"From Peasants To Spacemen”

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28415, 23 October 1957, Page 12

"From Peasants To Spacemen”

The tremendous expenditure in money, manpower, and resources entailed in the successful launching of Russia’s spectacular earth satellite has excited Western interest ,in the development of the Soviet economy, and in its prospects. Valid comparisons with the Western world are not possible

in all respects, because the Soviet economy is rigidly controlled in a way a democratic • government would never attempt, or be permitted to attempt. By methods possible only in a tight economic dictatorship, which controls completely the amount of consumer goods available to the public, Russia has made tremendous strides since the end of the war. A special correspondent of the ° Manchester Guardian ” recently quoted statistics to show that on present increases in annual production Russia could be expected to double her industrial output in 11 and would probably by then reach a Western European standard of living. In 30 years, again on present progress, -=he might be expected to achieve the United States standard. Already her scientists have made much faster progress in developing post-war research than Americans, at least, had thought possible. If her scientific potential is finally translated into terms of actual production, Russia’s industrialisation is an economic fact of world significance. When all this is said, it must be admitted that some factor? make the economic picture perhaps not so rosy as at first appears. The tremendous rate of growth in Russian production is partly accounted for by the very backwardness of the economy until the end of World War 11. Russia started from well behind scratch in its efforts to catch up with the West Progress seems more impressive than it would be in a country which had started from a firmer economic base. More important is’ the comparison—which more and more Western visitors are now seeing for themselves between Eastern and Western standards of living among the less-favoured sections of workers. Many Russian families room; water and

sanitary facilities are often grotesquely inadequate by Western standards; roading in rural districts has been described as from poor to impossible; and shopping facilities scarcely begin to compare with those in European cities, let alone those in the United States. It is not difficult to concentrate on industrial production when the provision of fundamental amenities for the workers can largely be ignored, as they can be in a dictatorship whicn allows no public demonstrations of discontent and disapproval. There have been signs recently that under Mr Khrushchev the Russian Government has been forced to admit the need for better housing and living conditions generally. If . men and materials are diverted to this, then the rate of industrial growth may be slowed. Another possible brake on Russian economic development is a shortage of labour caused by the war-time fall in births. This possibility has led the Russian leaders to concentrate in the last year or two on mechanisation and automation. However, when all weaknesses in the Russian economy are noted, the achievement remains impressive. It is aptly described by the “ Daily Telegraph ” in its comment: “From peasants to space- “ men without ever tasting the “joys this earth can offer—that “ seems to be the fate of the “ Russian people