The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-10-22
Soviet Workers Overcome Obstacles
In Building New Life of Socialism
by Burck

plant is the pride of the industrial
construction of the Soviet Union.
Magnitostroi serves as a model with
which to compare anything that is
immense and beautiful. Thus, for
example, the aim of Soviet writer's
is to create a "MagnitoStroi of
literature" that is, work that in
beauty and completeness of tech
nique will be similar to the Mag
nitogorsk plant. Now the Krama-
tcrsk plant can every year equip an
entirely new Magnitogorsk. This is
perhaps the most characteristic
way of showing the capacity and
the magnitude of the new plant.
Together with the Ural machine
plant, Kramatorsk can cover rs per
cent of the entire equipment re-
quirements of the Soviet iron and
steel industry. If in addition to
that one takes into consideration
the smaller factories Of this type,
then the construction of Krams-
torsk signifies the following: Soviet
industry has essentially become
completely independent of capital
ist economy.
That of course does not mean an
abandonment of the advantages of
an international exchange of goods.
But it does mean that every at
tempt of the imperialist bougeoisie
to use trade relations as a weapon
against the Soviet Union is doomed
to failure in advance. No economic
blocaoe, no economic war can from
now on seriously endanger the
construction of socialism. The new
plant also denotes a tremendous
increase in the ability of the Soviet
Union to defend itself and with
that great strengthening of the
positions of the proletariat in the
international class struggle.
The following case gives a small
example rs to how the industrial
independence of the Soviet Union
is to be understood The urgent
setting up of portal crane with
lifting capacity of $50 tons is
required for the building of the
Volga-Don Canal. The Soviet Union
wanted to place an order with a
foreign firm for the first of these
immense cranes. But as this firm
was apparently of the opinion that
the new Soviet industry would be
unable to manufacture such a COM
plicated machine, it demanded the
enormous sum of 100000 gold
marks for the designing alone. The
Soviet Union did not want to place
the order on that basis and gave
the order for the crane to the new
Kramatorsk plant. So we see that
it is not question Of autarchy. not
a question OF national serarateress
when VIC speak oe INDEPENDENCE
of Soviet industry. but a orestion
Of a very powerful position in the
DEVELOPMENT of inferno ton, |
econc7,1ic relations. a powerful most
ton as result of which the capt.
tsliot supplie- of the Soriet Union
cannot dictate conditions.
With the same enthusiasm with
which the marvellous technical
works at Krsmatorsk we're built.
the workers of the planS are now
mastering the new technique. And
they are doing it successfully: In
June they succeeded for the first
time in completely fulfilling the
very tense plan of production. The
official opening of the plant is
| therefore not the beginning of
Ucrk-some of the shops have al
ready been working for a year. Il
does not only mean that the plant
is ready for work but it also means
that its workers and engineers ere
ready for work and are capable of
doing this work.