RUSSIA'S RULERS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 74, 29 March 1932, Page 8

RUSSIA'S RULERS

A TINY MINORITY

DETERMINED ELDER GROUP

THEIR WEAKER SONS i

In a Eussian population of 150 millions, the membership of the Communist Party is less than two millions, yet the Communist Party is absolutely supreme. This is the verdict of Mr. Thomas Walsh in the '' Sydney Morning Herald," in a review of a book by Ethan T. Colton, "The XYZ of Communism. According to "Pravda" of June, 1930, the membership of the Communist Party was then 1,805,000. '' In the chapter on Communism and religion, the author quotes figures which show that the young generation are nearly all atheists, that up to 22 years of age there are only 2 per cent of 'believers.' The highest rate of, believers is amongst illiterates, being 30.8 per cent. We might, however, be excused for not accepting these figures as meaning very much, since the Government is so anxious to kill religion that many people will no doubt flatter them by agreeing to be non-believers, whatever their inward convictions may be. '••/'With religion has gone the family, and the State is responsible for the condition of the young people. They are not, apparently, turning out an improvement upon those educated by their religious and capitalistic-minded parents. COMMUNIST YOUTHS' MONOPOLY. "The admissions to high schools and technical institutions disclose a low percentage of Communist youth. "When they enter the party their ambition to learn slackens, because they are sure to be preferred for jobs, owing to their opinions. Only the Communist youth have a future in Russia to-day. The vast majority, sons of peasants and the former bourgeoisie, cannot make any advance at all. '' The Communist youth, on whom the future of'the regime depends, are a serious problem to the older .Bolsheviks. They are certainly loyal to the Government, which offers them the position of a ruling class, but do they believe in .Communism and accept the doctrines of Marx and Engels without deviations? The Communists, for their own v.purposes, have destroyed the' reverence of youth for age and for the theories of the past. Have they gone too far? For after all, Marx- and Engels are of the past. ■ "It must be remembered that in the fierce contentions between the factions in the party to-day for the leadership of the Russian nation, the restoration of religious freedom and private property is a weapon which, sooner or later, will be taken out of the party armoury.. But it will remain where it is for the present until the many warring factions are reduced to two only, when the one which at that point seizes it quickly enough, will slay his rivals with it, and march on to victory." f, It might be" expected that wherA a ruling clique controls a Soviet or committee system, the clique might wisely broaden the base of its party at the bottom by opening the lower committees to non-members, thus drawing them into its influence and membership. But that seems to be done only in a' small way:— "Only in the lower Soviets can nonparty members be elected to any office, and even these are first selected by the Communist party as supporters of the present regime. In the higher Soviets, non-Communists are eliminated, and in the trade unions and the co-operatives only Government nominees can be elected. Workers do not yet form 50 per cent, of the Communist party in Russia, notwithstanding a special drive in 1930 to get them in. However, it is not even the Communist Party which is supreme in Russia. The party has become practically a machine for registering the resolutions of th«P»Central Committee of 71 delegates and 67 alternates. INDUSTRIAL EFFORT. "The Government has used the capital confiscated from the old regime to import machinery into Russia,, and has brought in experienced industrialists from other~ countries to manage it. The Government acts under the advice of the experts as to the whole scheme, and, as tney have complete control over • the human material, men, women, and children must fit themselves into it. The Bolsheviks reckon on certain proclivities of the capitalist world as a part of the plan, namely, that the desire for interest on money would attract investors to provide them with the necessary capital, and that Britain would remain an open market for wheat and other primary products. The first condition has not been fulfilled. Loans from foreign countries have been scarce, and granted only on unsatisfactory terms; and as far as the second is concerned, the fear and horror caused by the Communist experiment has induced Britain to take up a protectionist policy, to keep Russian products out at all costs. "Nevertheless, factories, powerhouses, conservation works have sprung up; mineral deposits exploited; the great State wheat farms are an actuality, and the length and business of the railroads have increased. Heavy industry (manufacturing the means Of production) has developed at a much faster rate than light industry (goods of consumption). Consequently the Russian people have not begun to benefit in higher standards of living, though millions and millions of roubles are sunk in industrial plants. 1 ' The 50,000 capacity tractor plant in Stalingrad, opened in June, 1930, was scheduled to. turn out 3500 tractors by Ist October in the same year. The actual production was eight in June and none from Ist July to 25th August. The quality of the production caused much trouble in the second year of the Plan, and it has improved but little, if at all. "Graft and corruption as well as incompetence increase the price to the consumer. Looked at from the financial standpoint, the State management of industry is not paying its way, for the State debt is increasing."