The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-08-09
Moscow, June 10, 1880.

Dear Mark
shall write a little about the
workers economic condition, and, in
future letter, hope to touch upon
the social and cultural life of the
Soviet Union. About all these
things it is very difficult to give a
fair idea. Life here is so radically
different, so buoyant, that one must
see it, be right in it, grow with it
and, about all, must understand it,
in order to know it. What makes
it still more complicated is the CO.
existence of the old and the new,
and the multitude of intermediate
stages side by side with each other.
Who has truly described the COM
plexities of early American frontier
life? Well, here it is infinitely
more complex, since the changes
that are taking place are more ba-
sic, more revolutionary and on a
much wider front. Therefore, the
best that I hope to do is to touch
upon a few-very few-phases of
this volcanic life.
More Normal Life.
1 visited quite a few factories
and workers homes, and am con-
WINGED that not only are the work
ers better off than they were dur
ing tsardom, but that the workers
here live more normal life than
the workers in America. This, I
contend, is true, notwithstanding the
fact that for the past few months
the workers here have been strain
ing themselves to fulfill the colossal
task of completing the Five Year
Plan in four years, and notwith-
standing the fact that because of
this they have been obliged to deny
themselves some of the essential
and ordinary needs. The workers
here have not the worries and do
not face the dangers and uncertain
ties of tomorrow as do the workers
in the United States of America
The workers here are not as ex-
hausted; they enjoy more leisure,
more social insurance (protection
against unemployment, old age,
sickness, etc., more cultural activi-
ties, more chances for individual de-
velopment and initiative (my SUBJ
sequent letters will deal concretely
with all these things) than the
workers in the United States. The
workers here are more hopeful and
optimistic. AS one worker tersely
expressed it, "The workers in CAPT
talistic America have already seen
their best days, while we in the u.
S. S. r. have already seen our worst
days"
Shorter Work Day.
No office employee in the Soviet
Union works more han 615 hours
day, and already close to 40 per
cent of the industrial and factory
workers enjoy the 7-hour day. By
the end of the Five Year Plan no
one will work more than hours
a day. Furthermore, the coal and
metal miners work only hours
day, as do all workers employed in
dangerous, harmful, tedious and
difficult work. Under this last
category are included all chemical
and laboratory workers, bookbind-
ers, some metallurgical workers,
etc. All new factories-and these
are very many and increasing rap
idly-that start operations are i'm
mediately put on the 7-hours-a-day
basis. Workers in tedious and diff
ficult trades receive regular rest
periods. For instance, office work.
ers, particularly typists, receive 10
minute rest periods every two hours.
More difficult work, like trench
digging, etc., receive rest periods
even more often. On one job that
/ watched and followed up for
few days Qaying new tracks for
a street car line) the rest period
was ten minutes every hour. They
called it smoking period" So
that in view of this shorter work.
ing day and the decentralized fac
tory locations (of which / wrote in
a previous letter., the workers here
enjoy from one and one-half to two
and one-half hours more absolut,