Evening star., 1932-08-07
Russia's Second Five-Year Plan
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

Year Plan was chiefly industrial, with
agriculture second in point OF stress.
The pressing need was for industrial
development So the first Five-Year
Plan called for the erection of vast
power projects, factories for building
tractors, automobiles, for milling dour,
grinding cement, rolling steel. making
Chemicals-an the miscellaneous welter
Of organized industry. The organiza-
ton Of agriculture along mass produc-
ton lines followed, the reorganization
and rehabilitation of the railways work
ing along concomitsntly.
The second Five-Year Plan need do
no more than project the lines Of the
first SO far as industrial and agricul-
tural developments are concerned. In
addition it is planned to go farther into
new fields Geology and the utilization
of mineral resources will be especially
| stressed in this second plan. Biologists
claim that Russia has aEp;e store of
mineral to carry out her ultimate Pre-
| gram, which is to become the leading
industrial nation of the world. 1t is
large part of the second Ffve-Year
Plan to find and exploit these riches.
Surveys of Natural Resources
At the beginning Of the first Five
| Year Plan only 2,50000o square kilo-
meters of Russian territory had been
| geologically charted. Work during the
! first FiveYear Plan raised this to
| 5,600,000 square ktlometers. But 49,
100000 remain wholly uncharted. This
work is to be done in the years Of the
second plan.
The Unions reserves of iron ore are
estimated at 1857, ,000. 900 tons and only
about 1000, 100000 of these have been
surveyed. In the Crimean field are
known reserves for 800 years; in the
middle Volga district, "a years Of re-
serves, and in the Ural region, SO years
reserves. Coal deposits, known TO the
CzariSt geologists. amounted to but
234,000,0 100000 tons. Soviet surveys
have already brought this total up to
| $4,000 100000 tons, and the second
Ffve-Year Plan is expected. on the
basis Of known deposits, to bring it to
/ 1000 900, 900 600 tonS-a round trillionl
| Oil Is another mineral which will be
| further surveyed although supplies are
| known to be ample. More urgent is the
necessity for locating new supplies of
copper, lead and zinc. Millions of tons
of reserves are known to exist, but the
needs Of the gigantic industrial develop
mentS are so great that more Of these
non-ferrous metals is desired. Gold IS
not specially sought. Russia is more
interested in metals out Of which things
can be made.
Hydroelectric development Is TO 90
on under the second Five-Year Plan
and large developments are provided
for in the chemical field. In the field
of agriculture there is to be intensive
work in mechanization. Many great
factories which have been constructed
as a part of the first Five-Year Plan
now are in operation and their products
will be used in extending farm mechani-
zation during the second plan. Chemi-
cal fertilization is to occupy a large
part of the program also, while irriga-
ton and reclamation will have their
proper attention.
Although there Is little more than
year yet to go in carrying out the
first Five-Year Plan, the commissars
want every blue print ready for the
beginning of the second in order that
there will be no let-down in enthu-
siasm no hiatus in drive for the ulti-
mate goal of complete economic inde-
pendence, especially in the industrial
field; complete emancipation Of the Rus
sian proletariat from the machinery
of the outside capitalist world. 1t Is
too far ahead to say what is to sue
! ceed the second Five-Year Plan. Pos
sibly the Treadmil Plan.