The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 2, 1931, Page 4

Page Fo ing or 10 boro, of been s ic Fs s ir a ; suld | engage em who the ILD in a pledge to put up ir freedom. of the} e again | e packages tained cig- | with a high once in a woul y = ( ingly thrust heir head e This w Beyin—Anew All ‘nine which were our gesture. of ity. Matches By JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE Thou has destroyed it, The beautiful worid, By H. J. FREYN. (Reprinted from New Republic) The following report on the Five Year Plan is in substance part of a speech which Mr. H. J. Freyn, the well known Chicago engineer, recently delivered before a meet- ing of the Taylor Society. Mr. Freyn has been doing engineering work for the Soviet Union during the past four years. His company is at present building a steel plant in the famous Kuznetsk Basin in Siberia, and is also cooperating that would fight fo There was a no tension. -in—the-_.clo: ¢ Wright,-the youngest, a | teen, sp@ke uy, “BS+that the o’g: tion, that seit thém teleg felt a bond. “Hadn't tha removal ft safer quarte: The colored workers f eral background perience of the la seen too mich to bec: tic over white men. the aid of the ILD, were somewhat restrained. The -pregs_ throughout the paints *thest™nine young boys sey With powerful fist. It sinks, it sunders! i had shivered it, the ruins Over into Naught, And wail | Over the lost beauty. Mighty one} Of the sons of Earth, More glorious Build it again; 9 In thy bosom build it up! New life-carrier, Begin. * With a sense undimmed And may new songs Sound over with Russian engineers at “Gipro- mez,” the central engincering or- ganization, preparing plans for new | iron and steel plants. As my personal interest and that | |of my company is primarily centered | in the Soviet iron and steel indus- |try, I am more familiar with this |particular phase of the Five Year| Plan than with the others and can| 'speak of it with some semblance of | authority. However, I am convinced | | that the same observations will also apply to the other branches of eco- | nomic endeavor in the Soviet Union. | Broadly speaking, all Soviet in-| | dustry is under the general direction | jof the Supreme Council of National | | Economy, the chairman of which is, Correction DAILY WORKER, NEW YCQK, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 1931 WORKERS, BLACK AND WHITE, DEMONSTRATED ON MAY FIRS' AN AMERICAN ENGINEER LOOKS AT THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN by PAUL HIGGINS | | ‘i I am convinced of the impeccability | of the Soviet officials in power. Graft | and bribery, so prevalent prior to the |revolution and reaching into the | highest governmental circles, do not |exist in high places, and if. corrup- jtion raises its head inthe lower | strata, it is promptly crushed by the supreme measure of social defense— |the death penalty. Disregard Personal Comfort. In my enti-2 experience I. have never mci caccutives and managers who had so complete a disregard of their family life, personal comfort and even their health as did the Soviet executives with whom I came | in contact. A working day of eighteen | and even twenty hours is the rule rather than the exception. I know one official who, at the age of about }forty-five, averages not» more ‘than | four or five hours of sleep per day. I know another official whose health finally broke down under the contin- uous grind and strain, so that he frequently fainted in his office, only to appear on the job the following morning. Knowing him well, I once upbraided him because I felt that he was doing wrong in sacrificing his health, that if he were to die in the prime of life it would be difficult to mere children.’ They, toilers’ c dren, were at an early age forced to go into the fields, and fac there do-the work of ¢ child’s pay: Roy Wright, with @ twinkle in his large brown-eyes,-soon stood out | the spokesman. He ex he and his brother, And: wood, and Eugene, had jumped on an oil carxof the:freight train, and that | : these “four aug the other five for na handkerchief and tucked | the first timé when they all| ly under the waistband of her | arrested:st Paint Rock. [long pink.skirt, she ran swiftly to-| Roy explained that four | wards ‘the failroad station which lies | boys were, companions. Roy, almost two kilometers from the town. | brother Andy, aged fourteen The rising sun threatened the land- enteeen; were boyhood friends of Hay-| scape with fire. From the dense fol- | wood Patérson, seventeen, and Eugene | iage rose tropical incense. A flock of Williams:aged fourteen. These four | green and yellow parrots flew through | childhood: chums had been brought the air, screeching wildly. 2658 BLACK two paragraphs | Awakening” by which appeared in ure page were left out. graphs conclude the} , | s at the river. She} sed and hurried to the| | the copy of the resolutions ert Morales urday's fe: of the nd ‘his MAN STAND UP! es | | a incidentally, a member of the Coun- cil of Peoples’ Commissars. This council cooperates with the State Planning Commission. An important | role is played by a special organiza- tion known as the Workers’ and Peasants’ Inspection, which acts as a sort of independent check on the ac- tivities and decisions of the Supreme Council of National Economy and other governmental bodies. . Workers Enjoy Privileges. Factories and plants are in charge of “Red” managers. They are in- variably Party members picked from the ranks of the workers. Their edu- cation is limited and their previous experience deficient. They are learn- ing while administering their office. No wonder their efforts are not al- ways successful. Occasionally: Red jdirectors are removed from their | Positions after a failure to prove their worth and are sent to the Red university in Moscow to round out their knowledge. I do not believe that any incapable or offensive man- ager could remain in an executive position by sheer political pull or per- sonal influence. The workers, who enjoy great privileges and power, would soon bring so much collective pressure to bear in high places that | he. would be removed and replaced. IT am satisfied that the loyalty, "| honesty and unselfishness of those individuals in responsible executive Positions are beyond a shadow of doubt. The average American or European who has personal dealings with these men and enjoys the priv’ ilege of knowing them in a social way, will be impressed by their su- perior qualities. I have met a num- ber of officials and managers con- nected ‘with the Soviet iron and steel and allied industries with whom I had to discuss and adjust many in- tricate business projects and I in- variably found these men devoted to their work and to the cause, in whose righteousness they firmly believe, “Red Managers Sincere.’ Their sincerity and fatrness have ;,|™made our business relations entirely satisfactory. I have had no reason to complain or to take issue with any of their actions. As an engineecr- ing organization rendering technical assistance in the iron and steel in- dustry of the Soviet Union, we are not expected to extend credit, and being somewhat in the position of salaried employees, we have always found that the Soviet institutions with which we are doing business lived up to their obligations. Mis- understandings, bound to arise in bi} * BY HILDE ABEL business relations, could invariably be adjusted by personal discussions ross the table ~~ replace him. He looked at me and, | without any attempt’ at dramatiza- |tion, quietly responded that if he should die, a gravestone would be reared for him with the epitaph: “Here lies Michael Nikitich Buroff. He died fulfilling his duty.” This devotion and extraordinary capacity for work among the execu- | tives whom I met—and I believe that \they are only typical examples—are doubtless the result of their earli¢r revolutionary activities and are | caused by what someone called an al- |most religious fervor. There are but a limited number of trustworthy Party members available whose quali- fications fit them for the higher re- sponsible positions in government and industry, and this knowledge influ- | ences their attitude toward their | work. It is not at all unusual for eral positions simultaneously. Their emoluments—at present about one hundred and fifty dollars per month —a—re so meager and the preroga- tives enjoyed by virtue of their Pposi- tion so limited, that neither lust for money nor the gratification of per- sonal desire can be their motives. Bolshevik Self-Criticism. There has been much criticism, both oral ‘and printed, of the man- agement of Soviet enterprises. The usual verdict is that management on the whole is incompetent and ineffi- cient. Certain foreign publications are usually filled with accounts of Soviet mismanagement. Such stories, unless willfully fabricated, are large- ly based on statements published in the Soviet press. Communist news- papers abound with candid and often withering articles hauling manage- ments over the coals, uncovering abuses, denouncing mistakes and ful- minating against absurdities and stu- Pidities perpetrated. _ : ‘The Soviet press wields as great power as that of other countries, if not gtéater. Reporters are on the jbo twenty-four hours a day trying to make I remember being with a party of high officials of an American manufacturer visiting a certain factory in Leningrad in 1929. “The Soviets receive one and all; any one who wishes not to remain work. They cover the entire country with their network, and the tighter this net of people's Soviets becomes, the'less possible will be the exploita- tion of the representatives of the toiling masses, since the existence of the Soviets is incompatible with the flourishing of the bourgeois sysiem.” Tete oc oe DENN: the higher executives to occupy sev-/ idle, enters upon the path of creative | We were accompanied by one of the high governmental officials from Moscow. The American executive criticized rather freely and openly some of the practices he saw. That night the government official turned to Moscow and‘I called on him in his official calc. car about half an hour Wefore train time. While discussing some queStions in connec- tion with our company’s work, a somewhat wild-eyed newspaper re- | porter rushed in and insisted on in- terviewing the Moscow official con- I | made by the American, rumors of |which had reached his ear. He in- sisted on a detailed explanation and jconfirmation which he wanted to telephone to his newspaper at once, lished in the morning throughout the jlength and breadth of the land. It took considerable ingenuity and diplomacy to get rid of him. The Soviet press devotes much space to denunciations by its read- ers, and the correspondence column is not only part of every issue but has become almost a sacred institu- tion, This is called “self-criticism.” The practice is thoroughly in har- mony with Bolshevik tenets. It opens | the door to a public airing of the real or imaginary grievances of | workers and Party members, | Bureaucracy and Sabotage, The bane of all large organizations is also in evidence in the Soviet Union—bureaucracy. Although it is | fought at every step, this evil is at | present a heavy drag on Soviet in- | stitutions. Bureaucracy means rigid | routine, red tape, delays and waste, succeeds in controlling it, the’ best intentions and plans may be ham- pered or even frustrated. As long as bureaucracy, indifference and igno- Tance remain unchecked, construc- tion and manufacturing costs, and hence the cost of living, will stay high and the quality of consumers’ goods remain low. Another source of danger is dis- | loyalty, mischief-making, wrecking and sabotage by a dwindling number of engineers and professors. The worst aspect o fthe matter is that they are the very people who have education, knowledge and experience in technical and scientific matters. They are counter-revolutionists, and counter-revolutionary activity is the most heinous crime in the Soviet code. ‘The majority of the older, experi- enced engineers are naturally not of proletarian origin, but disciples of the ancient regime. It is easy to un- derstand why these engineers, who formerly occupied high positions and enjoyed wealth and the prerogatives of the then privileged class, could not or would not become adjusted to the new orientation, which deprived them of their most cherished pos- sessions. Many of them were con- vinced that the Soviet Government would sooner or later be overthrown, Uncle Sam views the advance of | the Five Year Plan in the Soviet “Unies 4 “4 ‘ cerning the criticisms that had been} so that the bad news might be pub+| and unless the Soviet Government | | re-| | | | | | | try and of all humanity, from the and that they would regain their former positions after the overthrow. They felt that passive resistance or active interference could endanger and might defeat the Five Year Plan. The government officials, trusting these men and their advice | and, moreover, lacking any technical | knowledge, found it difficult to un- cover and frustrate the insidious schemes of these marplots. Judging from personal experience, I am entirely satisfied that much de- liberate wrecking has been going on. In retrospect: I can better understand and evaluate certain occurrences which at the time seemed unfathom- able and peculiar. Stupid delays for which there seemed no excuse, un- explainable, expensive and belated changes in projects, extravagant rules, silly regulations and many other similar happenings, were straws indicating whence the wind was blowing. The Soviet Government, aware of | this inherent weakness of the tech- | nical position of its industries, em- braced some four years ago the pol- icy of engaging foreign technical as- sistance. Foreign engineers have no | axe to grind, and the Soviet Govern- ment knows—or should know—that they are not interested in politics. | True to the ideals and ethical stand- ards of their profession, they will work loyally to create and rear engi- | neering works i) The bad mistakes and serious blun- | ders made are not, however, soleup| due to deliberate wrecking. Many are the result of ignorance ,irrespon- sibility and the lack of training and experience. Conservatism and a be- lief that new-fangled ideas are wrong. are also to blame.| Although the So- viet government firmly believes that the industries of their country must be developed along American lines, and although the superiority of American machinery and equipment. is acknowledged, it sometimes taxes one’s patience to induce some Rus- sian engineers, foremen and workers | to adopt American methods and de-| vices to speed up and cheapen con- struction. 5-Year Plan Will Succeed. I have been asked frequently whether the Soviet government will succeed in carrying out the Five Year Plan. While this may be any- body’s guess, I believe that with the progress heretofore made, the Five Year Plan will in general be fulfilled. Circumstances may cause individual industries to fall behind, but other measures also embraced in the Five Year Plan will be carried out witha considerable margin. The Five Year Plan 1s an economic measure, but in course of time it has acquired a certain political signifi- cance. This political aspect is given undeserved importance by the out-! side world. It is widely believed that | the failure to complete the Five Year | Plan in the allotted time will mean | defeat for the Soviet government. | Such ideas have no basis in fact. I believe that should the pressure be- come too great and lack of capital and credits too serious, the program will merely be slowed up and the time extended. I further believe that if the gigantic Five Year Plan were only 75-per cent completed by the end of 1933, a remarkable technical and managerial feat, unparalleled in| I the world’s history, will have been achieved, “Unite yourselves, weld yourselves firmly. together, organize yourselves, trusting no one, depending only on your own intelligence and experience; and Russia will be able to move with firm, measured. certain steps toward the liberation both of our own coun- yoke of capital as well as from the horrors the {rounded heads Coyne, A Young By HENRY GEORGE WEISS OM where he lives you can the Tucson mountains lift against ern sky. At any time it is a glorious sight but at sunrise and sunset the magic of it is something beyond description. ‘Then you may see. him lounging against. a post, brooding; his dark eyes fixed on the glamorous scene. see ‘What are you thinking of, Coyne?” | | I asked him. “What do you see away off there over the hills?” He is only seventeen, only a bay, though he does a man’s wi in the fields and in the dair when he can find work |to do. His thin, sensitive face, almost coffee-brown in color, the face of a| poet, a dreamer—so many of those Mexican lads are poets and dreamers, I find; so sensitive to life and beatty —is shy and hesitant. It is night; the glamorous desert dusk is falling around us. The wes- tern sky deepens with a_ strange splendor, has a crystal clarity almost overwhelming to watch, the effect, of depth revealing depth until one reels before the awful implications of il- limitable space. “All this,” he waves a hand and loks at me to see if I comprehend, “it calls to me, speaks.” “Yes,” I prompt. “Nothing,” he answers. end he tells: me all his sorrow. has studied and read and at last put in an application for a certain po- sition, and cannot get it because he is colored. “And I was born in this country,” he cries, “and as much a citizen as anyone. My father was born here. And I am not stupid Why do they do this—why?” I shake my head. The s more brightly. “Color,” I nothing to do with ability, with in- telligence; but in this country I tell him of Dumas, of his son, of the poet Pushkin, and of that pro- letarian fatherland where no color line is drawn. He listens enthral- led. We are two comrades in the dusk. “What is the name of that 2” he asks. “Soviet Russia,” But in the #2 Sinn eae Il. It is early mornir The twitter- ing of the blackbirds, of nameless He | can, Learns there are three other children, youn ger, still asleep, I suppose, One is).a boy of about seven. I call him Mike. One evening Mike looks in at me while I am cooking pancakes. “Have a pancake, Mike.” “No thanks,” he says, but I press him and he accepts. He eats like a half-starved animal. “You see,” he ys naively, “there | weren't enough potatoes to go around tonight and I only got one.” “What did you have for breakfa: | I asked | ‘Oh, I had a good breakfast,” he smacks his stomach gleefully; “some sweet corn farmer....gave us.” “And for lunch?” Why, I don’t eat any lunch,+I | was at school But this morning they will eat a good breakfast, I imagine; the father has had work for a week. Two dol- lars a day, twelve dollars a week. And Coyne gets two-fifty night—atid a has been working two nights, and will maybe, two more. Oh, they are prosperous! No milk, of course; no luxuries; but all one can eat of pota- toes and bread, with maybe a piece of meat once a day, and some other vegetables. Mike’s eyes will glisten | when he tells of his good fortune. | Once I gave Mike a glass of milk and he said, “Gee, that’s nice.” “You like milk,” I bantered. ‘How long since you had any?” “Not long,” says Mike “Well, how long is that? “Oh, about six weeks, maybe.” “Don't your mother take milk at all?” “Not for the baby? Mike shook his head he offered, “Farmer some for him.” | “When was that?’ not remember. “Oh vaguely. “Sometimes,” gives mama But Mike could once,” he said ee Lying now on my outdoor bed, bid- ding Coyne good morning, I think of the tragedy of it. All their lives, his father and he have milked cows, and eldom do they ever taste milk. ’ All their lives they have driven’ the songsters, and of quail, awaken me.} It is four-thirty and the pale pink | of coming dawn reddens the Cata-| linas. I sleep in the open. From} my bed the whole sweep of irri-| gated land lies before me. | Coyne has not yet finished his| And this summer there has beer night's work of irrigating. Often I} little work. The farmer who rents plough, tended livestock, and some- times they go hungry when there ié not any work, and at the best, egg¥ and milk are beyond their pocket- book. * war."—From a speech to | have awakened in the dark and seen his lantern like a firefly going to and fro, or hovering in one place as he dug and delved to facilitate the flow of life-giving water. ,He pauses for a moment to say good morning. He began last night at six o'clock or seyen, I forget which, and he will quit, at seven this morning. It is a Jong, lonely grind. About a hundred yards away the square adobe house in which he lives stands bare and barren. His mother comes to the door. She is up to cook the father’s breakfast. She is good looking but stout, with a pleasant face and smile. The father is slim and almost unbelievably neat in his overalls and cotton shirt. The girls, four of them, like the steps in a lad- der, stand in the doorway. One of them is a dusky beauty, and all of them fair to look at. What do they eat? I wonder. For besides the girls THE EMPTY BOWL them the adobe strives to be kind. He is by way of being a red farmey’ |Sometimes he gives the family an |armful of corn from his patch, 9nd he waits for the rent. But even at |that he is a farmer. He curses the, hired man. It is his firm conviction that Coyne doesn't give a fair day's | (or night's rather) work for the mon- ey he pays him. He pays him more |than the other farmers would and | accuse hirl of lying down on the-job. | But I would lie awake by the hour |and see the lad toiling back and forth, doing his best, I know the accusa~ tion is foundless. The farmer, of course, is going busted himsejf; he doesn’t know where the money is te come from to pay the hired man and that makes him unjust, And all. the time Coyne is broodine and thinking. He-Is eager to learn: His mind is pregnant with new ideas. « “Some time, comrade,” he says. In the Land of Capitalist Equality! (Tune: “Li'l Liza Jane”) I am the brains And you are the brawn, O workingman! ~ I own the wheels And you make them run, © workingman! O my worker, you are a bum! O my worker, you are so dumb! get more While you get less, While you work more, © workingman! I saved my money While you saved none, O workingman! I bought bonds ; And you bought none, © workingman! Church is good for you ie fk y Stas a4 | O workingman! It keeps you the slave And keeps me the boss, O workingman! Drink’s good for me ; But it’s bad for you, Gin O workingman! Laws aren't for me But they are for you, © workingman! I go to Europe While you stay home, © workingman! My son goes to college And yours goes to work, O workingman! So you pay the piper For me to dance, - O workingman! * You may get a job Tf you're very goed, a 1 -