the number of demonstrations and agitation for the cross unions (207 cases were again registered against 149 in November). Noteworthy is the growth of performances in Ukraine (71 performances against 50 in November), in the Volga region (27 cases instead of 6 last month) and the DCK (14 cases against 2 in November). The Center (51 cases, and 26 facts were registered for Moscow province alone) and the North Caucasus (30) stand out from other regions in terms of the number of speeches. The quantitative increase in the number of speeches for the Constitutional Court was caused by the holding in the reporting period of various kinds of meetings, conferences, etc., at which 96 speeches were registered (of which in 9 cases the issue of the Constitutional Court was raised at pre‐election meetings, in 8 cases ‐ at meetings of village councils and RECs ).
Of the 221 participants in the protests for the Constitutional Court we identified 175 peasants, including the kulaks and the wealthy ‐ 59, the middle peasants ‐ 41, and the poor ‐ 14 (in 61 cases, the social status of the peasants who spoke out was not established). The percentage of anti‐Soviet people among the participants in the speeches is very insignificant (only 9 people).
In two cases, it was noted that kulak groups (Kuban district, Saratov province) came out for the KS.
By the nature of the demands, advocacy for the cross unions is distributed as follows: in 90 cases, the CC is tasked with regulating prices, and in 3 cases ‐ the establishment of trade relations with abroad, in 11 cases ‐ opposition and protection of peasants from tax pressure, in 19 cases a demand peasant trade union, in other cases the goals and objectives of the Constitutional Court are not specified, and the statements themselves are in the form of questions and proposals to organize the Constitutional Court to protect the interests of peasants and improve the economic situation of the peasants (VII, 1‐5).
Anti‐Soviet speeches for the Constitutional Court. The number of politically anti‐Soviet statements for the Constitutional Court is still insignificant (24 facts). Of the speeches of this kind, the one put forward by the middle peasant of the Voronezh province deserves attention. the demand for organization ʺin opposition to the workersʹ and communist party of their peasant party.ʺ In the Pskov province. a well‐to‐do peasant, speaking in favor of organizing the Constitutional Court, said: ʺWe need to organize ourselves into a Russian‐peasant union in order to put the Russian people in power, otherwise the non‐Russians do what they want, introduce a large tax and thatʹs all from us peasants.ʺ In the Stavropol district of the pre‐village council, speaking about the need to organize the Constitutional Court, he pointed out: ʺIf the peasant union is revived, then all parties must die, as it will crush them and this will be the greatest organization in the worldʺ (VII, 6‐13).
Kulak terror
According to additional information for November, as well as for December, 106 cases of kulak terror were again registered (in December, according to incomplete information, 38 cases were noted), of which 12 in the Center, 6 in the North‐West and in the West, and 18 in Ukraine , North Caucasus ‐ 11, in the Volga region ‐ 5, in the Urals ‐ 6, in Siberia ‐ 32 and DVK ‐ 10. The reasons for the terror are: conducting a tax campaign and identifying objects of taxation hidden from registration (16 facts), land management (9 facts), combating hooliganism, banditry and home‐distilling (11 facts), newspaper notes (12), speaking out against kulaks (8) and belonging to the CPSU (b) and the Komsomol (6 facts). By its nature, terror is distributed as follows: murders ‐ 10, wounds ‐ 5, beatings ‐ 27, arson ‐ 6, attempted murders ‐ 14, threats ‐ 31 and other types of terror ‐ 13 facts.
It should be noted that quite often terror is carried out by hooligans, whom the kulaks and the wealthy use for their own purposes, and in some places by kulak groups (see the section ʺKulak groupingsʺ).
Anti‐Soviet agitation
Individual speeches of the kulaks and anti‐Soviet elements of the countryside criticizing the measures carried out by the Soviet government in a number of regions (especially in the Ukraine, the North Caucasus, the Urals, Siberia, and the DCK) continue to be sharply anti‐Soviet in nature.
Speech against the communists and anti‐Soviet agitation in the elections to the co‐bodies. The speeches of the kulaks and anti‐Soviet persons in the elections of the governing bodies of the cooperative against the candidacies of communists and the poor were insolent. So, in the Chelyabinsk district in the village. Ust‐Uisk, according to the report of the representative of the district authorities, a member of the kulak group said: “What is the difference between the tsarist and the current government ‐ before the rich sat in tailcoats and presided, and now the same dominance, and the communists are also sitting. Where communists are not asked and they do not want, they will definitely go there. You, district workers, came to us in good fur coats to preach fables to a naked peasant. What confidence can the Cossacks have in Soviet power when it is ruled by the Jews. In the Tambov province. the church head said at the EPO re‐election: ʺWe need a tsar, before everything was cheap, but now this cooperation does not give any benefit.ʺ
Anti‐tax campaigning. Anti‐tax agitation continued during the reporting period: “There is a workersʹ strike in England. We also need to go on strike in order not to pay tax” (Barabinsk district); “It is necessary to orderly refuse to pay the agricultural tax” (Irkutsk District). As before, in some provinces and districts, there are isolated cases of issuance, under the influence of anti‐tax campaigning, decisions to refuse to pay the unified agricultural tax. Thus, in the Zlatoust district, kulaks in one of the villages disrupted a meeting of the poor called by a cell of the CPSU (b), convened a second meeting and passed a resolution: ʺThe tax is considered to be wrong and refuse to pay it.ʺ In a number of villages in the Shakhtinsko‐Donetsk district, under the influence of the well‐to‐doʹs agitation, resolutions have been adopted, petitioning the highest authorities to reduce the tax.
Agitation for the convocation of a non‐party peasant congress. In a number of speeches, the kulaks put forward the idea of convening a non‐party congress and the need for ʺpeasant power.ʺ So, in the Zeysk district, a demand is being put forward to convene a ʺnon‐party peasant congress ‐ otherwise the peopleʹs anger will burst out of its own accord.ʺ In with. Four peasants in the Novo‐Khatunichi Vladivostok district declared: “Soviet power is not good for the peasants; it does not meet the peasantry halfway and does not allow the non‐party peasantry to convene meetings and conferences specifically to clarify the needs of the peasantry. The peasants, both before and now, are the scapegoat and this will continue until the peasants in a categorical form make demands on the Soviet government to improve their situation. ʺ
A call for an uprising and struggle against Soviet power. In some cases, calls for an uprising and struggle against Soviet power and the communists were recorded. ʺSoon the peasantry will rise up against Soviet power under the leadership of famous people, and then the communists will have a capʺ (Tula province). “We need a coup dʹetat so that we can count the Communists, otherwise they climbed into power and take a large salary, and we, peasants, are taxed heavily” (Slavgorod district) ʺSooner or later, the Soviet power will perish, because the tax is large and the peasantry will not stand it, they have already learned to fight with the lancesʺ (Biysk district).
There is also a talk about the peasant revolution, which should save the peasants from oppression: “The Soviet government is pressing the peasantry in every possible way, as a result it will come to the point that the peasants will be forced to carry out a peasant revolution and overthrow the existing system” (Voronezh province); “We need to make a second revolution, because there is no way to live like this any longer” (Kryvyi Rih District).
Demanding the elimination of party organizations. Interesting are the isolated actions of the kulaks and the well‐to‐do for the liquidation of the Party organs in order to destroy, for the sake of economy, the allegedly existing parallelism in the work of two apparatuses ‐ the Party and the Soviets. So, in the Leningrad province. in the village. A well‐todo man said at a meeting on the support of British miners: “We have no money to help the workers of other states, a lot of money is spent on maintaining two apparatuses ‐ the Soviets and the Party. Let someone else command us ‐ the Soviet or the Communist Party, then there will be extra money. ʺ In the Barnaul district in the village. A well‐to‐do Rebrikhi, a member of the village council, said: “The Soviet government is doing it wrong, why did it establish two boards: RIK and regional executive committees and Sibkrai executive committee, on the one hand, and district committees of the AUCP (b) and okrug committees, on the other; after all, this is a double expense in the state. We donʹt need one reign at all
EASTERN NATIONAL REPUBLICS AND AUTONOMOUS AREAS MIDDLE ASIA
The mood in connection with the Unified Agricultural Taxation. Individual cases of farmersʹ dissatisfaction with taxes are mainly explained by the coincidence of the unified agricultural tax collection with the fees for insurance, Narobraz, the Koshchi union, etc., as well as tough penalties against poor non‐payers committed by some tax commissions
(Uzbekistan, Tashkent region).
Strong discontent of the population was noted in the Atrek region of the Poltoratsky district of Turkmenistan, where there was no preliminary explanatory campaign, the consequences of the flood of the river were not taken into account. Atrek, which flooded 40% of the crops, and there were facts of disproportionate distribution of the tax between the wealthy and the poor in favor of the former. Persophile anti‐Soviet people campaigned against the Unified Agricultural Union; the frontier Persian officials spread rumors about an amnesty for Turkmen refugees wishing to return to Persia, while promising them exemption from all taxes. As a result, some farms migrated to Persian territory (VIII, 1‐5).
The activity of bayism and religious belief. The re‐election campaign in Uzbekistan caused a lively preparation of the bays and the Muslim clergy for the seizure of the grassroots apparatus. In some districts, the grouping struggle intensified, and in some places the grouping led to the election commissions of their representatives (Tashkent region). Bai and their supporters went to some village councils (Fergana obl.). Trying to distract the attention of the poor, the bai timed wedding meals to coincide with the re‐election campaign (Samarkand region).
There was a case of the bai disrupting the electoral meeting (out of 220 people) after the announcement of the list of those deprived of their voting rights (Tashkent region). Bai and criminal gangsters villages. Faizabad, Kashka‐Darya region attacked the house of a dekhkanka, newly elected to the presidium of the village council, beat her children and a relative, and robbed all property; The attack took place the next day after the active participation and speech of a dekhkan woman at an election meeting and depriving the bays and bandits of the right to vote.
In some places, gangs and Muslims acted with anti‐tax agitation, calling on the population to punish the dekhkans who had assisted in identifying hidden objects of taxation (Uzbekistan, Tashkent and Samarkand regions). There are facts of a strong influence of the Muslim clergy on some pre‐councils (Turkmenistan, Tashauz district).
In matters of land management, the bayis are showing their previous activity and striving to restore the positions lost after the land reform (Uzbekistan, Fergana region), as before, there are cases of seizure of poor lands by the bayis (Kyrgyzstan, Osh district). Land disputes between the bays and the poor in places turn into fights or are resolved in favor of the bays with the assistance of the grassroots government (Tajikistan, Hissar vilayet) (VIII, 6‐14).
National antagonism. On the basis of land use, there are disputes and fights between Russians and Kyrgyz (Kyrgyzstan, Frunzensky
District). A strong exacerbation of hostile relations is facilitated by the systematic destruction of Russian fields and meadows by the Kyrgyz and the developed horse‐stealing committed by the latter from the former. There were cases of beating of Russians by Kirghiz (Karakol district). Russian conscripts sat down. Pokrovka beat several Kirghiz. One of the leaders of the drunken conscripts killed a Kyrgyz who was passing through Pokrovka (Kashka‐Darya region). The negligence of the Zemorgans makes the disputes protracted. The antagonism between Tajiks and Uzbeks on the border of the Garm and Gissar vilayets of Tajikistan has intensified as a result of unilateral decisions of the Narkomzem commissions to liquidate the land dispute. The commission included former emirchikov, nationalistminded (Tajiks).
In connection with the proposed reform of the Turkmen alphabet and terminology among the national intelligentsia, several trends arose for and against romanization (Turkmenistan, Poltoratsky district) (VIII, 1621).
Banditry. In the Tashauz and Kerkinsky districts of Turkmenistan, local gangs under the command of Durdy‐Klych and Akhmed‐bek and one gang that have transferred from Afghanistan operate. Akhmed‐beyʹs gang has developed an active activity on the territory of Uzbekistan. In addition to a number of attacks, she disassembled the regulator at the source of the Akhmed‐Yat ditch and destroyed the bridge towards Tokht. Akhmed‐bey himself was wounded in one of the clashes, the gang suffered significant damage and decomposition was outlined in it. Along with numerous bandits, several active Basmshaks operate in Uzbekistan alone. One of them, closely related to the Muslim religion and former khan officials, imposes compulsory taxes on the
population; the other aims to carry out terror against communists and Soviet workers. The territory of Tajikistan has been cleared of
Basmachism in connection with the transfer of gangs to Afghanistan.
KAZAKHSTAN
Antagonism between Russians and Kyrgyz. In some areas, hostile relations between Russians and Kyrgyz are increasingly exacerbated by the systematic destruction of Russian fields and meadows by the Kyrgyz, with the negligent attitude of the grassroots apparatus (Ural and Dzhetysu gubernias). The numerical superiority of the Kyrgyz in the Soviet apparatus, a weak punitive policy in relation to the Kirghiz‐cattle stealers, the uneven distribution of land between the Kirghiz and the Russians, continue to cause the Russian Cossacks and peasants to crave for separation from Kazakstan (Ural, Syr‐Darya province). The Russian kulaks and bayism further inflame the antagonism between the Kyrgyz and the Russians (Semipalatinsk province) (VIII, 22‐26).
The activity of the bays and the kulaks. Along with the widespread energetic preparation of the Kyrgyz bays for the re‐elections of the Soviets, individual bais exert strong pressure on the daily work of some village councils and VICs. Baystvo assists the Muslim community in expanding the network of religious schools, in the fight against Soviet schools (Semipalatinsk province). There have been cases of protests against the collection of the UCHN and organizations of Koshchi, cooperation, the Komsomol, and others. In some places, as a result of these protests, the work of these organizations is disrupted and the masses are seen withdrawing from them (Akmola, Semipalatinsk provinces, Kara‐Kalpak region).
The Russian kulaks are especially active in the re‐election of the boards of consumer societies, in some places they put their proteges in them (Akmola and Semipalatinsk provinces). To win the favor of the masses, the kulaks promise to invest their own funds in cooperation (Akmola province) (USh, 27‐33).
Dissatisfaction with the unified agricultural tax and the prices of agricultural products. The mass of abuses, inactivity and negligence of the tax and procurement apparatus causes discontent among the population of some regions. Incorrect determination of the profitability of the peasant farm, the appropriation of tax amounts by some workers, the disproportionate distribution of tax between individual strata of the peasantry, etc. abnormalities cause indignation of the poor and especially the middle peasants of a number of auls and villages (Akmola, Syr‐Darya gubernia). The delay in payment of the amounts owed to the peasants for the grain supplied to the supply points and the long queues at delivery force the peasants to hand over the grain to the private owner for a pittance (Aktobe and Semipalatinsk provinces) ‐ The discontent of the population, especially the Russians, is also caused by a strong discrepancy in prices for agricultural and industrial products (Semipalatinsk province), weak punitive policy against cattle theft (Dzhety‐Suu province), etc. (VIII, 34‐39).
Preparing for the re‐election of the Soviets. As the re‐election campaign approaches, the activity of various groups preparing for the seizure of village councils and VIKs increases. In mosques and in private apartments, meetings of group leaders are convened. To win votes, the Baystvo provides material assistance to the poor and distributes cattle for temporary use (Aktobe province). In some cases, bai have already recruited 1000 households ‐ supporters in the volost (Akmola province). In the groupings, along with the bays, workers of the grassroots Soviet apparatus, convene meetings at the baysk apartments and send agitators to the auls (Syr‐Darʹinskaya province). In some cases, bai, treating the poor at their own expense, recommend that their supporters vote at least even for the poor from Koshchi, so as not to bring the communists to the Soviets (Kara‐Kalpak oblast) (VIII, 40‐46).
Banditry. There was a quantitative increase and increase in the activity of criminal banditry in a number of districts of the Dzhetysu and Semipalatinsk provinces. A gang of 300 Turkmens in Chelkar u. Aktobe province. prepares for an attack on the wintering of the population of the Chulakzhidinskaya vol. Some gangs are regularly deployed to China, robbing Chinese merchants. 4 gangs were liquidated completely and one gang was liquidated partially. The fight against banditry is hindered by the connection between the bandits and the bai and some co‐workers. The quantitative increase in landscape and bandits was expressed in the following figures: in November 1926, there were 14 bands, 108 bandits, 21 bands, and 232 bandits in December.
INNER NATIONAL REPUBLIC
National antagonism. Crimea. The antagonism between individual nationalities (Russians, Tatars, Armenians, Greeks) is manifested mainly in land management issues and in some cases takes on an aggravated character (Evpatoria, Yalta, Karasubazar regions). Natsantagonism is also observed among the Komsomol members (Bakhchisarai district).
Bashkiria, Tatarstan. The cases of manifestation of national antagonism that took place in a number of cantons were caused by disputes over land management and the implementation of the Bashkir and Tatar languages and the associated replacement of Russian employees with Bashkirs and Tatars. In some places, relations are so aggravated that they threaten to result in open clashes (Bashkiria ‐ Mesyagutovsky, Argayazhsky cantons, Tataria ‐ Laishevsky canton).
Chuvashia. In some places, the Russian population is dissatisfied with the implementation of the Chuvash language (Batyrevsky u.) And the annexation of the Alatyr u. to Chuvashia. In the town of Yadrin, a group of Russian farmers raised the issue of the withdrawal of the Yadrinsky district. to the Nizhny Novgorod province. (VIII, 47‐54).
Agricultural tax. Crimea. In a number of places (mainly affected by crop failure), the Tatar and Russian population (of all strata) expresses dissatisfaction with the onerousness of the agricultural tax, the incorrect definition of profitability and the consideration of lost grain. In a number of regions, less powerful farms are forced to sell draft animals to pay taxes (Kerch, Karasubazar and Evpatoria regions).
Bashkiria, Tatarstan. The attitude of the well‐to‐do and kulaks to agricultural tax is sharply negative. Some kulaks scold the Soviet power, urge not to accept salary sheets, not to pay agricultural tax and hide objects of taxation (Bashkiria ‐ Zilairsky, Tataria ‐ Chistopolsky and Spassky cantons). In some places, the poor and middle peasants, forced to sell grain to pay the tax, express dissatisfaction with low prices, the city and the government. The dissatisfaction of all strata of the village is caused by the coincidence of the agricultural tax with the collection of semssud and insurance, incorrect determination of profitability and incorrect drawing up of salary sheets.
Chuvashia. The attitude of the poor and middle peasants to the agricultural tax is generally positive. Dissatisfaction is expressed by persons who have income from side employment and the poor, in some places taxed more than the wealthy and kulaks (all districts) (VIII, 7080).
The activity of the wealthy and the kulaks. Crimea. In a number of districts, the well‐to‐do and kulaks (Russians and Tatars), who subordinated the workers of the village councils to their influence, are the actual power of the village (Bakhchisarai, Kerch and Yevpatoria districts).
Not wanting to lose the seized surplus land, the well‐to‐do kulaks in many cases oppose land management (Feodosia, Sevastopol and other areas). The facts of unauthorized seizures of land were noted in almost all regions. In a number of places, the kulaks and the wealthy rent the land of the poor on enslaving terms (VIII, 55‐57).
Agitation for the COP. Tartary. On the basis of dissatisfaction with the better position of workers united in trade unions, two cases of agitation for the creation of cross unions were noted in the Mamadysh and Arsk cantons (VIII, 58).
Activities of the Muslim Spirituality. In Crimea, Bashkiria, Tataria and Chuvashia, in connection with the congress of Muslims held in Ufa, the campaign among Muslims for the expansion of the faith has intensified. In a number of districts, under the influence of the mullahsʹ agitation, the population makes decisions and petitions for the opening of religious schools. In some places, the population, without waiting for permission, opens illegally operating schools (Crimea ‐ Sevastopol, Yalta, Feodosia regions; Bashkiria ‐ T. Kataysky canton; Tataria ‐ Agryz; Chuvashia ‐ Batyrevsky district). In a number of places in Crimea and Tataria, mullahs collect fees, are provided with land with the support of the village councils, are campaigning against the Komsomol and public organizations (Crimea ‐ Feodosiya, Kerch regions; Tataria ‐ Elabuga canton) and in some cases are the actual leaders of the work of the village council and the community ( Tataria ‐ Menzelinsky,
NORTH CAUCASUS
National antagonism. The hostile relations between Russians and mountaineers are especially strongly developed in the Karachay Autonomous Region. The main reasons for enmity are issues of land use and the national composition of the Soviet apparatus. Antagonism also manifests itself on a number of other issues, often turning into sharp clashes and mutual threats of eviction from the region. The Greek population of Karachay defends the issue of separating it into an autonomous unit or joining the Armavir district before the center. Cossacks of the Adyghe‐Circassian region. undertook a campaign to receive compensation from the Circassians for all the robberies that have ever taken place in the Cossack villages (U1P, 8187).
Anti‐Soviet agitation. Cross unions. The activity of the kulaks. Campaigning against the Communist Party, the Komsomol, ESKhN, KKOV and other public organizations does not stop on the part of the kulaks, the Muslim clergy and other anti‐Soviet elements. Cases were noted when the agitation was directed towards aggravating national relations (Karachay) and inciting peasants against workers (Ossetia). In a number of regions, anti‐Soviet agitation was also carried out by representatives of the grassroots Soviet apparatus (pre‐village councils). In the Russian regions that are part of the national autonomies, agitation is being conducted for the creation of peasant unions. In connection with the upcoming re‐elections of cooperative organizations, the kulaks are very active in running their candidates, often using the support of local authorities and even representatives of the region (Karachay) in their work (VIII, 88‐97).
The fight for the co‐apparatus. In a number of regions, a struggle is going on between individual clan groups to seize the local soviets, mainly the grassroots. In this regard, the groupings waged a campaign to discredit representatives of local authorities in the eyes of the population. Former noble families, who often enjoy patronage and kinship in the region (Karachay), are especially active. The re‐elections of the Soviets further intensified the struggle between the noble and peasant groups, whose representatives by all means tried to get their supporters (Circassia) into the Soviets. Due to dissatisfaction with the district authorities, which often protect the interests of some families to the detriment of others, there is a tendency in Chechnya to separate from one district to another (VIII, 99‐103).
ORDER
Anti‐Soviet agitation and performances. Rumors of war. In a number of districts, rumors of war have been spreading recently, emanating in most cases from anti‐Soviet elements, wealthy kulak strata of the countryside and the intelligentsia. In Azerbaijan (Baku u.) Rumors circulate about the conclusion of a treaty between England and Persia for joint military actions against the USSR, and, in confirmation, the call for territorial taxes was indicated. In Armenia (Zangezur and Meghri regions), anti‐Soviet elements spread rumors about the war between Turkey and the USSR and about the organization of the Dashnaks, who are preparing to act as allies of Turkey.
In Azerbaijan, in the city of Ganja, Komsomol members found on the street a Musa‐Vat proclamation in the Turkic language, written in a national‐chauvinist spirit and calling ʺto oppose the Russians to save the homeland.ʺ
In Georgia (Shoropansky district), as a result of a speech by a well‐todo (former nobleman), a general meeting was disrupted, convened to discuss the issue of building a school and building roads in villages (VIII, 104‐109).
Tax campaign. In many districts, during the UAT collection campaign, there were cases of incorrect distribution of tax obligations between individual layers of the village, between villages with the same profitability of farms (Georgia) and even between individual groups of counties (Adjaristan). As a result of this, as well as a number of abnormalities and abuses on the part of employees of the tax and grassroots administration, the poor in some places expressed massive dissatisfaction with the distortion of the class line in tax policy and the obvious under‐taxation of the kulaks due to over‐taxation of the poor. In most cases, the complaints of the poor were not addressed or left without consequences. The objects of taxation are hidden by the fists and the wealthy. In addition, they are campaigning among the poor and middle peasants for the shelter of taxable objects (Georgia, Armenia). A case was noted
Land management. The uneven distribution of land and the lack of precise boundaries caused a series of clashes between individual villages and between the poor and the wealthy kulak strata of the village. Disputes over land use also took place between peasants of various nationalities, often exacerbating relations between them (Georgia, Armenia). The kulaks, former nobles and landowners, and in some cases the bandits, showed increased activity and desire to seize the lands that had been taken from them earlier. A case was noted when one bandit with his relatives captured 350 dess. public land (Azerbaijan). In places the kulaks and the well‐to‐do, having seized the grassroots zemapparat, directed its work in their favor. In some cases, local land commissions, under the influence of the kulaks, endowed them with better land at the expense of the poor, often receiving bribes from them for this. Besides,
Banditry. There was some revival in the activity of small‐scale banditry in Tiflis, Kutaisi, Signakhsky, Akhaltsikhsky, Goriysky u. Georgia and in the Baku u. Azerbaijan, which showed itself by a number of armed robberies. As of January 1, 1927, there were 19 gangs with 144 people in the interior regions against 20 gangs of 151 people on December 1, 1926; in foreign countries ‐ 7 gangs of 88 people against 8 gangs of 96 people on December 1, 1926. Noteworthy is the attack of three bandits at the station. Kardanakh with the aim of killing the head of the station (Signakhsky district) and robbery of train number 3 near the station. Alat of the Transcaucasian Railway which ended in the murder of the person accompanying the mail and the seizure of 10,000 rubles.
BURYATO‐MONGOLIA, OIRATIA, KHAKASSKY DISTRICT AND KALMYK AUTONOMOUS REGION
National antagonism. Buryat‐Mongolia. There are ongoing conflicts between Russians and Buryats over land use. The Buryat population is outraged by the decision of the authorities, which endowed the Russians with plots and deprived the residents of two Buryat soms of access to water and forests. The well‐to‐do part of the population of the latter plans to migrate to Mongolia (V. Udinsky u.). National antagonism also manifests itself in the issues of nationalization of schools (Alar aimag) and the Soviet apparatus (Barguzinsky aimak).
Khakass district. Cases of manifestation of nazant‐gonism between the Russians and the Khakass continue to be observed, mainly caused by disputes over land use. In some places, the Khakases, oppressing the Russians (depriving them of land allotments), seek to evict them and pass appropriate resolutions at general meetings (Charkovsky, Chebakovsky, Tashtynsky districts) (VIII, 134‐139).
Agricultural tax. Buryat‐Mongolia. Isolated facts of dissatisfaction of the poor with the agricultural tax were noted (V. Udinsky district, TroitskoSava aimak). The kulaks, the well‐to‐do and middle peasants (Russians and Buryats) in the overwhelming majority of cases (across all aimags) express dissatisfaction with the severity of taxation, indignant at the benefits provided to the poor. On the basis of dissatisfaction with the agricultural tax, there were cases of anti‐Soviet actions of kulaks and well‐to‐do people (Barguzinsky, Tunkinsky, Alarsky aimags, V. Udinsky district). The hiding of objects of taxation in some places occurs with the participation and assistance of the grassroots coapparatus (Tunkinsky, Alarsky aimags, V. Udinsky district). The receipt of the tax in a number of places is delayed partly due to the lack of roads, partly due to the fault of the employees of the Soviet apparatus, who later handed overpay sheets to the population (Alarsky, Barguzinsky, Bakhansky aimags).
Oiratia. Khakass district. The poor in Oiratia have a positive attitude to the agricultural tax, while in the Khakass district they are dissatisfied with the high rates. The attitude of middle peasants and well‐to‐do people to agricultural tax in both localities in the overwhelming majority of cases is sharply negative. Both of them complain about the burdensome taxation, some of them speak about the reduction of the economy in the future and express dissatisfaction with the provision of benefits and advantages to the poor.
Kalmyk region Dissatisfaction with the taxation is expressed only by the wealthy, who complain about the severity of the tax. In the region, 1,571 heads of cattle and about 13,000 heads of small livestock were found hidden in 5 uluses. Among those hiding livestock, workers of the sovaparat were also noted (PredUIK and others ‐ Yandyko‐Mochazhny ulus) (VIII, 140‐150).
Banditry. The most active were the gangs of Sorokovnikov and Shembulaev‐Shagurov, who rob the population and steal horses and food supplies. In total, there are 11 gangs in the republic, numbering over 50 people (against 10 gangs with over 40 people last month). ANTI‐SOVIET PARTIES AND GROUPS
Anarchists
Among the anarchists of the underground, attempts to organize underground groups and circles are still noted, and mainly young people are involved in them. Anarchists in Moscow were particularly active in organizing anarchogroups, where they organized several underground circles and groups among young people and the unemployed. Among the anarchist organizations of Leningrad, Nizhny Novgorod province, Crimea and Transcaucasia, there are attempts to establish contacts with the anarchists of other provinces and organize a single center. So, the Nizhny Novgorod anarchists are trying to establish contact with the anarchists of the Vladimir province. for the creation of one center of leadership. Transcaucasian anarchists are trying to contact Moscow. The Kharkov anarchists are again trying to establish contact with Makhno.
The desire to organize groups was noted in Oryol Gubernia, where anarchists are trying to create a circle among young people to study anarchism; in the Bryansk province. anarchists tried to create their own groups among the workers. In Rybinsk, anarchists organized a group that developed their own program; among the members of the group there are several former members of the Komsomol. In Minsk, anarchists organized a philosophical circle for the study of anarchism among students of the pedagogical faculty. In Gzhatsky. Smolensk lips. the distribution of anarchist leaflets was noted. The admiral anarchists in Siberia are actively involved in organizing mutual assistance among the exiled cash desks, circle work, canteens, etc. In the Tomsk, Shcheglovsk, Kansk and Irkutsk districts, anarchists have established a connection with anarcho‐expropriators who have committed two major robberies.
Mensheviks
In December, 10 active workers and their assistants were arrested in Moscow, and 2 active workers of a local group in Odessa. Among those arrested, VL Ioffe, who escaped from exile to the Urals, was identified. Searches found 3 copies of the ʺSocialist Bulletinʺ for August and November 1926.
Monarchists
Over the past month, the distribution of leaflets ʺWords of the Supreme Commander‐in‐Chief Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevichʺ in the North
Caucasus (Rostov‐on‐Don and Donokrug) and in Ukraine (Melitopol District) was noted in the USSR. In the first case, leaflets were scattered on the streets of the city, and in the second they were sent by mail. The distribution of leaflets from Nikolai Nikolayevichʹs group signed by the ʺorganizer‐unifierʺ was also noted in the Amur District.
Counterrevolutionary groups
In November 1926, the OGPU Cup department liquidated a counterrevolutionary organization in the villages of Ladozhskaya, Vostochnaya, Beisugskaya and Novo‐Suvorovskaya, Ust‐Labinskiy and Korenovskiy districts, consisting of 47 people. Among those arrested are 3 former generals, several former officers and a chieftain. The organization was built on a military model: in hundreds, regiments, brigades and with the aim of raising an uprising, hoping for the support of the overseas White Guards.
In Vladikavkaz, an organization of 6 people was identified and liquidated under the name ʺCorporation of the Peopleʹs Desireʺ, which consisted of students from the Gorsky Agricultural Institute. The ideological leadership of the organization belonged to the associate professor of the institute ‐ a Menshevik. The organization had a charter, program, stamp and membership cards (46 were found). The main goal of the organization is the struggle ʺby peaceful, military, blood and bloodless meansʺ against the All‐Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the dictatorship of the proletariat, the ultimate goal is the overthrow of Soviet power and the establishment of state power, ʺrepresenting really purely peopleʹs power with an overwhelming number of peasants.ʺ With regard to economic requirements, the program provides for full private ownership of land, etc. According to the charter, a ʺcorporationʺ is an illegal organization, all citizens could be admitted to it, have reached the age of 17, recognize the program and charter of the ʺcorporationʺ and have submitted 3 recommendations. The charter developed a complex scheme for managing the organization, and, among other ʺauthorizedʺ, the charter provides for the existence of an armament commissioner. According to the charter, a member of the latter who gave out the organization is threatened with merciless reprisals.
At the beginning of December 1926, in the city of Elabuga (Tatarstan), the counter‐revolutionary organization TOS was discovered, which was later renamed the ʺEagle and Arrowsʺ society. The group consisted of the sons of former merchants, clergy, etc. In total, the group consisted of 13 people and was headed by the son of the former estate manager of a large grain merchant. As its goal, the group set anti‐Soviet agitation and terror against the workers of the Soviet apparatus. In January 1926, the society posted leaflets calling for the overthrow of Soviet power. Similar leaflets were prepared in early December, but the group was unable to paste them up due to the arrest of the entire membership of this organization.
CLERGY
Reactionary clergy. The preparations for the elections to the patriarchs of the exiled counter‐revolutionary Metropolitan of Kazan, Metropolitan Kirill, took place under the leadership of the patriarchal locum tenens Metropolitan Sergei, a former member of the State Council of the Tsarist era. Choosing Kirill by secretly collecting signatures from prominent bishops, the active churchmen of the Tikhonites wanted to confront the Soviet government and the faithful with the fait accompli of the election of the patriarch by one counter‐revolutionary episcopate. Simultaneously with the elections, a group of anti‐Soviet Tikhonov bishops developed and began to intensively disseminate a declaration as the main platform of the new patriarch. The main points of the declaration boiled down to the following: church and state are two warring poles, Soviet power is the result of the ʺtemporary moodʺ of the Russian people; all religious groups,
However, the Tikhonites failed to elect a patriarch, since the reactionary leader headed by Sergei was arrested. The arrest of Sergei brought confusion to the environment of the Tikhonites. In connection with the arrest of Sergei and the subsequent refusal of the place of oversight of the former Leningrad bishop Joseph Petrov and Fadey of Astrakhan, the Uglich vicar Bishop Seraphim was appointed as a temporary overseer, a very narrow‐minded person who immediately fell into dislike for part of the Tikhonov clergy. In this regard, in Moscow, there is a striving for the formation of independent parishes with elected bishops.
VVTsS. The VVTsS members are very pleased with the arrest of Sergei and his group, the VVTsS proposes to issue an appeal directed against Sergei. In addition, VVTsSovtsy propose to convene a congress in the spring of 1927, at which they are going to give battle to the Tikhonists and Renovationists. In general, the positions of the All‐Russian Central Council have strengthened recently.
Renovators. The position of the Renovationists was also noticeably strengthened, which is largely facilitated by the quarrels and squabbles observed in the localities among the Tikhonov clergy. At the end of January, the renovationists propose to convene a regular plenum, at which they propose to raise the question of sectarianism with a special question, inviting the most prominent experts in sectarianism to the plenum.
Sects. The main moment in the life of sectarianism in all main directions was the struggle over the issue of attitudes towards military service.
Baptists. A fierce struggle over the attitude towards military service was fought between supporters and opponents of the unconditional recognition of the latter at the Baptist congress held in Moscow on December 14‐18. After a long discussion, the supporters of unconditional recognition of military service, led by the Central Council, managed to pass a resolution confirming the 13th paragraph of the Baptistsʹ symbol of faith and canceling all previous decisions on the issue of the attitude to military service and the recognition of the latter with arms in hand. The overwhelming resolution declares all opponents of military service to be non‐Baptists. At the congress, the union was reorganized on a federal basis. The majority of the governing bodies are supporters of military service with arms in hand. Opponents of this resolution, who fiercely fought at the Congress against the recognition of military service,
Evangelicals. The regional congress of evangelicals taking place in Moscow joined all the resolutions of the All‐Union congress on military service with arms in hand. This decision caused a split among the Moscow communities, with one community split and part of it joined the community that has existed since 1923 and does not recognize military service.
Tolstoyans. In connection with the recognition by the Baptists and evangelists of military service among the Tolstoyans began agitation for the need to ʺbrand them with shame.ʺ At the Christmas meeting, a resolution was passed to write a letter in this spirit, and the letter had to be signed by certain prominent Tolstoyans; it was decided to refrain from speaking on behalf of the Moscow Vegetarian Society. Illegal youth circle of Tolstoyans began to publish an illegal handwritten magazine.
BANDITRY
Centre. On the territory of the provinces of Voronezh, Tambov, Nizhny Novgorod, Kaluga and Ryazan, isolated robberies and raids by organized gangs and small groups of criminals are still observed. The robberies of the ring post in the vicinity of Maloyaroslavets (4,000 rubles taken) and the postal and telegraph office in Orel (3,000 rubles were stolen) deserve attention. Golinskyʹs gang, a group of criminals (25 people), operating in Arzamassky, was liquidated. Nizhny Novgorod province, and Bychkovʹs gang, which operated on the territory of Staro‐Oskolsky u. Kursk lips. In total, there are 17 gangs in the region ‐ 79 people, last month 19 gangs ‐ 95 people.
West (overseas area). The organizational activity of Balakhovich has noticeably increased. At the end of November along the Nesvizh district. The recruitment of volunteers was announced to staff the detachments formed by Balakhovich, the number of which currently reaches 250 people.
Inner area. Criminal banditry has intensified in the Gomel province. and in the Bobruisk and Borisov districts of the BSSR due to the newly organized small bandit groups from local peasants and the emergence of a new actively operating gang of Gunter (Gomel province). Of the previously noted bandit groups, the gangs of Shabolin and Mochennikov were active. In the reporting period, the police liquidated one gang. In total, in the region, together with foreign ones, there are 14 gangs ‐ 70 people (against 14 gangs ‐ 72 people last month). Ukraine. There is a slight increase in the activity of small‐scale banditry, in particular, the robberies of village cooperatives in the Glukhovsky district and urban cooperation in the Luhansk district have increased. Manifestations of sabotage banditry (with the exception of the raid of several bandits from the Ovcharuk gang on the village council and the village council in the village of Rogovskiy, Staroushitskiy district, Kamenets‐Podolsk district, during which the chairman was beaten up and official correspondence was seized) in Ukraine was not observed.
Gangs were liquidated: Vasilchishin‐Petrovsky ‐ 15 people, Martynenko, Listopada, Vasilenko ‐ 16 people,
Ridnina ‐ 7 people, 9 gangs of unknown command with a total strength of 69 people and the leader Boychenko was killed. It should be noted that among the gangs liquidated in the Glukhov and Kamenets‐Podolsk districts there were several members of the CP (b) U and the Komsomol; especially noteworthy in this respect is the 7‐member bandit group liquidated in the city of Zinovievsk, which included the pre‐district executive committee and the secretary of the party collective ‐ a party member since 1905. Over the 3 years of its existence, this group has committed a number of major robberies, including the Zinovievsky District Police Commission for the amount of 17,794 rubles.
This month there are 17 bavds in Ukraine ‐ 123 people.
North Caucasian Territory (Russian districts). The increase in the activity of small‐scale bandit groups took place only in the Don and Kuban districts. During the reporting period, a 15‐person gang gang was liquidated, which robbed trains on the North Caucasian, Donetsk and South‐Eastern railways. a group of horse thieves (8 people), operating in the Shakhtinsko‐Donetsk district, was detained, and 44 merchants of stolen cattle were arrested (Vinodelinsky district). In addition, from November 15 to December 31, 1926, 423 rifles, 149 sawn‐off shotguns, 214 revolvers and 18 bombs were seized from the population of the Kuban District. Currently, there are 5 landscapes on the territory of the region.
Volga region. On the territory of the Volga region, only small‐scale banditry continues to be noted. The most infected with banditry are the Tatrespublika, Saratov, Stalingrad and Samara provinces. In total, 16 gangs numbering 82 people operate in the Volga region.
Ural. The situation is approximately the same in the Urals, where on the territory of the Sverdlovsk, Perm, Shadrinsk and Kurgan districts, small groups of criminals manifest themselves as petty robberies. In the Urals, there are currently 3 gangs of 17 people.
Siberia. The general state of the gangster movement in Siberia continues to remain unchanged. As before, operating gangs continue to rob grass‐roots cooperatives, co‐institutions and the population, seizing food and horses from the latter. A gang of unknown commanders in the Novosibirsk district, which robbed forestry and forest guards, was especially active. In the area of art. Achinsk bandits dismantled the railway line in order to cause a train wreck. By the decree of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, Sibkrai was declared ʺunfavorable in terms of banditry.ʺ Over the past month, 357 criminals, accomplices and harboring persons were arrested on the territory of Sibkrai, and the ringleader Chervov and several bandits of Ognevʹs gang were detained. On the edge, there are 13 gangs of 48 people.
DCK. Recently, there has been a noticeable decrease in hunkhuzism. Horse‐stealing in the border regions, noted in previous surveys, continues at the same level. Local and foreign bandit groups raid border villages, seize horses and sell them for a pittance to the military units of Chang‐Tszolin. Of the newly organized gangs of horse thieves‐raiders, it is necessary to note the gang of an unknown command that crossed over to our territory in the Borzinsky region from Mongolia (the gang, having captured 50 horses, fled back to Mongolia), and the Moroshnikov gang, which operated in the Chita district, which also hid in Mongolia. The remnants of the gangs of Sapozhkov and Makarov have united under the general command of a relative of the last Makarov M. and are currently hiding in the Chita district, on the Solovukha forest ridge. During the reporting period, 5 bandits of Arestdulovʹs gang were detained and his accomplices were identified. In total, there are currently 13 gangs with 124 participants in the DCK.
Deputy Chairman of the OGPU Yagoda
Head of the Information Department of the OGPU Alekseev
APPENDIX No. 1
WORKERS
Metalworkers
Strikes
1. Bytoshevsky iron foundry of the Maltsevsky combine (Bryansk province). On December 10, workers (1000 people) went on strike for the second time on the grounds of delayed wages (the first time the strike took place on November 27‐29). The workers demanded that a general meeting be convened for December 13 to urgently resolve the issue of wages and a report from the board on the economic situation of the plant; but on December 13 the meeting did not take place, as the board informed the workers that it was not preparing for the report. This aroused indignation among the workers and, without starting to work, they went home. Work was only resumed on December 14th.
2. Iron foundry MV 1 GSNKh (Ivanovo‐Voznesensk province). On December 13, the turners of the machine shop, including 25 people, stopped working on the grounds of lower prices (prices for bobbins were reduced from 40 to 25 kopecks) and the rudeness of technical personnel. The strike lasted 2 hours. Among the workers, there is discontent with the factory committee, which takes little part in the production life of the plant.
3. Wagon plant GOMZs. On December 12, the assemblers and riveters of the machine shop (400 people) went on strike, demanding a 50% increase in wages. The workers called the prezavkom, representatives of the RKK, TNB and deputy. director, declaring: ʺIf the salary is not increased, we will immediately go home.ʺ The administration partially satisfied the workersʹ demand. The strike lasted 2 hours. A few days before the strike was announced (December 8), workers submitted an application to the RKK signed by 60 people. The statement stated that if wages were not increased, the workers would stop working. The low wages of workers are explained by the fact that the parts produced for the construction of wagons often do not correspond to their purpose, as a result of which the workers have to spend extra time on their lining or processing, while the administration pays nothing for this.
4. Plant of agricultural machinery named after Kolyuschenko (Ural) Selmash. On December 8, 13 workers of the foundry cutters (most of them are new workers) stopped working due to dissatisfaction with the low wages (they earned 27 rubles in November). After a half‐hour break in work, the foreman managed to persuade the cutters to work until 2 pm so as not to stop production. On December 9, 5 obrubschikov filed a letter of resignation, the rest did not appear at work at all.
5. Plant ʺKrasnoe Sormovo” (Nizhny Novgorod province). On December 13, the artel of collectors (the car‐mechanical shop) stopped working, due to the underdevelopment of the established 57%, the break‐in for the assembly of 20‐ton cars, the artel worked only the tariff rate, since their auxiliary work was not taken into account, which they announced on December 13. The artel got down to work after promising to urgently consider the issue. Without waiting for an answer, the artel again stopped working the next day.
6. Shipyard PGO GOMZ. 18 working pressmen and 27 assistants stopped working, demanding an increase in the running‐in to 100%; since the factory committee refused the demand, considering their wages to be quite sufficient, the workers went home. The strike was caused by workers who entered the shipyard from Leningrad. This worker called on the workers to go on strike, pointing out that workers of the same qualifications in the Leningrad factories earn more. The strikers started work the next day. Among the participants in the strike were two members of the CPSU (b).
7. Factory of metal products ʺIskra” MSPO (workers 210 people). December 23, 100 workers of the primus, dishware and part of the foundry “Italian” 20 min. due to the fact that the administration refused to issue an advance payment for the holidays. The conflict was eliminated by issuing 8‐15 rubles. advance payment and opening a small shop loan in a cooperative.
8. Plant them. K. Liebknecht (Tula trust Goschugplav). On the night of December 29‐30, a shift of foundry workers, having worked for 8 hours, refused to do work, which remained no more than 1 hour. The work stoppage threatened to damage the plant. Despite the engineer’s persuasion and his orders to finish the work, the workers, seeing in the engineer’s order as being rude to them, quit their job after the beep. In order to prevent the loss of molten pig iron, the plant management suggested that the molders pour the remaining pig iron, but the last order was refused, citing the fact that the foundry workers were given boots, but they were not. The remaining cast iron, at the request of the administration, was topped up by several molders. The reason for the termination of work was the following circumstance. In the middle of December this year. to facilitate their work, foundry workers demanded an increase in the number of workers by 6 people, which the plant management did, but by reducing the wages of the foundry workers to 95 rubles. per month instead of the received 113 rubles. The workers, having learned about the decrease in wages, turned to the RKK for resolution of the issue, which, after considering this issue, refused to raise the increase. After that, on December 29, 30 foundry workers filed a collective application to the plant management asking to be transferred to molders, who, in their opinion, earn more than them. On December 30, in order to liquidate the strike, a meeting was convened, consisting of the secretary of the VKP (b) cell, the prezavkom and the plant manager, at which it was decided to dismiss three workers who had previously been punished for omissions in service from among the applicants. The dismissal caused an explosion of indignation among the workers: “If we are fired because we had comments before, why donʹt they fire others either. ʺ On the part of the cell of the CPSU (b), no measures have been taken to overcome the discontent of the workers. The secretary of the cell does not attach much importance to what happened at the plant. Several members of the CPSU (b) support the workersʹ demand.
Reduced wages
9. Plant ʺKrasny Vyborzhets” (Leningrad) Gospromtsvetmet (workers 3737 people). In the foundry, on the basis of lower prices, there was an ʺItalianʺ (the production of castings was reduced from 6 to 3). At one worker (a member of the CPSU (b)), who increased the casting to 5 pieces, a hard object was thrown into the head. The worker lay unconscious for 5 minutes. In view of this situation, the plant management appointed a commission to review the prices.
10. Baltic Shipyard Sudotrest (Leningrad, 4550 workers). Among the workers in the shipbuilding shop, there is strong dissatisfaction with the decline in prices. The earnings of workers of the 4th and 5th categories, equal to 100‐110 rubles, currently does not exceed 60‐70 rubles. In connection with the decrease in earnings, some workers declare: ʺWe have won freedom for ourselves, but it has become worse than in the old days, let them tighten the noose even more, then we will see what happens.ʺ
11. Kolchuginsky copper‐processing plant of Gospromtsvetmet (7000 workers) of Vladimir province. Among the hauliers of the wire shop, there is a sharp dissatisfaction with the decrease in wages due to the increase in the production rate. On this basis, several leaflets were pasted up in the wire shop, under which was the signature ʺwire workers.ʺ
The leaflets indicated that the saving regime was carried out at the expense of workers, since the wages of most of them had decreased by 80‐100%. Further, leaflets indicate that ʺthey want to make the workers work only for a piece of bread, and beg their wives.ʺ The leaflets end with sharp attacks against TNB and a call to demand the removal of the administration, which is deceiving the workers.
12. Metallurgical plant ʺRed Octoberʺ (formerly Dumo, Stalingrad). Among the workers of the open‐hearth shop, there is dissatisfaction with the decrease in wages. Having learned from the paybooks about the reduction, on November 15, 100 workers demanded an explanation from the head of the department. When the head of the shop said that the decline of 3% was caused by the release of low‐quality products, the workers responded by pointing out the bloated staff of specialists and difficult working conditions: ʺWe are giving our last strength, raising production, but our earnings are being ripped off.ʺ In view of the aggravated discontent of the workers, the trade union representative of the shop phoned the pre‐local committee, but since he was not there, a group of workers (25 people) went to the factory. The deputy chairman of the factory committee told the workers that the salary was reduced by the order of the deputy. the manager of the plant and the factory was not aware of this. In this regard, there were conversations among the workers: “We need to disperse the entire factory committee, specialists have seized power. Neither the director nor his deputy came to the workersʹ demands to appear at the factory committee. On November 22, a leaflet was found in the shop calling for a strike if demands for a pay rise were not met. On December 15, with the payment of wages, workersʹ discontent increased by the fact that earnings in November, despite the fact that an increased amount of production was produced (150 instead of 100 poods), decreased compared to earnings in September and October. The workers arranged a meeting, summoning the administration and the factory committee to it. The chief refused, referring to the fact that he was busy and came only after the chairman of the meeting (a member of the CPSU) personally went to pick him up. The chief was greeted with shouts: ʺTo his wheelbarrow or to the oil tank, so as not to diminish the salary.ʺ Deputy the directors and chiefs of the department gave conflicting explanations to the question about the reasons for the reduction in wages.
13. Baranchinsky plant ʺVolta” GET (Ural, 900 workers). Since April, the rates for skilled groups of workers have been systematically reduced; by December 1, the decline reached 50‐80%. For the hardware department, the prices for coil springs have decreased from 2 rubles. 40 kopecks. for 100 pieces up to 80 kopecks; On December 4, their prices were reduced by another 30%; starters from 2 rubles. 30 kopecks up to 80 kopecks, the same sharp decrease was carried out for drilling and sharpening parts. Workers put up with a 40% cut, but as the administration continues to cut prices to keep wages to a minimum, discontent among workers is spilling over into exits. In a turning shop, a workerʹs earnings do not exceed 25‐30 rubles.
Abbreviations
14. Plant ʺKommunarʺ No. 1 (Zaporozhye). In connection with the forthcoming layoffs, the workers say: “Downsizing is tantamount to a death sentence.”
Separate conversations were also noted that ʺif the trade unionists allow the dismissal of the workersʹ proletarians and leave the peasants, then the laid‐off workers will arm themselves with sticks and expel the peasants themselves, since the slogan is:ʺ Land for the peasants, factories for the workers. ʺ Many workers are in favor of replacing the reduction with the introduction of part‐time work.
15. Katav‐Ivanovsky plant (Yuzhuraltrest, 1800 workers). At the plant, 350 people are laid off, 50 of them are qualified, the rest are laborers.
16. Ust‐Katavsky Carriage Works (Yuzhuraltrest, 1200 workers). In November, 150 workers were laid off due to the lack of raw materials and materials. At the general meeting on the report on the work of the district committee of the Union of Metalworkers, the speakers accused the trust, the plant management and the factory committee of not bothering to stock up on material by the beginning of the first new operating year. The bureaucracy of higher organizations was pointed out. Among the workers there were conversations: ʺThey drove in summer, carried out programs, and in winter they give calculations.ʺ
17. Plant ʺZhest” (Don District). Due to the lack of raw materials, the administration planned to lay off 150 workers. The workers are demanding a parallel reduction of employees.
Delay in salary
18. Factory of Gubselmashtrest “Red Plow” (Tula). Among construction workers, there is strong dissatisfaction with the long delay in wages: by December 11, workers had not been paid their wages for October and November, and during all this time the workers received only an advance payment of 5 rubles. each.
19. Factories of the Pavlovsk region of the Metal Industry Directorate, PRUMP, Nizhny Novgorod province. (4580 workers). According to the collective agreement, wages for the first half of November must be issued no later than the 20th, but not yet issued in the first days of December. On December 1, general meetings were held in all factories in order to explain to the workers the reasons for the delay ‐ the difficult financial situation of the PRUMP. At the faculty number 1 deputy. the director of the PRUMP was not allowed to speak by shouts of ʺdown with the PRUMPʺ. The workers made a demand to open credit for them in the consumer cooperation. Some of the workers are in favor of declaring a strike.
20. Hammer and Sickle plant (Barnaul). Due to the lack of raw materials and orders in the machine shop, 20 turners have been reduced, and the foundry has completely stopped working. Workersʹ dissatisfaction is increased by non‐payment of wages for two months. Some workers are in favor of the strike.
Textile workers
Strikes
21. Dyeing‐finishing and Weaving‐finishing factories named after Markov Vi‐gontresta (1565 workers, Moscow). By order of the administration, weaving apprentices are required to refuel the warp (previously, weavers did this). On this basis, on December 1, before the start of work, the weaving apprentices among 50 people, without the knowledge of the factory committee, organized a meeting, at which they decided not to obey the order of the administration. The break in work lasted for an hour. The conflict is being dealt with at RKK.
22. Weaving and Dyeing factories named after Zhelyabov Leningrad Textiltrest (1,580 workers). On December 1, 20 female workers in the preparatory department of the new factory stopped working on the basis of bad yarn. The strike lasted 30 minutes. and eliminated by the intervention of the team secretary.
23. Zavidovskaya paper and weaving factory of the Multotkan trust (Moscow, 600 workers). On December 10, weavers (75 people) stopped working because of dissatisfaction with low wages (from 75 kopecks to 1 ruble 10 kopecks per day). The weavers demanded an increase in wages. The work began after a promise to transfer the issue to the Union. The stop lasted 15 minutes.
24. Factory‐school of the Technotkan trust (Moscow, 1397 workers).
On December 8, in the machine shop (23 people), when paying out wages, the mechanic told the turners (8 people) that he, without the knowledge of RKK, reduced their prices by 40%, since when determining the prices in November, he mistakenly increased them. This caused strong discontent among the workers and they after lunch break until 6 oʹclock. evenings did not start work.
25. Faculty of the United Sosnovskaya m‐ry Ivtekstiltrest (IvanovoVoznesensk). On December 2, the workers of the dyeing jiggers (26 people) stopped work, having presented a demand for an equalization of prices for those working on sulfur dyeing and dialin. Sulfur dyeing workers receive 3 rubles for 100 pieces. 95 kopecks, working on dialin ‐ 1 rub. 90 kopecks. The conflict was eliminated by granting workers the right to work in shifts (a shift on sulfur and a shift on dialin dyeing). The strike lasted 30 minutes.
26. Large chintz factory of the Shuisky Mestprom (Ivanovo‐Voznesensk province). There is strong dissatisfaction among the workers with poor ventilation. The workers have repeatedly appealed to the administration, but to no avail.
On December 9, the fan completely deteriorated, steam filled the room so densely that it interfered with work. One of the workers hit the car with his hand. Workers, including 20, stopped work in protest and began to stand at the machines after the ventilation was restored to good condition. The strike lasted 30 minutes.
27. Faculty of Krasnovolzhskaya m‐ry Ivtekstiltrest (Kineshemsky district of Ivanovo‐Voznesensk province). On December 10, the master of the weaving factory, according to the direction of the management for the poor supervision of the apprentices at the looms, called one of the apprentices, suggesting that he be more careful about checking the looms. The apprentice demanded that he be transferred to the reserve, which was done. In this regard, all apprentices (25 people) stopped working, demanding the return to work of the transferred to the reserve. The conflict was eliminated after clarification from the management and the factory. The break in work lasted an hour and a half.
28. Litvinovskaya Cloth Factory ʺCreator Worker” (Penza). In the weaving and machine shops, an ʺItalianʺ strike took place on the basis of a decrease in discharges, an increase in norms and a deterioration in living conditions (cessation of water delivery to the workersʹ dormitory). All these measures were carried out in connection with the economy regime. The discontent of the workers resulted in an open condemnation of the administrationʹs line: ʺAusterity should not affect workersʹ wages, but in our factory they immediately started by increasing the norms.ʺ Illegal groups arose among the workers, which discussed the issue of increasing norms.
29. Vyshnevolotsk m‐ra Tver Cotton Trust (Tver Province). On December 29, 800 workers in the auxiliary departments (muelny, wadding and bank throwing) of the Spinning Factory went on strike due to the incorrect distribution of the 4% increase under the new collective agreement. Upon receipt of the checkbooks, it turned out that for some categories of the lower grades (staplers, shearers, pruners) [salary] decreased by 6‐8 rubles, while the earnings of spinners increased (from 3 rubles 18 kopecks to 3 rubles 50 kopecks.). Before the strike was announced, the workers went to the head. spinning department to find out the reasons for the reduction in wages, but received the answer: ʺWhat is calculated is correct, go to the office.ʺ In the office they were asked ʺnot to interfere with work.ʺ Chairman of the county branch of the Union of Textile Workers, where two shifts of workers went under the leadership of a group of initiators, offered to contact the administration. Deciding that ʺthe factory and the factory administration are at the same timeʺ and that ʺthey were deceived by the new collective agreement,ʺ the workers quit their jobs, but did not leave the factory. On December 30, thanks to continued agitation by a group of workers, the rest of the workers in the spinning department joined the strike (the number of strikers increased to 2,100).
At the same time, there were attempts to involve the workers of the ʺTabolkaʺ factory (975 people) in the strike, too. The strikers sent their delegates to Tabolka, but the workers made a decision to continue working and demand from the textile workersʹ department to revise the collective agreement, and declare a strike in case of refusal.
At the meeting organized by the Ukom and PEC (attended by about 1000 people), no definite decision was made. The proposal of the Ukom secretary to start work and to allocate delegates from the shops for negotiations was greeted with shouts: ʺWe will resolve this issue ourselves, and talk with everyone else.ʺ After the meeting, a group of the remaining workers (115 people), under the leadership of one of the initiators, organized a new meeting, at which they decided not to start work, but to request representatives of the AUCCTU. For this purpose, a delegation of 6 people was elected and the minutes recorded that 1795 people were present. The delegates drew up a telegram to the AllUnion Central Council of Trade Unions, but since the minutes of the meeting were not certified, the telegram was not accepted. The delegates returned to the department. The secretary of the factory committee put a seal, but asked by phone to consider it invalid, the telegram was not received a second time. Upon learning of this, the workers said: ʺThe administration is hiding the truth from the center, we will not start work until the arrival of representatives from there.ʺ In the evening of December 30, some of the workers allocated delegates from the shops. The delegates went to the factory club, where they were told about the upcoming meeting with the participation of representatives of the provincial committee and the provincial union took place only in the morning of December 31. The workers again elected delegates for negotiations and began work on the morning of January 3.
On January 3, 440 workers in the dyeing department went on strike. (One worker of the beating department and two workers of the warehouse called for a strike and agitated for convening a general meeting: late.”) At 12 oʹclock. the day when the second shift left, she was not allowed to work and was ordered to go to the meeting. During the meeting, a group of workers incited the others to ʺexpel the comrades who had come from the gubernia center from the meeting.ʺ Their performances were interrupted by shouts of ʺdown withʺ. Nevertheless, at this meeting it was decided to arrange a meeting of the delegates of the dyeing department and at 7 oʹclock. evenings the workers started to work. At the meeting of delegates, the report of the pre‐department of textile workers about the collective agreement was heard,
Campaigning for a strike took place in the weaving department as well: ʺBy declaring a strike, we will support the spinners and will sooner achieve the satisfaction of our demands.ʺ
Strikes in both factories could have been prevented if the administration and the Union had explained to the workers the essence of the new collective agreement. There was no conference to clarify the collective agreement.
30. October Cloth Factory Mossukno (760 workers). On December 31, 20 workers of the mechanical department went on strike due to the tactless speech of the technorist at the general meeting. Technorek declared: ʺThe workers of the mechanic department are freeloaders and are supported by the weavers.ʺ The strikers demanded to bring the technologist to court. The strike was ended by the intervention of the director. The break in work lasted 20 minutes.
31. Naro‐Fominsk spinning and weaving factory of the 1st Moscow cotton trust (6960 workers). On December 9, the parters (90 people) stopped working in protest against the full deduction for the marriage of the base. Partitioners believe that the deduction should not be made for the entire basis, but only for a part of the marriage. The strike was terminated by the intervention of the director. The break in work lasted 2 hours.
32. Paper‐spinning factory ʺRed Perekop” (Yaroslavl). When the collective agreement was renegotiated, the increase in wages mainly affected lowgrade workers (18% ‐ 8% up to 8th grade and 3% from 8 ʹ/ 2 grade for pieceworkers who process more than 20%). The collective agreement was approved at a conference of factory workers, but, thanks to poor clarification from the trade organizations, pieceworkers, in particular weavers of the 4 and 4 ʹ/ 2 categories, had the impression that they were receiving a 10% increase along with the time workers of this category, while as under the collective agreement, the increase is, as for pieceworkers who have more earnings, 3%.
On December 22, upon receipt of the advance payment, the weavers found out the size of the increase they received. The excitement began. The weavers, leaving their looms, came to the pre‐shop bureau and demanded an explanation. About 250 workers did not work from half an hour to 1 hour.
Under the influence of the party members, the workers began to work at the machines, demanding a general meeting after the end of the work.
At the meeting, the report of the textile pre‐union and the directorʹs speech were interrupted by shouts: ʺYou are sitting on our neck, we are treating you, you deceived us worse than the old owners ‐ instead of 18% you added 3 kopecks.ʺ The meeting dispersed without making any decision.
Labor intensification measures
33. Glukhov factory named after Lenin of the Bogorodsko‐Shchelkovsky trust (Moscow, workers 14262 people). In connection with the ongoing campaign of voluntary transition to work [on] 3 looms, on December 7, weavers (about 100 people) summoned the members of the factory committee to the corps, at whom they heard conversations: “We would go to work on troikas, we business will go. ʺ “We didn’t fight to be strangled more at work than before with the owner. We will not allow the transition, because there is a lot of unemployment without us. ʺ No work was performed for 10 minutes.
34. Pavlovsko‐Pokrovskaya factory of the Bogorodsko‐Shchelkovsky trust (Moscow, 6940 workers). The workers working on the three machines, due to the poor quality of the duck, are dissatisfied with the size of their wages. Some C‐students earned 40‐50 rubles in November, which is equal to the average earnings per couple. On this basis, when receiving a salary, weavers with a small income announced their transfer back to pairs. A total of 249 triplets work in the old and new weaving departments.
35. F‐ka ʺRabkraiʺ of the United Sosnovskaya m‐ry of Ivtextil (Ivano‐VoVoznesensk province). Among the water workers (36 people), there is dissatisfaction with the acceleration of the machine. In connection with this event, working conditions are deteriorating, often workers ask for help from the reserve to unload the machines from rags and debris. There are tendencies among workers to stop working.
36. Weaving and spinning factory them. Anisimova (Leningrad) Leningrad‐textiles. Due to the threading of new fabrics in the 2nd half of November on 3 looms, the earnings of weavers decreased by about 4%.
Workersʹ dissatisfaction with poor quality yarn and raw materials
37. Band f‐ka Bogorodsky upromtorga (working 276 people). Weavers (30 people) express dissatisfaction with the administration’s refusal to pay them a shortfall of 10 to 12 rubles for the month of November, which resulted from the poor quality of raw materials. The conflict has been referred to the resolution of the conciliation chamber.
38. Republican faculty (Kostroma). There is strong dissatisfaction among workers with poor yarn. Due to the deterioration in the quality of the yarn, the earnings of weavers fell by 75% (instead of 85‐92 rubles ‐ 30‐35 rubles). The weavers filed an application with RKK, demanding an increase in prices. The question was referred to the conciliation chamber, then to the arbitration court. In case of dissatisfaction with the demand, the workers intend to refuse to work. In the weavingpreparatory department, the discontent of the workers of the unwinding shop is caused by the fact that the administration refused to make a postscript for bad yarn until the issue was resolved in an arbitration court. The discontent of the workers is intensified due to the fact that the administration is trying to deceive the workers, passing off bad yarn for good (labels of the 2nd Kostroma factory are glued to the bad yarn coming from Puchezh). In the shop, due to the deterioration in the quality of the yarn, there are a number of conflicts between workers and management; conflicts are eliminated by a promise to pay compensation for underproduction.
Dissatisfaction with bad yarn is noted at the 2nd and 3rd factories, at the 2nd factory the workers of the development department earned no more than 30‐35 rubles.
39. Litvinovskaya cloth factory ʺWorker Creator” (Penza). There is strong dissatisfaction among workers with the poor quality of the yarn. The workers daily declare to the administration and the factory that they are getting underdeveloped norms, but to no avail. Workersʹ dissatisfaction is aggravated by the fact that the administration requires workers to make good cloth, threatening to collect fines. The workers point out that the bad yarn has been arriving at the mill for more than three months. They openly declare that ʺthe workers are being squeezed into a ramʹs horn, demanding unbearable production rates.ʺ
Miners, Strikes
40. Mine them. Rakovsky Nikopol‐Manganese mining administration (Krivoy Rog district). On December 7, the 3rd shift of the miners and haulers of mine No. 12 (22 people) stopped working due to difficult working conditions (the workers were not given empty trailers). The workers got down to work thanks to the intervention of the foreman. The break in work lasted half an hour. On the same day, under the influence of the agitation of individual workers, the miners again stopped work and did not allow the haulers to work, demanding that they join them. The 3rd shift did not work again for 2 hours. In connection with the strike, 50 trailers of manganese were not delivered. The administration and the miners learned about the strike only the next day. The striking shift consists mostly of workers associated with the countryside.
41. Gorlovskoye Ore Administration (Artyomovsky District). On December 8, masons went on strike at mine No. 8 to build coke ovens. This construction is carried out by the German company ʺKoperʺ and according to the contract Donugol is obliged to supply the company with labor, but the required number of workers was not sent. The situation worsened on December 18, when the bricklayers stopped working, demanding a higher wage. In this regard, the representative of the company ʺKoperʺ stated that it was impossible to fulfill orders on time. He intends to inform Germany about this, indicating that the strike is a reason interfering with the implementation of the agreement. The strike continued until December 25.
42. Mine ʺNaklonnayaʺ of the mine ʺVetkaʺ (Stalin Combine, Ukraine). Discontent is noted among workers on the basis of nondistribution of overalls. Discontent is especially strong among the workers of the Arturovsky seam, where the ledges are very damp. The workers of the Arturovsky formation, who came to receive overalls, were given torn boots. The workers, taking them with them, went to the mine, where they said they refused to work. On December 1, 13 workers of the 2nd shift (a total of 350 people at the mine) stopped work from 2 pm.
43. Artyomovsky mine (DVK). Since November 1, Chinese workers at Mine No. 3 have been holding an ʺItalianʺ strike on the grounds of low wages. In addition, 150 of the 350 workers do not go to work at all. At a meeting of workers, it was decided to categorically demand an increase in wages from the management of the mines.
Dissatisfaction with the level of wages
44. Shchekino coal mines (Tula province.). There is a massive exodus of workers on the basis of dissatisfaction with the existing level of wages. The departure of workers intensified after a special working train that brought workers to work was canceled due to austerity regime. Most of the workers are local peasants and go to work from villages located 12‐18 versts from the mines. During the period from October 1 to November 24, out of 186 old miners, no more than 25% remained, out of 148 boilers, 30% remained. The workers leaving the mines go to the newly opened iron mines, where working conditions are better. Newly recruited workers (mostly low‐skilled), in view of the acute housing crisis, after working for several days, also take the calculation. On average, 15‐25 people are dismissed every day of their own free will, and the same number comes in again. Some chiefs are almost exclusively busy firing and hiring new workers. As a result of the departure of skilled workers and the turnover of the labor force, only 90% of the production program was completed in September, and 74% in October.
45. Krivoy Rog mines (Ukraine). Among the miners at mines 10, 11 and 12, there is dissatisfaction with low wages in connection with the underdevelopment of the norm, caused by the strength of the rock. Many workers intend to leave production. Exit cases are noted exclusively among workers who came from the countryside.
46. Kemerovo mine (Kuzbass). Among the miners of the Vladimir mine, there is strong dissatisfaction with the decline in prices. Prices for a cubic capacity of coal are reduced by 2 rubles. 75 kopecks (until October 1, the payment for the production of a cube of coal was 7 rubles 50 kopecks, currently 4 rubles 75 kopecks). The workers say: “The administration is lowering our rates, what can we do, we will work for 80 kopecks. for the team, just not to die of hunger. ʺ In connection with the reduction in prices, coal production decreased. There are tendencies among older workers to move to other mines.
47. Prokopyevsky mine (Kuzbass). The mine administration is reducing prices. Until September hauliers earned 2 rubles. per team, after a decrease in their earnings does not exceed 1 rubles. 10 kopecks the earnings of the downhill hatches is 50‐70 kopecks. in a day. There is talk among workers about leaving for other enterprises.
Transport workers, Strikes
48. Nikolsk railway workshops (Ussuriyskaya railway). On December 1, a strike took place in the workshops on the grounds of delayed November wages. Among the speakers, there was talk of organizing a strike committee. On December 3, workers were given their wages.
49. Main workshops of communications and electrical engineering (Northern Railway). On December 3, 40 workers of the riveting shop stopped working. The workers demanded an increase in prices for riveting from 70 kopecks. up to 1 rub. 20 kopecks for a pood and supplying them with winter overalls. The strike was liquidated by the intervention of the pre‐school trade union, who promised to revise the prices and apply for the issuance of overalls. The workers did not work for 3 hours. UPD on the demand of the uchk‐trade union to issue overalls refused, saying that he would better agree to close the shop and pay severance pay to the workers. In this regard, a strike is possible again.
50. Donetsk railways e. 28 December 12 workers sporting goods at the station. The base stopped work, demanding: a) to set tariff rates for them, b) not to transfer from sorting to loading, c) to divide the workers into two parties to select a special group of overload workers. The workers got down to work after promising to resolve the issue at the local committee. The strike lasted 4 hours, the workers began to work only for sorting.
Reduced wages
51. Perovskie workshops (Moscow‐Kazan railway). In connection with a sharp decrease in the running‐in of individual groups, on the initiative of the foreman, signatures were collected under a statement of refusal from further deductions of 1% in favor of the miners. Only 201 people have subscribed.
52. Ryazan‐Uralskaya railway e. Among the workers of the depot st. In Rtishchevo, there is dissatisfaction with low wages due to lower prices. Locksmiths of current repairs received only 25% extra money instead of 80%.
53. Transcaucasian railways d. Among mechanics and improvised maintenance (80) Depot Art. Discontent was noted in Baku in connection with the reduction of wages. On December 8, two locksmiths urged the workers to leave their jobs, and on December 9 they campaigned to demand that the administration call a workshop meeting. At a meeting held on December 11, individual workers pointed out the high cost of living and the harsh working conditions. They also pointed out that the October increase does not reach the goal, since with the increase in the basic salary of the worker, the costs of all kinds of deductions increased, while the real wage did not increase.
54. Moscow‐Kursk railway. d. Among the foremen third section of traction services is marked dissatisfaction decrease burn‐25‐30 rubles. In connection with the cut in running‐in, there is a negligent attitude towards the repair of steam locomotives. Some of the foremen, fearing excesses on the part of highly skilled workers, rarely show up at the depot. The material position of unskilled workers has improved due to an increase in their earnings due to a decrease in the extra earnings of workers of high and medium qualifications.
55. South‐East railway. d. Among fitters, roofers, carpenters and painters workshop wagon Rostov node marked reduction dissatisfaction burn‐up of 25% (in this connection salary decreased by 30‐40 rub.). Some workers (among them there are members of the CPSU) are campaigning for a petition to the Uchkprofsozh to leave the previous extra work.
Other industries, Strikes
56. Glass factory (Nikolaev, Ukraine). On December 8, 19 workers of blowers declared an ʺItalianʺ strike on the basis of the arrest of one blower, who made a drunken row in the shop. The blower, dissatisfied with the fact that the clerk had incorrectly rejected the dishes, began to beat the suitable bottles selected during sorting, while unintentionally wounded one worker in the head. The workers went to work after the administration promised to release the blower. ʺItalianaʺ lasted 1 hour.
57. Dyatkovo Crystal Factory (Maltsevsky Combine, 1,457 workers). On January 3, 70 grass‐roots workers of the grinding shop went on strike; the foremanʹs termination of work was motivated by the allegedly low temperature in the workshop, while the temperature in the workshop was normal for work (11 degrees above zero). Some of the grinders poured water on those who did not want to quit their work. The work began on January 4 with a delay of half an hour, as the shop was full of smoke from flooded stoves.
58. Teplogorskoe forestry (Chusovskoy district of the Perm district). On December 21, 70 lumberjacks stopped working, demanding an increase in wages from 70 to 100% and a decrease in production rates against the contract by 50%. In addition, the loggers pointed to poor living conditions, which were not confirmed by the survey. Attempts by the party cell and local committee to convince the strikers to start work were unsuccessful. The forestry department did not make concessions, so as not to disrupt logging in the entire region. The conflict has not yet been resolved.
59. Buildings of the Sevzaplesa plant (150 workers, Leningrad). On December 23, the workers of the mechanical workshop (80 people) carried out the ʺItalianʺ on the basis of reducing the load to the tariff rate by 50% without the consent of the RKK.
Abbreviations
60. Bokovsky glass factory (Vladimir). In connection with the transfer of the plant from the jurisdiction of the Sudogorod State Industrial Trust to Vladsteklotrest, it is planned to reduce 100 workers (mainly auxiliary workers).
61. Novorzhevsk glass plant ʺKrasny Luch” Pskovpromtorg. Due to a decrease in demand, the production of mine glass is reduced. Instead of 7 pots, only 3 are now working, as a result of which it is planned to lay off 30 workers.
62. Dorogomilovskiy chemical plant of Aniltrest (1000 workers). In connection with the decrease in the volume of work in the mechanical workshop (120 people), it is planned to cut 50‐60 people in the near future. The mood of the workers in this connection is agitated.
Delay in salary
63. PPP stationery factories (Ulyanovsk province). The workers were not given a salary for 2 months. On this basis, there is a strong dissatisfaction with the management of the plant, which, in the opinion of the workers, wasted funds irrationally for the construction of another factory. The delay in wages is due to the difficult financial situation experienced by the plant.
64. Logging organizations (Makarievsky u. Ivanovo‐Voznesensk province.). Peasantsʹ dissatisfaction with the non‐payment of debts by logging organizations and logging artels continues to take place in part of the county volosts ‐ Kadyiskaya, Slovinskaya and
Timoshenskaya. The debt reaches 20,000 rubles.
65. Verkhne‐Volgoles. The indebtedness of the logging organizations of the Leontyevsky site (Cherepovets province) of the rafting artel is 9,000 rubles. The workers say: ʺThey demand a tax from us, insurance, they describe our property, but they do nothing to the offices, this is how the power of the workers and peasants is.ʺ
66. Sawmill No. 5/5 of Volgo‐Kaspiles in Kologrivsky u. Kostroma lips. After a long delay (within 1‐2 months), the plant management issued the wages for the August‐September months. The payment of wages was delayed for 2 weeks. ʺThe workers besieged the office, demanding the payment of wages, and, finally, discontent turned into a conflict. The administration called the police to the plant, which beat the worker. On this basis, 85 pieceworkers quit their jobs, demanding payments.
67. Yaryginsky state farm ʺSpartak” (Kursk province). Among the workers, there is dissatisfaction with the administration of the state farm due to the fact that for 4 months they are not paid a salary. The discontent is aggravated by the fact that they are not supplied with food and work for 12‐14 hours. in a day. The workers say: ʺWe are not paid our salaries, but for non‐payment of the tax they demanded a penalty.ʺ
Workersʹ political mood Renewal of collective agreements
68. State Plant ʺAviapribor” Precision Mechanics (Moscow, 600 workers). At a working conference to discuss the collective agreement, the workers put forward the following requirements: the rate of the 1st category from 21 rubles. 70 kopecks. increase to 23 rubles. 04 kopecks, extending it only to workers receiving wages up to the 5th grade. To revise the 175% extra income downward and the 50% extra income upward. Businessmen do not agree with the workersʹ proposal to increase wages, for their part, offering to reduce prices.
69. State Mechanical Plant named after Dzerzhinsky (Moscow, 300 workers). According to the draft of a new collective agreement, the administration intends to raise the norms and lower prices by 25%, in order to equalize the earnings of the plant workers with the earnings of other plants of the same category.
70. Optical Plant (Leningrad) Optical and Mechanical Trust (465 workers, 73 employees). In connection with the conclusion of a new collective agreement, which has not yet been announced to workers, a decrease in the percentage of extra earnings for time‐based workers (not pieceworkers) and employees of lower grades began. So, for the time‐wage workers of the 4th, 5th and 6th categories in November, the percentage of additional earnings was reduced from 75% to 50‐55%, for workers of the 7th, 8th and 9th categories ‐ from 65% to 40‐45% and for the lowest employees the percentage of additional earnings set no higher than 50%. As soon as it became known to the workers and employees, great excitement began among them. There were even cases of talk about the announcement of ʺItalianʺ.
The employees, in addition, submitted a statement to the RKK with the following content: “To the RKK of the State Optical Plant from the employees of the TOMP plant. Statement. The resolution of the 15th party conference and the resolution of the All‐Union Central Council of Trade Unions, approved by the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars, and the press say that the implementation of the economy regime should not affect the material situation of workers and employees; nevertheless, at the State Optical Plant and in TOMP, the economy mode is based mainly on a reduction in wages, and the percentage of reduction among employees is inversely proportional to earnings, i.e. with lower salaries, a higher percentage. It will not be superfluous to mention that the workload of employees is more than enough, with a very, very limited staff. Based on the above and taking into account that the pre‐trust in the report at the meeting of the production section of the Leningrad Council on October 15, 1926 No. noted an increase in production, expressed in a profit of 70,000 rubles, we, the undersigned, would ask to keep the previous earnings, especially since the cut amount for the trust and the plant was 750 rubles, which will not be a heavy burden on the budget of the trust. Otherwise, if this reduction takes place on a general state scale, then it seems to us that it should be carried out for all positions, starting with the highest, and the percentage of reduction should be set in proportion to earnings. ʺ There are 54 signatures of employees. The statement was signed (with the permission of the collective) also by many party members, explaining this by their unwillingness to incite discord between party members and non‐party employees.
Taking into account the sharp dissatisfaction of workers and employees, the plant management ordered TNB to reconsider the issue and carry out additional earnings according to the old collective agreement, but with a decrease of 10%. The workers say: “They tell us and write to us that the regime of economy should not be carried out at the expense of
salaries, but in fact we see the opposite. We are simply deceived, tongue‐tied. Trofimov (pre‐trust) does what he wants, and therefore both the RKK and the factory committee are not needed at all, Trofimov does not consider them. ʺ
71. Telephone and Telegraph Plant. Kulakov (Trust of weak current, 1110 workers). The workers of the 28th department are dissatisfied with the rates introduced under the new collective agreement. According to the collective agreement, earnings cannot exceed 80%, which does not satisfy the workers.
72. Izhora Plant (Leningrad Gubernia, 4670 workers). Discontent with the newly introduced rates continues to be observed among workers. The new collective agreement has not yet been approved, and the salary is paid at new rates, and the blacksmiths and hammers working on the same machine are calculated differently (the smith of the pipe workshop received 1 ruble 50 kopecks per day, and his hammer 85‐90 kopecks). This phenomenon creates antagonism among workers.
73. Plant ʺGasʺ N.910 (Taganrog). At the general meeting of workers in the report of the chairman of Aviatrest, it was indicated that due to the cut in credits, Aviatrest refuses to include in the new collective agreement a clause on the transportation of workers at its own expense. The statement of the pretrust provoked a storm of indignation on the part of workers and employees; marked a number of harsh statements against the administration. Some of them pointed out in their speeches that the plant would only lose out on the termination of transportation, since the worker, having walked 5‐6 versts to the plant, would rest before starting work, and would also quit work earlier before the beep. Walking fatigue will affect your work intensity. It was also indicated that in connection with the termination of transportation, all social and professional work at the plant would freeze, since each worker, instead of staying after work at some meeting or conference, will strive to go home as soon as possible. Taking advantage of the workersʹ discontent, one of the employees Bukhtin (the son of the former owner of the power plant) is conducting this kind of agitation among the workers: “You still need to learn how to build a farm; here the owners built the Baltic plant earlier, and then they built the pavement and the panel for the workers, and which houses were built for the workers; but now what ‐ the workers have conquered the ride and are taking it away. ʺ The Prezavkom received two anonymous letters, which stated: ʺWe are tortured, what we won with great difficulty is now being taken away from us, the economy is no good.ʺ The second letter stated that ʺif the plant refuses to transport it, then we give our word that we will fight to the last drop of blood ‐ either life or death, one of two things.ʺ The transportation of workers continues. The plant management sent a telegram to Aviatrest,
74. Tagil metal plant (Tagiltrest, workers 3000 people). The regional committee of metalworkers handed over to the head committee a draft of a new collective agreement for discussion in the workshops of the plant. However, no discussion took place. The representative of the district committee went directly to Sverdlovsk to approve this agreement. Thus, the collective agreement in the shops was not discussed, despite the fact that the workers have a number of changes and additions. The workers are unaware that the collective agreement has been sent to the oblast for approval and are still waiting to be discussed at the meetings.
75. Petrovskoe Ore Administration of Donugol (Stalino). On November 20, at mine No. 2/16, a general meeting of workers took place, at which the question of renegotiating the collective agreement was raised. The speaker informed the workers that there would be a 30% surcharge for those receiving maintenance up to the 10th grade. In the debate, the workers pointed out that it would be better not to increase the salary by 30%, but to increase it by 5%, but thereby reduce the cost of production by 25%, since as soon as the increase in earnings is carried out, prices in the market will rise above the markup.
76. Cherembass (Siberia, Irkutsk). The Cheremkhovsky District Committee of the Union of Miners, not sufficiently taking into account the material capabilities of the trust, independently developed new terms of the collective agreement and, without coordinating this issue with the business executives, put its project, providing for an increase in workersʹ wages by 35%, for discussion at general meetings of workers. The proposals of the district committee of the Union were accepted by the workers unanimously, but the administration of the trust did not agree with these proposals. The result was a protracted conflict. The issue of the collective agreement on Cherembass has been transferred to the arbitration court in Novosibirsk for permission. Recently, the Cheremkhovsky District Committee of the WASH has begun to give up its positions on the terms of the new collective agreement. At meetings of workers, representatives of the district committee of the Union declare that that they really did not take into account all the possibilities of the trust and that on certain demands the workers must make concessions. The workers express serious discontent with the district committee. “The Union promised the workers a lot, and now it is oppressing the Cherembass administration. This number will not work. There was no need to promise” (senior worker miner). “The district committee took the line wrong. He failed to take into account all aspects of the trust. This is not the way to conclude a collective agreement. We can get into a mistake, from which our enterprise will suffer” (senior working miner, member of the All‐Union Communist Party, member of the district committee). “Our proposals, as can be seen from the words of the representatives of the regional committee of the Union, will not pass. The question is, why did the district committee promise us so much? Since the district committee has managed to instill great hopes in the workers, it must be able to give them, otherwise the coal mining business will suffer” (cutter, new worker). “The new collective agreement does not give us anything. Workers on it will be bent into an arc, but patience will come to an end. The district committee cannot defend our fair interests. At first they promised a lot, but now they are dancing to the tune of the Cherembass administration; letʹs see what the arbitration court will give us. We will not deviate from our demands” (slaughterer, old worker).
77. Brick Factory L. ya I Comtrest (67 workers). The collective agreement was renegotiated without discussion at a meeting of workers, and the administration is already acting according to the new collective agreement, having posted it at the factories. So, under the new collective agreement, the prices for piecework have been significantly reduced, although the rate for the first category has been increased by the collective agreement from 12 rubles. up to 13 rubles, but since all workers work piece‐rate, they will actually receive much less than they received until now. There is discontent among the workers with the Union. Worker Grudnina (non‐partisan, qualified, 12 years of experience) says: ʺWe do not know who and how entered into a collective agreement, because we must conclude an agreement with the administration, and we were not asked.ʺ Worker Petrov (non‐partisan, qualified, 25 years of experience): “Our factory is to blame for everything. They constantly shout at all meetings that the workers are the masters of our Russia, but here they did not ask the workers, they bypassed our rights and, for the sake of appearance, allegedly increased the salary by 1 ruble, and lowered the price. ʺ Worker Matoshkin (nonpartisan, qualified, 28 years of service): “They did not increase the workers, but the employees, they do not work piecework and they have no rates, well, now they will receive more ‐ in general, they do not care about the workers, but about employees, and our FZK and the Union are clapping their ears, we have badly employed workers FZK ”. All workers are dissatisfied without exception.
78. F‐ka them. Volodarsky (Leningrad, Bumtresg, 960 workers). Under the new collective agreement, prices were reduced by an average of 33%, and the workers were told that this reduction was caused by the need to equalize the earnings of workers at the Volodarsky factory with the earnings of workers at the Writing paper factory. Zinoviev. After workers threatened to go on strike, the November 10 reduction was canceled. At 11 oʹclock. on the morning of December 13 at the Faculty of Zinoviev with F. Volodarsky came a representative of the RKK and a senior Salytsik (a member of the factory committee), who began to agitate among the workers for rejecting the new collective agreement: ʺWe rejected the new collective agreement, but did you (Zinovievites) accept?ʺ One of the workers of the factory. Zinoviev replied: ʺIt is a pity that we did not come to an agreement earlier, in any case we can ask for a revision of the collective agreement.ʺ The collective and the factory of the factory, having learned about the arrival of workers of the factory named after Volodarsky, invited them to the factory, where the workers explained their parish by the fact that they wanted to ʺget acquainted with the work of the RKK, as well as with the factory itself,ʺ and asked permission to go through the factory, to which they received consent. Since none of the members of the factory committee accompanied them when they walked around the factory, they continued agitation for the disruption of the factory adopted by the workers. Zinovievʹs new code of the agreement.
79. Khobotovsky collapse of a small‐scale plant (Tambov province). Among the workers, there is a sharp dissatisfaction with the Union of Food Workers on the basis of the wrong conclusion of the collective agreement. The collective agreement, which was amended by the workers, was not approved by the Union. When the plant was put into operation in April 1926, changes were made to the contract without the knowledge of the workers (for example, the contract was illegally concluded for a year and a half, the norm for the issuance of overalls was changed, etc.). With regard to the establishment of a long term of the collective agreement at the branch of the Union, in its defense, it referred to a technical error that had occurred (i.e. instead of October 1, 1926, October 1, 1927 was indicated), but, as it turned out, this was not a typo, but an agreement of the parties ... For two months, the workers have been demanding the renegotiation of the collective agreement, but the Union pays no attention.
Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov
APPENDIX No. 2
UNEMPLOYED
1. Moscow Labor Exchange. Local transport section. At the general meeting of unemployed members of the Union held on December 20 (there were about 300 people), during a report on the work of the Office, the audience heard shouts from the audience: ʺEnough, our priests used to fool our heads like that.ʺ A number of notes of the following character were submitted on the report: “Why are there no Jews on the stock exchange? Why are communist chauffeurs hired through the district committees, and not through the stock exchange? While answering the notes, there were shouts: “Enough, you lie, you are 200 rubles. you get it, and we are starving. All of you Jews sit on our necks and drink our blood. ʺ The presidium of the meeting decided to bring out the screamers. The speakers in the debate pointed out that “we are fighting nepotism and protectionism, but meanwhile it is flourishing on the stock exchange; the communists enjoy special privileges, they go to work through the district committees, and not through the stock exchange section. We need to demand so that they also go to work through the section. ʺ On the report on the work of the Office, a resolution was proposed, which spoke about the removal from office of Bereznev by the section, about allowing control over the section, about closing the stock exchange and about opening a canteen for the unemployed, another resolution was from the Union. Before the vote, noise and shouts rose again in the hall: ʺEnough to fool your heads with your resolutions.ʺ During the noise, one of the movers threw a bottle towards the head of the Office. Many rushed to the exit. The chairman closed the meeting, after which the unemployed dispersed. An unemployed person, leaving with a group, said: ʺThis is the case, we need to arrange such a thing on the stock exchange.ʺ The meeting heard only a question about the work of the Office, but about the work of the conference, the fight against unemployment and other issues, due to the conflict, they were not heard. we need to arrange such a thing on the stock exchange. ʺ The meeting heard only a question about the work of the Office, but about the work of the conference, the fight against unemployment and other issues, due to the conflict, they were not heard.
2. Section of tanners. An unemployed person in a group of 12 people said: “Our whole problem is that we have not yet learned how to be organized and we are still waiting for someone to do it for us. Here, the workers abroad are acting boldly and unitedly, without fear of any threats, with the demand for grain and work. Such striking performances are beneficial and the government begins to care more about unemployment. Our unemployed are completely forgotten by all our leaders. Now, if we had even staged a demonstration in Moscow alone, then the upper circles would have stirred up and found the means to expand industry and dissipate unemployment. In the meantime, we will be silent, nobody will pay attention to us”. The listeners agreed with him, saying: ʺYes, this is the only way to act.ʺ
3. Section of food workers. Along with the continued dissatisfaction of unemployed printers, the dissatisfaction of the unemployed in a number of sections (woodworkers, textile workers, garment workers and food workers) increased, and the influence of an active group of printers on the rest of the sections, mainly food workers, should be noted. The heightened mood of the unemployed has intensified due to the influence of this group. A group of unemployed printers in the food industry section campaigned for disrupting the district meetings: “When it is known about the day of the meeting and in which premises they will appoint, then we need to select our guys and send them to those places where the meeting will take place, so that they will quietly warn the unemployed at the entrance, so that they do not go to the meeting, and in this way we will disrupt all district meetings and then begin to demand one general meeting of unemployed food workers, only then can we get something from the Union. ʺ The unemployed agreed with them and said that after the holidays it was necessary to begin preparations for disrupting meetings. As a result of the agitation, the meetings were disrupted and all unemployed food workers came to the meeting of the Krasnopresnensky district on November 18, at which the printers introduced a resolution (adopted by the general meeting of unemployed food workers), containing all the requirements previously set by the printers.
To prevent the activities of this group, the OGPU bodies took measures by arresting its organizers. It should be noted that, in connection with the arrests of the leaders of the group, the atmosphere at the labor exchange has significantly eased.
4. Leningrad Labor Exchange. Recently, at the labor exchange, discontent of the unemployed and active anti‐Soviet agitation have begun to emerge. Among the unemployed metalworkers, signatures are being collected under an application addressed to the section of metalworkers to provide work to the unemployed who have been at the labor exchange for more than 6‐7 months, to establish control of the unemployed over the employees of the labor exchange in order to comply with the correct regular premise and to convene general meetings of the unemployed at least once in month, otherwise the unemployed will gather on their own, in addition to the Union.
In a number of sections, mainly in the section of metalworkers, there was an agitation about the need to organize a demonstration of the unemployed under the slogan ʺWork and Breadʺ. The day of the performance was scheduled for December 27 this year.
On December 24, at the stock exchange in two places (on the stairs at the entrance to the section of metalworkers and food workers), handwritten leaflets were found with the following content: “Comrades, unemployed, socialist construction in the USSR is in full swing. Pessimism is inappropriate, next year we will build socialism. Ah, comrades, socialism is not a pound of raisins. You can starve for him. And if you are really hungry, go to the grocery store and eat everything that is on display, of course with your eyes. But isnʹt it all the same what it is? You say that your army is increasing every day. That in a year, instead of 70,000 unemployed at the Leningrad Labor Exchange, there were 170,000. That their number threatens to surpass the number of workers employed in production (190,000). That the unemployed, who do not have 3 years of experience, have to die of hunger, and those who have ‐ starve. That hunger and unemployment breed crime and suicide. But you pay no attention to it and be good boys. But your children will see socialism (unless, of course, they starve to death earlier). And in general, ... Long live the dictatorship of the secretariat, that is, the proletariat. Long live the CPSU (b) and others and the like. Democratic Youth Group”. On the back it is written: ʺComrade, if you are truly conscious, rewrite and distribute this leaflet.ʺ
On December 27, the following note, written in pencil, was removed in the subsidiary labor section (Krasnaya Street): ʺDown with Soviet power, long live the proletariat.ʺ
Conversations conducted by individual unemployed are typical. One unemployed person said: “In Moscow, at the signal of the whistle, the unemployed began to break whatever came to hand, many were taken away, but then released; on another occasion they organized themselves and went to the Kremlin and nevertheless achieved what they wanted ‐ for the unemployed they made one working week a month. The same must be done here. ʺ He was supported by another: “We have nothing to fear, but we need to act now, time does not wait, but we will be silent, like flies will crush us. From tomorrow to December 31st, leaflets will be secretly issued in the morning; although they were written by me, today they have not been disseminated among the unemployed, since there were few people. There are 18 people here who will lead all of this, and we need to spread this among our comrades as much as possible, so that during these days on the stock exchange there were as many unemployed as possible. Unions, i.e. divisions (group committees) will also know about it, since there the unemployed have already been notified. ʺ
When one of the unemployed objected to the call to speak that any protest would be counter‐revolutionary, the campaigner declared: ʺOur protest will not be a strike, but will only be a legal demand ‐ to give work.ʺ
On December 27, there was no demonstration of the unemployed.
Shortly before the planned speech of the OGPU, in agreement with the relevant authorities, 6 main organizers of the demonstration were arrested, which disorganized the forces of the anti‐Soviet group.
5. In a group of metalworkers (Vasilievsky Island) an application for unemployed was submitted, written by 150 unemployed. The statement contains the requirement to convene a general meeting of the unemployed to familiarize themselves with the decision of the provincial conference of metalworkers. In a group of unemployed metalworkers, one unemployed, in response to the words of his comrade that 2,000 more unemployed metalworkers would soon be added to the stock exchange, in view of the alleged reduction at the Putilov plant, said: “Reduction is for the better, then maybe we’ll come up with something ʺ. Another unemployed person said: “They want to kick me out of the Union because I was there, at the conference, boozing, but I do not care about their ticket. From him neither wool nor milk. Have you heard about the Moscow and Rostov performances? ʺ Having received the answer that one citizen who had come from Rostov was present, he said: ʺCould you introduce me to him so that he would describe to me how the technical side of the case was decided and what were the shortcomings on the part of the organization.ʺ On December 23, the unemployed in the section of metalworkers and woodworkers said: ʺIt remains to organize 500‐1000 people and throw out the red flag.ʺ Another unemployed: ʺWe will wait until the peasants come from the village, then we will organize and, first of all, we will take the stock exchange into work and throw everyone out the window.ʺ In the section of printers, the following conversations are noted: an unemployed woman spread rumors that in Moscow the unemployed were smashing a stock exchange; in response to this, one unemployed person said: ʺIt would be long ago that we should be given an impetus.ʺ
On December 29, rumors circulated among the unemployed about the upcoming layoffs at various enterprises. In a group of typesetters, in response to the statement of the unemployed about the difficulties of life at the present time, a typesetter, a member of the CPSU (b) said: “Who is to blame that you are afraid that you will be shot, we need to create our own organization, raise all the unemployed, throw out the black flag to expel all those who have compromised ‐ there are no workers among them now, the workers will not hold balls in Smolny while the lower classes are starving. ʺ The same typesetter invited those present to join the allegedly existing organization, the chain of which, in his words, is ʺfreedom of speech, work, improving the material situation of the working class.ʺ
An anti‐Soviet agitation was carried on by one well‐dressed citizen in the common room of the labor exchange: “If anyone at a factory or a factory tells the truth, they will immediately drag him to Gorokhovaya 292 and be fired. Here is the freedom for which we fought, comrades. I go to work because I got a job out of nepotism.
6. Vyatka. Labor exchange. On December 12, early in the morning in some crowded places on the streets there appeared anonymous proclamation notes pasted on the walls of houses by an unknown person: 1) “Give bread to the unemployed or give jobs”; 2) ʺRykov drinks 293 , and we are without breadʺ and 3) ʺGive me work or bread.ʺ
On the part of the unemployed, there is also discontent with the trade unions, which provide insufficient material support: ʺThey collect for the British miners, and the Russian unemployed are left without a piece of bread.ʺ
7. In Nikolo‐Ussuriisk, at a fuel depot, a pinned telegram appealing to the unemployed, emanating from the unemployed, was found.
“Comrades, unemployed. How long will we endure these hardships and bondage of the world eaters, who exploit our labor, as, for example, the local depot (Shalin and Dumats), that he is the defender of the working class? No, on the contrary, he is our enemy, he only uses our blood, our kopecks in the sweat of his brow; and in general ‐ take the entire organ of Soviet power, you will not find a purely worker, so that he is in the power of the one that we have created with our own breasts, pave the way for a free path, equality and fraternity, and now, comrades, we see the whole picture, which leads us astray. They created local committees and uchkprofsoyuz on a working penny, but there was no sense and will not be. And why ‐ yes, because the economy [falls] on the unemployed neck; and why not make a saving mode for the administrative pocket. The one who received, the one who receives, the one who starved, the one who starves, whoever stuffed his pockets stuffs. Comrades, unemployed, letʹs close together and rally and go on the side we used to walk on, make the St. Bartholomewʹs night, [in order] to knock out the whole pack of a new one and put up our comrades who have experienced everything the hard way. Dear comrades, I would like to write to you, my hands are not a machine, and for this the gendarmes will curse my ignorance. ʺ Signature ʺGreeksʺ.
Currently, among the unemployed conductors of the NikoloUssuriysky reserve, there is discontent with the admission of demobilized Red Army soldiers to the posts of conductors, and, moreover, the main dissatisfaction from the unemployed is directed to the secretary of the VKP (b) cell No. 21, who arranges the demobilized members of the CPSU (b) as conductors.
8. Kiev Labor Exchange. The mood of the demobilized in connection with not being sent to work has recently intensified. On December 1 and 2, in different sections among the demobilized, there was talk about the need to make a demonstration.
In the section of miners, the demobilized said: “Itʹs time to remember the day when we went to the executive committee with flags; now it is necessary to do it again, but it is bad that there is no one to take a match and set fire, and if there was such a match, then in one moment everything would have flared up.
On December 3, in the morning, a group of 10 demobilized people gathered at the central stock exchange, led by a former sailor Pushkalov, who was engaged in inciting the rest of the demobilized to take part in the demonstration. A group of up to 100 people went to the executive committee, on the way they were joined by unemployed people from different sections. A demobilized former commander was assigned to the executive committee for negotiations with the chairman of the executive committee. In his absence, two demobilized people were campaigning for the preservation of order and organization ‐ ʺthey will not be considered otherwise.ʺ
Without waiting for the executive committee, the demobilized sent three other people to him with an invitation to come out to the demonstrators. At the request of the delegation, the Presidential Executive Committee Volkova replied that he was busy and could not leave, suggesting that 10‐15 people appear to him.
A crowd of up to 40 people entered Volkovyʹs office (the demobilized kept themselves calm). In response to the statement of the demobilized to find out the reasons for not sending them to work and about their difficult financial situation, comrade. Volkova said that a commission would be organized from the members of the City Council to check the decisions on the organization of the demobilized.
One of the demobilized offered to introduce his representatives to the commission, but Volkova rejected this offer. In conclusion, Volkova invited the demobilized to write to him about all the disorders in the institutions, and promised to take immediate measures to correct
them. Then the demobilized began to disperse.
9. Tataria. On December 15, the labor exchange registered the following: command personnel demobilized this year ‐ 36 people and demobilized earlier and already served in institutions ‐ 99 people. To place the command personnel for service in institutions at the Central Executive Committee of the Central Executive Committee, a special commission was organized, which first of all sends to work the command personnel demobilized this year. During the period from October 1 to December 15, 28 people were sent to the service. 22 people returned back to the labor exchange for various reasons. 14 people are registered again.
The demobilized are sent to serve in this or that institution or enterprise 2‐3 times, since in the field, many heads of institutions try in every possible way to refuse to accept the demobilized, motivating the refusal by the unsuitability of the demobilized for work.
The Labor Exchange filed a petition with TNK and NKYu to prosecute the following institutions and enterprises for a clear unwillingness to accept demobilized command personnel: Gostorg, Nalogovoz, Office of TPKF, NKVD, plant No. 40 (KNZ), Textile factory named after Lenin, KTsRK, plant them. Vakhitova and a number of others.
The mood of the unemployed command personnel is extremely depressed. Many people say: “When we are starving, no one sees us and does not want to provide assistance, but if there is a war, then we will be sent to the war first of all and then we will have our say,” etc. etc.
One of the unemployed command personnel of the reserve wrote a letter to comrade Voroshilov, in which he complained about his difficult financial situation and about the lack of attention to command personnel on the part of business executives.
Copy of the letter: “October 1926, 18th.
Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR Comrade Voroshilov from the demobilized commander of the Red Army. Comrade Chairman, I am writing a letter as to the head of the Red Army, to which I do not hope to receive an answer, because this is not available to us. But nevertheless, I hope you will receive this letter and find out how the demobilized commanders live, who, having served in the Red Army from the day of the revolution until July 1926, having revolutionary merits in the past, now, after being discharged from the army, they were left behind a Soviet ship, which had to be fought for too much and in difficult conditions. Now that this (the Soviet ship was booked, apparently, with new armor, the old one turned out to be unnecessary. I served in the Red Army for 8 ʹ/ 2 months, retired from the army and now for 3ʹ / 2 months go without service. Thatʹs why I decided to write a letter. Why are so many orders issued, which promise so much, but give absolutely nothing? Now, after such an attitude, I wonder what I won. It turns out ‐ constant hunger, cold and unemployment. I often recall the old, despite the fact that recently I was devoted in soul and body to the modern. I never knew before that people could be so poor. My old specialty was a cook, I worked, I was always full, shod, dressed, and the worker no longer needed to be well‐fed and dressed. If earlier it was too difficult, now it is too easy. Previously, you had to work 20 hours, but now completely idle, lie down and do not eat ‐ this is what the working class won. Earlier there was no labor exchange, now they are, where several thousand are unemployed. They walk for a year or more, and as a result they are still without work. I may be incorrectly saying that we have won a lot, but not for ourselves. The worker has received almost nothing and will not receive anything. I say that I am wrong from a general point of view, but I am right from the point of view of a hungry man who was devoted to the Soviet Malay for 8 1/2 years and who is now forced to engage in triviality. The old master doesnʹt take on the service, and the new owners are very few, but they donʹt know me as a cook, and the old master says that he fought for too long, fought for freedom, so here is freedom for you. Why, they say, do you need a job when you needed freedom ‐ thatʹs what you hear from the old owner, and the Soviet owner also thinks least of all about his Malay women, who were needed in the past. And now very often I wonder what it means the old fighters will no longer be needed, so why should I be liable for military service until 1948 ‐ what is it for. When I am no longer needed, and if I am needed, I will be useless, because being will determine consciousness for these 22 years, if I have to live them from hand to mouth.
Yes, it becomes insulting after the mass of fervent promises to hear the
Soviet refusal to the old honored red hero. ʺ
ʺKazan, Zhirovka, d. 62, apt. 1.V.D. Lomekhov. Your old devoted club boss. ʺ
Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov
APPENDIX No. 3
AGRICULTURAL TAX
Deficiencies in taxing village groups
1. Tula lips. December 8. (Centre). In the province, there continues to be discontent with the tax of the poor, especially of that part of it, which this year, due to some peculiarities of the tax (taxation of side earnings, non‐taxable minimum, etc.) of this year, is taxed in larger amounts than last year. The poor, expressing their dissatisfaction with the tax, say: ʺThe authorities protect the poor only with their language, but in fact they themselves give the poor to the kulak as farm laborersʺ (Arsenyevsky district). ʺWhere is the justice to the peasants of the communists, they strangled with taxes aloneʺ (Popovsky district). “When Lenin was alive, the peasants received more tax discounts, but now that Comrade. There is no Lenin, no attention is paid to the peasants and they are robbed to the last” (Sergievsky
District).
21 December. In the Golubetsky village council of the Komarovsky district, there is a sharp dissatisfaction of the poor and middle peasants with the provision of tax benefits to a kulak (former merchant) and a priest from. Popovka who received a discount of 75% of the tax amount due to the fact that their children study in universities.
3. December 31. In with. Senevo, Aleksinsky District, the poor, outraged by the exemption from tax of the wealthy, demanded at the general meeting the abolition of the non‐taxable minimum, ʺsince the wealthy often fall under this benefit.ʺ In addition, the poor demanded that the peasants themselves be granted the right to distribute the agricultural tax to individual farms, since ʺthen the tax would be more correct and the wealthy and the kulaks would not be exempt from the tax at the expense of the poor.ʺ
4. Vyatka lips. November 30th. Malmyzhsky u. In with. Manor of Vyatsko‐Polyanskaya Vol. a well‐to‐do peasant, whose family consists of 5 people, has 2.75 plots of land, a smithy and 2 threshers, pays 48 rubles. 25 kopecks tax; another peasant, a kulak, selling leather and felted footwear, having 2.5 allotments of land, pays tax as a multifamily (8 people) ‐ 20 rubles. 59 kopecks at the same time, three poor widows are overcoated. So, for example, one of them (her family consists of two people), who has 3 plots of land, one horse and a cow, pays 66 rubles. 62 kopecks. tax; other (family consists of three people, of which not a single able‐bodied), having one horse (no cows) and earth 2 ʹ/ 2 put, pay 36 rubles. 79 kopecks tax.
5. Kursk province. 12 December. In Streletskaya parish. Belgorodsky
u. the imposition of a high tax on small‐family poor farms and underprovision of wealthy and kulak farms with many families. In a number of cases this year some of the poor who were previously exempted from the tax were taxed, and well‐to‐do farms that had easily paid a decent tax earlier were exempted from the tax.
6. Leningrad province. December 1. (Northwest). In Lezievskaya parish. Leningradsky district peasants are dissatisfied with the wrong allocations by the agricultural tax commission. For example, a well‐todo peasant from the village. Mga pays 6 rubles, a merchant 6 rubles, and a poor man 40 rubles.
7. Bryansk province. December 6. (West). Bezhitsky u. In the Nemerichsky village council, Dyatkovo parish. a poor man with a family of 8 souls, one hut and two cows, pays 25 rubles. tax, and a wellto‐do peasant (son‐in‐law of the pre‐village council), having a family of 6 souls, 6 dess. land, 2 huts, 3 horses, 3 cows and small livestock, pays only 17 rubles.
8. Belarus. December 1. In the village. Pavlovki, Drissensky district, Polotsk district, middle peasant, having a family of 10 people, of whom three serve in co‐institutions, 12 dess. land, 2 horses, 4 cows, small livestock, good farming and also keeps tenants, from whom he receives 13 rubles. monthly, pays tax of 3 rubles, and a poor man with a family of 2 people, 6 dess. land, one cow, one sheep, one pig, taxed in the amount of 14 rubles. It should be noted that this poor woman does not have her own hut.
9. Penza province. December 6. (Volga region). Elnikovskaya tax commission of Krasnoslobodsky district understated the strong middle peasants and the wealthy. So, for example, one kulak engaged in carpentry, having three houses, 4 horses, 3 cows and 15 sheep, pays only 3 rubles in tax, while the poor are taxed rather heavily.
10. German commune. December 1. In with. Belyavka of St. Poltava canton one fist with about 40 head of cattle under the age of 3 years, and a senopress with which he pressed 2000 poods. hay for sale is not taxed, since, according to the ʺTax Regulationʺ, cattle under the age of 3 years are not subject to accounting. The poor, dissatisfied with the exemption from the tax of this kulak, demands that the Tax Regulations be clarified with regard to taxation of such, clearly kulak farms, so that the latter are not exempt from tax.
11. Kuznetsk district. November 24. (Siberia). In the village. Brod of the Kemerovo region is marked by the dissatisfaction of the peasants with the fact that a well‐to‐do peasant with a cross house, 3 horses, 5 cows with teenagers, 5 sheep, a thresher, 5 dess. sowing, does not pay tax at all due to the fact that his family consists of 12 people, while smallfamily peasants, living much worse than him, pay tax.
12. Vladivostok District. December 1. (DCK). In with. Dukhovskoye Grodekovsky district discontent with the new tax of small‐family poor people, on whom a rather significant tax has been imposed this year, while part of the multi‐family well‐to‐do tax pays less this year than last year. The poor say, ʺThe tax is only a burden on the poor.ʺ
13. December 15. In with. New Moscow of the Shkotovsky district, due to the presence of massive shelters of wealthy objects of taxation, the poor are taxed more than the wealthy.
Simultaneous collection of different payments
14. Odessa district. December 25. (Ukraine). The poor expresses strong dissatisfaction with the simultaneous collection of the unified agricultural tax and the tax arrears of last year. Often the tax of 19261927. is 3‐4 rubles, and the arrears are listed at 28‐30 rubles. The underborrower (* and are predominantly poor.
15. Kuban District. January 1st. (North Caucasus). In the NovoPokrovsky district, the tax is received poorly due to the fact that there is a simultaneous collection of unified agricultural tax, semssud and other payments, especially since the district has suffered greatly from crop failure. Because of this, there is a strong sale of livestock in the area. So, for example, in stc. Kalnibolotskaya sold 1000 head of cattle this year, while last year only 80 heads were sold here.
16. Terek District. November 28. Arezgir district. Among the poor and partly the middle peasantry, there is a sharp dissatisfaction with the collection of debt on the semssud simultaneously with the collection of the unified agricultural tax. The kulaks, using the discontent of the poor, agitate: “The state is helping in such a way that the poor will have to sell their last cows. The state is stripping the poor peasants of the semssud debt so that next time they do not take the semssud, they do not get into bondage. ʺ
17. Penza province. December 6. (Volga region). In N.‐Shkaptinskaya vol. Gorodtsensky u. Semssud debt is collected immediately for 5 years, and the collection of the Semssud occurs simultaneously with the collection of agricultural tax. The peasants declare that they cannot make all these payments and demand an installment plan of payments for the semssud for 2‐3 years.
18. German commune. December 16. In with. The filthiness of the Kamensk canton among the poor is dissatisfied with the fact that this year 70% of all debts on the loan are collected at once. Some peasants owed up to 90 poods in debt for 4 years.
19. Poor and middle peasants with. Kozitsky complain about the severity of collecting the semssud at the same time as the tax, accusing the authorities of being insensitive to the peasantry. A member of the village council (middle peasant) said about the collection of the semssud: “When the peasants had nothing, the power stood with its back to the peasantry, but when the peasants had a little bit of disfigurement, the government turned its face to the village and began to take semssud from the peasants for several years. But he will collect the lawsuit and turn his back again. ʺ
20. In p. The poor people, who are dissatisfied with the simultaneous collection of all the debts under the Semssud, say: “For four years the Soviet power gave the Semssud to the poor people in order to improve their farms, and now it takes everything away at once. Such fees are only useful to the kulaks, who will be able to pay everything right away, and these fees will ruin us. ʺ
21. Saratov province. December 17. Poor people with. Vyazovka Volsky they are extremely dissatisfied with the simultaneous collection of agricultural tax and arrears on the loan. The poor say: “If we sell our surplus grain and pay the tax and the loan, we will remain stripped and undressed. Canʹt the authorities see our rags”.
22. In p. Keys of Elshansk parish. there is marked dissatisfaction of the poor with the severity of the simultaneous collection of agricultural tax, arrears on semessud and state insurance, and arrears on agricultural tax. For example, one multi‐family peasant with one horse, one cow, 5 sheep, this year must pay 86 poods. Semssudy, 16 rubles. tax, 22 rubles. insurance and 7 rubles. local taxation.
23. Stalingrad province. December 16. Peasants of all strata of the Selochevskaya parish. Ust‐Medveditsky District are extremely dissatisfied with the collection of arrears on the loan, fodder credit, etc., together with the agricultural tax. The peasants say: ʺThe tax itself is small, but too many different payments are collected this year, and this is beyond our power.ʺ
24. Krasnoyarsk District. December 10. (Siberia). In the village. Zakem a former merchant, taking advantage of the dissatisfaction of the peasants with the simultaneous collection of all kinds of payments (unified agricultural tax, arrears on the sememssud, etc.), leads among them anti‐tax agitation: “Now there are so many taxes ‐ unified agricultural tax, insurance, etc., that they completely strangled the peasants ... All taxes are collected for the welfare of communists and employees, and the peasants are oppressed. ʺ
25. Kamensk district. December 25. Peasant middle peasant with. Domanki of the Krutikhinsky district spoke about the simultaneous collection of unified agricultural tax and payments in state insurance: “Itʹs too hard for a peasant to pay insurance. The tax itself is heavy, and here they also require insurance. So, after all, the peasant will be driven to ruin. Weʹll have to sell the horse at half price to pay insurance and tax.”
Repression against tax evaders
26. Vladimirskaya lips. December 16. (Centre). In the village. Terekhovitsy Vtorovskoy parish Predvik arrived with the aim of forcing tax defaulters to pay. Armed with a revolver, Predvik went home with one of the members of the village council. Coming to the non‐payers, the pre‐VIK, waving his revolver, demanded immediate payment of the tax. In the same manner, this campaign went to the pregnant poor man and, threatening her with a revolver, demanded that the defaulter take a sewing machine to the village council for nonpayment.
27. Moscow province. 20th of December. Bronnitsky u. In the Ulyanovsk parish. from. Mikhnevo, a poor peasant woman in a group of peasants said: “The tax from the peasants is being collected incorrectly, if you fail to pay it on time, the last cattle will be taken from the yard. They do not understand who does not pay ‐ the poor man or the fist. We have no truth. ʺ
28. Bryansk province. November 26. (West). A peasantʹs widow s. Ruzhnoe Karachevsky vol. of the same county, for failure to deliver the agricultural tax and arrears by the due date, the unified agricultural tax collector described the last sheep. The widowʹs household consists of one sheep and a hut. The tax is due on it 12 rubles. and arrears of 8 rubles.
29. In p. Warrior of the Karachev parish and the county commission on the collection of the Unified Agricultural Tax went to a 60‐year‐old widow, a poor man who does not have any household, and, having unauthorizedly opened the chest, pulled out things from there, described them and stated that if the old woman did not pay tax arrears within 3 days, things will be sold. In fact, this poor fellow does not have any arrears.
30 Stalin district. November 25. (Ukraine). Andreevsky district. A member of the RIK Presidium (a well‐to‐do peasant), having left for the village to collect the unified agricultural tax, went to one poor man and demanded immediate payment of the agricultural tax. Since the poor man had no cash, a member of the RIK Presidium made an inventory of the property and took it with him. Among the property described was the last horse of the poor man. The poor man asked that the horse be removed from the inventory. Despite the requests of the poor man who was running barefoot in the snow behind the carriage of a member of the RIK, the horse was taken away.
31. Don district. December 1. (North Caucasus). In the Starominsky district, the tax commission described the property of one poor man, despite the receipts presented to them for 7 rubles overpaid last year, carried over to the current year. In addition, he was given a discount on the unified agricultural tax for 8 rubles. The remaining unpaid 80 kopecks. (tax 15 rubles. 80 kopecks) he carried three times to the tax office, where he was answered: ʺYou do not rush, you will have time to pay.ʺ
32. Tver District. December 17. A great dissatisfaction among peasants of all strata is caused by the collection of various payments simultaneously with the unified agricultural tax. In particular, the peasantry is dissatisfied with the collection of semssud. Since the arrears in the semssud are mainly the weak strata of the village, the repressions against the defaulters are mainly directed against them. In total, 10,000 inventories of property from defaulters were made in the district. In the Arkhangelsk region, a special headquarters was created to collect debts for the semssud, the methods of work of which resembled those of the times of war communism.
33. Shakhtinsko‐Donetsk district. December 10. The Shakhty RIK sent a policeman to the Hrushevsky village council to confiscate cattle from tax evaders. The militiaman, together with Hrushevsky of the previllage council, went to the poor man, the debtor, and began to take the milk cow. The poor man asked to take another, non‐milking cow, but his request was refused. When the poor man opposed the taking away of the cow, the policeman hit the poor man in the chest with a rifle, causing the latter to fall unconscious and the cow was taken away. The same militiaman confiscated several cash cows from other poor people, which caused a sharp criticism of the authorities for such actions. For a long time, the screaming and crying of women and children was heard throughout the farm.
34. Chelyabinsk District. December 26. (Ural). According to the 2nd Klyuchevskoy village council of the Barlamovsky district, property inventories are made only for the poor people who do not pay the tax, and for the wealthy and kulaks they are not. The poor, outraged by such actions of the tax commission, accuse the latter of pandering to the fists.
35. Barabinsk District. November 30th. N. Kargan RIK in his report on the progress of the agricultural tax campaign says: ʺWe went too far in pumping out the agricultural tax, for example, the poor man of Krotov was taken away and sold for tax, and later it turned out that this poor man was not subject to tax.ʺ
Peasantsʹ tax claims
36. Vyatka province. November 30th. (Centre). In the village. Intercept Zagorsk parish. the poor man says: “The Soviet government does not take into account that in one household the family consists of ablebodied men, and in the other it is women, and taxes equally. Does a woman work as much as a man does? This must be taken into account when calculating the tax. ʺ
37. Belarus. December 1. (West). Srednyak s. Cherepovizinsky, Umansky District, Polotsk District, upon receiving the payroll, said: “The objects of taxation are calculated incorrectly, since the wealthy pay on a par with us. Each farm needs to be taken into account separately. We have land of 3 varieties and during redistribution it was valued at 120, 80 and 30 rubles. tithe. The well‐to‐do have the best land, and the profitability from it is equal to the profitability of land, estimated at 30 rubles. ʺ
38. Shadrinsky District. December 1. (Ural). In with. In the Zakharovsky Kamyshlovsky district, the middle peasants say about the tax: “It is necessary to tax profitability only from sowing, reducing the established rates of return, since 40 rubles. you will not receive profit from the tithe of our land. ʺ
39. Trinity District. December 1. (Siberia). In the village Spassky of the same district, a well‐to‐do Cossack said with regard to tax: ʺThe tax is unfair, let it be given to us for the village, and we will distribute it among ourselves, it will be better.ʺ
40. Irkutsk District. December 10. Wealthy villages Mitlevo Balagansky district on the issue of taxation they say: “When taxing tithes of sowing, grain crops are not taken into account, and therefore the profitability is calculated incorrectly. For example, rye costs 65 kopecks. pood, and wheat ‐ 1 rub. 05 kopecks, and the yield per tithe is set the same. ʺ
41. Krasnoyarsk District. November 25. Fist s. In the Sedelnikovsky Sukhobuzinsky District, in a conversation with fellow villagers in the village council, he said: “The authorities are doing the wrong thing by distributing the tax themselves. We would send a tax to the village, and we ourselves would spread it out in the yards, we would spread it out more correctly and the poor would not offend. ʺ
42. Tomsk District. December 10. In with. Botkakh Bogorodsky district at a general meeting on the tax, a middle peasant spoke and said: “Today the tax went wrong ‐ the state did not take into account that some peasants had 7‐8 adult workers, while the other had 7 eaters, and the workers had one the same farm is paid the same tax, thanks to which one pays easily and gets rich, while the other cannot get out of poverty and this tax is heavy for him. ʺ Many of those present supported this speech.
43. Tara district. November 30th. Middle peat village Konovalovo, Rybinsk District, says: “Now the tax is calculated from 20 rubles. 3 kopecks each, from 30 rubles. for 6‐5 kopecks. etc. This rate is incorrect. Let them impose at least 10 kopecks. from a ruble: you have an income of 20 rubles, pay 10 kopecks, you have 100 rubles. ‐ pay also 10 kopecks. from the ruble. Then it would be interesting to increase the sown area, but now if you increase the sowing, the rates will increase. There is no interest in expanding the cultivated area.
44. Kansk District. November 25. Middle peat village Kucherovka said in a private conversation: “The tax is still unfair because it is not known how much it falls on the village and therefore it is very difficult to accurately identify the objects of taxation, since no one is interested in it. If a given village had a tax check figure, then everyone would try to indicate who and what is hiding, knowing that a particle of the tax will thus be transferred from him to another”.
45. Novosibirsk district. November 30th. Peasant middle peasant village. Toroki of the Kargat region, in a conversation with fellow villagers, said: “The unified agricultural tax has been established incorrectly ‐ along with crops and livestock, workers should also be taxed, because each person can fulfill his own tax, but now it turns out ‐ if he has livestock and does not have labor, then he must cut his livestock. ʺ
46. DCK. November. In with. During the discussion of the current agricultural tax campaign, a number of peasants (exceptionally well‐todo) who spoke in the debate proposed the following draft taxation project in Chernigovka of the Vladivostok District at the Plenum of the Regional Executive Committee. Tax should be levied not on individual farms, but on an entire village or village according to the amount of total plowing, inventory, etc. and to charge the village itself with the distribution of the amount imposed on the village by individual farms, moreover, tax all arable lands, regardless of whether they are sown or not. All peasants who spoke on this issue, in defense of the provisions put forward by them, cited considerations: with this procedure, there will be no conceals, the tax apparatus will be reduced and the economy will be observed.
Similar proposals were put forward in the Sretensky district (2 cases).
Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov
APPENDIX No. 4
BAKERY CAMPAIGN
Delaying bread by wealthy village groups
1. Tambov province. December 13th. (Centre). In Kurdyukovskaya Vol. Tambov u. two well‐to‐do, having stocks of rye, do not export the latter to the market, expecting prices to rise to 2 rubles. for a pood. Similar phenomena take place in the Kirsanovsky district, where some of the wealthy, having reserves of up to 300‐500 poods, refrain from exporting grain to the market.
2. Voronezh province. December 7. In with. Abramovka
Novokhopersky u. the middle peasant, pointing to low prices for bread, said: ʺIf the price were raised, the market would be overwhelmed with bread.ʺ
3. Pervomaisky District. December 15th. (Ukraine). In the Savran region, the export of grain by peasants to the market has decreased by 50% against the beginning of the campaign, which is largely due to low prices for bread.
4. Kremenchug district. December 15th. In the Gorbovsky region, grain procurement carried out by the cooperatives is poor, which is explained by the poor supply from the peasants, who, due to low prices, hold back grain.
5. Lubensky district. December 15th. In the Khorol region, due to low prices, peasants refrain from exporting grain to the market, selling other agricultural products to cover the necessary costs.
6. Kuban District. December 1. (North Caucasus). In the Medvedovsky district, grain procurement is poor. The main holders of grain surpluses are kulaks and the well‐to‐do, who, expecting an increase in the price of bread, as well as a decline in prices for manufactured goods, refrain from exporting bread.
7. In Korenovsky district, it is assumed that the population has a grain surplus of about 2,000,000 poods, and the main holders of the surplus grain are the kulaks and the wealthy, who have up to 80% of all surpluses, the remaining 20% are concentrated among the middle peasants.
8. Stalingrad province. December 15th. (Volga region). In stts. Lukovskaya and Arzhanovskaya of the Khopersk district are wealthy peasants with up to 5000 poods. different grain crops and refraining from selling, declare: “If you sell at the current price, then let the bread lie in the barns, because it does not ask for food, and you will not have to pay tax for it, so there is no need to rush to sell it, we will be able to the farm can manage on another, it is better to sell a couple of bulls, besides, next year you will have to sow less, and therefore pay less tax. ʺ
Demand for lower prices for manufactured goods and higher prices for bread
9. Kursk province. 12 December. (Centre). In the village. Bocharovka
St. Oskol vol. In the same district, two middle peasants said: “The Soviet government is taking bad care of us. Is it right that a pood of rye costs 75 kopecks, and an arshin of chintz 50 kopecks, is it possible for a peasant to live at such a high cost? They come to the village, talk a lot, but in reality they do nothing, now they cannot be trusted. The prices for manufactured goods were not reduced, but they were able to decrease for bread. We will live better only with a decrease in prices for manufactured goods. ʺ
10.Smolensk lips. December 11th. (West). In Vyazemsky, at a meeting of the Khva‐to‐Zavodskaya cell of the Komsomol, a middle peasant hut spoke out. Belogolyshki said: “The goods of urban production are sold at very expensive prices, while our products are too cheap. Why canʹt the authorities set fixed prices for our products as well?
11.Uman District. December 15th. (Ukraine). In with. Poyarkovka Ladyzhensky district middle peasants declare: ʺIf we were well organized, we would take the prices for bread that we would want.ʺ
12.Zaporizhzhya district. December 14. In with. Stepanovka G. Polsky district at the gathering of the poor in his speech said: “The tax this year is large, I have nothing to pay, because there is nothing to sell from the inventory, and the bread is cheap. You need to file a petition with the center for a tax reduction or transfer the tax to the arrears of this year and pay for that year. In addition, we need to raise the question so that the prices for bread were raised and for manufactured goods lowered, because the prices that currently exist for bread speak for the fact that the peasantʹs labor is little appreciated. ʺ Exclamations of approval were heard from those present.
13.In p. Kamenka, Kamensky District, at a general meeting, the middle peasant spoke out: “The cost of manufactured goods must be lowered to the pre‐war level at which bread stands today. The high cost of manufactured goods is explained by the fact that when passing through a number of intermediate links, the latter impose interest in their favor. If the cooperatives directly bought goods from factories, then manufactured goods would be cheaper. ʺ
14.Stalingrad province. December 15th. (Volga region). In ArchadinoChernushinsky vol. prosperous peasants declare: “Let the price of bread be what it is now, but we need to lower the price of manufactory so that a pood of wheat can buy a shirt. We will take bread, just give us goods at a suitable price, otherwise you will carry a cart of bread, and you will not buy anything with the money raised. ʺ
15.Samara province. 12 December. In with. Mikhailovka Red Vol. Buzuluk u. in the building of the village council, the middle peasant spoke out in a conversation: “Why does the government not regulate prices for bread and manufactured goods. Peasants hand over bread: rye for 60‐65 kopecks. pood, wheat 1 rub. ‐ 1 rub. 20 kopecks, and if you buy mittens, they cost 2 rubles. 40 kopecks, and to buy a hat, you need to pay 6 rubles. Nobody disputes that the price of bread is acceptable, but it is necessary to reduce prices for manufactured goods.
16.In p. Art. Malykly Melekessky district the middle peasant said: ʺFor an arshin of calico you need to pay a pood or one and a half poods of bread, the state needs to pay attention to this and lower the prices of goods or raise the prices of bread, otherwise the peasantry is dissatisfied.ʺ
17.Rubtsovsky District. December 10. (Siberia). In the Pospedikhinsky district, at a meeting on re‐election of the board of the K. Mysovsky credit partnership, the middle peasant who spoke said: ʺWe need to file a petition for an increase in the price of bread, otherwise they do not give the price for it as it should.ʺ
18.Chita District. December 4th. (DCK). In with. N. Pavlovka P. Zabaikalsky district middle peasant said in a conversation: “Our goods are very expensive, and bread is very cheap. We need to organize ourselves, elect representatives from all the peasants who would go to the government and tell him that it should lower the prices of goods, bringing them to the pre‐war time, otherwise the peasantry will not give the government bread. ʺ
The attitude of peasants to the campaign to reduce prices for manufactured goods
19.Moscow province. December 28th. (Centre). In Chaplyzhenskaya parish. Bronnitsky u. at a meeting of the VIC, the middle peasant, dwelling on the campaign to reduce prices for manufactured goods, said: “Before the price drop, galoshes cost 3 rubles. 70 kopecks, and now 3 rubles. 90 kopecks, prices for peasant goods are reduced, and prices for urban goods are increased. ʺ
20.December 6. In Yamsko‐Slobodskoy Vol. Kashirsky u. at the extended plenum of the VIC, the middle peasant who spoke on the report of the PEC said: ʺIt is necessary to lower the prices for manufactured products, the ongoing price reduction is completely imperceptible for the peasants.ʺ
21.Oryol province. 9th December. In with. Vorogushino Verkhovskaya parish Novosilsky u. In a private conversation, a well‐to‐do peasant said: ʺHow many congresses do not decide on a reduction in prices for manufactured goods, but all this is not there, and how long will they deceive the peasants with promises.ʺ
22.Ryazan province. December 14. In the village. Medvedevo Kuzminskaya Vol. Ryazan In a conversation, the poor man said: “Urban goods are too expensive, everyone was shouting about a decrease in retail prices, but in reality the opposite is true: boots last year cost 12‐14 rubles, now itʹs already 18‐20 rubles, vegetable oil cost 18‐20 kopecks ... pound, now 33‐34, chintz cost 35 kopecks. meter, now ‐ 40‐45 ‐ hereʹs a reduction in retail prices. ʺ The second poor man, agreeing with him, said: ʺThen the goods will become cheaper, when the managers will carry less into their pockets, the staff of managers, the workersʹ earnings will be reduced, and more workers will be hired for this place, then the goods will be cheaper.ʺ
23.Severo‐Dvinskaya province. December 23rd. (Northwest). In V. Ustyug district, at a ceremonial meeting of the expanded plenum of the Budrinsky village council, a poor man who spoke said: ʺAt every meeting they talk about a reduction in prices for manufacture, for felt and leather shoes, but prices are still not available, where is the price reduction?ʺ
24.Pervomaisky district. December 15th. (Ukraine). In with. N. Vasilyevka of the Bradievsky district middle peasants, discussing the price of bread and manufactured goods, declare: ʺThe authorities talk a lot about the reduction in prices for manufactured goods, but in fact, instead of lowering prices, they are rising.ʺ
25.In p. Strunkovo, Khoshevatsky District, at almost all gatherings, the middle peasants put forward the issue of the discrepancy between prices for bread and manufactured goods. Some of them say that the state deliberately sets low prices for grain in order to pump out more grain. When representatives of the village councils try to talk about a reduction in prices for manufactured goods, in particular for manufactory, the middle peasants declare that there are only rumors and conversations about this, but this is not being carried out.
26.Krasnoyarsk District. December 10. (Siberia). In with. Sedelnikovo of the Sukhobu‐Zimsky district, the middle peasant said: ʺThe decline in prices for manufactured goods is very slow, while prices for bread have been reduced immediately.ʺ
27.Kansk District. December 25. In with. Bayranovka of the Taishet region, a well‐to‐do peasant used to say: “They are pulling our skin off, and even deceiving; the communists said that this year the goods will be cheaper, but in fact they only deceived, as the goods were and remain expensive ”.
Distrust of peasants in the actual development of industry
28.Moscow province. December 18. (Centre). In Serednikovskaya Vol. Egoryevsky u. at the volunteer conference, one of the middle peasants said in his speech: ʺFactories and plants have been restored, but they are overpowering us for goods, but the economy is being restored only on paper.ʺ
29.17 December. In the village. Talitsy Sofyinsky parish Sergievsky u. a well‐to‐do peasant said in a teahouse: “They say that our industry is booming, but life is getting harder and harder. We sell and work for nothing, but if you try to buy something, you will scratch your head. Sledges before the war cost 5 rubles, and now 30‐35 rubles. We work not 8, but all 20 hours. You sell oats in the fall for 90 kopecks. pood, and in the Spring you buy for 3 rubles. All this because many benefits have been given to workers. ʺ
30. Tula province. December 1. In the Aleksinsky district, in separate speeches, peasants point out: “We do not see how you build factories and factories, and therefore we doubt that they are really being built, since with all our achievements we are sitting without vegetable oil, we do not have cheap calico and everything is expensive, but these facts speak for the fact that the country is not getting richer, but poorer. ʺ
31. Odessa district. December 15th. (Ukraine). In the m. Chernovo, Isaevsky district, at a general meeting, after the speaker touched upon the issue of restoring industry and agriculture, there was talk among the peasants present: “All this is nonsense ‐ and factories did not reach the pre‐war time, and the matter is ten times more expensive, yes and that bad one. Agriculture has not risen, for the price that you sell wheat, you will not raise the farm, but just enough to pay off debts, winter will come, you remain bare and bare, because everything is expensive. ʺ
32. Ulyanovsk province. December 18. (Volga region). In with. Uvarovo Noble parish Syzransky u. among the poor and middle peasants, conversations are noted: “Why are there no goods, everywhere they shout that industry has reached 1912, that all factories are working as before the war, but all this is a deception, if factories worked as before the war, then there would be a lot of goods if they are cheap. ʺ
33. Novosibirsk district. November 30th. (Siberia). In with. Morshanki Kargatsky district at the meeting of the VKP cell (there were 24 nonparty peasants) the question was asked: ʺWhat is growing stronger in our country ‐ urban or agricultural products?ʺ, To which the secretary of the cell indicated that ʺurban products are ahead of agricultural products.ʺ A speaker after that, who was present at the meeting of the Presidential Council, said: “With such an answer, you just boggle your head, our urban industry, in any case, does not surpass agriculture, but lags behind many times, here is an example: before a peasant could buy 5 yards of satin for one pood of bread for a shirt, and now for one pood you can buy only one meter. ʺ This performance was supported by the peasants.
34. Zeysky District. December 1. (DCK). In with. Aleksandrova Zeiskiy district at a solemn meeting dedicated to the 9th anniversary of the October Revolution, the peasants who spoke on the report on the internal situation in the USSR expressed: “Although they say that we have reached the pre‐war level in industry, we still do not see this, there are shortcomings all around ‐ poor quality of industrial products ”.
Agitation against the export of grain
35. Tula province. December 8. (Centre). In the village. Rakhleevo, Arsenyevsky district, a well‐to‐do peasant, expressing his dissatisfaction with the discrepancy in prices for bread and manufactured goods, said: “Our agricultural products are taken for nothing, and factory goods are not available to the peasant. We, peasants, need to come to an agreement and not sell any of our products, let the workers die of hunger. ʺ
36. Nikolaev district. December 15th. (Ukraine). In N. Bugsky district, kulaks speak out against the export of grain, declaring:
ʺBread should be held on until spring, when prices rise.ʺ
37. Kharkov district. December 15th. In with. Brothers of the Seninsky district, kulaks and middle peasants, gathering in the village council in the evenings, in conversations say: “Why are the prices for bread too low, and for manufactured products too high. It is necessary to either lower the prices of manufactured goods, or raise the prices of bread. The power seeks to raise industry at the expense of the peasant. If we had organized ourselves and had not taken the bread to the market, then we would have raised our product in price”.
38. Zaporozhye district. December 15th. In with. Svyatodukhovka G [ulyai] ‐Polsky district, a kulak at one of the meetings in a conversation said: “That we Dneprostroy, the peasant does not benefit from it, it would be better if the peasant was given trousers, and then they talked about Dneprostroy, which will also be a burden on peasant, because you need a lot of money to build it, and this is the tax. We, peasants, fools, are trying to sow more, as it were. We need to sow for two years in a row so that the harvest will be sufficient for the personal needs of the peasant, and not give anything to the market, dispensing with the purchase of goods and thereby declaring a boycott of industry. We would have forced then, by virtue of the need to reduce the prices of manufactured goods, otherwise nothing will be done. ʺ
39. In p. The miller of the Orekhovsky district, a well‐to‐do peasant in a group of fellow villagers, said: ʺIf the peasants had not given bread and food to the city, then the Soviet government and the workers would have been forced to lower prices for manufacture.ʺ
40. Rubtsovsky district. December 10. (Siberia). At st. In a conversation with Shipunovo, the middle peasant said: ʺWe, peasants, fools, give our bread almost for nothing and all this because we are not organized, otherwise we would not have given a pound of bread, I suppose then we would have received cheap goods.ʺ
41.25 November. In with. K. Capes of the Pospelikhinsky District, a middle peasant at a credit partnership shop and a Khleboprodukt acceptance point in a group of peasants said: “We have no organization; therefore, the worker is pressing us. The workers, thanks to their organization in the trade unions, work 8 hours. per day and for their labor, they take as much as they want, which is why goods are so expensive. And we, peasants, are not organized, as much as they give for our labor, we take as much. For bread, we set the price not as much as we want, but we are handing it over at this price. If the peasants organized themselves and announced the price of bread at 2 rubles. for a pood, then they would not go anywhere and pay for bread as much as we need, and if they didn’t buy at this price, everyone would take and not carry the bread. It is imperative to organize and perform in an organized manner, then they will understand that we will be reckoned with. ʺ
42. Tulunovsky district. In with. The middle peasant in Kuitun of Kuytun district said in a conversation: ʺWe must wait to sell bread at these prices, they say there will be an increase in price, the receiver of the Bread Product spoke about this, and there are rumors in the village that there will certainly be an increase, since the prices for bread are too lowʺ ...
Agitation for unlimited admission of a private owner to procurement and expansion of freedom of private trade
43. Moscow province. December 17. (Centre). In Ivanovskaya parish. Kashirsky u. at the regional meeting on the report of the VIC, the middle peasant said: ʺIndustrial goods are expensive, they are not available to the peasant, because everything is in the hands of the state, and not in private hands.ʺ
44. Oryol province. 9th December. In with. Zlobino Stanovlya parish Eletsky u. the merchant said: “The Soviet government does not want the peasants to buy goods at cheap prices, but the goods could be provided for the peasants. Now, if the Soviet government had brought a manufactory from abroad, it would have cost 12 kopecks. arshin. The authorities are trying to rip off the peasants and are not interested in lowering prices. ʺ
45. Voronezh province. December 19th. In with. Zaluzhnoe Lisninskaya parish Ostrogozhsky u. the middle peasant said: “Soviet power does not meet the peasant halfway, but, on the contrary, ruins him. She banned the private purchase of grain, organized her own cooperatives, which make money in order to spend them later. Someone will spend 1000‐2000 rubles, spend a year and the end, but 2000 rubles. you wonʹt earn even at 15 years old. We take a sunflower for 1 ruble. 01 kopecks pood, and the cake sells 50 kopecks. pood.
Now, for example, 4 poods of sunflower leaves 1 pood of oil, which costs 6 rubles, and cake 2 rubles, and only 8 rubles, thus making a ruble for a ruble, which private traders never do. They rob a peasant, which is why he becomes poorer. ʺ
46. Leningrad province. December 23rd. (Northwest). In Trotsky u. wellto‐do peasant of the farm at the village. Izvar Sosnitskaya par. in a conversation with the peasants, he said: “In the way that the Soviet power is now holding, you cannot revive the country, but only ruin it worse. The Soviet government wants to build socialism through cooperation, and now there will be nothing but ruin from this, since we see that everywhere, starting with the lowest cooperative organizations and ending with the central ones, continuous waste will be injected. All this rests on the shoulders of the state and the people, so we need to give more opportunities to develop private trade, then it will be easier for us, the peasants. There is no benefit to us from cooperation, all the same we have to travel 10 miles to the station because of 5 pounds, kerosene and a pound of oil. To buy Volosovo there, again, not in a cooperative, but from a private merchant. There are no such products in cooperation,
47. Novgorod province. December 15th. In the village. Perovshchina Moiseevskaya parish. Demyansky u. peasant der. Polenovshchina said in a conversation: “The accursed Soviet government does not allow private trade to run, everything is trying to strangle it, and plant its own cooperatives. In private trade, the goods were cheaper. For example, under tsarism, iron cost 4 kopecks, but now go buy it for that price. The authorities are all mazuriks and hooligans, they just pay their salaries.
ʺ
48. Zaporizhzhya district. December 15th. (Ukraine). In the Svyatodukhovsky EPO G [ulyai] ‐Polsky district, the middle peasant said in a conversation: “If every village was given without any restrictions the right to privately send its products abroad in exchange for goods, it would be better, but now hand over the bread to the cooperatives, and you they will give a bad product and, moreover, an expensive one, but you go to a private trader, he has any good and good quality ”.
49. Samara province. December 26. (Volga region). In with. M. Tolkay Poludnensky vol. Buguruslansky district the merchant agitates:
“Why does the state not allow private procurers to buy grain from the peasants? It would be profitable for both the state and the peasants. One mockery of the peasants ‐ give your bread for a pittance, but wait for whole days, or even weeks, in lines at the cooperatives and government agencies. They would have allowed a private buyer, but this is not done on purpose, so that the peasant cannot get rich. ʺ
50. Ulyanovsk province. December 18. In with. Russian Temiryazan of Syzran district the former trader agitates: ʺIf the Soviet government allowed private traders to import goods from abroad, then a private trader would fill up the peasants with these goods and sell these goods cheaper than Soviet factories.ʺ
Antagonism towards the city and the demand to cut wages and lengthen the working day for workers and employees
51. Ryazan province. December 24. (Centre). In with. Dyakonovo Ryazan district the middle peasant, in a conversation on the ongoing campaign to reduce prices, said: “They will never reduce prices, and if they do, then first prices for agricultural products, then for urban ones. They would have lowered the rates for administrative and economic personnel and workers, but would have reduced their staff, then the prices for urban goods would sooner fall. They do not talk about it, but want to lower prices at the expense of the raw materials that the peasants have”.
52.14 December. In with. Chesuevo Kuzminskaya Vol. Ryazan the poor man said: “Everywhere peasants live worse than the worker, who receives a higher salary, is well fed, shod and dressed. The authorities are doing wrong, they would not be 200 rubles. paid the worker, and 50 rubles, for the rest 150 rubles. I would have kept three more and the product would have been more and it would have been cheaper, so that everyone would live well. ʺ
53. Moscow province. December 22. In Yaropolskaya
Vol. Volokolamsky u. at a volunteer conference, a well‐to‐do peasant said: ʺBefore the peasants lived better, now the workers are to blame for everything, if they do not improve our situation, then we will beat the workers.ʺ
54.December 28. In Serednikovskaya Vol. Egoryevsky u. A poor man who spoke at a volunteer conference said: “The workers were given factories, but the peasants were pulled on their noses; before there were capitalists under the tsar, but now large organizations are replacing the capitalists. ʺ
55. Voronezh province. December 14. In with. Ilovka Ostrogozhsky u. in connection with the discrepancy in prices, conversations are noted: ʺIf the peasants were in power, then it would be better, otherwise there are workers and office workers who care only about themselves, and they do not care at all about the peasants.ʺ
56. Peasant middle peasant s. Brodovoy Annenskaya parish. Bobrovsky u. said: “The prices for urban goods in comparison with pre‐revolutionary times have increased by no less than 100%; This is explained by the fact that the state pays very large salaries to workers and employees. It is necessary for the workers to lower the rates, from this the goods will be cheaper and the price of bread will rise”.
57. Tambov province. December 10. In with. Robinovka Inokovskaya Vol. Kirsanovsky u. the middle peasant said in a private conversation: ʺWhy does the Soviet government not make an equalization between peasants and workers, since the workers receive good salaries, it would be necessary to reduce their salaries and use this money for another matter.ʺ
58. Kursk province. 12 December. In the Polyansky village council of Alekseevskaya vol. Belgorodsky u. the middle peasant said: “The Soviet government and the party sharply separated the workers from the peasants. The peasant product is put into nothing, but the manufactured goods are very expensive and the authorities seem not to notice this situation. If this continues, we will not give anyone bread, although we ourselves will bear the need. ʺ
59. Zaporozhye district. December 1. (Ukraine). In with. Kopani, Orekhovsky District, a kulak at a gathering in a group of fellow villagers said: “Workers and office employees receive a lot of salary and impose high prices on manufactured goods, while prices for peasant products are reduced. In my opinion, prices can only be regulated by increasing the working day in factories to 12:00, which will increase the production of manufactured goods. ʺ
60. In p. Basan, Pologovsky District, at a meeting dedicated to the 9th anniversary of the October Revolution, the middle peasant who spoke said: “The workers receive good salaries, have labor protection, and so on. It is necessary to reduce the wages of workers, because this will lead to a decrease in the value of goods. At the same meeting, two middle peasants said: ʺWhat would happen if we put the workers ʹand peasantsʹ rations on the scales, I wonder which of them would win.ʺ
61. Ulyanovsk province. December 15th. (Volga region). In with. Kuzovatov of the Syzran district, discussing the rates of specialists, some of the peasants declare: “They used to live in luxury and now they live the same way. Why does the Soviet government pay them such a large salary, but here the children of the peasants remain illiterate for lack of schools. The state could lower their salaries, and give this money to support the poor and to educate. ʺ
62. Saratov province. December 17. In with. Side Yagodno‐Polyanskaya Vol. Saratov u. the middle peasant in conversation, pointing to the high rates of the workers, said: “All this is because there are no peasants in the composition of the rulers. The workers set prices and therefore it is impossible to raise agriculture, since in the fall the grain is 60 kopecks, and in the spring it is 1 ruble. 50 kopecks pood. With the increase in wages to workers and employees, the prices of manufactured goods rise and the exploitation of peasants goes on. ʺ
63. Novosibirsk district. December 10. (Siberia). At the meeting of shareholders of the Alekseevskaya consumer cooperation ʺPlowmanʺ, a well‐to‐do peasant from the village Orlovsky said: “We need to set a goal and achieve by all means a reduction in the price of goods for workersʹ production. We peasants need to organize ourselves in order to increase the value of our products and reduce the wages of workers. As for the specialists, the question must be put directly ‐ he wants to work for 40 rubles, at most for 50, work, but he does not want to, it is not necessary, you need to remove such people from work, down with the bourgeoisie, we will work ourselves, since all this salary to workers and specialists is yoke to the peasant ʺ.
Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov
APPENDIX No. 5 Elections of Cooperative Board