115. The Abolition of private Trade.
To each method of production there corresponds a special method of distribution. After the abolition of capitalist ownership in the means of production, the Soviet Republic inevitably came into conflict with the capitalist method of distribution, with trade that is to say, and was compelled to undertake its abolition by degrees. First of all, the great warehouses were confiscated. This was likewise necessary on account of the severe food crisis and on account of the general need for goods. The articles which were being hoarded by speculators in anticipation of a rise in prices were distributed among the working masses, and during the first weeks after the November revolution this served to mitigate the crisis.
The nationalisation of the mercantile warehouses was no more than a first step. The nationalisation of large-scale trade soon followed. The measure was necessary in the fight with speculation, and in order to take stock of all the goods in the republic; also and above all in order that these goods might be distributed among the working class. The Soviet Power introduced a system of class rationing, not only for food-stuffs, but also for manufactured articles in general and for all articles of domestic use.
But perhaps the best way would have been for the Soviet Power to have proceeded as follows: to confiscate all the stores of goods which were in the hands of private traders, and to distribute these goods in accordance with the system of class rationing, without destroying the apparatus of trade, which the Soviet State should rather have preserved, have utilised for its own purposes.