The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 28, 1926, Page 10

é HAVE been out of Russia for sixteen months after a continuous stay here of almost three years. Dur- ing that first stay I saw the miraculous achievement of the first months after the famine when Moscow and in varying degrees the rest of Russia shook off its gar- ment of misery and emerged over night with ruins re- paired, buildings painted, new/street car lines running, shops and restaurants in operation. I saw the less spectacular but equally thrilling’ progress of the months that followed when a whole people set to work with in- credible energy to rebuild a country that had suffered a@ series of disasters that would have left a less re- silient nation listless and stunned. I saw the wheels of industry’ gain momentum from month to month, the railroads whipped into shape, one stupendous problem after another tackled and solved, Not without mistakes here and there, terrific mistakes—-not without crises that all but shook the whole structure to the ground again. But every mistake and crisis was made a les- son and so meant that the path ahead was that more secure. And the course was steadily upward. During the past year in America a constant stream of returning bankers, business men, preachers and poll- ticlans have brought reports of still further economic progress, of increased production in industry, of more efficient service on the railroads, of a comparative abundance of goods and food on tlie market, and most significant of all, of a happier expression on the faces of the people. So I was prepared when I arrived in Moscow a month ago to find that the two bus-lines that were operating when I left had increased to ten, that new ‘buildings were going up everywhere, that the little last minute purchases I had forgotten to make in New York could all be made on the Petrovka, and that everyone was better fed and better clothed. Now I have been here a month. I have left the snow bound north and came a thousand miles south to the village of Maslov Kut in the low lands of the North Caucasus region where the tiny green flames of the winter wheat are licking up higher and higher every day as the tides of winter ebb northward. I have talked ~ RUSSIA IN 1926 --- - Building a Socialist Economy. ference is implicit in the very terminology used in the discussions. Formerly every thing was a “crisis.” Now to some of the peasants, attended a meeting or two,] there are “economic difficulties.” The cause of these and during long days when the misty spring rains have turned the roads to deep sticky mud, I have read all the Russian papers I could lay my hands on. And I find that the change that has taken place in the last six- teen months is a far more fundamental one than the crises was destitution in one field or another—and they had to be solved by bending every available resource and effort toward the solution of that particular prob- lem, even at the expense of some other vital element in the national structure, so that each crisis was usual- mere raising of the general economic level and con-} ly followed by another crisis, for everything was at gequentiy the material standard of the population. The Port of Murmansk—A Painting by K. H. Korigin. Russia has definitely entered upon a new period dur- ing this past year. So far her progress has been within the technical framework of the old Russia. In order to build a new economic structure it was necessary first to get back to the point where they were before the revolution. There was not time to begin at the bottom and introduce a new tethnique all along the line, The change of ownership and organization could not wait for a change in the old methods to give them amore solid basis. First it was necessary to make the old system work, to fill the gap of the transition period, and then, when the elemental needs of food and cloth- ing and shelter were satisfied, begin to build the new. The process of building the new has now begun in earnest. True, in absolute figures neither industry or agriculture or trade have attained quite their pre-war proportions. But they have come very near it—so near that nothing can stop their attaining them in the course of the next year or so. But the old technique and the old machinery have reached their limit. The progress that will take place from now on will break the bonds of the old technical structure, and is dependent on the introduction of new methods and new machinery. ' I do not, however, want to give the impression that all is smooth sailing ahead, At the early spring there was a tense situation as regards foreign trade, the in- ternal, market, currency, fuel and transport, and the economic difficulties are not in the least minimized, by the Soviet officials. The press was full of the frankest ‘iscussion of the mistakes that have been made within the last few months. But there ts an important dif- ference between the type of crises that Russia has gone hru in the past, and the present situation. This dif- such a low ebb that the withdrawing of funds and at- : ; tention from any part of the econ- omic organism Meant stagnation in that particular branch. But the economic level has gradually risen to the pofnt where funds and at- tention can be more equally dis- tributed, and the difficulties of the present are rather due to a more rapid growth in one line than an- other, and to an increase in the material demands of the population outstrpping the capacity of industry to supply them. HE commodity hunger rises from complex causes. In the face of an absolute increase in in- dustrial production the growth has been far greater during the last year in heavy industry than in light. The city population with its increased buying power gobbles up much of the goods before it ever gets to the villages. What does reach the villages disappears from the shelves of the co-oper- atives like dew before the gun. Prices are still abnormally high, but there is no cry ‘f overproduction now. No matter how high the prices -he amount of good’ has still mot caught up with the paying demand. No wonder the peasant will not part with his grain too rapidly. His belly is full at last, He ‘s tired of his pre-war rags. He wants new agricul- tural machinery, but he also wants new clothes and shoes and. whatever the factories can offer to make life a little more gracious after these years of struggle. He doesn’t care so much’ what he is paid for his grain’ as long as-there is something for him to buy in exchange. Nothing could be franker than the admission of all these mistakes on the part of the government officials, nothing could be clearer and more searching than their analysis of the situation and its causes, nothing more realistic than their method of handling it. The export program for the current year has been cut down from 1,105,151,000 gold roubles to 720,000. Consequently the import program has to be cut from 1,009,678,000 to 685,000,000. For the gold reserve had to be drawn on again to meet obligations incurred when the larger figure was contemplated and they are insisting rigidly on the prompt meeting of all foreign obfigations. Fur- thermore, they cannot run the risk of inflation by issu- ing more paper money. Some of the tractors will-there- fore have no plows to pull, some of the reapers and bind- ers will stand useless without binder. twine—-but that is a temporary situation and. the effect will be less serious than ‘that of a falling rouble. Strictest economy is being observed all along the line. Credits for indus- try have been cut to the limit, the greatest care igs be- ing observed in the issuance of new currency, and from month to month the volume of goods on the market OL RE OH me By Jessica Smith. is being increased. Even while the discussion gtill rages, these things are going into effect, and from day to day improvement in the situs tion, are manifest, I. read about this situation in Rykoy’s speech in the Moscow pa- pers a few days ago. I heard it again in the speech of a representa- tive of the party “control commis- sion” who visited Masloy Kut a week or s0 ago to find out from the local population at a public meet- ing what their complaints were and whether the local Communists were carrying out the government policy in the real interests of the popula- tion. The commission checked up carefully on every complaint. One of two members were ousted from the party. Similar commissions are visiting the factories and. find- ing out what is the trouble there, Thus the Sovietgovernment keeps a@ double check on itself. On the one hand they keep a close check themselves on the Communist Par- ty members to make sure they are carrying out the policy correct- ly. On the other, by their constant public addmissions of fault and de- finitely to the remedy that the whole country will insist on its enforcement, They have provided for this by loosening Communist control-in the villages, and insist- ing that the peasants express themselves freely. There is no pressure applied in the elections. The peasants elect whom they will to the village Soviet, and Communist who stay in office do so mot by pressure from above but be cause they can prove in actual practice that they are working in the interests of the peasants, The solving of the . present difficulties will find Russia again far outstripping the progress of other years. More precautions than ever are being taken to avoid the mistakes of the past, and through the government planning commission plans are being worked out which will assure the equilibrium of the economic structure. The good ‘harvest expected this year will find the government far better prepared to. handle it than last. The progress that takes place from now on involves the application of new methods and machinery in both industry and agriculture which will create the new technique which, strictly controlled by the workers’ government, will be a solid foundation for the socialist state of the future. SOME OF THE FEATURES IN THE NEXT ISSUE The Story of Labor Day, by Thurber Lewis, Decorative drawing by O’Zim. In the Hell of Europe, by A. Landy. An introductory article to a series of articles by Henri Barbusse on the white terror in the Balkan States which will begin pub- lication in a forthcoming issue of this magazine, Llus- trative drawings by German artists. The Control of Wages, the next serial article for the section of “What and How to Read,” by Arthur W, Cal- houn, eh ee ee an nreruw ony Qa eS wa rw ce af & i. ot agvtra & bea co aa? egrorem wp poet acea DO nn re rr rom r nr nr, MARCHIN(¢ The lightning strikes the : The hurricane hurls It ove But the forest laughs at t That levels the lonely ro\ Chorus So gather, together, Divided we crack At the first attack, United we stand forev A single string snaps at tt Of a kite that a child can But the braided strands : As to tow the stars at ple: Chorus Avheel can keep from stru The waters in isolation, _But the woven river bend To the traffic of a nation. Chorus Our masters note our comp The unbroken ranks behin« And: know that their doom With the end of\ithe chains ao i Chorus