The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 17, 1924, Page 5

‘Thursday, April 17, 1924 Immediate ¢ Resolution of the Central Com- mittee of the Russian Communist * Party on “The Immediate Tasks of the Economie Policy.’ eee (Adopted by the Political Bureau on December 24, 1923, in execution of the decision taken by the Ple- nums of the Central Committee and the Central Control Committee on October 25. This resolution has to be submitted for final ccnfirma- tion by the Plenum éf the Central Committee. oe 8 The Party, when solving the imme- diate questions of economic policy, must take as a basis the fundamental task for the given historical period, i, e, the realization of the alliance betweén proletariat and peasantry, the linking up of town and country, and of the nationalized industry and the peasant economy. Only the correct solution of the questions which arise in regard to the relations between the working Class and the peasants, can permanently strengthen the economic basis of the dictatorship of the proletariat and preserve it from any kind of waver- ing. Twelfth Congress. The Twelfth Congress of the Party, in fts resolution on the organi- zation of industry, has laid particular stress upon the fact that the place of development of our state industry meets with certain objective hin- drances, which are determined by the state of the peasant economy, and that the exact adaptation of the en- tire economic policy to the level of development of the peasant econ- omy forms the most important. task, an incorrect solution of which would unavoidably bring dis- astrous consequences, not only in the economic, but also in the political sphere. Only a radical change in the present political and economic struc: ture of the industrial countries of Europe, could perceptibly lessen the immediate dependence of the state in- dustry upon the situation of the Peasant economy and create the con- ditions necessary for a quicker transi- tion to a regime of socialist economy. The resolution of the Twelfth Con- gress states: “Agriculture, altho with us it is still on a low technical level, has a preponderating importance for the whole economics of the Soviet power. ++. Our Party must uot for a moment forget, nor fail to lose sight of the preponderating importance of the peasants’ economy, when meditating any action . . . Not only the neglect, but also the lack of sufficient atten- tion to this circumstance would be fraught with innumerable dangers, both in the economic and the purely political sphere, as it would inevitably undermine and weaken that alliance between the proletariat and the peas- antry, that confidence of the peas- antry in the proletariat which, with the given historical transition period, form the most principal supports of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and the maintenance and strength- ening of which alliance and confi- dence, form the fundamental condi- tion for the stability of the Soviet power and, as a consequence, the fundamental task of the varty.” Peasant Economy. These systematic instructions of the Party have, up to the present, not been thoroly carried out in the prac- tice of our economic organs. lt was far from being properly understood, that the necessity for setting up the most thoro interchange between town and village formed the princ:pal mo- tive for the transition to the New, Economic Policy, and that under the New Economic Policy the supplying of the peasantry with the products of the state industry forms the principal economic task. The present economic difficulties (lack of market) are to a consider- able extent to be attributed to the insufficient heed given by the Party to these indications regarding the role and the significance of the peas- ants’ economy and the peculiarities, resulting from tho task of realizing the dictatorship of the proletariat in a country with a predominating peas- ant population. The task of the Party, in the future must consist of tyetomatically ard carefully carrying out the above policy in regard to the relations between town and village, and not allowing itself to be diverted in an econor ically and politically in- jitsous manne. in the direction of an under-estimation of the significance of the peasant economy in the gener:l economic structure of the vountry. Resulting from the lack of co-ordi- nation between the tempo of the re- construction of the peasants’ economy on the one hand, and the state indus- "Where did I put % ray purse?” try on the other, in the conditions of the free exchange of goods, there arose the phenomena of the prasent crisis, This crisis is characterized by the disparity between the extracrdi- narily high prices for industrial prod- ucts and the low prices for agricul- tural products. The industry, which had grown upon the basis of the town market, which is able to pay higher prices, could not at the moment of the realization of the harvest sell its goods to the mass consumer having a lower purchasing power—the peas- antry. On the other hand the peas- antry did not find a sufficiently wide home and foreign market for a profit- able sale of its grain, as a result of which there followed the low prices of the latter. Reason for Crisis. To the sharpening of the market crisis there contributed: the insuffi- cient development of the commercial relations, the policy of high prices adopted by the syndicates, the weak development of money economy, the existence of two kinds of valuta, from which the peasantry suffered most owing to the depreciation of the Sov- iet paper roubles. As a result of the steady work, the last. year has yielded undoubted suc- cesses in the sphere of the recon- struction of industry and transport, and shows a greater quantity of gouds manufactured by the state industry than ever befcre during the Soviet tule, On the other hand, the peas- antry undoubtedly has enlarged its area of Jand under cultivation, has to a certain extent raised the level of its economy, has increased the pro- duction of special cultures, and, thanks to the suBstivution of the wrestler part of tax in kind by money taxec, it had at its disposal a greater surplus of grain, altho the harvest was poorer than that of the last year. The present crisis, therefore, can by no means be compared with those crises resulting from lack of goods and froin lack of grain, which con- fronted the country in the years 1919, 1920 and 1921. The fundamental ele- ments of the national economy as a whole (the quantity of coal, naphtha, metals, cotton produced and of the grain remaining in the hands of the peasantry, etc.), have undoubtedly in- creased. The crisis arose as a resnit of the disparity between these par- ticular branches of the national econ- omy, and in the first place, as a result | of our state industry and <rade being incapable uf finding their way to the peasant mass market. 1. Agriculture, The smallness of the rural market and the small purchasing power pos- sessed by the peasantry, as well as the high cost of production of urban industry, are the result of the long period of the imperialist and civil wars. The sinking of the prices for agricultural products, is a world phe- nomenon which, in the ,capitalist countries, as for instance in America, has led to the sheer destruction (burning) of huge quantities of grain in order to bring about an artificial increase of prices. The urban and industrial population of the Soviet Union does not consti- tute a sufficient market for the peas- ant economy. There can be an in- crease in the prices of the grain pro- duced by the peasants, in the first place by capturing the foreign mar- kets. Already in the year 1922, this circumstance was taken into account by the Party, which laid down the necessity of developing by every means the export of agricultural products. In that year there was ex- ported 40 million poods of grain, while in 1923 it was decided, as the most important task of the economic Policy, to increase the export of grain to 250 million pood. Party Action. In order to ensure the success of the peasant grain producers in their struggle for the foreign markets, it is necessary to adapt agriculture to the conditions of these markets. The Party has called attention to the ne- cessity of helping the peasantry to raise the technical level of their economy, to introduce more intensive cultivation, to increase the amount of their floating capital, and to renew their live stock, implements, ets. In the first place there must be an improvement in the organization of the state purchases and export of grain, a reduction of the expenses connected therewith, and the greatest possible reduction of the role and of the income of any kind of middlemen or dealers in the grain trade, The Soviet power must and can also aid the peasantry by increasing their floating capital by means of: (a) organization of cheap agricul- tural credits (organization of an agri- cultural bank); (b) the placing at UNCLE WIGGLY’S TRICKS the disposal of the peasantry, under very favorable terms of credit, of tools and agricultural machinery; (c) support of the village co-operatives and the like. In all its measures re- garding the peasantry the Party must have regard to the necessity of help- ing by every means the poorest and middle strata of the peasantry, in particular the co-operative farming bodies, in order to save them from being pushed out by the great peasants. The peasants’ economy is the fun- damental basis for the reconstruc- tion of industry, and, as a conse- quence, for the growth of the working class, as the peasants’ market is the principal market for industrial prod- ucts. other hand, is the principal supplier of raw materials for our industry. For | this reason, the greatest possible sup- port must be granted to the peasants’ economy, not only in the general in- terests of the Soviet power, but in the interests of the most rapid develop- ment of industry itself. Il, State Industry. Only the development of the nation- alized heavy industry can create an unshakable foundation for the prole- tarian dictatorship. In view of this fact, the Twelfth Party Congress gave precise instructions as to the measures which must be adopted and systematically carried out by the Party, in order to strengthen and to develop our state industry. The state industry has, in the last twelve months, shown a consideratkle development, it has increased its out- put and improved the quality of 1s goods, whereby the production has steadily increased from month to month without any sudden spurt of decline. The tempo of the development of the state heavy industry in the past year has somewhat exceeded that of agriculture and of small and home industry. (If one takes the whole production of heavy industry one sees that, compared with the year 1921, it has nearly doubled. The total quan- tity of the state industry has risen to 35 per cent of the pre-war quantity.) In particular the successes ob- tained in the sphere of the fuel econ- omy furnish the possibility of a fur- ther reconstruction of the remaining branches of industry. Transport is in a, condition so as to meet, without special difficulties, all the demands of the national economy. Along with this there must be recorded a series of successes obtained in the organi- zation of production in the factories and works and in the organization of industry as a whole. j High Prices. ‘The present crisis has, however, re- vealed also in this sphere a number of unhealthy symptoms, the eradica- tion of which forms one of the most urgent tasks of the Party. In their eagerness to make good the losses sustained by industry in the first year of the New Economic Policy, several economic organs have incorrectly carried out'the instruction of the Twelfth Congress regaraing the necessity of striving to place industry on a profitable basis and have in- creased the prices to a level which could only be paid by those having the greatest purchasing power. The high prices of the goods collided with the low purchasing power of the mass peasant market. The goods remained unsold, and not only failed to yield the expected profits to the industry, but as a result its undertakings were threatened by insolvency and a shut- ting down of production. 5 The syndicates, which were set up in the struggle for the domination of the market and for the fixing of uni- form prices, were the immediate pro- moters of this policy of high prices. This policy wa’ the undoubted result of the improper use of the monopoly of several branches of industry with an insufficient development of regulat- ing organs. The socialist accumulation is a fun- damental and decisive factor for the fate of the proletarian dictatorship under the New Economic Policy. It is, however, a mistake from the point of yiew of socialist construction, if in the prices of the goods there are in- cluded, besides the cost of production and the necessary minimum of profit, the expenses for such a rapid recon- struction and augmentation of the foundation capital, as are obviously, at the presént time, beyond the power of the great mass of the population of the country. It will be much more necessary in the future to co-ordinate the policy as to prices with the most important peasant markets and to co- ordinate the tempo of the develop- ment of industry more strictly than heretofore with the general growth The peasants’ economy, on the | THE DAILY WORKER Ommunist Tasks Under Russia's Economic Policy in the capacity of the market. peasant Mass Consumer. During the year 4923, of the total quantity of the production of the state industry, seven-tenths were sold to consumers in the rowns, while only three-tenths went to meet the needs of peasant consumers, This proves that our industry is far from being ca- pable of reaching the peasant mass consumers, ‘The level of prices attained by in- dustrial products in the last year, is to be attributed not only to objective causes, but also to a considerable ex- |tent, to defective organization and to the lack of economizihg with regard |to additional expenses, which is abso- lutely necessary to the reconstruction of the economy of the Seviet repub- lics, In order to arrive at a reduction of prices, the attention of industry must be directed to reducing the cost of production, by means of improving and augmenting the production and the greatest possible reduction of the additional expenses, and also to the improvement and cheapening of its trade apparatus. In connection with this it is neces- sary to revise the existing syndicates and only allow those to remain, the existence of which is proved to be economically justified. Only by a strict carrying out of the policy of adaptation to the mass market, of the reduction of the cost of production and of the augmentation of produc- tion of articles for mass consumption, will the state industry be in a posi- tion to compete successfully with pri- vate capital in regard to meeting the demands of the mass consumer—the peasant and the worker. While in every way adapting the state nationalized industry to meet the demands of the mass consumer, the Party will, at the same time, con- tinue to recognize the necessity of helping to a certain extent the small industry, which does not need any nor require any special stocks of raw a certain amount of help to the peas- of its productive forces, thereby in- creasing the amdunt of the total turn- over of goods for the whole country. Concentration of Industry. An indispensable element for the improvement of the organization of our industry in its concentration. We have received as a heritage from the old economic regime, a great number of undertakings which had been set up without regard to any general eco- nomic plan and to that structure of economic life which we have today. These undertakings lie as a dead weight on the state budget. The ex- penses of their maintenance, while they are only partially or even fully occupied, unavoidably enter into the price of the products and thereby help lo swell them. But the Party must not for a moment forget that here, more than in any other sphere, com- mercial and fiscal considerations must be subservient to political considera- tions, i. e., as to the preservation of the political power of the working ciass. In those cases where the shut- ting down of any undertakings would strike a blow at the political forces of the proletariat, and scatter its best elements, the drastic carrying out of the policy of concentration would be an unpardonable political error. In the preceding period the Party cevoted its efforts to strengthening and increasing the production of coal (Don basin) and of naphtha (Baku) as, unless industry were provided with fuel, there could be no talk of strengthening of other branches of industry. The success now obtained with regard to the production of fuel renders it possible and necessary now to concentrate the attention of the Party on the metallurgical industry. The metallurgical industry must in the next period be given the first place and receive from the state a ft greater measure of all round help, in particular, financial, than in the last year. Ill, Wages and Trade Unions, The economic difficulties which arose in the autumn were accom- panied by wage fluctuations and have also given rise to a number of defects in regard to regularity of payment, as well as to the method of payment. In the beginning of August the Political Bureau and in Septemver the Plenum of the Central Committee adopted several resolutions which aimed at preserving the wages from deprecia- tion and increasing them among those groups of the proletariat which were backward in this. respect (for in- stance, the railway workers). ‘The Party is of the opinion that the situation of industry and of the state economy is such as to permit the A LAUGH FOR THE CHILDREN great expense for its reconstruction | materials, fuel or food, and can render | ant economy and can raise the level | abolition of the payment of wages in such a form as involves in practice their reduction (inferior food substi- | tutes, payment in notes of a large de- nomination, ete,), and also warrants the adoption of a series of decisive measures directed against the irregu- lar payment of wages. The Party de- mands that all the economic organs should in the future combat these defects, and insists upon’ the regular payment of wages being the first duty of the economic organs. . The improvement of industvy and of transport, which is due to the heroic efforts of the forces of the working claSs, must find its expres- sion in an improvement of the situa- tion of the workers. The trade union organs must direct their permanent attention to securing, that these two lines—that of economic improvement and that of the improvement of the welfare of the working class—shall show a certain measure of congruity. Role of Unions. The process of the reconstruction of our industry is unavoidably accom- panied by an increase in the number of the proletariat, by its consolidation, | by the raising of its material and cul- tural level. There results from this | the particularly urgent task of the! teade unions of devoting themselves far more than hitherto to the organi- zation and leadership of industry. Special care must be given by the trade unions to the selection of the organizers promoted from among the working classes who are capable of occupying positions as leaders of the state industry, The Party, the trade unions and the economic organs must for this purpose take upon themselves the task of preparing groups of such leaders from among tne ranks of the workers by means of special schools and also by means of drawing wide masses into the discussion on the economic situation and on the current work of the industrial undertakings. }at which representatives of the eco- nomic organs, trade unions, of th rty and of the non-party work of industry are to be regularly held. | Conferences of the different branches are to come together, in order to dis-| cuss the current questions concerning | the productive life, in order to arrive jat conclusions based on the data fur- nished by the reports, and to provide possibilities of exchange of experi- ence. These conferences must enable the trade unions to study carefully and to control the management of the un- dertakings and to help by every means the economic organs in the im- provement of the economy, iy the fight against bad management and all avoidable additional expenditure, etc. IV. Foreign Trade. The monopoly of foreign trade forms one of the tundamental ele- }ments of the entire economic policy |of the Party. The monopoly of for- eign trade has fully justified itself, in particular under the conditions of the New Economic Policy, as a weapon of defense against the country being | stripped of its wealth by foreign and native capitalists, as well as a means of socialist accumulation. It was only by preserving in its en- tirety the system of the monopoly of foreign trade, that we were able to attain to an active trade balance and to concentrate the imcome resulting from foreign trade into the hands of the state. It is by hindering with all means the loss to the country resulting from the payment of imported goods which could be produced in the country it- self, that the monopoly of foreign trade makes it possible to organize a planned import of those gooc which are indispensable for the development of our industry and the peasant econ- omy. The monopoly of the foreign trade must also in the future be pre- served in its entirety as the most im- portant element of the economic pol- icy of the Party, especially in the period of the New Economic Policy. | -ai(To be concluded tomorrow.) British Navy Plans To Seize Dutch Oil, Australians Charge Ae The Federated Pres: SYD! , N. 8. W., April 16—That the militarists and imperialists of Britain, unless checked by the British Labor government, intend to seize the Dutch oil supplies in the East Indies, 1s the charge made by the Australian Worker, the leading labor journal in Australia, Says the Worker: “The next world war, unless it can be prevented, will be an oil war. Up to date the imperialists of Britain have been outmaneuvered in the fight to secure domination in the oil world. Now they have awakened to the fact that Singapore dominates what is gen- erally known to be one of the richest oil regions in the world—the East In- dies, “If the imperialists of Britain suc- ceed in their efforts, these oil flelds sooner or later are going to be seized in the name of British patriotism. And a naval base at Singapore would provide an admirable jumping-off place when the gong sounded. “The seizure of the Hast Indian oil flelds is the real purpose behind the Singapore scheme. If the British La- bor government turns it down, and halts the mad rush for oil supremacy. there will be no world war in the near future, There is peace in the far east and in the Pacific, and that peace wil! continue long as the British im- “|perialists are prevented from having their way in that part of the globe.” Page Five why there is no Revolution in Germany how Soviet Russia is building herself up SEE = ATALE OF TWO REPUBLICS RUSSIA AND GERMANY To Be Shown City— Place— «American Theatre Grand Theatre Public High School Rex Theatre Orpheum Theatre Keith Theatre .. Lyric Theatre Labor Temple Theatre Majestic Theatre .. Am. Cloth. Wrks. Hall Empire Theatre AUBURN, ILL, BENLD, ILL..... DECATUR, ILL. VERDIN, ILL.. WESTVILLE, ILL AMSTERDAM, N. Y. LINCOLN, ILL... STAUNTON, ILL... PEORIA, ILL... ROCHESTER, N. Y. PEKIN, ILL...... 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