In the course of the inquiry into the causes of the agrarian disorders, besides inquiring into the general political sentiment of the peasant masses of the uyezd, please pay attention to the following:

1) The policy of the Land Department and the State Farms Board in the organizing of state farms. Have there been cases of irregular appropriation of peasant holdings for the organization of state farms? Has their organization been accompanied by other coercive actions materially affecting the condition of the peasant farms? 2) The policy of the Land Department in the organizing of collective farming. Have there been elements of coercion in the organizing of agricultural communes and artels, common ploughing, etc.? Has the organizing of collective farming been accompanied by infringements of the vital interests of the local peasantry?

3) The policy of the Chief Sugar Board in nationalizing land for sugar-beet plantations. Is nationalization being carried out in a way which is against the fundamental interests of the peasants? Are the nationalized tracts of land making it difficult for the peasants to use their holdings? Have there been other actions liable to incense the peasants (e.g., assignment of land to sugar
refineries obviously in excess of their actual requirements; nationalization of tracts of land not formerly used for sugar-beet cultivation, etc.)?

4) Also the following questions: Is not the agrarian unrest due to land shortage in the district? Has the land of non-labouring elements been placed at the disposal of the peasants, and on what conditions? Are there any actions in general on the part of the Uyezd Land Department or any of its officials, or on the part of volost land departments, likely to incense the peasants because they do not conform with the instructions of the centre or the requirements of expediency? Also, have there been instances of passivity or abuse of office on the part of the authorities?

Wire State Control acknowledgement of receipt of this telegram and what measures are taken.

People’s Commissar of State Control

J. Stalin

May 7, 1919

Published for the first time