The daily worker., 1932-08-08
BY w. M. HOLMES

sT EARN how to trade" This
piece of advice was given by
Lenin to the Bolsheviks in the ear
ly years of the revolution. It's
value is still recognized by his fol-
lowers today. In the course of
constructing Socialist society, the
whole structure Of private trade,
with its foundations in profiteer-
ing, must necessarily be destroyed.
That is clear. But what is equally
clear is that this system, revolving
round the individualistic middle
man, must be replaced by a new
one, centred on collective trading
Not private profit, but the COM
mon good must be the object of
the new system. But, first of all,
it must work. The workers in the
factories must be fed The peas
ants on the farms must be sup
piled with machinery, clothing,
household goods, and all the wares
which come from the factires. Can
socialist construction, in this pres
ent stage, provide a machine which
can carry on this process efficient
", and to the satisfaction of all
demands?
When the NEP Was introduced
The capitalist, and the petty
bourgeois who live by trading for
profit, cannot conceive any system
of trade which has not private gain
for its basis. This is because they
cannot understand any system of
production which IS not founded
on private ownership Of capital,
machinery, ETC., and on the eX-
ploitation of the working class.
And so they say in their press that
the Bolsheviks must fail-and are
= failing. When Lenin introduced
the New Economic Policy, with its
liberation, under control of the
Soviet state. of private trading for
profit, all the capitalists said the
Bolsheviks were abandoning social
ism. BY the way, it was not only
the capitalists abroad, but the pri-
vate trading elements in the Sow
let Union also, who thought that
the death knell of socialism had
been sounded, and who rushed in
joyfully to enjoy brief riot of
speculation. But it was brief, and
these latter gentry, at any rate,
now know quite well who we're
then the masters in Russia, the
capitalists or the working class.
Decision Of May 6
Again, when the Council of Peo-
pies Commissars and the Central
Committee of the Communist Par
ty issued their decision regarding
new developments in trading, on
May and 10 of this year, the
capitalists declared this to be
further departure from socialism.
But, in truth, the extension Of
trading which is opened up by the
new measures, is sign that the
power Of working class rule has
not weakened, but strengthened,
since the beginning of the period
of collective farming. The facil-
fties for direct trade, which are
offered to the collective and in
dividual peasants, the state manu-
featuring trusts and the cooper
atives, are a step on the road to
the development Of new socialist
forms of circulation Of commodi-
ties. How is this? Let us sum-
Marie the measures and their
theory. and see.
First, the state has considerably
reduced the proportion of grain to
be contributed by the peasants to
the state grain fund
Second, by dividing the grain
sowing plan according TO districts
The sown area has been extended,
and the supply available for per-
sonal use thus increased.
Third, after completing the grain
collection plan and contributing
their portion to the State grain