FAULT-FINDING AT MOSCOW

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26856, 8 October 1952, Page 9

FAULT-FINDING AT MOSCOW

Attack On Cultural Organisations

(Rec. 9 p.m.) MOSCOW, October 7. The Soviet Government department* of cultural organisations came under heavy Are at the Communist Party congress yesterday. Mr L. G. Melnikov (Ukraine) spoke of serious shortcomings in the ideological work of industry and in agriculture.

Some enterprise*, he said, were making bad use of production capacity, tolerating great waste of equipment, and were not fulfilling production plans. Mr Melnikov said there were still collective farms and motor tractor stations lagging behind in the Ukraine. Another delegate, Mr Michailov, said that the leadership of the Sovi*t Writers' Union and Arts Committee had had many congresses and conferences devoted to the shortcomings of Soviet drama, but sometime* the impression arose that many dramatist* had ceased to write plays and instead were writing mostly articles explaining why there were no plays about Soviet life. There were too few good Aims depicting contemporary life in the Soviet Union. Mr Michailov said that the Komsomol (the Young Communist Organisation). with a membership of almost 16,000.000, was double the sire it was in 1939. The equivalent for younger children —the Pioneer Organisation—had a membership of 19.000.000. He said that since 1939. "Pravda," the official Communist Party newspaper, and "Komsomolskaya Pravda," the organ of the Communist youth I organisations, had doubled their circulation. One-third of the’ budget for poHti- ■ cal education was being devoted to I printing and literature.

Mr Malenkov Critical In his address the Deputy-Prime Minister (Mr Malenkov) attacked nepotism, embezzlement, and other crimes, neglect of ideological work In many party organisation*, out-of-date methods of houses, and bad organisation in food distribution. He said that the Soviet had rebuilt the economy destroyed by the war. Prices had been cut five times and heavy industry was on a much higher level than before the war. but the work was done badly in some industries, and consumer goods were of Soor quality in many cases. The prouction of vegetable* and flax was still less than in 1940, “because of slackness.’’

Mr Malenkov also said that some Ministries were not controlling enterprises properly. It was the strongest criticism yet by a party leader, and it was voiced with Mr Stalin’s approval.