The Washington times., 1931-10-13

The State
planning m.RaymOnd p. Brandt
mission, a branch of the council
Of labor and defense. is now
working on the second five-year
plan.
There are reports that after
the completion of the second five
year plan the leaders will en-
bark on a 15-year plan and
there is talk of a 50-year plan,
but it is generally believed in
Russia that the government will
adhere to a series Of five-year
plans, how many no one pro-
fesses to know.
There have been n1isconcep-
tionS both in Russia and abroad
about the present five-year plan,
called in Russia, the "Pyatiletka.
Many Russians who knew moth
ing Of conditions in the outside
world and many persons in the
outside world who knew little
about ditionS in Russia
thought that the Russian leaders
expected to "overtake and out
strip" the capitaliStic world by
November, 1888. ,..-., ......
In the written propaganda
about the plan, however, great
care was taken to be extremely
vague about the date when this
goal was to be reached.
Plan Often Revised
Since 1923 the plan has been
revised many times; usually up
ward, but discussion of some of
the most important items, such
as the proposed decreases in pro-
duction and living costs, has been
entirely dropped.
Details of the present 5-year
plan are much too complicated
for exposition in a newspaper
article. The original plan filled
three large volumes, most of
which was columns of statistics.
The original plan has been re-
vised so often that it is doubtful
whether any one Russian official
today knows exactly all the
ramifications of the plan.
In general, however, the present
plan and its successors call for
the transformation of an ex-
tremely backward agricultural ma
ton into an industrial nation.
Stain told the directors of
Soviet industries last winter that
Russia was SO to 100 years behind
the advanced countries. I'VE
must cover this distance" he said,
Sin 10 years. Either we do this
or we will be crushed" That
would put attainment in 1941.
Goal Called Fantastic
Such a goal is almost as fan
tastic as the 1923 presidential
campaign predictions of a chicken
In every pot and two cars for
every garage, but politicians are
the same the world over.
Stain, however, is the dictator
OF an underproduced country which
can profit by the inventions of
the overproduced countries. and
when the successful completion of
the present plan is announced next
year, at the end of four and a
quarter years, there will be a
great many industrial plants to
show for the sacrifices the people
have made since 1928.
The plan calls for a SIS per cent
gain in agriculture and a 136 per
cent increase in industrial produc-
ton. Even if these figures are
not reached, the progress will
have been sufficient to claim a
victory.
Capital investments in the en-
tire national economy are ex-
pected to increase 238 per cent;
the total aggregate of electrical
power capacity is expected to in
crease 1913 per cent, aVd the total
electrical output is set at an in
crease Of 326 per cent; freight
traffic is supposed to increase IS
per cent; producers prices are ex-
pected to decrease "a per nt,and
the cost Of living is expected to
be reduced IA per cent.
Plan Speeded Up
The plan is divided into Years
and months. with quotas for these
periods in industries and plants.
During 1928-29, the first year of
the plan. industrial production in
creased 24.3 per cent instead of
the scheduled gain of 21.5 per
cent originally planned.
The tempo for the latter pc
riod, however, had been speeded
UP to a schedule of 81 per cent,
50. while the new figure was not
attained. the old figure was ex-
ceded. For this year the control
figure has been set at a As per
cent increase over 1890, but it is
highly doubtful whether this will
be reached. American engineers
say that the workers do not have