The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 8, 1927, Page 11

Progress in a Soviet F actory - To begin with, I must explain how I happen to know something about a textile factory and its prog- ress. During the month of July, this year, I, to- gether with a number of other foreign comrades, worked in the Nikolsky factories of the Orekevo- Zuevo Textile Trust, a unit of the state textile syndicate. While there we attended all the meet- ings of the workers and took a full part in the life ef the factory, And I want to say quite frankly that on the morn- ing we started to work, I was considerably disap- pointed. As a machinist, I was assigned to the machine shop, in which repairg were being made on the machinery of the dyeing factory. I was Given a iathe to operate that had been imported from England 84 years ago, Workers who know something of machinery will need no further expla- mation. For the benefit of those who lack machine experience, I merely add that this machine was much worse than a three year old “Henry” (if you Bever owned one, ask an owner)—when we fixed it up in one place, it fell apart in another. Further- tore, this Inthe wes Little different from the balance @f the equipment in the machine shop. ~ Overcoming Obstacies. My disappointment, howaver, changed to almost tcreduious surprise after talking to the workers, They had a full realization of how bad their equip- ment was and of the need for new, modern machin- ery, but they also knew of the great progress that had been made, even with this eld machinery, since the revolution. This they explained to us in detail. The machine shop, they said, (and we later found cut for oursc!ves) was mot an exception; the machin- ery in all of the departments of the factory had likewise been imported 25 or more years ago. Dur- ing the period of the war the capitalist owners had run the factories to their utmost capacity with a@ minimum of shut-downs for cepairs. In the period of revolution and civil war practically no repairs were made and no repair parts for this imported machinery were available because of the capitalist blockade. Whole departments stood idle, in many cases with the windows broken, the roofs leaking, and the machinery not adequately protected. The major attention of the country was directed towards the defense of the revolution from its internal and externa] enemies. After finally defeating the counter-revolution in 1921, they set about the task of rehabilitating the industries. Repairs of both buildings and equipment were undertaken on as large a scale as the avail- able capital would permit. Workers who had left the industrial centers in search of food or had been drawn into the army, were gradually drawn back into the industries. The most effective way of show- ing the decline that took place immediately after the revolution and the rapid progress that has taken place since 1921 is to quote the following figures en the Nikolsky factories: Year No. of Workers Production Pieces 1914 (pre-war) 23,050 1,499,767 1918-19 24,493 (Average prod.) 269,000 1919-20 13,341 (two years) 269,000 1920-21 16,341 136,668 1921-22 17,193 269,648 1922-23 19,761 543,300 1923-24 22,558 1,160,563 1924-25 24,654 1,711,524 1925-26 (estimated) 25,000 2,000,000 It does not require much etudy of these figures to realize that Soviet industry ts making rapid prog- ress. This unit of factories last year exceeded the pre-war production by over 200,000 pieces of cloth and this ‘year it will reach a half million more pieces than were produced under capitalist ownership. How has this relatively bigh rate of production been reached? Has it been done by “sweating” the workers? These are the natural questions that should arise and their answers show the superior- ity of the socialist type of industry over the capt- tatist type. Consolidating Factories. The Nikolsky unit of the Orekevo-Zuevo Textile Trust, today, combines umder one central manage ment the following factories and enterprises: (Note: The primary units are those concerned directly with the making of textile goods and the secondary units are those which supply the needs of the primary units). Primary Secondary 3 Weaving Mills Machine Shop (800 work 1 Thread Factory ers) 2 Spinning Mills Blectric Power Piant 1 Bleaching, Printing & Spool Factory Dyeing factory. Weaving-Comb & Shuttle Factory Peat Fields Brick Yard Prior to the revolution these factories and auxil- jaries were owned by different private owners, At least two of them, in addition to the managing staff im the factories, maintained big central offices in Moscow. Each factory had its own individual power plant. Two dyeing plants were then operating. Nat- urally each factory carried en its work with little concern for the other plants. ~ After the revolution of this was changed; these plants were put under one central direction and now earry on their production as one unified factory. The individual power stations were dis- continued and one central power station now sup- plies power to all of the factories and furthermore this same station supplies electric light to every worker's home. One dyeing plant was closed down and ali of its machinery moved into the other, so today all of the material is dyed under the one roof im a factory employing between four and five thous- and workers. The purchase of raw materials and supplies for both the primary and secondary units as well as the sale of the products of the factory are in the hands of the central management exclus- ively. Factory buildings which were formerly separated have been or are now being joined together in order to do away with the hauling of material from one building to another. Buildings that were unsuitable for the new production methods are being torn down and new buildings erected in such a way as to fur- ther unite all of the former factories into one unit. But with a few exceptions most of the above noted changes effect the element of economy in produc- tion rather than the quantity. But look what foll- lows: Repairing and Moving Machinery. Since 1922 the repairing of machinery hag been Put on an organized and planned basis. By that I mean that they did not wait for a machine to break down before they fixed it and further that they did not start in a haphazard manner to repair first a machine in one department and later in an- other. They carefully went over all of the buildings and equipment in the Nikolsky unit and found out just what their resources were. On the basis of this investigation they drew up their plans. They de cided just what buildings had to be torn down, which ones had to be altered and how othera could be connected. In considering the question of the buildings they approached their problem from the point of view of doing away with all duplication and breaks in the continuity of the productive pro- cess. They set out to establish a “chain system” of production go that all of the raw material would come into the factory at fts proper point and fol- low a straight line through the plant until it came out as the finished product, With these plans in mind they started to repair machinery. Whole departments were stripped of their machinery and the machines were not merely repaired but completely rebuilt. In doing this they made themselves practically independent of the or iginal manufacturers of the machines, for they made blue prints, patterns and castings of all of the ma- chine parts and produced them in their own machine shop. In schools connected with the factory (which I have dealt with in another article) they turned out designers, draughtsmen, pattern-makers and machin- ists. In this way they are laying the basis for build- ing their own textile machinery im the very near future. : After these machines are repaired, they are not set back in their former places. They are set up in accordance with the new plans that have been made, For example, all of the spinning machinery is being put together in one set of buildings, the weaving machinery into another and the thread making ma- chinery into the third. All of these units are being 80 stTanged that they feed directly into the bleach- ing, printing and dyeing plant, from which the finished goods are gent to the warehouse. The state syndicate in Moscow receives the orders for all tex- tile goods. There the orders are distributed among the various factories, from which the goods are shipped directly to the purchaser. If by any chance the former owners were to come back to Orekevo to reclaim their property they would have a pleasant time trying to decide which buildings and machinery belonged to them. They would find it so hopelessly mixed up that they would be compelled by the force of circumstances to con- tinue the operation as one plant. However, we need mot worry. This very progress now being made pre- eludes any possibility of their ever coming back. A Few Concluding Facts. im addition to the general production figures given at the beginning of the article the following are even more startling as evidence of what has been accomplished by the workers during their short period of industrial management, In spite of the fact that most of the spinning and weaving machinery dates back to 188, i. e., 44 years eld, production has greatly increased, Output In Spinning Mill per 1,000 Spindles, 1913 1926 111 poods of yarn. 122 poods of yarn. Output in Weaving Factories. No. 1 17.1 running meters 24, running meters \ No. 2 19.5 running meters 24.6 running meters No. 8 23. running meters 23.6 running meters Output in Bleaching, Dyeing and Printing Plant. 1913 1926 1.10 per man per day 3.8 per man pér day Im the dyeing plants mass production of the print- ed cloth has commenced. The highest production of the two former plants during the peak periods of By C.A. Hathaway the Nizhny-Novgorod fair was 3,800 pieces of cloth per day. In the one plant now with the same ma‘ chinery concentrated together in a rational manner the normal daily output is from 8,000 to 8,500 pieces, Under pressure it can reach 10,000 pieces of cloth per day. Each set of factories in the state syndicate are now beginning to specialize on a relatively few types and patterns of thread and cloth. The Nikolsky factory, for example, is just making 50 patterns of cloth instead of 478 before the revolution; the num- bers of yarn have been reduced from 40 to 28; the assortment of cotton has been reduced from 17 t@ 10; and beginning with the end of this year the age sortment of semi-finished cloth will be cut down t@ , 82. This specialization greatly increases the pow sibility of further increasing the production, These great results have been accomplished ig four years’ time. It will require another five years to complete their plans of rebuilding and reorgam izing the Nikolsky factory, but each year as the Job approaches its conclusion; the production will increase at the same or possibly at an even more rapid rate than these figures show. In addition te the work of rebuilding the old machinery, $2,500,008 worth of new machinery hag been purchased by the Orekevo trust which will be delivered and set up by the middle of next year. With this new machinery operating, the workers claim they will more thaw double the pre-war production—and after working with them, I have become imbued with their epirit,.. I believe they can, I asked the “White” director, the specialist, whd was to be given the credit for these accomplish ..+ ments. He said, “The credit for what has been ag complished in this factory belongs to the Communist Party and the trade unions. As a result of thei organized struggle for improvement and their deters mination to overcome what seemed to me insure mountable difficulties—they are resopnsible for eveal the technical improvements.” How the Boiler Was Brought. (Continued from page 4) t Nichevo, there is a moulder and there are also cast ers. The missing parts are made new. Everything is done by themselves, and with what care. One ~. hundred and ninety pounds of pressure is applied and not a drop from bolts or saddles. The womem folk carry heaps of clay and bricks and the mason@ perform their part. The mechanics painstakingly g¢ over everything in detail. Everything ig ready. Om ly to heat it. The fire is made, at first a slow one; this is gradually increased. After a few days no draft appears. The firemen are laughing: “Eng neers, eh! There is your boiler. When you close #& there is only a little draft, but when you open it, n@ draft at all to speak of. A housewife has morg@ draft in her kitchen stove.” ii J ‘ The mechanic comes, he looks the boiler over ang gays: “Heat it more; the draft will come.” “From where? Heat it yourself!” But in front of the factory office there is a greafl rush. The people from all near-by villages come te register for work. All will be taken, for the factorg will start in full blast. After a week of heating, the draft really appearg -—and what a draft! On opening the furnace a lit tle, the burning logs in it begin to dance. On Mom day the factory will start work. It is time. Wim ter is at hand. The firemen are agitated; it seems to be easy to raise steam, but how about lowering it? They have to work with the boiler for years to come. Monday comes. The smoke stacks are beflagged. A melodic whistle of three notes cuts the dreaming morning air and is carried into the distance over the fields, streams, and forests—a glad call to work. From the surrounding villages the girls and ‘boys are coming with a quickened gait to work. Another cheerful thrill—the sleeping kingdom hag come to life. Out of the windows of the boiler room rushes a mighty, furious roar of machines; the shu® tles are knocking, trying to outrun each other; the cross spools are cracking like machine guns; the revolutions of the shaft transmission give out @ slightly slapping noise; one hardly hears the rus® ling of the belts; and in the distant carpenter shopg the circular saws are screaming in falsetto, In this wonderful harmonious concert of machineg is born and flourishes the best hymn of all— hymn of toil, the hymn of victorious struggle, hymn to titanic creator-man,