Towards the XXVII Congress of the CPSU
The research of historians, philosophers, lawyers, sociologists and others is devoted to revealing the role of V. I. Lenin in the formation of the socialist discipline.1 The authors of this essay set out to show the role of Lenin in the formation of state discipline in government bodies and to do this with the help of Lenin's own statements, memoirs of his contemporaries and associates.
State discipline, according to Lenin , is a part of the general socialist discipline, the discipline of voluntary, conscious, self-discipline. It includes the precise, precise, and competent performance by each Soviet employee of the duties assigned to him, the execution of decisions of party and state bodies, and their implementation in practical everyday work, i.e., it includes as its constituent elements the requirements of legality, efficiency, discipline, and competence in resolving all issues.
At the All-Union Scientific and Practical Conference "Improvement of developed socialism and the ideological work of the Party in the light of the decisions of the June 1983 Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU", it was emphasized that "in the activities of party organizations, state, Soviet and economic bodies, a realistic, sober and creative approach to business, irreconcilability to shortcomings are becoming more firmly established. The party's struggle for the universal establishment of order, organization, discipline, and increasing the responsibility of cadres at all levels of government received universal approval. " 2 However, there are still a lot of problems, and in solving them, we constantly turn to Lenin's theoretical heritage, the invaluable experience of his practical state work.
To govern the country, even before the victory of the socialist revolution, V. D. Bonch-Bruevich recalled, Lenin developed a plan to create People's commissariats headed by People's Commissars, whose collegium - the Council of People's Commissars - was to have full power. The Congress of Soviets and the Central Executive Committee were given the right to control its activities and remove commissars .3 These ideas were reflected in the resolution of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets "On the formation of a workers' and Peasants 'Government" .4 "At a time when revolutions were still taking place in the streets of Petrograd and Moscow.-
1 The role of V. I. Lenin in the formation and development of Soviet legislation, Moscow, 1969; Barabash A. T. Voprosy trudovoy discipliny v trudakh V. I. Lenin. In: Voprosy gosudarstva i prava [Questions of State and Law]. Collection of articles, Moscow, 1970; Pashkov A. S. Lenin's teaching on the socialist organization of labor and its reflection in legislation. In: Lenin on Labor and Law, L. 1970; Shlyapochnikov A.V. I. Lenin: connecting democracy with the iron discipline of labor. - Sotsialisticheskiy trud, 1970, No. 1; Abramov A. A. Leninist regulations on labor discipline and new legislation. Sovetskoe, gosudarstvo i pravo, 1973, No. 4; Lebedev V. M. V. I. Lenin o stimulirovanii sotsialisticheskoi discipliniia truda [On the promotion of socialist labor discipline]. In: Voprosy gosudarstva i prava [Questions of State and Law]. Tomsk. 1974; Nosach V. I., Kotelenets E. A. V. I. Lenin and the formation of the socialist discipline of labor. Moscow, 1982; et al.
2 Improvement of developed socialism and the ideological work of the Party in the light of the decisions of the June 1983 Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Proceedings of the All-Union Scientific and Practical Conference, Moscow, December 10-11, 1984, Moscow, 1985, p. 8.
3 Bonch-Bruevich V. D. Memoirs of Lenin. Ed. 2-E. M. 1969, p. 129.
4 SU RSFSR, 1917, N 1, art.
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Vladimir Ilyich was already organizing the government with all his energy... The issue of creating an office of the Council of People's Commissars was also on the agenda. " 5 With the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution, a new type of administration, a new type of organization of the working people, began to take shape, making them, in Lenin's words, "a legislator, a performer, a military guard," and "an apparatus that can re-educate the masses." 6 Work has begun on the selection of personnel for central and local government agencies. "What elements do we have for creating this (state-owned enterprise)? - Author) of the device?" Lenin asked and answered: "Only two. First, the workers who are passionate about the struggle for socialism. These elements are not sufficiently enlightened. They would like to give us a better machine. But they don't know how to do it. They can't do that. They have not yet developed the kind of development, the culture that is necessary for this... Secondly, elements of knowledge, education, and training " 7 .
It was these two elements that helped form the backbone of the personnel of the Soviet state apparatus. The Party, headed by Lenin, boldly promoted professional revolutionaries, advanced workers, and those members of the intelligentsia who had entered the service of the proletariat to leadership positions. "Now the' master 'is the workers' and peasants 'state, and it must set out broadly, systematically, systematically and openly to select the best economic construction workers, administrators and organizers on a special and general scale, local and national," stressed the leader of the socialist revolution .8 In fact, the claim of bourgeois theorists that only capitalists, nobles, and bureaucrats can govern the state was refuted.
By January-February 1918, the old ministries and departments were liquidated, the system of People's commissariats was formed as a whole, and the main staff of their employees was selected. In March, the sabotage of the old bureaucracy was eased. Many specialists began to be assigned to work in various Soviet institutions. In the spring of 1919, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee stated that the efforts of the workers and peasants who came to power in October 1917 had destroyed the old bourgeois-bureaucratic apparatus and created a new, workers 'and peasants' Soviet apparatus. 9
A. M. Anikst, a member of the board of the People's Commissariat of Labor, recalled how Lenin tried to introduce new cadres of workers to the complex state work, who previously had no idea about it. "When Vladimir Ilyich wrote and spoke about the need to gradually draw new layers of workers and party members into this work ,we found an indissoluble connection in these speeches of Ilyich with what he was carrying out practically." 10 Lenin paid the closest attention to the selection of leading workers, since "the leader is responsible not only for how he leads, but also for what those who are led by him do."11
The Central Committee of the CPSU still attaches great importance to personnel policy issues. The novelty and complexity of the tasks that are being solved in the process of improving developed socialism, the increased level of education and culture of the people make increased demands on personnel, on their business and ideological and moral appearance. This makes it necessary to constantly improve the selection, placement and education of cadres based on strict adherence to Lenin's principles, to improve their business and party-political training, and to "decisively increase the responsibility of cadres for the cause"12 . Cadres were and still are the decisive link in the party's leadership.
5 Gorbunov N. P. How the working apparatus of the Council of People's Commissars was created in the October days. In: Memoirs of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (further: Memoirs of V. I. Lenin). In 5 vols. Ed. 3-E. T. Z. M. 1984, p. 44.
6 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 36, p. 51.
7 Ibid., vol. 45, pp. 390-391.
8 Ibid., vol. 43, p. 280.
9 SU RSFSR, 1919, N 12, Article 122.
10 Anikst A.M. Lenin at state work (based on personal impressions). - Voprosy truda, 1925, N 1, p. 7.
11 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 42, p. 218.
12 Pravda, 9. IV. 1985; Kommunist, 1985, N 4, p. 27 sl.
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Lenin attached great importance to the competence of managerial personnel. "One must fully and accurately know all the conditions of production," he taught, know the technique of this production at its current level, and have the necessary education .13 These words of Lenin have not lost their relevance even today, when the party puts forward the task of providing a systematic analysis of the state of affairs in the economy of each region, each enterprise, and a qualified continuous search for the optimal solution of urgent problems .14 In his practical work, Lenin constantly demonstrated a truly scientific approach to solving the issues discussed by the government, attracting specialists who could help to understand the subtleties of each case. Public administration, he emphasized, requires people who know management techniques and "have state and economic experience." 15 Thus, Lenin supports the proposal of the Chairman of the Small Council of People's Commissars A. S. Kiselyov to change the working procedure of the secretariat of this body, talks with him about the need to improve the skills of some employees of the Small Council of People's Commissars, as well as to add three new staff: an economist, a lawyer and an engineer. 16
Lenin justified the need for a combination of collegiality and unity of command in Soviet public administration, rejected the prevailing ideas about the conflict between centralism and democracy, and proved that the process of collective labor cannot remain without clear leadership, without a precise definition of the responsibility of the leader, without the strictest order created by the unity of his will. : "Discussion is shared, and responsibility is individual" 18 . Unity of command, which requires the concentration of all management threads in the hands of the manager and the imposition of personal responsibility for the assigned task on him, eliminates depersonalization, disorganization and indiscipline in work, and requires subordination to the manager. "In any case and in all circumstances without exception, collegiality should be accompanied by the most precise determination of the personal responsibility of each person for a precisely defined case. Irresponsibility, which is covered up by references to collegiality, is the most dangerous evil that threatens everyone who does not have very extensive experience in business collegial work. " 19
Personal responsibility and precise execution by People's Commissars and other senior officials of the decisions of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars were considered by Lenin as an indispensable condition for the precise work of the state apparatus: "If we conscientiously teach discipline to the workers and peasants, then we must start with ourselves."20 He wrote to G. M. Krzhizhanovsky: "There is no doubt that the administrative side of the work is not set in the State Planning Committee. The personal responsibility of each member of the State Planning Committee for such (important) functions is not established. Not distributed among the members of the State Planning Committee is the work of "general supervision" of the implementation of the plan, without which all = 0 " 21 . "Every Soviet collegium and every Soviet institution, without any exception," Lenin emphasized, " must immediately: first, adopt a resolution on the exact distribution of work and responsibility among all members of the collegium or officials; second, determine with the utmost precision the responsibility of those persons who perform certain functions. assignments of any kind 22 .
Lenin was intolerant of the facts of mismanagement and irresponsible attitude to business. This is a typical case. After the publication in Izvestia of V. A. Mikhels 'note" Beggarly Billionaires", which cited serious facts of mismanagement and lack of control in the operation of state warehouses, resulting in large material losses, Lenin sent letters to the Chairman of the State Duma.-
13 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 40, p. 215.
14 Pravda, 16. XI. 1984.
15 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 40, e. 253.
16 Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Biographical chronicle (further: V. I. Lenin. Biochronics). Vol. 12, p. 426.
17 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 36, p. 157.
18 Ibid., vol. 44, p. 165.
19 Ibid., vol. 39, p. 46.
20 Ibid., vol. 50, p. 63.
21 Ibid., vol. 54, p. 179.
22 Ibid., vol. 37, p. 365.
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The Chairman of the Supreme Council of People's Commissars, the People's Commissar of Justice, the Deputy People's Commissar of the RKI and the Deputy Chairman of the Cheka are invited to verify these facts, take immediate measures to register and store property, and bring the perpetrators to the strictest responsibility 23 .
Lenin sharply opposed any facts of slowness, carelessness in work, hindering the solution of issues. Thus, on April 24, 1918, he signed a statement of the SNK Affairs Department to the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee regarding the late transfer of letters and packages addressed to the SNK by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee registry, and asked for an order to eliminate shortcomings in the work of 24 . On August 16, 1918, Lenin issued a "severe reprimand" to the Secretary of the Council of People's Commissars N. P. Gorbunov and his assistant Yu. P. Sergeeva for the absolutely unacceptable, unheard-of delay in sending the document and warned that if such violations were repeated, they would be dismissed .25 In September 1921, according to Lenin's instructions, an order was issued to manage the affairs of the Council of People's Commissars on the procedure for sending documents and packages, while L. A. Fotieva was asked to create a special book of instructions from Vladimir Ilyich and oblige all secretaries and telephone operators to enter all his instructions there at night, indicating who accepted this order, as well as a mark of execution. L. A. Fotieva was responsible for the urgent delivery of packages and the execution of instructions .26 Lenin considered it necessary to bring unscrupulous workers to justice both in the party and in the Soviet order. Sometimes he demanded "the most severe punishments" 27, "to find the guilty","to punish the guilty" 28 . At the same time, he stressed that it is impossible to approach different people with the same standard. I. Y. Radchenko, Deputy People's Commissar and member of the Board of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Trade in 1921-1922, recalls: "His tact, attentiveness, carefulness, his comradely help in any difficulty encouraged even weak, sluggish, insecure employees... He affected all of us with all his powerful, multi-faceted personality, so that all of us, ordinary workers, bravely went into a fight with all sorts of "objective reasons", fought them to glory and-won. " 29
Lenin considered "the degree of actual and immediate execution" of all the affairs that pass through an institution to be a true measure of the productivity of the institution's labor. Without accurate implementation of the decisions made, the state machine will be idle. The development of the relevant decree, resolution, decision only begins the management process. Lenin emphasized that any good resolution adopted at the highest level can remain a piece of paper if it is not enforced. He has repeatedly warned against the fascination with the publication of legislative acts. "Do not abuse the decrees (the' streak of propaganda with decrees ' passed)," he taught. "Not in institutions, not in reorganizations, not in new decrees, but in people and in checking the implementation"; and again: "The main thing, in my opinion, is to shift the center of gravity from the writing of decrees and regulations. orders... on the choice of people and verification of execution "32. He considered "practicality and efficiency of organizational work"to be the primary and most important task .32 "Tov. Belov! I agree with you in the idea, " Lenin wrote. - Move it practically, i.e. give a draft resolution (maybe it's better this way: pick it up firstindividuals, and then the draft resolution) " 33 .
Lenin assigned a major role to day-to-day monitoring of the implementation of decisions taken. On January 24, 1922, he wrote to A. D. Tsyurupa, then Deputy Chairman of the SNK and SRT, People's Commissar of the RKI: "Performance check, maintenance check-
23 Ibid., vol. 53, pp. 196-197.
24 V. I. Lenin. Biochronika, vol. 5, p. 404.
25 Ibid., vol. 6, p. 61.
26 Ibid., T. I, p. 368.
27 Lenin V. I. T. 54, pp. 156,160.
28 Ibid., p. 159.
29 Radchenko I. I. Lenin-leader on the economic front. In: Memoirs of V. I. Lenin. Ed. 2-E. T. 4. Moscow, 1979, p. 72.
30 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 54, p. 102.
31 Ibid., vol. 45, pp. 414, 417; vol. 44, pp. 368-369.
32 Ibid., vol. 36, p. 159.
33 Ibid., vol. 54, p. 42.
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go, what comes out in practice-this is your main and main task" and added: we must strive to "reduce paperwork, red tape, more reflection, more responsibility of the People's Commissars, replace hastily written decrees with careful, long-term, business-like verification of execution and testing of experience, establishing personal responsibility... - - - and, most importantly, focus yourself on checking the execution, on combating red tape and red tape"34 . Lenin demanded "to establish and strictly enforce that at least two hours a week each deputy "sinks to the bottom", devoting to personal study the most diverse, both upper and lower, parts of the apparatus, and the most unexpected ones at that. " 35
Attaching great importance to proper control over the activities of various state bodies and institutions, Lenin constantly kept in view the work on reorganizing the People's Commissariat of State Control into the People's Commissariat of Workers 'and Peasants' Inspection, 36 he reviewed all the draft provisions on the Tax Code of the Russian Orthodox Church, made his comments, and made suggestions aimed at improving the effectiveness of control by involving the broad masses of working people in the inspection - workers and peasants, sought to rework project 37 . In the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on the NK REI adopted on March 16, 1922, all Lenin's proposals were implemented .38
The requirements concerning the organization of the work of the state apparatus as a whole were directly and directly embodied in Lenin's practical activities in leading the Council of People's Commissars, and later the Council of Labor and Defense. It was here that the outstanding organizational talent of the leader was manifested. Lenin's most important requirement for organizing the work of the Council of People's Commissars was a precise definition of its competence. Lenin well understood the importance of strict regulation of the functions of the central organs of the Soviet state, the accountability and control of the Council of People's Commissars to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. Defending the need for a clear distinction between the rights of various state bodies, Lenin always objected to the intrusion of one body into the limits of the powers of another, and did not allow any exceptions to this rule, including for himself as the Chairman of the Council of Europe. "In view of the fact that this issue (about the issue of manufacturing rations to representatives of the Danilovskaya manufactory. - Auth. It was decided by the Presidium of the Central Election Commission, which is constitutionally higher than the Council of People's Commissars, and neither I, as the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, nor the Council of People's Commissars have the right to change the decision, " he pointed out. 39 Similarly, Lenin defended non-interference in the affairs of other bodies subordinate to the Council of People's Commissars, including the Cheka. For example, on August 9, 1921, he wrote a letter to a member of the Cheka board G. I. Bokii in connection with the arrest of Gokhran appraiser J. S. Shelekhes: "Mixing a request from the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars with a petition, hassle, or pressure is erroneous." 40
Lenin attached great importance to the so-called procedural aspects of the work of the Council of People's Commissars, such as the procedure for putting certain issues for discussion by the government, the process of their consideration in this body, the procedure for voting on the draft, etc. 41. On June 26, 1918, while reviewing the agenda of the Council of People's Commissars, Lenin reprimanded Secretary E. K. Koksharova for having received a written explanation from N. P. Gorbunov, he writes a note to the secretaries of the Council of People's Commissars with a categorical demand to comply with the decision of the Council of People's Commissars of December 18 (31), 1917 on the procedure for including issues in the agenda of the meeting of the Council of People's Commissars; recalls that they must include issues on the agenda if there are signatures of speakers or persons submitting the issue; requires all secretaries to sign the following documents:-
34 Ibid., vol. 44, pp. 364, 365, 366.
35 Ibid., vol. 45, p. 329.
36 TsGAOR USSR, f. 1235, op. 93, d: 160, l. 12; op. 95, d. 2, ll. 7-9; op. 95, d. 159, ll. 1-2, 34-35.
37 Lenin's Collection XXXV, pp. 324-329; Izvestiya VTsIK, 2. I. 1921.
38 Izvestiya VTsIK, 24. III. 1922.
39 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 50, p. 261.
40 V. I. Lenin. Biochronika, vol. 11, pp. 178-179.
41 For more information, see: Iroshnikov M. P. Lenin leads the meeting. - Voprosy istorii, 1981, N 3.
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Please note that you have read its instructions 42 . Bonch-Bruevich testifies that Lenin demanded that every report to the Council of People's Commissars should be presented "extremely simply, clearly and concisely, without any assumptions, conclusions that are not based on facts"; that it should indicate "only what is real, what can be quickly proved, what is exactly so, and not otherwise we must do what needs to be implemented immediately, which corresponds to the general direction previously given to the directives. " 43
Lenin was very demanding in his assessment of every draft decree or decree discussed in the Council of People's Commissars. Sometimes, when making proposals for issuing a decree, he entrusted the preparation of a draft to a People's Commissariat of People's Commissars and personally or through employees of the Council of People's Commissars ' Office monitored how the work was being carried out. Thus, at the end of 1921, N. P. Gorbunov wrote to the People's Commissar of Justice D. I. Kursky: "On December 12, I asked you in accordance with the instructions of com. Lenin should be instructed to work out a draft resolution of the Council of People's Commissars on the procedure for replacing lost documents, mandates, passes, etc. Due to the fact that 1.5 weeks have already passed, I ask you to speed up sending the developed project for inclusion in the ICSC " 44 . A "raw", unfinished project was returned to its drafters 45 . For example, having considered on December 13, 1917, two draft decrees on speculation and the fight against counter-revolution, the Council of People's Commissars decided: "In view of the lack of development of the submitted projects, hand them over to T. Bonch-Bruevich for handing them to the author. Ask the author of these drafts to review them together with the Commissariat of Justice and submit them to the Council of People's Commissars on Tuesday " 46 .
Lenin, in his conversations, reports, and negotiations over city and long-distance telephones, direct wires, and telegraphs, and in the vast number of letters, relays, telegrams, and dispatches, "was always laconically brief, precise, and clear, and demanded the same of his closest collaborators... If a written report was submitted to him, he always considered it correctly done when he did not find anything superfluous in it, no vagueness, no phrases that adorn the presentation, but only one clear case with practical conclusions"47 . According to the memoirs of A. G. Goichbarg, a member of the board of the People's Commissariat of Justice, Lenin "entered into the details and smallest projects. He, approving the resolutions of the Small Council of People's Commissars,.. I never missed anything obscure, incomprehensible to the broadest masses,.. I always first of all inquired about the viability of the relevant projects, what they would lead to in practice, what they would cost, how they would affect certain not only mass, but also individual phenomena. " 48 A carelessly drawn up decree containing inaccurate wording, or an insufficiently justified decree can disorganize the work, cause disruptions in execution. A.V. Lunacharsky wrote about Lenin: "A lawyer by training, he retained the deepest interest in this case... He had a penchant for legal language, and Vladimir Ilyich was a master of it. He treated this or that legal formula as a real scientific value, as a great acquisition of intelligence. " 49
Lenin strongly opposed the desire of some People's Commissars to submit to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee or the People's Commissariat of People's Commissars those issues that they could solve with their power. According to the memoirs of N. P. Gorbunov, already at the second meeting of the Council of People's Commissars, Lenin sent a number of rather serious cases for resolution to the relevant departments.-
42 V. I. Lenin. Biochronika, vol. 5, p. 572.
43 Bonch-Bruevich V. D. How Vladimir Ilyich Lenin worked. - Pioneer, 1928, N 2.
44 TsGAOR USSR, f. 353, op. 5, d. 4A, l. 174.
45 For more details, see; Antonova L. I. Organizational forms of law-making activity of the Council of People's Commissars (1917-1922). - Izvestiya vysshikh uchebnykh zavedeniy, Pravovedenie, 1968, N 3, p. 96 el.; ee. V. I. Lenin ob organizatsionnykh formakh pravotvorchestva. - Ibid., 1970, N 2, p. 51sl.
46 TsGAOR USSR, f. 130, op. 1, d. 2, l. 40 vol.
47 Bonch-Bruevich V. D. How Vladimir Ilyich Lenin worked, pp. 8-9.
48 Goikhbarg A. G. V. I. Lenin and Soviet Law. - Soviet Law, 1924, N 2 (8), p. 3.
49 Lunacharsky A. V. Lenin as a scientist and publicist. In: Man of the New World. Moscow, 1980, pp. 74-75.
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you are 50 . On September 14, 1921, the decree of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee "On the procedure for submitting draft Decrees and Resolutions to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee by individual People's Commissariats" 51 assigned responsibility to heads of departments for the quality of preparation of drafts submitted for approval by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissariats. Lenin personally supervised the implementation of the established procedure, believing that " each People's Commissar in his own People's Commissariat is responsible for the thoughtfulness and completeness of questions on reports and for the correctness of editing questions."52 . On January 23, 1922, L. A. Fotieva, on Lenin's instructions, sent N. P. Gorbunov, V. A. Smolyaninov, Assistant Manager of the SRT affairs, to the Small Council of People's Commissars and all departments reports on the need to reduce the duration of meetings of the SNK and SRT to include in the agenda only well-prepared issues and those that cannot be resolved in a departmental manner 53 .
Lenin always strictly observed the procedure for submitting draft decrees for consideration by the highest bodies of State power and administration. On December 21, 1921, Smolyaninov, on Lenin's instructions, submits to the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars on electrification of Russia adopted on that day, asks it to be approved at a meeting of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and submitted for consideration to the IX All-Russian Congress of Soviets. At the same time, the specified resolution of the Council of People's Commissars is sent to the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP(b)54 . Having drawn up a draft resolution of the Ninth Congress on economic work, Lenin considers it necessary to ask also the relevant People's Commissars and members of the Politburo of the Central Committee .55
G. M. Leplevsky, who in 1921-1923 was first a member and then for some time chairman of the Small Council of People's Commissars, recalled that Lenin opened the meetings of the Council of People's Commissars exactly at the appointed time, on the minute: "In two years, I do not remember a single case when the meeting was opened even with the slightest delay. Meetings were opened with any number of people present, which, of course, obliged all members of the Council of People's Commissars to appear exactly at the appointed hour. " 56 I. S. Unshlikht, deputy chairman of the Cheka in the early 20s, said: "When I was present at the meetings of the Council of People's Commissars and the SRT, I saw how Vladimir Ilyich, by his authority, managed to discipline the members of the government present, what silence reigned, with what fascinating attention everyone listened to him, and I was amazed at the virtuosity with which he conducted the meetings."57
All those who attended the meetings of the Council of People's Commissars or the SRT held under Lenin's leadership had unforgettable impressions. Here is another piece of evidence. "When making reports and discussing various issues, Vladimir Ilyich strictly demanded from the speakers, first of all, knowledge of the case, brevity and clarity of presentation," recalls P. A. Kuzko, a member of the Board of the People's Commissariat of Food. - Precise time limits have been set for the speaker and speakers in the debate... If one of the speakers got carried away and delayed his speech, Vladimir Ilyich would take his watch from the table about two minutes before the time allotted to the speaker expired, throw it with his unique gesture on the palm of his hand, and, holding the watch by the chain, raise his palm, turning the dial of the watch towards the speaker, thereby delicately reminding that his time was running out. " 58 .
In many notes addressed to the secretaries of the Council of People's Commissars, Lenin indicated the time assigned to them for the reception of various persons, and asked them to arrange a meeting with them in advance.-
50 Gorbunov N. How the working apparatus of the Council of People's Commissars was created in the October days, p. 50.
51 SU RSFSR, 1921, N 64, article 476.
52 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 53, p. 2.
53 V. I. Lenin. Biochronika, vol. 12, p. 139.
54 TsGAOR USSR, f. 1235, op. 8, d. 5, ll. 88, 93.
55 Ibid., d. 6, l. 87.
56 Leplevsky G. On the work of V. I. Lenin in the Council of People's Commissars in 1921-1922. In: Memoirs of V. I. Lenin, vol. 4, p. 135.
57 Unshlikht I. S. About Vladimir Ilyich. - Ibid., p. 86.
58 Kuzko P. A. The struggle for bread. In: Eternally alive. Memoirs of contemporaries about Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Moscow, 1965, p. 155.
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she's 59 . "Lenin was very attentive to the reception of visitors and demanded the same attitude from every employee. If he made an appointment for someone and found out in the morning that he could not receive a friend at the appointed hour, then he personally (and not through the secretary) called the friend and said that he could not receive him at the set hour, and agreed on the time when he would be able to receive him."60
According to L. A. Fotieva, Lenin " brought up a firm discipline in Soviet workers and did not miss a single case of its violation that became known to him... Lenin especially strictly demanded discipline and legality from Communists and responsible workers, punishing them for every violation, regardless of the position held by the guilty person. " 61
Lenin's activities at the head of the SNK and SRT can serve as a model for effective day-to-day control over the work of both the People's commissariats and other higher institutions of the republic, as well as individual officials, even technical executors and secretaries. "The strict requirement of careful, conscientious work, which Vladimir Ilyich made primarily for himself, he also made for others," noted M. I. Ulyanova. - In this he was helped by the performance check, in which, along with the selection of personnel, he saw the "nail of the question" 62. "Sometimes they came to Vladimir Ilyich to complain about the failure of departments to comply with the decisions of the SRT and the Council of People's Commissars,"writes A.M. Anikst," then Vladimir Ilyich immediately took up the "execution check". He personally called the relevant comrades or appointed commissions for verification. " 63
In 1921-1922, the Council of People's Commissars developed a clear system for checking the execution of resolutions. Each resolution was recorded on a special card, on which a note was made about its implementation. At the same time, Lenin demanded "to fill out the card with the strictest accuracy, to the point of pedantry strictly"64 . On his recommendation, the Council of People's Commissars and each People's Commissariat were assigned special persons responsible for checking the execution. On May 15, 1922, Lenin, after checking the work of A. I. Ulrikh, an employee of the SNK and OTO secretariat, who is required to fill out control cards, writes a letter to Smolyaninov, in which he points out "a huge mess" in this work; puts him and the assistant manager of the SRT affairs B. G. Zaks in appearance with a warning that next time more severe measures will be applied. a strict penalty measure; demands that this work be carried out accurately; emphasizes that the verification of the implementation of decisions of the Council of People's Commissars and Service Stations should be carried out "with the most meticulous accuracy" 65 .
Lenin attached particular importance to meeting the deadlines for submitting reports to the Council of People's Commissars and Service Stations. In 1921, a telegram was sent under his signature to all economic councils (and a copy to the State Bureau) in connection with the violation by local economic councils of the deadlines for submitting reports to the SRT, established by the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of June 30, 1921. In it, in particular, it was stated: "I put on the appearance of inaccuracy, procrastination and demand timely submission to the deadline. Immediately inform the SRT of the names, surnames and official positions of those responsible for timely preparation and submission of reports. Send the same order to the counties. " 66
"When reporting to the Council of People's Commissars on the performance of any task," recalls Ya.I. Gindin, then head of the Department of the People's Commissariat of Labor, a member of the Small Council of People's Commissars, " Vladimir Ilyich did not recognize any obstacles, demanding to overcome all difficulties. Especially when they indicated that they were from a particular province or region
59 V. I. Lenin. Biochronika, vol. 12, p. 177.
60 Stasova E. D. Uchitel ' i drug [Teacher and friend]. In: Memoirs of V. I. Lenin. Ed. 3-E. T. 2. M. 1984, p. 212.
61 Fotieva L. A. Receptions and methods of state work of V. I. Lenin. - Ibid., ed. 2-E. T. 4, pp. 113-114.
62 Ulyanova M. I. Accuracy, punctuality, clarity. - Ibid. Ed. 3-E. T. 1. M. 1984, p. 191.
63 Anikst A.M. Bor'ba za udeshevlenie gosudarstvennogo apparata [The struggle for cheapening the state apparatus]. - Ibid., Vol. 3. Moscow, 1961, p. 259.
64 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 54, p. 259.
65 V. I. Lenin. Biochronika, vol. 12, p. 328.
66 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 54, p. 15.
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no information yet, this was always answered: "And why the telephone, telegraph, direct wires, emergency couriers and so on?"And by delaying the assignment for a day or two, Vladimir Ilyich always achieved its exact execution." 67
On December 26, 1921, the Council of People's Commissars adopted a decree that assigned to the Departments of Affairs and executive secretaries of all People's Commissariats and other central institutions personal responsibility for timely responses to all requests of the Department of Affairs of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, Small SNE and SRT 68 . Urgent requests should have been answered no later than 24 hours, and all other requests should have been answered no later than three days after they were received. The Small Council of People's Commissars was given the right to bring those responsible for non-compliance with this decree to disciplinary responsibility, and the SNK affairs manager was allowed to initiate a petition to bring them to justice.
Lenin attached great importance to the question of the unswerving compliance of every Soviet employee with the laws passed by the highest state authorities, considering it necessary to bring them to the attention of the executors in a timely manner. Having learned that the publication of the "Order of the Council of People's Commissars and One Hundred Local Soviet Institutions" was delayed, and that the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs had received only 7 copies of the "Order"needed to supply all the provinces , 69 Lenin wrote Smolyaninov a note about the need to check once again whether the "Order" was available in all the volosts .70
As early as November 8, 1918, the VI All-Russian Extraordinary Congress of Soviets adopted a resolution "On the exact observance of laws"71 . Considering that it should be extremely widely publicized, "Vladimir Ilyich, through D. I. Kursky," recalled A. G. Goichbarg, " instructed me to write a popular leaflet explaining the meaning of this decree. On the instructions of Vladimir Ilyich, this leaflet was to be distributed in hundreds of thousands of copies. Vladimir Ilyich himself corrected this leaflet... He made sure that it was published as soon as possible, and reprimanded V. D. Bonch-Bruevich for delays in this publication."72 After the publication of Goichbarg's pamphlet, 73 Lenin once again recalled the need to strictly observe the resolution of the Sixth All-Russian Extraordinary Congress of Soviets on revolutionary legality and instructed Bonch-Bruevich to send the pamphlet, together with his letter, to all members of the collegiums and People's Commissars against personal receipts and to present these receipts to him. 74 .
On September 19, 1921, Lenin wrote a letter to the Deputy People's Commissar of Food, N. P. Bryukhanov, indicating the need to oblige local institutions to execute the orders of the central bodies without special instructions from the Chairman of the SNK 75..
Advocating clear and prompt execution of all decisions of the Soviet government, Lenin actively fought against lack of initiative and the expectation of only instructions "from above", with the desire to create only the appearance of working with complicated paperwork and an abundance of papers. "A characteristic feature of Lenin's style of work," writes the well - known Communist Party figure E. D. Stasova, " is the struggle against papermaking and scribbling in the apparatus. Vladimir Ilyich gave an order: to do everything that is possible by phone, and not to start correspondence " 76 .
Lenin saw the lack of initiative, paper-making, the separation of the state apparatus from the working people, and the opposition of narrow-departmental interests to the interests of the working people and the state as manifestations of bureaucracy. The state machine, struck down by bureaucracy, is being torn out of its hands. It turns out, Lenin said at the XI Congress of the RCP (b), "as if the person who drives it is sitting there, and the car is not driving."
67 Gindin Ya. From the memoirs of Vladimir Ilyich. In: Memoirs of V. I. Lenin. Ed. 2-E. T. 4, p. 154.
68 SU RSFSR, 1922, N 1, Article 19.
69 V. I. Lenin. Biochronika, vol. 11, p. 115.
70 Ibid., p. 116.
71 SU RSFSR, 1918, N 90, Article 908.
72 Goikhbarg A. G. Uk. soch., p. 4.
73 Goikhbarg A. G. Execute the laws of the Soviet Republic! Moscow, 1919.
74 V. I. Lenin. Biochronika, vol. 7, pp. 493-494; Lenin V. I. PSS, vol. 51, p. 45.
75 V. I. Lenin. Biochronika, vol. 11, p. 357.
76 Stasova E. D. Uk. soch., pp. 211-212.
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wherever she's being directed... the car doesn't go quite like this, and very often it doesn't go at all like the person sitting at the wheel of this car imagines."77
Lenin taught the staff of the apparatus the most rational techniques, the" technology " of managerial activity. He proposed to announce a competition "for the compilation of two or more textbooks on the organization of labor in general and specifically managerial labor." 78 Speaking about the need for continuous improvement and improvement of the work of state institutions, Lenin pointed out: "We must at all costs set ourselves the task of updating our state apparatus: first-to learn, second-to learn, and third-to learn and then to check that science does not remain a dead letter in our country or a fashionable phrase, so that science really enters into flesh and blood, turns into an integral element of everyday life in a completely and truly real way. " 79
The subject of Lenin's constant concern was the reduction of staff and simplification of the state apparatus, which he considered a natural result of strengthening state discipline and increasing the efficiency of managerial work. The question of reducing the staff of Soviet institutions is raised by Lenin "at every opportunity. Whether it was food supplies, the financial situation of the republic, the establishment of a tariff system, or the work of the state apparatus, Vladimir Ilyich invariably raised the question of the need to reduce our swollen apparatus. The figure of 300,000 employees (in all state institutions of that time in Moscow) terrified Vladimir Ilyich... Vladimir Ilyich very often mercilessly castigated not only the shortcomings of our apparatus, but also the inertia of those who opposed its simplification and reduction. " 80
Pursuant to the resolution of the Eighth All-Russian Congress of Soviets, on December 11, 1920, an organizational meeting and a Central Staff Commission were formed "to streamline and simplify the Soviet apparatuses by revising their regulations and reducing their staff." 81 The terms of submission by the People's Commissariats of draft new regulations were determined by the Small Council of People's Commissars. All People's Commissariats were forbidden to form new departments, departments, and units without the permission of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, and the Workers 'and Peasants' Inspectorate was instructed to monitor the implementation of this resolution and not allow the issuance of salaries to employees of departments formed in violation of this procedure .82 Draft regulations developed by the departments were considered at meetings of the Small Council of People's Commissars, and then submitted for approval by the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee .83 February 15, 1921 The Council of People's Commissars issued a decree obliging all People's commissariats to reduce the number of low-level clerical employees within the next month. The Small Council of People's Commissars was instructed to determine the size of the reduction with the call of a representative of the relevant commissariat 84 .
In a letter to the Presidium of the Fifth All-Russian Congress of the Co-workers ' Union in November 1922, Lenin stressed that the main immediate task, and the most important one for the coming years, was to reduce and reduce the cost of the Soviet apparatus by "reducing it and organizing it more perfectly"; wishing the congress success and fruitful work, Lenin expressed the hope that the congress about the Soviet apparatus " 85 . The Congress paid much attention to the improvement of the Soviet apparatus, but the leader's instructions for a special discussion of this issue could not be fulfilled, since Lenin's letter arrived for consideration after the congress closed. Therefore, the plenum of the Central Committee of the trade Union of co-workers, which met in March 1923, studied the question raised by Lenin in detail and passed a resolution
77 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 45, p. 86.
78 Ibid., p. 395.
79 Ibid., p. 391.
80 Gindin Ya. Uk. soch., p. 158.
81 TsGAOR USSR, f. 1235, op. 96, 8A; l. 51.
82 Ibid., l. 59.
83 Ibid., ll. 111, 152, 201 - 210, 392 - 396 etc.
84 Ibid., l,. 58.
85 Lenin, V. I. PSS. Vol. 45, p. 310 (facsimile reproduction of V. I. Lenin's message to the V All-Russian Congress of Co-workers, see: Golos rabotnika (organ of the Central Committee of the Trade Union of Workers of Administrative-Soviet, trade and public institutions and enterprises), 1924, N 2 (pasting).
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a number of decisions that formed the basis for further production work of the Central Committee and local trade union bodies 86 .
The chairman of the Central Staff Commission under the People's Commissariat of Labor, V. Farobin, recalls that the commission carried out work on rationing the staff of the SNK Affairs Department during Lenin's absence from Moscow, and "soon after his return to business, the staff commission received documents from the Affairs Department that fully confirmed the correctness of the commission's resolution of the question put to it." 87 From September 1921 to September 1922, the Central Staff Commission repeatedly prepared information for the Chairman of the SNK on its work on staff reduction, on measures to combat offenses during staff reduction, and on the procedure for dismissing single women and teenagers. On October 10, 1922, the Central Staff Commission acted as a co-rapporteur to the Council of People's Commissars "at a meeting in which, for the second time after his recovery from illness, Tov. Lenin. The Commission had the opportunity to see with what interest com. Lenin was concerned with the issue of staff reduction (NKPS), and to get in his person a like-minded person on the issue of urgent and actual implementation of such a reduction in transport. " 88 A. M. Anikst notes that Lenin repeatedly presented reports of the representative of the Central Executive Committee at the SNK meetings, who was supposed to use diagrams to show the state of the staff in various central institutions, and did not consider it possible to make any exceptions even for managing the affairs of the SNK .89
The question of the structure of the state apparatus continues to be relevant today. The Central Committee of the CPSU emphasizes that the effectiveness of the work on improving the management of the national economy, currently carried out by a broad front, "will largely depend on improving the style and methods of activity of ministries and departments, all levels of economic management. Apparently, it is useful to continue simplifying the control apparatus " 90 .
Lenin's thoughts are echoed by the decisions of the XXVI Congress of the CPSU, which stated that " the art of leadership does not consist in producing and wasting directives on every occasion. Having made a decision, it is necessary to ensure its strict implementation within the established time limit. This should be helped by increased control. And this control must be carried out systematically and promptly, simultaneously from above and from below. " 91 The strengthening of discipline still remains an important task of "all ideological activity" 92 .
The April (1985) Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU among the most important factors designed to accelerate the economic development of the country, called the improvement of discipline and organization, improving the style of activity of all state and economic bodies. "The issue of strengthening order and discipline is particularly relevant today," the Plenum emphasized. "This is an urgent demand of the day, which Soviet people understand broadly, including order in production and in the service sector, in public life and in everyday life, in every working cell, in every city, in every village." 93 The Party consistently strives to establish a style of work that combines efficiency and discipline with bold initiative and enterprise; practicality and efficiency with a commitment to great goals; critical attitude to shortcomings with unshakable confidence in the historical advantages of the path we have chosen. The Party is fighting to consolidate the style of work that Lenin was the founder of.
86 Prussian K. V. I. Lenin and the Union of sovrabotnikov. Golos rabotnika, 1924, No. 2, pp. 4-5.
87 Farobin V. V. I. Ulyanov-Lenin and improvement of the state apparatus. - Voprosy truda, 1924, N 3, p. 7.
88 Ibid., p. 8.
89 Aniket A.M. Lenin na gosudarstvennoi rabote [Lenin at State Work], pp. 9-10.
90 Pravda, 16. XI. 1984.
91 Materials of the XXVI Congress of the CPSU, Moscow, 1981, pp. 72-73.
92 Materials of the Extraordinary Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, March 11, 1985, Moscow, 1985, p. 10.
93 Pravda, 24. IV. 1985.
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