Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1932 THE FIVE YEAR PLAN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 19, 19 December 1932, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1932 THE FIVE YEAR PLAN.

The arrest o£ tlie former Soviet Ambassador to Great Britain, M. Sokolnikov, winch, was reported in a message from "Warsaw to a London journal, has been promptly denied by Moscow. It was alleged that M. Sokolnikov had been plotting to overthrow the political leader of Russia, M. Stalin. Whatever truth there may be in this circumstantial report, it is not the first time in recent months that there has come from Russia a hint that M. Stalin is facing opposition which seems determined to overthrow him. A while ago it was said that two stalwarts of the revolution, MM. Zinovieff and Kameneff, had been plotting with the bourgeoisie to overthrow to Soviet regime and had been dealt with severely. Later came news of the death of the author of the famous Zinovielf letter, the publication of which on the eve of the general election in Britain several years ago caused the defeat of the first Labour Administration, but the accuracy of the report has yet to be proved. Russian leadership has changed a good deal in its personnel since the days when Lenin was nearing the end of his life. Then MM. Kameneff, Zinovieff and Stalin were the ruling triumvirate, and the last named came to supreme power as Lenin’s successor. M. Trotsky has been exiled for ever; M. Zinovieff (if still alive) and M. Kameneff have come under the autocratic discipline of the Soviet, and now another stalwart, it is not unlikely, has incurred his leader’s displeasure. The reason why there should be discontent against the rulers at the Kremlin is not obscure. This is the critical year of the vaunted Five Year Plan, when if it is to be the success its promoters have claimed for it everything must go according to schedule. Russia permits little to be said officially regarding the progress of the plan, and then onlj' in favourable terms, but it has been impossible to disguise the fact that of late all has not been well, ample demonstration of which comes from the fall in exports. For the year which ended on January 1 last the valne was four hundred million dollars, though the schedule was several times higher than this figure; in 1932 the Soviet has estimated exports reaching a value of one thousand million dollars, but an authoritative journal says at the present level of activity they will not exceed a third of this amount.

The Riga correspondent of the London Times has of late been analysing the position in Russia. Important changes, he says, are developing both in the Soviet system of economy and in the political leadership. The dictatorial ascendancy of Stalin has gone, together with the glamour of the Five Year Plan, and he has retained little but the shadow of his power over the minds of the masses. M. Stalin, it appears, staked all his authority on the success of the plan, only to find the present year has been a period of failure and retrogression. Agriculture, transport and vital branches of industry, it is learned, have failed in output and efficiency. The people, even the important or

privileged sections, are not receiving sufficient food, clothing or fuel, and general distress and famine during the winter and spring are inevitable in some regions, according to this well informed source. The most formidable obstacle to progress is found in the peasant, who, despite concessions, has lost interest in the Soviet system which destroys individuality and tries to convert men ' into machines. In consequence, as another authority states, the agrarian situation has taken on a new and startling aspect since 1930, when the triumphant sweep of the collectivist programme seemed destined to place the Soviet TJnion in the forefront of agricultural nations. Two years ago the peasants slaughtered their animals to prevent their seizure by the authorities, and this wastage has not been repaired. While heavy industry has made some progress, it does not reach the plan’s ambition, and in some factories there have been serious breakdowns in the plant. Goal production in the Donetz Basin has dropped from 193,000 tons daily at the end of 1931 to 144,000 tons last August, but even so the railways have been incapable of removing the essential supplies to the factories. The Soviet, especially its political leader, M. Stalin, is facing a critical period. It could hardly be otherwise in a time of severe world trade depression, but the Russian system has aggravated the internal position of the country. “Whether M. Stalin can regain his lost authority depends on whether he is willing and able to identify himself with the radical changes which must follow' the experiment of minor reforms attempted this year,’’ says the correspondent previously mentioned. .