Memorandum Appendix VII. Description of Extraordinary Commission.

VII.

DESCRIPTION OF EXTRAORDINARY COMMISSION.

[Severnaya Kommuna, Oct. 17, 1918.]

Comrade Morosov has pointed out the importance of the Extraordinary Commission, an organ of the class to conduct civil war, established in view of necessity, and before all in order to beat down the strikes of the civil officials. The first manifestation of the committee has been the liquidation of the union of the "salvation of the revolution. " Then



33

the commission annihilated the union of the civil officials who subsidized the committees of the strikes. The newspaper, Den, had special funds for this purpose. The commission has also abolished a staff office which was recruiting men for the army of the Don. Then came the turn of the "Union of the Constituent Assembly," which organized universities for soldiers, which were really centers of preparation for civil war. A large quantity of arms was found in these universities. The "Military League" was then formed, where men for Kaledin were recruited and the assassination of the commissaries of the people were prepared. The commission has overthrown this league and also a monarchist league called "The White Cross."

The commission has also fought against speculation; fines and requisitions have been increased.

At Moscow, the commission has liquidated the "Union of Proprietors." the plot of Burri, an American, who has been getting ready to monopolize the Soviets, and lastly the affair of Lockhart. The commission has registered 2,559 contra-revolutionary affairs and 5,000 arrests have been made.

The comrade Bokki declares that since the departure of the commission from Moscow 5,423 affairs have been registered, 2,817 of which have been terminated. A number of the guilty have already been shot. There is a lack of judges. Each judge has not less than 100 cases. The total number of people arrested is 6,229. The total number of people shot is 800.

From August 15 to October 15, 1918, 1,101 cases have been examined, 564 of which have been classified. The most important are those of the Chamber of Public Vengeance, the "Union for the Liberation of the Country," and the recruiting of the White Guard, The case of the assassination of Uritsky and the English plot have not yet been terminated, Among the pending cases are pointed out the transport of weapons to the German embassy under the mask of diplomatic documents, One of the cases fell, and Mausers fell out of it. Nine cases of the same sort have been confiscated.

The cases of speculation have led to a confiscation of 20,000,000 rubles.

At Kronstadt there have been 1,130 hostages. Only 183 people are left; 500 have been shot. Four hundred and eighty-nine affairs of counter-revolutionists have been examined and 236 concerning speculations.