The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-08
By RASUMOVA.

VII bllC IlloJ etllIllNCl odl VI II6
Bolshevik Revolution the first Con-
gress of working and peasant wo-
men was held in the Union of So
cialist Soviet Republics. The Soviet
government, as yet young and not
quite strong, had for the first time
appealed to the masses of toiling
women to take up the defense of the
October gains from the onslaught of
numerous enemies. The task of the
first congress was to arouse the
masses of toiling women, to cause
them to be active, and to direct their
efforts into the channel of socialist
construction.
In the course of ten years the
working and peasant women have
been able to furnish many more use
full and necessary workers in the
country than could be dreamed of
in the first years of the Revolution.
Even the most oppressed, the toll
ing women of the East, were called
in to take part in the building of
Socialism.
The first congress of working and
peasant women noted in its resolu-
ton that the working women should
have no special women's organiza-
lions, because the working woman
has the same aim and purposes as
the rest of the proletariat. Yet, in
view of the backwardness of the
masses of toiling women, the con-
gress recognized the necessity of
carrying on increased agitation and
propaganda among the women. To
this end there were organized, soon
after the congress, the special COM
missions for propaganda and agi-
tation among the women at the Cen
trail Committee of the Communist
Party and at the local Party COM
mittees.
In 1919 these commissions were
reorganized into departments for
activity among working and peasant
women, or the Women's Depart
ments. The Women's Departments
are still necessary today as indis-
pensable apparatus of the Party for
the purpose of attracting the work
ing and peasant women to the build
ing of Socialism, and for training
them to take part in the government
of the country. Now, on the tenth
anniversary of the Party's work
among women, we find the full real
ization of the watchword given out
by Lenin in his speech at the first
congress of working and peasant
women, that "every kitchen maid
should learn how to govern the
country"
During the past period there were
considerable successes made in at
tracing the working and peasant
women to all branches of socialist
construction. In the composition of
the urban Soviets the percentage of
women has grown from 5.7e0 in
1922 to 1880 in 1927, and in the
rural Soviets from 1870 in 1922 to
1850 in 1927; in the composition
of the Central Committees of the
trade unions the increase was from
42ao in 1925 to 1920 in 1927; in
the composition Of provincial coun-
ellis of trade unions, the increase
was from SO in 1923 to 1850 in
1927; on the factory committees,
from 14.49o in 1928 to 1850 in
1927; among shareholders of con-
sumers cooperatives we find now
1 1892, 900 working women and 1872
900 peasant women.
1t is with great difficulty that the
Eastern women are attracted to the
cooperatives. The greatest success
has been achieved in attracting the
women to the cooperatives in Uzbe-
kitsan by establishing special CO.
operative stores for women. On
January /, 1927, there were az
stores with a membership of about
5,00O Uzbek women. In Iurkmenl-
stan in 1926 there were 1000 wo-
men members, and in 1928 there
were already $4,000.
The first congress adopted
series Of important decisions on the
question of the emancipation of
women. The first concern of the
Soviet authorities was to alleviate
the burden of motherhood, to secure
to the infant the conditions of nor
NAL growth, and to the mother the
conditions for working without i'm
pairing her health.
The network of institutions for
the protection of motherhood and
childhood in the towns has grown
with the active assistance of the
working and peasant women, so that
by 1927 there were 1888 institutions
of this kind.
In late years the peasant women
have been attracted to the establish
ment of summer creches, of which