The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 6, 1924, Page 6

Position and Prospects of Soviet: Industry (A speech by P. Bogdanov, chairman U. S. S. R. Supreme Economic Council, delivered end of August.) HE industries of the U. 8S. S. R. have long since passed thru the period when the fear could be enter- tained that some economic. disturb- ances, some particular shortcoming in one direction or another could bring about their collapse, partially or as a whole. So firm indeed is the foot- hold which has been gained, that it has become impossible to speak of the possibility of any sort of catas- trophe. The sales crisis of a year ago proved a crucial test, which show- ed that, in a crisis, Soviet industry could exert a decisive influence by ap- propriate use of the resources which were acquired during the -previous period of accumulation of working capital. Our light industry has obtained an increasingly tenacious command of the market in proportion to the extent that it has adopted a correct policy for the reduction of prices. Depres- sion exists now only in the realm of heavy industry, but even here the day is long since past when we were ob- liged to tremble at the threat of ruin in the Donetz coal fields, or the oil fields. Now all that we have to con- sider is simply the adoption of prop- er plans and methods whereby the re- sults secured can be strengthened and consolidated. The movement of the market in general confirms the fact that our inuus*ty is becoming estab- lished in a very “1vorable position. Results During 1923-1924. During the last half-year, apart from slight market fluctuations, continued progress has been achieved in every branch of it. This movement has not been checked even by the prospect of unfavorable harvest in some parts of the union. Evidently this industrial progress is deeply rooted in the pos- sible development of our market. June and July are months when factories stop working, when repairs are done, when workers are on leave, but even these months register an increased production in every branch, naturally not a large increase, but amounting to 3.5 per cent to 10 per cent. In some cases there is even a fall by 5 per cent., but on the whole, the out-, put for June exceeds to some extent that of May, in which the latter month the position was better than that of April and the foregoing months. Effect of the Harvest on Industrial Sales. If we turn to the problem of selling our industrial products we have first of all to note these faetors which ob- viously serve to mitigate the effect of the partial crop failure. The quan- tity of graiu which will be thrown on the market in the course of the pres- ent year will not be above that of last year, but prices of corn at the present time are twice as high as they were in August, September, or . October of last year. The extra value But not to fight nations! Get out your last bayonets. If not today, then tomorrow, Peace to peace, but War to war! Hundreds of millions groan Next to the future war .. All the clattering crutches, Down with the war! It shall not be! of the grain will enable our peasants to increase their purchase of manu- factured goods. On the other hand, the bad harvest this year is concen- trated in definite localities, and in the remaining parts of the union the rise of prices has not been ‘as great as mentioned above. Further, it should be noted that co- operative activity has definitely in- creased thruout the present year, and that many syndicates and trusts have been extending their branches to cov- er the whole of the union. This means that new sale areas have been creat- ed, especially in Siberia and a host of other places which hitherto have not been reached by our trading ma- chinery. Increased Sales in 1923-24, I am not now dealing with the fact that our fundamental policy of an all- around reduction of prices and the ap- proximation of the cost of commodi- ties to the purchasing power of the peasants is an essential factor which will create new markets for us, and will make it possible for our industry to develop its manufacturing activity in spite of the partial failure of the crops: The figures of increased pro- duction for June and July fluctuate by some 5 to 10 per cent., but sales in ‘etter brenches show always an absolute increase. It is true that the .crage saies of the chief industrial association give a rise approximately of not more than 10 per cent., still with regard to the commodities of state industry most in demand the rise We don’t want! Nations are not enemies of nations. — * Nations are invented by the enemy of all. Two Poems Come out, workers of the world, to fight, Come out in a heavy, stamping, proletarian army; The phrases about peace are an empty Utopia As long as the capitalists are not dealt with. Death to the guilty—and doubly to the innocent. Knock down the fat—dozens and scores of them. a —Viadimir Maiakovski. * ®@ «+ Thirty millions were shot, and weep; But all this will seem a trifle All the spines, flogged in prison camps, All the imbs left upon operating tables, All the wounds that ache in the fall, All the screams of the gassed, Let them all unite to-day in a shout: We shall not permit! —Viadimir Maiakovski. is considerably larger, The increas- ed demand for textiles deserves spe- cial attention. Sales in this branch of industry have risen by 16 per cent. Some departments of the tex tile syndicate have increased their sales one and a half times, others have doubled their sales. A considerable increase in sales is shown also by the food industry. The sugar industry, for example, has in- creased its June sales one and a half times, as compared with May, and the vegetable oil industry by 30 per cent. A particularly marked rise in sales is noticeable in the tobacco in- dustry—the increase amounting to 105 per cent. Those who control this industry say that sales would have been even greater if a greater.quan- tity of goods had been at their dis- posal. It is only in regard to building ma- terials that there is a definite hold up of prices. Lack of capital prevents big repair work from being undertak- en. Things are quiet as regards build- ing timber, corrugated iron, colors, cement, etc. Thus, summarizing the position with regard to. sales, we may say that as far as the essential branches of light industry are concerned, we have a per- fectly steady state of things based on the definite demands of the market. In heavy industry, on the other hand, we are passing thru a rather critical situ- ation in the nature of over-production: The Heavy Industries. The steps which the special com- THE RED SOLDIER’S MANUAL By L. TROTSKY. iv. Courage, Duty, Truthfulness. 31. War is always a dangerous en- terprise. The antidote of fear is cour- age, which means a readiness to meet in a manly way any danger whenever necessary. Only he is a true warrior who possesses fearlessness, courage, audacity, who does not hesitate to fight even a numerically superior ene- my and who is ready to die for the common cause. 32. People are brave not only by birth. They can also learn to be brave. Courage can be developed thru education, thru examples of old er, tried warriors and thru a clear un- derstanding of the great tasks of the Red Army. 33. There should be developed in each military unit a sympathetic at- titude towards the young, as yet un- developed soldier, so as to give him encouragement, strengthen him and educate him. At the same time pub- lic opinion must treat with contempt, ' The coward deserves double con- tempt. Blinded by fear, the coward is anable to take wise measures of pre- caution during battle and perishes sooner than the brave soldier; ‘at the same time he brings. disorganization into the ranks and weakens them, The coward causes harm to the com- mon. cause, as well as to himself. His sufferings are valueless and his death is honorless. 34. Individual courage must al- ways combine with the feeling of duty. Upon your personal conduct may depend the fate of your com- pany, and upon the fate of your com- pany may depend the fate of your |nes Let your courage be in |’ -egiment, harmony with the courage of your comrades. The common success should be the highest motive! 85. A slave works out of fear, but the free, enlightened soldier acts from a feeling of duty. The honest Red soldier will carry out the orders of ‘he commanders and commissars with- out their watching him just as con- sciously and accurately, as if he were the deliberate coward, egotist and ras-] n sight of them. cal. : 36. Truthfulness is ‘inseparable 2 from courage, and the two virtues together are the distinctive charac- teristics of the conscientious soldier. Do not invent stories, do not exagge- rate, do not lie.. Tell exactly what happened, The high commander judg- es the military situation from the re- ports from below and gives his mili- tary orders accordingly. If the re- and a wrong order will’ bring defeat. You are encouraged and even urged to deceive only the enemy. But who- ever deceives his own comrades, thereby helps the enemy. Traitors must be weeded out! The truthful s of the soldier will insure g E R BEEe2 = * nission has taken to increase the sales of general fuel have led to cer- ‘ain improvements. Definite progress jas been made in the direction of run- ring railways and industry on the use of mineral fuel, and alréady the stocks of coal in the Donetz region have been reduced. Stocks of oil are still very large, and in so far as oil competes with coal, the way out should be found in the foreign mar- ket The Metal Industry. As regards the metallurgical indus- try, the question of increasing sales is a matter of considerable import- ance While our light industry has advanced to 40 per cent of the pre- war level, while the textile industry, in accordance with the plan of de- velopment adopted by the supreme economical council, is reaching a fig- ure of 50 to 60 per cent of pre-war production of cotton fabrics, the metal industry has remained backward, and still shows less than 20 per cent of the pre-war output. The disproportion in industry is due to the high cost of our metal The enlargement of the metallurgical market is bound up with the problem, of price reduction. »The calculation worked out by the special Dzherzhin- sky committee announces that a price of 80 to 90 kopeks per pood of metal should be adopted. This is a big re- duction in comparison with prevailing prites, and with its adoption we can expect that there will be a great move forward in the sale of metal. While he general market does not consume more than 20 per cent of the metal vutput, leaving all the rest to trans- port and building industry—yet ex- perience shows that the demands of ihe peasantry for articles of agricul- tural and domestic utility are very large. Every instance of cheapening metal should mean a larger metal mar- ket, which in turn should permit the starting of extra blast furnaces which in turn should lead to a further reduc- tion of the price for metal. The Organization of Industry. Apart from the general estimate of : the industrial situation here given, it is necessary to raise a few ques- tions which play an essential part in our industry. With an industry, firm- ly based on a correct economic policy, it is necessary also to improve its or- ganization, so that by the output of a cheap and good quality article it may solve the fundamental problem of cap- turing the market. T, E. Dzherzhin- sky, president of the supreme econo- mic council of the U. S. S. R., has stated the problem in its widest scope, viz.: “the reduction of the cost of pro- duction by rationalizing methods of manufacture, by lessening overhead | charges, and by increasing the pro- ductivity of labor.” : The rationalization of manufactur- ing methods is proceeding along two lines. On the one hand, we are in- ‘reducing a number of organizational raeasures, we are improving account- ing, we are improving the internal or- ganization of separate workshops and of concerns as a whole. On the other hand, more complete workshop equip- ment and plant is being set up. It is obvious immediate results cannot be expected. The introduction of the scientific organization of labor in a workshop employing 1,000 workers re- quires a period of not less than two years for fully putting it into opera- tion, ' Conclusion. We can conclude, therefore, that our industry is on the up-grade in spite of some adverse features. Im regard to the supply of the market we can — record a number of achievements, tho much, of course, remains to be done. Our fundamental problem now, if not that of how to increase production, but how to strengthen the basis’ of ‘| our organization by adopting the most ‘|scientific methods of manufacture, by decreasing production costs and over- head charges and by increasing pro- MN