3 + 

Land Decree⁠—Peasants’ Nakaz + 

The Land question can only be permanently settled by the general Constituent Assembly. + 

The most equitable solution of the Land question should be as follows: + 

The right of private ownership of land is abolished forever; land cannot be sold, nor leased, nor mortgaged, nor alienated in any way. All dominical lands, lands attached to titles, lands belonging to the Emperor’s cabinet, to monasteries, churches, possession lands, entailed lands, private estates, communal lands, peasant freeholds, and others, are confiscated without compensation, and become national property, and are placed at the disposition of the workers who cultivate them. + 

Those who are damaged because of this social transformation of the rights of property are entitled to public aid during the time necessary for them to adapt themselves to the new conditions of existence. + 

All the riches beneath the earth⁠—ores, oil, coal, salt, etc.⁠—as well as forests and waters having a national importance, become the exclusive property of the State. All minor streams, lakes and forests are placed in the hands of the communities, on condition of being managed by the local organs of government. + 

All plots of land scientifically cultivated⁠—gardens, plantations, nurseries, seed-plots, greenhouses, and others⁠—shall not be divided, but transformed into model farms, and pass into the hands of the State or of the community, according to their size and importance. + 

Buildings, communal lands and villages with their private gardens and their orchards remain in the hands of their present owners; the dimensions of these plots and the rate of taxes for their use shall be fixed by law. + 

All studs, governmental and private cattle-breeding and bird-breeding establishments, and others, are confiscated and become national property, and are transferred either to the State or to the community, according to their size and importance. + 

All questions of compensation for the above are within the competence of the Constituent Assembly. + 

All inventoried agricultural property of the confiscated lands, machinery and livestock, are transferred without compensation to the State or the community, according to their quantity and importance. + 

The confiscation of such machinery or livestock shall not apply to the small properties of peasants. + 

The right to use the land is granted to all citizens, without distinction of sex, who wish to work the land themselves, with the help of their families, or in partnership, and only so long as they are able to work. No hired labour is permitted. + 

In the event of the incapacity for work of a member of the commune for a period of two years, the commune shall be bound to render him assistance during this time by working his land in common. + 

Farmers who through old age or sickness have permanently lost the capacity to work the land themselves, shall surrender their land and receive instead a Government pension. + 

The use of the land should be equalised⁠—that is to say, the land shall be divided among the workers according to local conditions, the unit of labour and the needs of the individual. + 

The way in which land is to be used may be individually determined upon: as homesteads, as farms, by communes, by partnerships, as will be decided by the villages and settlements. + 

All land upon its confiscation is pooled in the general People’s Land Fund. Its distribution among the workers is carried out by the local and central organs of administration, beginning with the village democratic organisations and ending with the central provincial institutions⁠—with the exception of urban and rural cooperative societies. + 

The Land Fund is subject to periodical redistribution according to the increase of population and the development of productivity and rural economy. + 

In case of modification of the boundaries of allotments, the original centre of the allotment remains intact. + 

The lands of persons retiring from the community return to the Land Fund; providing that near relatives of the persons retiring, or friends designated by them, shall have preference in the redistribution of these lands. + 

When lands are returned to the Land Fund, the money expended for manuring or improving the land, which has not been exhausted, shall be reimbursed. + 

If in some localities the Land Fund is insufficient to satisfy the local population, the surplus population should emigrate. + 

The organisation of the emigration, also the costs thereof, and the providing of emigrants with the necessary machinery and livestock, shall be the business of the State. + 

The emigration shall be carried out in the following order: first, the peasants without land who express their wish to emigrate; then the undesirable members of the community, deserters, etc., and finally, by drawing lots on agreement. + 

All which is contained in this nakaz, being the expression of the indisputable will of the great majority of conscious peasants of Russia, is declared to be a temporary law, and until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly, becomes effective immediately so far as is possible, and in some parts of it gradually, as will be determined by the District Soviets of Peasants’ Deputies. + 