167. To V. P. NOGIN AND N. P. BRYUKHANOV
1) Comrade Nogin, Central Textile Administration
2) Comrade Bryukhanov, People’s Commissariat for Food
19/V.
Rakovsky phoned to complain that the promised piecegoods are not being supplied. He says that in Nikolayev the peasants are willing to exchange grain for piece-goods. Please phone at once to clear up everything, apart from official inquiry, and have them get on with it, sending, me the names of the persons responsible both at the People’s Commissariat ,for Food and at the Central Textile Administration. Who is responsible for the shipment of the piecegoods? This is a disgraceful and criminal delay.[1]
Lenin
Notes
[1] V. P. Nogin and B. P. Pozern reported that even before the C.L.D. decision, Trekhgornaya Textile Mill had been ordered to prepare two million arshins of piece-goods for shipment to the Ukraine, but that the People’s Commissariat for Food had failed to supply the packing material.
On May 23, having obtained from V. I. Velman, who was responsible for the Central Textile Administration, detailed explanations for reasons of the delay, Lenin, wrote to V. A. Smolyaninov: “Look into this and check up. 23/V. Lenin” (Central Party Archives of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the C.P.S.U. Central Committee). On May 31, Lenin demanded that the strictest supervision should be established over the most rapid movement by rail of the piece-goods sent to the Ukraine (see this volume, Document 184).