THE SOVIET WAY

Evening Star, Issue 23038, 17 August 1938, Page 1

THE SOVIET WAY

GAOL FOR THE “ MIDDLEMAN '' The Soviet State, determined not to permit the slightest infringement upon its monopoly of private trade, has launched this summer another nationwide “ round-up ” of men and women who have ventured to engage in even the most modest forms of buying and selling outside the State-owned system. From every part of the Soviet Union come reports of thousands of arrests for “ speculation ” —the term used in Russia to describe most forms of private trade. Severe prison sentences are being imposed—as much as 10 years of hard labour—for offences which would be regarded as praiseworthy enterprise in other countries.

Judging by examples cited in the Press, most recent offences are very trivial. The wife of a workman, standing in line to buy a few- yards of cloth and half a dozen shirts from Stateowned shops, resells her purchases for a modest profit. She is arrested, convicted of “ speculation,” and sent to prison for five years. ' A shoemaker, observing the demand for shoes in a provincial town, manages to buy some leather from a State factory, and assembles three other shoemakers to turn the leather into shoes. Because he “ profits by the labour of others ” he is sent to prison for 10 years and all his property is confiscated. • DIFFICULT FOR OBSERVER. It is difficult for the independent observer to take such offences very seriously. Such actions seem to be helpful rather than harmful to society, whether that society claims to be socialist or not. The woman who spends several hours standing in line in crowded shops seems to deserve some recompense for her own time, especially since she probably saves the time of more important persons who would otherwise have to waste hours buying their own needs. The enterprising shoemaker who supplies an unfulfilled demand for shoes seems to be performing a socially useful act. But Soviet since they abolished individual trade in manufactured goods in 1928, have been particularly severe with buyers and sellers of this description. According to their theories, the “ profit motive ” is sinful and must be eliminated. Fortunately for Soviet consumers, the Communists made an exception in 1934 of private trade in farm products. Since that time, visitors to Russian cities have reported “ remarkable increases ” in the supply of food. The improvement may probably be _ credited even more to better distribution than to a greater supply of food. COMPROMISE ON FARMS.

For a time after 1929 only State organisations were permitted to sell farm products as well as manufactured goods. These organisations bought from the peasants at prices fixed by the State itself, and sold farm products in State-owned shops in cities. The distribution was so badly organised, and resulted in such tremendous .waste through spoilage, that the city populations were short of food until the system was changed. Conditions got so bad that the Communists finally compromised with the peasants. They reopened markets in all cities and towns where peasants have since been permitted to sell their meat, vegetables, fruit, and eggs, either from their wagons or from small booths rented from the Government. Such markets are theoretically open only to “ collectivised farmers,” thus permitting the Communists to uphold a pretence of sticking to their socialist theory; but actually individual peasants are also allowed in practice to ijse these markets. BUYING AND SELLING. In the buying and selling of manufactured goods, however, the State has made no sweeping compromises. Individual Soviet citizens are permitted to sell articles which they no longer desire in State-owned second-hand shops, which buy cheap and sell dear like their “ capitalist ” counterparts. Artisans who- manufacture products in their spare time may sell them in the city market, so long as they do not hire anyone to help them. The Communists claim that they are destroying the “ sinful ” tendency to buy and sell for profit. However, the tendency persists, and thousands of policemen are kept busy enforcing the regulations against “ speculation.” This summer, one could see some of these policemen at work in railroad stations, examining the bags and parcels of peasants who had come into town. If the bags contained too much of any one thing, the peasants were detained for questioning, to see if they had bought to sell for profit. The temptation appears to be great, and the punishment is therefore severe. The great army of forced labourers in Russia, building dams, power stations, railroads, and otter public works, includes thousands of hapless “ speculators ” —men and women who had not been cured in time of the “ profit motive.”— ‘ Christian Science Monitor.’