WHAT IT MEANS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 115, 12 November 1930, Page 9

WHAT IT MEANS

"FIVE-YEAB PLAN"

TWELVE MONTHS' PROGRESS

A new "economic year" in Soviet Rus« sia's Five-Year Plan of industrial development began on Ist October. An interesting sidelight on the working of the "Plan" is thrown by an appeal which has just been issued by the' Central. Committee o£ the Russian Communist Party, and calls for the stricter control of labour in the interests of production and industrial efficiency, and declares that there is a shortage of workers, and not an unemployment problem, says the "Manchester Guardian." Indeed, it criticises the Labour Commissariat for paying out unemployment benefit; when there was this unsatisfied demand. Another point'l of interest is the reference to "exaggerated orders" for imported machinery from abroad. The Communist Party's appeal (in the English version, published by the Communist International) says: "The third year of the Five-year Plan will be a new and tremendous step forward to the industrialisation of the country. In the year 1930-31 the planned increase of industrial production will equal the sum total of industrial production before the war. "The preliminary condition for tha carrying out of this great economic programme, however, is the fulfilment of the industrial and finance programme o£ the current year. INDUSTRY BETTER. "In the first ten months of the second year of the Five-year Plan Socialist largescale industry has increased its total production by 27 per cent., and thus reached a record growth for the whole period of reconstruction. In the same period the heavy industries, which are the basis of Socialism, have increased their production by 39.5 per cent. "All these successes, however, must not c°"gceal ac^ that industry has not quSe~-fcarried out the original plan. Industry lags behind the envisaged figure of 32 per cent. Particularly unsatisfactory is the fulfilment of the building programme, which was carried out by only 59 per cent, in the first three quarters of the current year. The most important reason, for the failure to carry out the plan was the lack of energy and initiative in the mobilisation of the resources of the country, an insufficient utilisation of the existing factory equipment, stoppages as a 'result of bad organisation of the raw material supply, a lack of systematic rationalisation, insufficient working out of factory plans, etc. The many cases of exaggerated i orders for equipment to be imported from abroad without first attempting to obtain the equipment from Soviet industry, offer proof of the bureaucratic ideology of some of our economic leaders, and often represent the expression ofopportunist disbelief' in the possibilities of Socialist industry. , GREAT CHANGES. . "The changes which showed themselves in the economic situation also played a, large role, particularly with regard to the question of labour power and its tendency to change frequently its position. The tremendous development "of Socialist industry, the demand for new masses of workers, particularly those from the countryside, the development of the Soviet farms and ' collective agricultural undertakings, and the increased harvests have caused great changes in comparison with 'the time when there was permanently a considerable number of unemployed workers in .the towns, and the peasants had more than enough outside labour power ■ at their disposal. "In this connection the economic, Labour Union, and even party organisationa > have adopted a passive attitude and tolerated the development of'the fluctuation of labour power. The organs of the Labour Commissariat continued to publish.' bureaucratic statistics concerning hundreds of thousands of unemployed, and. continued to pay millions and millions of: roubles in unemployment support, although, all industrial districts were crying out for workers and totally failed to take any action against those who did not want to work. "The fundamental failure of the economic work was seen in the incapacity to organise and direct the rapidly growing activity of the working class. The Socialist competitive scheme has now entered on a new phase. The plans of production, drawn up by the higher economic organs for the factories are now being examined, corrected, and extended by the workeri themselves. "GREAT WEAPON." ; "This practice draws the masses of the workers into the work for the building up of Socialism, and represents an important weapon in the struggle against the sabotagers. In many cases, however, the initiative of the workers has not been sufficiently supported by the party organisations and other factory organisations. Trom this situation arise the following fundamental tasks for the party and the' whole working class:—All the forces of, he party, the economic, the Labour. Union, and the Young Communist organisations must be mobilised for the development of the Socialist competitive scheme and for the all-round support of the initiative of the workers. The initjative of the Central Council of Soviet Labour. Unions for the organisation of a trad© union campaign in September for the improvement of the financial and industrial )lans from below by the workers, and for of a 'Day of Shock Brigade -/abour throughout the,whole of the soviet Union on Ist October. "Measures must immediately be taken to consolidate the discipline of labour. "The productive and technical initiative : the engineers must be supported, and I care taken to speed up the training of new cadres of engineers and technicians trom the ranks of the working class. • A .system of measures must be introduced to fight against the fluctuation of abour power, to hold the workers to ;heir factories, to cause them to under;ake before.proletarian public opinion not to leave their jobs before a certain period, and at the same time to introduce premiums, etc., which will spur on the workers to permanent work in the factories. Ine statutes of the labour exchanges shall be.altered in accordance with the changed situation. . . b HOLIDAY TROUBLE. : j."^l}.e cooperatives must arrange the distribution of articles of consumption in such., a way that the interests of the factory workers are taken into consideration in industrial areas, dairy farms, vegetable gardens on a large scale, cattle-breedinfc undertakings, etc., must be organised reach of the big towns. The Press, which has performed great w°rK. on the basis of self-criticism for the mobilisation of the masses for the carrying out of the industrial and finance programme, must direct its attention in particular to a struggle against the chief practical deficiencies of our economic work. «," A jßtrUi Sßle, must be organised against the drop in labour tempo as the result ofjsummer holidays. . i These are the most important tasks at the moment. It depends on our owjn. work whether we are able to overcome the difficulties^ with which we are faced. We must fight tirelessly against bureaucracy and against slacking in our organisations. We must mobilise the working class in toe struggle for Communism." ••■.