The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-02-04
By. J. STAIN.
(Conclusion)
6. The Class Changes and the Turn in the
Policy of the Party.

Policy of the Party.
We come finally to the question of the class
changes and the attack of Socialism on the
capitalist elements in the village.
The characteristic feature of our work dur
ing the past year is (a) that we, as Party,
as the Soviet power, have developed the attack
on the whole front against the capitalist ele-
ments in the village and (b) that this attack,
as is known has led and is leading to very
palpabe and positive results.
What does that mean. 1t means that we
have gone over from the policy of restricting
the exploiting tendencies of the kulaks to the
policy of liquidating the kulaks as a class
This means that we have carried out, or are
carving out one of the most decided changes
in our whole policy.
Up till quite lately the Party pursued the
policy of restricting the exploiting tendencies
of the kulak AS is known, this policy was
proclaimed at the Eighth Party Congress.
The same policy was again announced at the
time of the introduction of the New Economic
Policy and at the Eleventh Party Congress.
We all remember Lenins celebrated letter to
Preobrashensky G922), in which ne again
raised the question of the necessity OF such
policy This policy of course confirmed by the
Fifteenth Congress of our Party. And 1t IS
this policy that we carried out right up to
recently.
Was this policy correct? Yes it was indubi-
taby correct. Could we, perchance, five or
three years ago have undertaken such an at
tack on the kulak as we are carrying out to-
day? Could we at that time have reckoned on
such an attack being successful? No, we could
not That would have been the most danger
Gus adventurism That would have been an ex-
ceedingly dangerous playing at attack. We
would certainly have come to grief and there
by strengthened the positions of the kulaks.
Why? Because we had not yet at our disposal
those points of support in the village IN the
shape of broad network of Soviet estate and
collective farms upon which we could rely IN
the decisive attack on the kulaks. Because at
that time it was not possible for us to substi-
tute the capitalist production of the kulak by
socialist production in the shape of the collee-
tive farms and Soviet estates.
In the year of 1927 the Zinoviev-Trotzky OPP
position wanted at all costs to force upon the
Party the policy of an immediate attack on
the kulaks The Party did not enter on this
adventure, as it knew that serious people do
not play at attack. The attack on the kulaks
is very serious matter. One must not con-
fuse it with defamation against the kulaks.
One cannot confuse it with a policy OF Skin
mishing with the kuaks, which the Zinoviev-
Trotzky theoretically endeavored to enforce
upon the Party. To. attack the kulaks means
to smash the kulaks, to liquidate them a
class Without these aims attack is a decla-
nation, skirmish, anything but real Bolshe-
visit attack. To attack the kulaks means to
make proper preparations and then deliver the
blow, such blow that they are not able to
recover That is what we Bolsheviks call
real attack. Could we have undertaken such
an attack five or three years ago with any
- No
| In the year 1927 the kulak produced over
| 600 million pools of grain, $50 million pools
| of which he got rid of by exchange outside of
| the village. That is fairly serious force with
| one must reckon. And how much did our So
| Wet estates and collective farms produce at
| that time? About 80 million pools, of which
| they threw 35 million pools commodity grain)
| onto the market. Judge for yourselves whether
| at that time we were in position to replace
| the production and the commodity grain OF
| the kulaks by the production and the commo-
dity grain of our Soviet estates and collective
| farms. 1t is clear that we could not have
done SO. What would it have meant to under
| take decisive attack on the kulak under such
conditions? 1t would have meant running our
heads against brick wall, strengthening the
| positions of the kulaks and at the same time
remaining without grain. Therefore we could
not at that time undertake any attack on the
kuIak, in spite of the adventurist declarations
of the Enthusiastically opposition.
| And how does the mater stand at present?
| We now have an adequate material basis in
order to deliver blow against the kulak, to
| break his resistance, to annhate him as a
class and to replace his production by the pro-
duction Of the Soviet estates and collective
farms. You are aware that the grain produced
on the collective farms and Soviet estates
amounted in 1929 to no less than 400 million