NO FOOD RATIONING

Taranaki Daily News, 23 March 1935, Page 15 (Supplement)

NO FOOD RATIONING

ABOLISHED BY RUSSIA “AN ACTION OF SIGNIFICANCE.” LESSENED FEAR OF WARFARE “The food-rationing system is abolished as from January 1, 1935. This action has considerable significance. The Bolsheviks would not have taken it if they had thought that a war was imminent, for there would be no sense in eliminating bread cards only to reintroduce them in three or six months,” says Mr. Louis Fischer. “The suppression of the bread cards will make the countryside more prosperous and hence more loyal,” adds Mr. Fischer writing from Moscow to the New York Nation. “At one and the same time, therefore, the action reflects a lessened fear of war and likewise lessens the chances of war. The Government should accordingly be in a position to transfer some of the energy and materials now employed in military-de-fence activities to the gratification of popular consumption requirements and thereby still further improve the mood and condition of the civilian population. “The cashiering of the bread cards means not only that there is now enough bread in the country to satisfy the demand, but that there is every likelihood of normal agricultural production and normal retail distribution in the future. The destructive phase of agrarian collectivisation is at an end, and the Socialist village can now feed the Socialist city. “Bread cards were introduced in 1928 because the capitalistic peasantry could not and would not grow enough food. Since then Soviet agriculture has passed through purgatory and hell. The costs and the sacrifices have been great, but the net result is a politically more reliable and an economically more productive village. JANUS-FACED. “Before collectivisation the Soviet system was Janus-faced; one face looked up the red road toward Socialism; the other wore the well known features of the Russian mujik. Before collectivisation the Soviet system stood on one leg, the Socialist city. To-day, by a painful and tortuous process, the regime has acquired a more homogeneous character and a firmer footing. Bolshevism now has one face and two legs.

“At present three-quarters of all peasant households and 90 per cent, of all land in the U.S.S.R. are collectivised. Imagine that collectivisation had never taken place. The city would, nevertheless, have proceeded with its industrialisation and expansion. The city has given the kolhozi 281,000 tractors, 33,000 combines, 34,000 motor trucks, an'd more than two million seeders, threshing machines, and harvesting machines. Suppose this equipment were now the private possession of the private farmers. Those farmers would be a powerful capitalistic force. By mechanising private agriculture the industrialised city would have been entrenching in power its own enemy.

RATIONING SYSTEM BROKEN DOWN.

‘‘As a matter of fact, the rationing system had broken down before it was relinquished. According to the Pravda, a quantity of bread equal to 44 per cent, of the bread distributed on cards is now being sold in commercial stores where the size of purchases is not limited. This commercial bread is of far better quality, and people prefer it despite its higher price. Moreover, the ugly red tape, the innumerable questionnaires which every citizen had to fill in before receiving a card, the stealing and other abuses, the speculation by workers who got double and, therefore excess rations—all these were demoralising and irritating and so costly that the Government will save huge sums by releasing bread from the restrictions. “Nevertheless, prices will be raised. The new price, beginning January 1, 1935, will be a mean between the low artificial ration-card price and the high commercial price, but all persons gainfully employed will be granted wage increases equal to the rise in the price of the bread they now consume. The worker will reap some small advantage because he will buy less bread. There will be no inflation because the wage - rise money will come back to the Exchequer in the form of bread-price increases. “The chief difference will be that with higher price levels the Government will pay the peasants more for their grain. Growers of tobacco, cotton, flax, and other industrial crops will likewise receive higher compensation. Otherwise there would have been a rush to grow cereals. PRICES TO BE BROUGHT DOWN. “The announcement of the abandonment of the card system' states that the rationing of some other products will also be discontinued, and that the prices of manufactured commodities are to be brought down. The peasant with his larger income will consequently be able to buy more 'factory goods. The city employee wtih his unchanged income will benefit, too, but relatively less than the kolhoz member. “Just as the elimination of bread cards reflects the greater supply of bread, so the reduction of goods prices reflects the availability of more manufactured articles. Here, therefore, in concrete, undeniable form, is proof of the agricultural and industrial progress of the Soviet Union. I do not mean to suggest, however, that supplies are now adequate. They are only bigger. “The ration system was inaugurated in 1928, not so much because -the city was underfed, as because the peasant came into town and bought up the city’s bread. If there were much danger of a return to this condition, the system would have been retained. “I think the lifting of restrictions on bread sales will actually reduce the amount of bread sold in urban centres, for under the card distribution much bread was bought only to be exchanged for other products. THE MAID AND THE MILK. “My maid, for instance, regularly pays with bread for the milk she buys from the peasant women who bring it into Moscow. She is not alone in this practice. But of late the women refuse to take bread. They have enough of it themselves, and the exchange value of bread has fallen. “The repeal of the ration system for bread and some other foods points the way to a new system of Soviet distribution. The moment there was enough bread in the country and enough goods to pay for the bread, restfictions were cast off and a uniform price was established. Ultimately, the same course will be followed with every article of consumption.”