Evening star., 1923-06-03
Soviet LabOrers Shirk Tasks
Set by Specialized Experts
Al Looked Beautiful on Paper, But Pro-
duction Dropped Four-Fifths in
1920 Against 1854.

cent: coal production had declined 75
per cent.
Useless Remedies Employed.
All manners of measures were taxi
en- to remedy this situation. In
creased powers of compulsion were
sent to prison But you cannot bring
factory efficiency with the threat of
imprisonment. Plans were devised
for training young workers, for most
of the old skilled workmen had fed
or had been disabled in the revolu-
tionary fighting. The young men
have made little progress
The system OF payment by results,
or premium production, was intro
duced. contrary as it was to all COM
munist doctrine. A certain norm"
of production was allotted to the
worker; If he exceeded it he was re-
warded according to his output.
usually by part of the excess product.
Thus the workman in a shoe factory
would receive as premium a pair of
shoes. which he would sell as best he
could.
Still there was no real improve
ment. Then the state resolved on a
yet greater change. 1t would divest
, itself Of the direction of industry and
would hand the great trades ever to
| trusts. public benefit bodies, which
| should control production in CO
operation with the trade unions. Old
| factory proprietors were called into
| the direction of the trusts. Business
methods were to be introduced and
| a lack of their usual insight in
| imagining that old factory owners
| forcibly expelled would cordially
| help the men who despoiled them to
make factories a success.
| Many of the trusts, notably the tex
| tile trust. quickly increased output
But they soon found themselves faced
by an unexpected difficulty. Despite
the wastage and need of supplies
| caused by the revolution and civil
war. people had no money to buy new
goods. Other trusts, notably those
producing coal and heavy metals
| found the cost of production so heavy
as to be almost impossible. Their
| machinery was worn out, and they
had no money or credit to obtain new
1 / have been told that 1T is cheaper to
| import coal from England to Petro-
grad than to mine 1t in the rich Don
| basin. This statement Is borne out
by the fact that last summer the gov
| eminent did import large quantities
| into Petrograd. Yet the Don basin is
| one of the richest coal fields in the
\ world.
Workers Not Better OF.
| One hears sometimes as a great
/ event of the production of a Russian
, automobile or the launching of a
| Russian ship. There are some thriv-
| ducing government goods, but they
| are few and far between. The trusts
last year lost more than S100,000.000
| We are now reaching another stage
the return of factories to private
| ownership-except in those industries
| essential to national defense. A great
= fight is coming over this, but sheer
| economic necessity is driving tn
communists to take the step.
| Is the working man better off?
Large numberss of working men and
women are out of employment and
are living on out-of-work pay. IL
| buying power their wages today are
62, per cent of those received in old
days. Housing has become worse
rather than better, for no new houses
| have been built, and the experiment
| of the workers in the early days OF
| the revolution of SeiZing the homes
| of the rich was not satisfactory.
But here Is a point important for
' foreigners to remember: The work
I man is having a bad time, yet he does
not dream of returning to old con-
! ditions He would fight today as
strongly as ever against counter-rev-
olution. This government is his. II
| he and his friends have made mis-
! takes, they will try to do better next
, time. But restore white rule? Never!
So they say, and apparently they
mean what they say.