Evening star., 1928-05-06

the comrades that they think up a
means by which Stain might be dis
placed and another man appointed in
his stead. who will differ from Comrade
Stain only IN the respect that he will
De more patient more royal, more polite
and attentive TO comrades and less ca
PRECIOUS"
After stating that on several ocCa-
SionS he had sought to resign the post
of secretary general of the Communist
party but that his resignation was re-
fused every time, Stain made this COM
ment on the Lenin testament;
/ Yes | am coarSe--coarSe with those
who would divide and destroy the Com
muniSt party But CoarSeneSS
is neither proof of political shortcom-
ing nor Of the wrongneSs Of my posi-
/ ton"
Stain a Terrorist.
Since his seventeenth year Stain had
been active III the revolutionary move
ment--he is ~ today-and always i'll
capacities involving utmost danger. He
was conSpirator and a terrorist. fur
niShing the Sinews of revolutionary war
| fare rather than its oratory. He enter
/ ed the BolSheviSt party shortly after it
/ was given deflniteness by Lenin, and he
/ had remained one OF Lenin'S fearless
| lieutenantS in Russia throughout the
years.
When. after the unsuccessful revolu-
/ ton OF 1905, Stolypin had driven the
BolsheviSt party once more under
ground, its existence for a time was
/ threatened by lack of funds. Lenin
/ ihereupon authorized" o. resort to
/ desperate methods in order To fiji the
party'S depleted treasury One of these
methods was the printing of false Gar
/ lst money the other was the "expropri
alton" by members of the BolSheviSt
party of the Russian governments
banks and treasures. Stain was one
OF the most daring of these BolShevist
"eXpropriators.'
Among the most sensational raids on
Czarist banks made by the Bolshevists
was the one which occurred on June l3
1907, in Tifiis. A quarter of million
rubles was being transferred from the
capital 10 the branch Of the government
bank there. The money arrived at the
post Office and was being taken 10 the
bank by special courierS conveyed by
platoon of CoSSacks In the center of
the eity the entire procession was bomb !
ed Close to so persons lost their lives /!
but the revolutionists succeeded IN
Snatching The bag containing the gov
ernment money Stain usually is cred /
tied with having been the directing
(
ticipants in this appropriation
Son of Shoemaker.
He was born in the Caucasus, the son /
OF a Georgian shoemaker named Djua- /
gaShvili Stain. meaning Man OF /
Steel is his nom de guerre. He was /
trained foI the ministry but at the age |
OF Is was expelled from theological /
seminary for revolutionary activity |
M cnufr thu CzoFfG YNNatffrlt i
police arrested Stalin-always, however,
on comparatively unimportant charges.
Stain never shared in the vanitleS
to which ever revolutionistS are not i'm
pervious Although, like Trotsky and
Djersinsky. Zinoviev and KameneV. he
had been Lenins associate in every
phase of the revolutionary overthrow
of November, 1917. IN the Lenin cabinet
he contented himself with minor post
The spotlight was never his. Although
the need for mystery now has largely
disappeared. Stain still Is aloof and
secretive and shlns the public gaze. He
trusts no one. Officially the whole
Russia today is at his feet. Personally
he is said TO have not friend In the
world
The issue which in recent months /
has convulSed the Soviet government |
and which Stain Is called upon 10 face /
Is the cleavage between town and coun- !
try, between urban and rural popula- !
ton in Russia. The organized work /
ers in the cities have TO o considerable |
degree been drawn into the govern
ment's state. The factories have been
nationalized. The government has a
monopoly Of foreign trade and trans
port banks and credits are concentrated
/ in its hands. dwellings have been So
cialized and food is bought and sold
on a cooperative basis. The collectivist
beginnings in agriculture are not nearly
as impressive
Communal Farm Failure
Although the land has been national
ized. the peasant does not feel that he
mas ceased 10 be It's owner There Is
/ no shortage OF land In the Soviet Union,
/ the government cannot take IL from MIN
and give 1t 10 any one else The gov
ernments experiments In communal
/ farming, begun early IN the Soviet ex-
/ pertinent. have not been particularly
successful. OF total agricultural pop
uiation OF nearly i00.000.000, only about
100000 are engaged in collective farm
ing, Inc rest are farming on tndiyid-
ualist. private basis.
The peasant owns his plow II ne mas
morse or COW they are his private
! property After he has paid his share
I Yi taXcs 70 the government the products
/ oi MS labor are his 70 do with as he
! pieases. He sells them IN the open
narkeL He buys from the government
! cooperative store. If the government
Sofe offeTs him better goods or lower
prices. Otherwise he buys from the
pfIYate merchant. as he did before the
revolution
/ In the early stages OF the Soviet re-.
Rimt the peasant was forbidden 20 hire
. iaDor or to sublet his land The Soviet
( government after time found that this
SuTLailed production tOO heavily and the
"a" vas changed The peasant today
ean nlFe wOrkmen or siIbiet his land
ms establishes virtually three different
calFHoTies of peasants In the village
) ne poor peasant, the middle class peas
! any ana he rich peasant
IfDtsky and the members OF his op-
p"1tDh group see IN this development
ohhgef ~ the E0yiets experiment i'm
| socialism. Al the gains that The GOV
| efnmsnts Socialist program makes
smong city workers. they assert are 10
: iafge extent counieracted by the de
( FtDpHsDt ot new bOurge0isle Ia the
| villages and by The "capitaiistle" trend
IN agriculture
s9eiAiism Threatened,
Stain and Inc members Of the Soviet
government 40 not underestimate the
tnfsat 10 socialism presented by the
Conservatism VI Hussias rural masses
Jtie peasant VIA no less Of n problem
~ IEnin's day Shortly before his
death. Lenin counseled Ten or 20
years " correct mutual relations be
tween the Droietariat and the peasantpy
ana We Wili be assured Of q permanent
Fle1ty" Stain believes that such
correct mutual relations" with the
Dfsssntry can be- best attained By
l1}nelilatiDn. rather than by methods
mat afe aggressive and hostile
IAs cniff factor oyer which the urban