The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-08-16

on the question or the world Com
munist program at the Fifth World
Congress of the Communist Inter-
national. Another installment will
appear in an early issue.
NOW come to the question of the
new economic policy which l con-
slider to be the most important part
of my report.
First of all few Introductory re
marks. After the introduction of the
new economic policy, we, the Russian
Communists, and also our friends, the
foreign parties, almost without any
exception, had feeling that we had
acted somewhat improperly, and that
we ought to apologize for the new
economic policy.
New Economic Policy.
In its most subtle form, this apollo
gist attitude consisted in our consid-
ering the new economic policy ex-
clusively from the standpoint of po-
litical expediency, as a political con-
session to the petty bourgeoisie. 1t
means that we did not think the new
economic policy to be expedient and
rational in itself.
This is what we thought then. Now
however, we may quite conscientious
ly say the very opposite. The ques-
ton of the new economic policy on
the whole should be formulated by us
in the following manner Qater on l
will deal with it more exhaustively) !:
The only correct economic policy for
the proletariat, the policy which in
sures the growth of productive forces,
is the policy which we described as
the new economic policy" Wartime
Communism was nothing else but a
corrective of this new economic poll
cy, the necessary corrective for the
political expression of the direct class
war against the bourgeoisie and the
petty bourgeois elements. 1 believe
that we should state these ideas quite
clearly, and for this reason, COM
rades, | must ask to be excused if /
shall deal with these ideas in some
detail
Class Remnants Still Left.
Comrades, the fundamental facts,
the fundamental phenomenon which
will confront the victorious prole-
tariat after the conquest of political
power, will be the variety of the
forms of economy with which it will
have to deal. In no country, not even
in the most alphabetically developed,
are the productive forces so highly
developed as to have caused the dis
appearance of all the immediate
strata.
No Marxist will assert that the
social revolution cannot come unless
every petty bourgeois, every handi-
craftsman, every small capitalist shall
have disappeared. 1t would be fool
ish exaggeration, of the kind contrived
by our opponents to make carica-
ture of Marxism.
We here spoke only about the tend.
ency Of the development. None of us
thought that social revolution will
only come when the last peasant will
have disappeared, but knew that it
will come when the contradictions of
the capitalist system will have pro-
duced a situation on the social chess
board which will call forth revolu-
ton thru the class interests.
Thus in all countries without excep.
ton (of course in some countries to q
greater extent than in others) we
shall have to deal with great variety
of economic forms. And that is the
main fact. With it are connected two
other main facts of economic and DO.
litical life.
Glasses Reflect Class Economy.
The second fact is as follows:
There are as many different economic
forms as there are classes or rather
social strata. AS long as we have
small enterprises we shall have small
producers, as long as there are small
farms in the country side. we shall