CONDITIONS IN RUSSIA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 1 December 1945, Page 7

CONDITIONS IN RUSSIA

(To the Editor) Sir,—l have noted with a good deal of amusement the zeal with which our local pro-Russians have burst into print, and in particular their enthusiasm for quoting their own propagandises, which has led them up the proverbial garden path. I happen to have read the roseate “Socialist Sixth of the World” without being impressed. However, what has brought me into these columns is Mr O’Keefe’s surprising statement that “that guiding principle of Christianty”—actually only a side-issue —the raising of the standard of living of the workers—is being practised in Russia. If he has access to the “Saturday Evening Post” of 21st July, 1945, or the “Reader’s Digest” for October he will have read an arresting article entitled “Stalin pays ’em what they’re worth.” Here are some succulent morsels: “Soviet industry is so little developed —in spite of the tremendous development of the last 20 years —that engineers and industrial managers are rare enough to command a high premium. At the same time Russian workers are still inefficient by American standards. ... As the sale of the worker’s product is the only way in which any business can get the money to pay wages, the Russian wage level must be much lower than the American.” “Official publications call the demand for equality of income ‘the worst enemy of socialism’ and assert that only degenerate capitalism tends to equalise incomes.” “John S>cott tells in ‘Behind the Urals’ of the steel-mill manager at Magnitogorsk who, in 1938, lived in a brandnew three-storey 14-room house with billiard and music rooms, and with a small deer park at the rear. . . . What makes this example particularly striking is that at the time three-quarters of the 200,000 inhabitants of Magnitogorsk lived in tents, dugouts or, at best, in wooden barracks. This is an extreme example.” “The children of industrial executives, together with those of leading government officials, have almost a monopoly of higher education . . . less than 10 per cent, (of university students, in 1938) came from the farm even though farmers still constitute 50 per cent, of Russia’s population.” “In all the larger war plants, workers are paid ‘progressive piece rates.’ This method of payment, which would not be permitted by any American labour union, provides that the wage rate per piece goes up ns the production per hour goes up. . . . An unusually good worker under this scheme may make two or even three times the standard wage for a short period—until the plant’s efficiency engineers increase the standard expected of all workers to his level.” “The ‘union officials’ now working in Russian plants are actually Govern-ment-appointed, and the speed-up is their main responsibility.” “Between 1934 and 1940, in spite of the tremendous strides in efficiency and productivity, the average worker’s individual income did not increase at all.” I ask Mr O’Keefe whether this isChristianity, or the sweating of labour to defeat which the Tolpuddle martyrs suffered. He will find out about the Tolpuddle martyrs in this week’s “Standard.” —I am. etc., BANANA BENDER. Nelson, 27th November.