Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-14
BY WILLIAM RUFUS SCOTT.

ny WILLIAM RUFUS SCOTT.
II the United states thinks it has
serious farm problem let a comparison
be made with agricultural conditions IN
Soviet Russia, and 1t will be seen that
this country has Q situation much less
difficult to handle.
In the united States the farm prob
lem Is one of overproduction and how to
market a surplus proftably. In Soviet
Russia the problem Is one OF unuer-
production and how to induce the
peasantry to grow larger crops. Yet at
bottom the two problems have this In
common; the tiIlerS Of the soil are dis
satisfied with the returns for their labor.
News dispatches report many execu-
lions of Russian farmers who are de-
clared to be opposing the Soviet agr1cul-
tural program. The reason is that the
farmers viii not plant sufficient acreage
or that they resist Soviet officials seek
ing to collect grain for the government.
In this resistance Soviet officials have
been killed by the peasants, who allege
that the prices offered by the govern
ment are too low. It should be remem-
bered that private trading in grain is
not permitted, the government being the
purchaser Of farm produce.
Back to Revolution.
To understand the problem fully, how
ever, it Is necessary to look back to 1917,
when the Communist revolution made
Russia into Socialist nation in which
the government owns the land, factories,
mines and other principal means Of
production. Lenin, Trotsky and asso-
ciates won the peasants IN the armies
Of the Gar over to the revolution by
promise Of breaking up the big landed
estates Of the aristocrats and rich peas
ants, known as Kulaks, and giving the
average, or poorer, peasants larger hold
ings OF land.
This promise was kept, but the
peasants soon found that Lenin and
the leaders Of the Socialist program did
not intend that the peasants should be
complete masters of their newly ac-
CURED lands. The state was to regu-
late production and remuneration on
the land as 1t was 70 do so in factories
ana other industrial units. Here began
the contest with Soviet leadership,
which right now is acute in the execii-
ton of peasants who balk at the So
ciaiiEation program for agriculture.
Serious Drama Enacted.
The average peasant traditionally
hungered for more land. However, his
hope carried further than that. He
wanted, himself, to be q petty land
lord. to manage his land and sell his
produce as he saw fit. His knowledge
Of socialism was either nothing at ali
or only o hazy comprehension of what
1t promised in upsetting the former
system OF peasant life. Consequently,
there. Is today in Soviet Russia q drama
Of grave import.
If Soviet leadership can convert a
country, the population Of which still is
about % per cent rural, into q social
lied nation, wherein the farmer will be
mace part OF the same system which
governs city workers, 4s regards wages,
hours OF labor, output and so forth. it
VIII De an achievement hitherto unac-
compnShed in the history Of the world.
Inc process OF reasoning In Moscow,
headquarters Of the Soviet, is this: The
Soclali2ation program is decreed for
Russia and whoever acts contrary to
that program is counter -revolutionarv
or Is seeking to overthrow the Soviet
regime. A charge Of being counter-rev-
pulmonary is the most serious one that
can be brought against q Russian, It
means death upon conviction, and there
Is no long -drawn-out court trial to de-
cloe the question Of guilt, in many
cases: The secret police often furnish
the charge and the proof.
Some Passive Resistance.
Passive resistance to the Soviet policy
is being practiced by many peasants
They plant just about enough to provide
Tor their own needs and leave no sur
plus to turn over to the government, or
an insufficient surplus. It becomes Y'ec-
eSsary to collect the grain at the point
OF the bayonet at times. The peasants
now and then turn upon the collectors
and kill them. The Soviet retaliates
with swift and ruthless prosecution.
But the Soviet does not remain idle
in the face of passive resistance. Peas
ants are warned that If they win not
farm their land the land will be taken
away from them and given to other.
usually poorer, peasants, or the govern
ment Will take the land and make IL
a part Of state farm, operated by the
government. This threat is being made
good by the Soviet. Thus the peasant
is finding that resistance, passive or
open, means q clash with the govern
ment, with loss of land, Imprisonment
or death as the possible penalties.
What the end will be arouSes specu-
lation among all who have visited
Russia since the revolution as well as
among those who view the situation
from 3 distance. Ordinarily It would
be said that q nation with IS per cent
of its population on farms could not be
driven, coaxed or otherwise converted
into system distasteful to such ma
jority. Soviet leadership understands |
well that this is the crux of the social |
ization effort. It is bending all its |
powers OF propaganda, force, education |
and persuasion to bring into line enough |
of the peasantry to assure a food sup
ply for Russia without having to buy
abroad.
Divide and Conquer.
The plan of taking land from peas
ants who are balky and giving it to
other peasants who have no land or
have less land divides the peasantry.
Divide and conquer Is the Soviet STRAIT
egy. In the 6ve-year economic plan
for Russia-the plan under which the
nation Is striving to overcome its in
dustrial deficiencies--m considera-
ton is given to farming. 1t is recog-