davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The producers news., 1931-11-27
II WILL GOO ~ The FIVE YEAR PLAN ~ by Y Ykle
Ncu villages @& inSOVIET AGRICULTURE ~

Villages" is a careful study of the
Five Year Plan in relation to ag-
riculture, a field in which amaz-
ing successes have been recorded.
The most archaic forms of culti-
walton and organization have been
replaced by the tractor, the COM
bine and other advanced agricul-
tural machinery, and by modern
technique. Vast tracts of unused
land have been reclaimed; huge
industrialized state farms really
grain factories, have been develop
ed; and the multitudinous strips
of land cultivated by individual
peasants are being combined into
large collectives.
The central idea of the Five
Year Plan for Soviet agriculture
during 1928-33 is the reorganiza-
ton and socialization of the vii
lage. The program, in terms of
state and collective farms, was
successfully completed by the
spring of 1931-in about half the
time allotted by the plan. Before
the development Of the collectiviza-
ton movement there were about
25 million peasant households; to-
day we'll over II million of then
have been callectivized, and by
the end of the plan period collec
Invitation is expected to be uni
versal in the country. The stu
pendous achievements in the me
chanization and collectivization o
Soviet agriculture have been lik
ened to the revolution in manufac
ture which came with the indus
trial revolution and the establish
/ ment of the factory system.
; In the first four chapters of thi
! book, the reader viii find a speec'
, delivered by Commissar of Agri
culture Yakovlev before the lot
2 Congress of the Communist Part
, Of the Soviet Union. held in 1885,
t It has been translated from tn
! Russian By Anna Louise Strons
The producers news., 1931-11-27
5l2 BANKS SHUT
DOORS OCT.
Savings of s5666s6,OOO Are
Wiped Out in Single Month

New York Following close
on the heels of numerous state
ments of bankers and financiers
thruOut the country that the
American financial and banking
system was safe, the Federal
Reserve Board, in statement
issued Nov. Is, reports that
during the month of October
512 banks closed their doors in
the u. s., wiping out $566,6S6,-
600 in savings, the most of
which were the hardearned dol
lars of workers. This large
number of failures stands as a
record for such a period.
Among the banks that crash
ed are: Ninety-nme national
banks with deposits of $685.
$4,000, twenty-five state men,
Der banks with deposits of
$141, ,1sS, 900 and 3S8 nOn-nem-
Der banks with deposits of
s2s7, ,216,OOO.
In the ten months ending
Oct. 21, L,753 banks with de-
pOsits of $1,461, $4,000 closed
their doors and placed police In
front of them to keep the work
ers from coming in and de-
manding their money.
The producers news., 1931-11-27
Build the Producers
News, Your Paper,
Write Articles for 4

The Producers News, the Of
ficial organ of the United
Farmers League in the north
west will only become the real
fighting organ of the farmers
in the northwest if it reflects
in the greatest possible detail
the condition of the poor farm
ers and the course of their
struggle against the exploiting
class. The Producers News
can only play its part in the
struggle in the agrarian field
if the poor and middle farmers
who read it will feel it their
duty to participate actively in
the writing Of the paper. That
means farmers correspondence
and lots of it.
We don't care damn about
literary frills and fancies. What
We want is news OF your con-
ditions and what is doing in
your neck of the woods to or
ganize the farmers In the
struggle for their immediate
demands. Are you on the Red
Gross? Do you get macaroni
or beans or rotten spuds? Give
US an idea about what the plug
uglies at the head of the Red
Cross in your county look like
and how they act II letting go
of the macaroui rations.
Have you held any meetings
to stop the eviction of one of
your fellow poor farmers from
his land, or to prevent fore
closure by whatever capitalist
outfit has the mortgage? DID
you hold a mass meeting or
November 21 in your neighbor-
hood to bring the horrible real
ity of the approaching wal
danger to the mass of the poo
toiling farmers. How many at
tended and what was the spirit
of the farmers present concern
ing the approaching war agaiis
The producers news., 1931-11-27
by Y. A. YakOvlev
Translated by Anna Louise Strong

nical revolution In the United
States, from the standpoint of its
effect on the extent of agricultur.
al production, is shown by the
character of the changes in the
consumption Of farm products.
Official sources show that in
the first quarter of this century
the per capital consumption of
meat fell by 2.5 per cent and that
of wheat by over 20 per cent. At
the same time there was no
change in that Of potatoes and
fruit, and an increase only in the
use of vegetables and sugar.
But perhaps as a result of this
"stabilization" of agricultural pro-
duction the living conditions of
the farmers themselves have inn
proved? Perhaps the purchasing
power Of the farm population has
increased and their taxes and
debts lessened? Let us answer
these questions too from Official
sources.
The purchasing power of the
farm population In the United
States has decreased during the
post war decade. The Scissors
caused by the post war crisis were
still so wide in 1929 that the in
dex Of prices for farm products
was 138 (1909-1914 equaled 1OO)
while that of industrial products
purchased by the farmer was 161
] The purchasing power of the
farmers dollar, which fell catas
trophically after the war, had MOI
recovered even by 1929.
1t cannot be said that American
government officials. and. bour
geOis economists are ignorant. o.
the incredibly difficult. situation
which results to the farmers from
this decrease in their purchasin,
power. But, serving a capitals
society, they can find no bette
advice to give than to reduce agri
: cultural production. With this re
The producers news., 1931-11-27

fected to a new degree both as
regards speed and the quality of
the work they perform.
The tractor and its accessories
basicaIly change the methods and
forms of agricultural production,
and thereby change also the cor
responding sOci0 economic re1a-
tiOnships.
In order to evaluate the results
of this revolution in the methods
of farming, it is not sufficient,
however, merely TO record the ex-
tent of the adoption of the. new
machinery, although that is what
many of our Soviet scientists do,
who go every year 10 America, re-
turning as Columbuses who have
newly discovered that land.
In order to draw the lessons
from the revolution taking place
in American farming methods,
one must take fully into account
the causes of this revolution and
its consequences as regards In.
crease in agricultural production
the degree of well being of tbs
broad masses of the people, and
consumption among the rural ant
urban population
The introduction of 20 million
horse power into agricultural pro
duction in the United States, i
the form of nearly million trac
tors. naturally leads one to ex
meet an unusually flourishing az
riculture, a change by the over
whelming majority of farmers t
the use of tractors in cultivatinl
the soil, and a correspondence
enormous growth of consumption
in town and countryside. We ar
justified in expecting this fror
one fact aIone-20 million hors
eower is enough to cultivate a
area almost twice that farmed
the United States today.
But what do we really see? W
shall analyze the actual condition
The producers news., 1931-11-27
WHITE GUARDSTS
PLOTTING MURDER

Berlin, Oct. 3d. Today's "Rote
Fahne" make revelations concern
ing the activity and plans of the
GALL Russia Military Union" led
by the notorious czarist general,
Miller. This organization main
tains close connections with the
French general staff. The fact
that the contributions from capi-
talist financial and industrial
sources have dropped considerably
of late has caused this prganiza-
tion to look around for means of
arousing capitalist interest in il
once again, writes the "Rot5
Fahne." Generals Shakuloc and
Turkul proposed that various Com,
munist leaders should be assassin
ated both in the Soviet Union anC
in other countries. The question
was broached with the French
The producers news., 1931-11-27

ter, of which, according to the
Hover Commission, there were
100000 In 1928, now probably
number about 100000. Moreover,
both the power of the tractors
themselves and of the combines
used with them has increased from
year to year.
What is the significance of these
basic figures: almost a million
tractors, some $4,000 combines,
and about 100000 automobile
trucks?
They signify a tremendous rev.
OlutiOn in the methods and forms
Of agricultural production. The
Importance of their effect on the
future of agriculture can be CON-
pared only with the revolution
which took place in the methods
and forms of industry as a result
of the invention of the steam en-.
gine and the power loom.
In any case, it cannot be doubt
ed that this present revolution II
the methods of agricultural pro.
duction is incomparably more i'm
portant than the transformation il
agriculture brought about by thl
development of capitalism in tn,
18th century. While the technica
revolution in agriculture then re
placed hand sowing bv the sowin;
machine, hand threshing by tn
horse drown thresher, and sickl
and scythe by the reaper and tn
binder, it still maintained the sam
basic draft power-the horse. Tn
technical Transformation whic
: we witness today lies. first of al
in the change Of that basic draf
! power: the horse is replaced b
the tractor. This new draft pow
. er, which fundamentally alters tn
speed of the processes of agricuI
! tural production and the capacit
of the accessory equipment, chane
r es also the whole system of az
i lcessory machines, which are pel
The producers news., 1931-11-27
EDITORS PREFACE

In this issue we begin the pub
lication of "RED VILLAGES"-'
the Five-Y Plan in Soviet Agri-
culture. The author of the book
is the Soviet Commissar of Agri-
culture who has written not only
a brilliant review of the rapid pro-
gress of agriculture in the Soviet
Union under the Five Year Plan
but has given US telling contrast
between the lot of the agrarian
masses in the workers and farm
ers fatherland where socialism is
being built and the lot of the toll
ing farmers in the land of decay
ing capitalism.
The best indication of the giant
steps forward being taken in ag-
riculture in the Soviet Union is
best shown by the fact that the
figures of soviet progress are fan
out of date by the time any book
containing them is off the press
The report of Comrade YakovleN
on which the book is based wa:
made over a year ago. When the
book was first published in Eng
lish about six months ago the fig
ures had to be brought up to date
But now even these figures are ia,
out of date. In future issues o.
the Producers News we shall brin,
the latest figures of the develop
ment of the Five Year Plan in tn
Soviet Union in all fields Of pro
duction and especially in agricul
ture.
While victorious socialist cor
struction in the Soviet Unio
reaches greater goals daily, decay
ing capitalist society has nothin
to book but deepening crisis an
greater misery for the toilin
masses.
The present book is the work {
a man intimately connected wit
the Five-Year Plan. the Sovit
Commissar of Agriculture. "Re
The producers news., 1931-11-27
S% Sc R% ~~

IN ADEQUATE understanding
IA of the progress and the present
status of Soviet agriculture can
not be obtained from a study of
our country alone. In order not
to err in our estimate of past re-
suits and future aims. it is neces-
sary to begin with a brief COM
parison of the development of
large-scale farming on the basis
of new technical methods in the
Soviet Union and in capitalist
countries, principally the United
States. Such a comparison will
clearly reveal the special charac-
teristics of this development in our
country, and will facilitate an an
alysis of the strong and weak
points of our work.
What are the characteristics of
the process of the development of
agriculture in the United States ?
The tremendous increase in the
use of the tractor in the United
States during the decade that fol.
lowed the World War is vel
known to all. In this period the
number of tractors in the United
States increased more than five
fold-until it has reached nearly {
million at present. The number
of combines increased eightfolC
between 1920 and 1923. reachins
28,000. The figure now is proba
bly, about $4,000. Moreover, th,
increased utilization Of combine
due to the very nature of thes
machines. has resulted in a cor
responding increase in the numbe
of automobile trucks. These lat
The producers news., 1931-11-27

CONTINUED from Front Page)
stated that 1--WE could blame our
selves for letting high taxes run
away with us.". This to the farm
ers who have been bled white BY
the capitalist state in which Mag.
nus johnson functions as one Of
the important organs for mislead-
ing the farmers.
The answer of the poor and mid
die farmers to Lamb. Reed, Mag
nus johnson, and such like and to
the exploiters they serve must be
the organized demand for real tax
reduction for the poor and middle
farmers, cancellation Of taxes LOT
those who are unable to pay them
and the demand that immediate
relief be paid to the Door farmers
out of the state budgets out Of ad'
ditional taxes levied on the bank
ers, rich farmers, big Landlords
farm corporations and market mo
nopolies. Tax reduction can @
achieved by the farmer only thru
mass action-refusal to pay taxes
until their demands for reducnOn
or cancellation are granted.
The producers news., 1931-11-27

there solely by means of a few
basic indices, utilizing, in order TO
avoid the charge Of prejudice, only
official sources-the Yearbooks of
the Department of Agriculture and
the reports of number of Off
cials of that department.
although nearly a million trac-
tors have been introduced into ag-
riculture in the United States, the
sown area has remained practical
ly unchanged, for an increase of
four million hectares Gone hectare
equals 2.47 acres.-Ed) in a dec
ade can hardly be called an in
crease when the use of the 20 mil
lion horse power coud have doubled
the sOwn area. A million tractors
and an increase In the s0wn area
Of only 9,88O,OOO acres in a dec
Rdel Instead of doubling the area
sOwn, which was made possible by
technical conditions, we find a
feverish alienation between small
decreases and unimpOrtant In
creases, characteristic of a decay
ing economic order.
Even if we agree with the pal.
pably inaccurate declaration o1
the well known American agricul-
tural economist, DR.. o. E. Baker
of the United States Department
of Agriculture, which portray con
ditions as better than they are
stating that in five years afte.
the war, farm production increas
ed by 1876 per cent as a result O
the supplanting of less valuabl,
by more valuable crops, and o
low grade by high grade stock
still this-as compared to the ex
. tent to which new technisue ha
been introduced-gives no salts
factory answer to the basic ques
ton: Why, in the face of so muc
, technical improvement. are the re
suits so small? 5
E That we are correct in our eval
5 luation of the results of the tech
The producers news., 1931-11-27

general staff which, however, was
unwilling to agree to such terror
ism in France or in other coun-
tries under French influence, and
suggested that they should be con-
fined to Germany, Italy, Turkey,
etc., in order that the responsible
ty for the crimes should be placed
on other shoulders and the Franco
Soviet negotiations not endanger-
ed.
The Rote Fahne then describes
the preparations of the white
guards in Prague under the lead
ership of Major General Horshew-
ski. Former White officers are
being trained in special courses
for their tasks. The terrorists are
supplied with bombs and revilvers.
When everything was prepared for
attempts on the lives of prominent
communist leaders in the Soviet
Union, and above all. on the life
of Stain, various of the conspir-
ators were sent to the Soviet Un-
ion with false passports under the
command of the white guardist
Captain Trotinov. These men never
returned from the Soviet Union.
Organize Murder Gangs
Berlin, Oct. 81 The former
czarist general, Turkpl. is organ
izing special murder bands in Bull
garia and Yugoslavia. While his
colleague, Gen. Horshewsk plans
to carry out his outrages in the
Soviet Union, Turkul plans to per
petrate outrages in Europe. Boil
Cork and Litvinov were chosen a
victims. Cork is now in Italy
where he is now staying for tn
benefit of his health. and Litvino'
on his arrival in Berlin.
Capt. Fors was in charge of tn
white guardist training school i
Sofia where prospective assassin
were taught the art of pistol an
rifle shooting and of bomb throw
ing. A white guarist murder OF
e ganization also existed in POLAND
: where it was furthered and direct
e ed by the general staff Of the Pol
1 ish army.
|, Last year the murderers mad
: an attempt on the life of the 81
e Wet ambassador to France, Con
t rade Dovgalevski. The attemI
! was prevented by the watchfulnes
Il of those entrusted with the cal
y of Dovgaleski's life. whereby Il
/ satraps of Monsieur Chiappe al
# meant.
it The Rote Fahne points out thi
se the bourgeois and social democra
ID ic press, which is busy conductiI
l. furious campaign of incitmel
l. in connection with non-existir
ID communist terror groups, shoz
N no interest whatever for the re
n terrorist and murderers.
The producers news., 1931-11-27
MORTGAGES and INTEREST
OFFICIALS WAGES ad LET
TING OF CONTRACTS

Regardless of the tremendous
decrease in the small farmers in
come, the county officials are still
drawing large salaries. We de-
mand that the county officials
salaries be reduced SO9o at once.
We also demand: No county
work be turned over to contractors
from now on and that all road
work and other work be done di-
rect by the state, county or town
ship as the case NAV be. We fur
ther demand that only unemploy-
ed workers and poor farmers be
employed on these Jobs. Under no
circumstances shall any work be
turned over to contractors who
The producers news., 1931-11-27
u. S. Dumping" Cattle
In the Soviet Union

Kansas City, Nov. 23.- Repre-
sentatives of the Amtorg Trading
Corporation, New York City or
ganization which handles Ameri-
can exports to Russia for the So
Wet government, began a survey
here today of purebred beef cattle
of the middle west. The Soviet
government is planning a tremen-
dous program of state cattle
ranches, where beef cattle will be
raised.
The producers news., 1931-11-27
MILITANT MICHIGAN FARMERS
PREPARING FOR DEBT STRUGGLE

always reap huge profits in the
form of graft which the small tax
payer ultimately has to pay.
USELESS COUNTY OFFICIALS
The small farmers and unem-
ployed workers are overburdened
with high taxes and debts, while at
the same time the county main
tains on its payroll useless Off
cials such as the county agent,
dozens of gamewardens, who
squander large sums of money
without any apreciable returns to
the poor farmer. We demand that
all useless county officials be dis
posed of at once.
FREE MEDICAL AID
The poor farmers families and
farm laborers are often in need
of medical aid and are without
funds. This meeting demands that
the supervisors at their next meet
ing shall see to it that all poor
farmers and farm workers will be
provided with medical attention
without any "red tape. and. no
doctor shall refuse to render medi-
cal attention when called upon and
all this expense be paid by the
county.
We also demand that: All school
children shall get medical and
dental attention as prescribed by
the county nurse at the expense Oi
the county.
| COMMITTEE TO PRESENT
RESOLUTION
So be it Resolved: That the
Chassel Farmers Committee of Ac
tiOn present this resolution to thl
HOughton county supervisors a
their meeting in the court house
on Dec. Sth 1881 at 10 O'Clock a
M.
(Signed) ALMA TORMALA,
/ Secretar,
| John Lassila,
Chairman
The producers news., 1931-11-27

duction the Department OF Asr
culture of the United states
compelled to concern itself as On'
of its most important tasks "!
trast this with our CommlSSSSi'''
of Agriculture in the u.S.S'H
We shall give one example .
show how this reduction is accOl.
plished. In the Department
Agriculture report for 1917 w
read:
The most important single IN q.
tor in the yearly variations ~ shs
farm price of potatoes 10 ,..r-
past nine years has been lne me, N
iation in the size of the clvt,, cll,,on
the United States. The rei~ls n-les
between production ana I'M
has been such that a smsll lsbsls
Of around 329 million ass
brought 2 price Of arouno On of
a bushel, while a large INF
440 million bushels Ouss5;cst.
price of around so cents lnIs isrTs
ing that the value OF tng ne, vas
crop (valued at S352.OVO,VVsyS. sS.t Of
considerably smaller than .np Al
the smaller crop tVsiueN
1916, ,000,0 ,000.)
A detailed study of the eOutss. Z.
Of development of any OF -. -
farm products during the past r, az
ade shows that the total amU.s .sr
of money received bv the 1alns. am.
has remained practically unsn n
ed from year to year. An An..IIv
crease in production autonla'isssst nat
causes such a fall in prices % 4.
whether it results from an s.ttsr
crease in sown area or q - IN
than usual yield, it brings y y tbs
crease in the sum received "
| farmer. re
We are considering the avsrrs sarss
farmer. The same thing, Of 'Strats
does not apply TO the upper tfrstsd
| in whose hands are --cOhcs cl...- and
the bulk of the new maenlns5 s5 from
all the extra profits i..ss.urroyed
their monopoly on the Imp
means of production.
i CONTINUED next WeeN'
The producers news., 1931-11-27


success that has been achieved in
putting the toiling and starving
of the United States
on a prairie diet as follows:
"a menu of all wheat "frOm
soup to nuts" developed by DR..
Robert E. Brown, professor of
theology at Oberlin college, will
be presented to the national un-
employment relief committee,
he said today.
I''He has made wheat soup by
boiling wheat grains, straining
off the water. and. seasoning;
wheat meat loaf with one third
to twO-thirds meat baked into
a loaf; hot muffins from wheat
ground in a coffee mill; parch-
ed wheat coffee and parched
wheat breakfast fold"
1t is quite appropriate that this
cattle diet should be presented to
the Hoover unemployment relief
committee. Even if thev turn it
down as they probably will be-
cause even wheat costs something
and they are determined that not
one cent should be spent by the
federal government for unemploy-
ment relief, the Red Cross will
probably be able to use it.
The capitalist news item goes
on to say that "'The Oberlin pro-
fessor has worked on his prepara-
tions only a short while and has
much more experimenting to do.'
He is probably trying to discover
if the farmers can exist on some
less nourishing and even cheaper
diet than wheat. The next steI
of this hunger expert of the cap
italist class is to see if the farm.
er of the northwest can be put OF
diet of Russian thistles like tht
hungry cattle of these prairies.
The producers news., 1931-11-27

BUILD THE UNITED FARMERS
LEAGUE-THE MILITANT Or
GANIZATION OF THE T0ILING
FARMERS.
The producers news., 1931-11-27
FARMERS!.

You need your own pa
per now more than ever
before. Pay up your sub
scription to The Produc-
ers News.
The producers news., 1931-11-27
u. S. CONTINUES TO SUPPORT
Japan

The United States. in its role Of
leader of the anti-soviet front, con-
tinues to support the japanese Do
sition in the secret conference Of
the League council in Paris. A
Paris dispatch reports:
'Tn League quarters it was
said that Ambassador Dawes
statement to the members of the
council was: IF the League wish
es to apply economic sanctions
to get the japanese to withdraw,
very well; but America viii not
participate"