Source: Tom 17

December 23, 1926

Greetings, Vyacheslav!

There is no need to rush back — you can freely stay another week (or even more) beyond the deadline.

Things are going on the whole not badly here:

1) Procurement and export are going fairly well;

2) Revenue for the state budget has been somewhat poor so far;

3) The chervonets is doing well;

4) Industry is crawling gradually forward;

5) We have adopted a decision on lowering wholesale prices for a number of staple goods;

6) We are working out urgent and concrete measures for lowering retail prices (we will mercilessly press the trade and cooperative network).

The trade union congress went "normally," as Tomsky would say — that is, they preserved everything that existed before but introduced nothing new into their arsenal.

The enlarged ECCI Plenum went quite well. The resolution of the 15th Conference was approved unanimously (one Bordigist from Italy abstained). Our oppositionists are fools. The devil pushed them to go looking for a fight — and they got flogged. In view of Kamenev's hooligan speech, I had to remind him in my concluding remarks about the telegram to M. Romanov. Kamenev came out with a "refutation," saying that "this is a lie." Zinoviev, Kamenev, Smilga, and Fyodorov submitted a "statement" to the Politburo with a "refutation," demanding its publication. We published this statement in Bolshevik together with the CC's response and documents that politically destroy Kamenev. We consider that Kamenev has been put out of action and that he will never again be a member of the CC.

Well, that is all for now. The rest in person. I shake your hand.

December 23, 1926.

Koba.

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Source: Letters of J.V. Stalin to V.M. Molotov. 1925–1936. P. 96–97.

RGASPI. F. 558. Op. 1. D. 5388.