FOOD SHORTAGE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 52, Issue 248, 2 August 1932, Page 8

FOOD SHORTAGE.

CONCESSION TO PEASANTS. An important decree under the signatures of Stalin and Molotov, published in Moscow a few weeks ago, gives the Russian peasants much greater freedom in disposing of their surplus, the evident objective of the decree being to stimulate an increased output of foodstuffs. During last winter and spring, according to the reports of returned travellers, the food stringency was very marked in the provinces, especially in the Ukraine while even Moscow, which is much better supplied than the provinces, experienced a distinct shortage of meat and dairy products, while recently the sugar ration, slightly over 31b monthly, was reduced by onethird. The new decree reduces by 6, 000,000 tons the amount of grain which th. 9 State purchasing organisations are supposed to collect from peasants paying fixed prices and gives the peasants the right to sell the rest of their private produce freely, either in private markets, where they get high rates but must pay speculative prices for manufactured products, or through the special collective farm booths, where the peasants get lower prices, but may also receive city products at the lower prices.