Evening star., 1934-10-21

RUSSIA'S IRON AGE. BY William
Henry Chamberlin. Boston: Little,
Brown & Co.
" AVING recently left Russia,
after II years of residence
there as a newspaper corre-
i Il spondent, Mr.. Chamberlin
sends forth this book without
the feeling which he had in connec-
ton with his earlier book, Soviet
Russia" that it was impossible to
convey to my readers an absolutely
uninhibited, full and rounded descrip-
ton of the dramatic and sometimes
tragic events which I was witnessing"
At the time of its publication, in 1929.
Soviet Russia" was, however, very
generally considered the fullest and
most accurate and just book on the
question. So much has happened
since then that Mr.. Chamberlin says
many parts Of it now have only pure
ly historical value. His purpose In the
present book is to give a complete
account of the changes which have
been brought about with such uncom-
promising and ruthless disregard OF
the human cost involved that the
period which witnessed them may
fairly be called Russias Iron Age" He
has succeeded admirably, for he has
the needed information, the judgment
and the desire to be fair, and the tai
ent and training which enable him
to write with clarity, force and con-
creteneSs.
The two salient features OF the
Soviet Unions planned economy are
the industrialization program and the
collectivization of peasant agriculture.
The first five-year plan for industry,
having for its objective the maximum
development of heavy industries, car
ried with it "a severe deterioration OF
the standard of living; the second
five-year plan calls for the develop
ment of industries which will meet
, the direct need of the consumer, but
whether this will succeed, Mr.. Cham-
berlin says, will depend on whether
the country's agricultural crisis has
been definitely overcome" The COL
lectivization of farms has been an or
deal for the peasantry and has not yet
justified itself. If there are more trac-
tors and threshing machines, there are
fewer horses, cows, pigs and sheep.
and the going for harvesting COM
bines is often hard because Of the
seas of weeds on State and collective
farms.
Industry and agriculture are not all
of life. Communism Is "the faith with
! out God" and has its own standards
Of morality, which are intensely prag-
matte; the test is always the good OF
Communism. Will this impersonal,
material religion ultimately satisfy the
Russian mind? Mr.. Chamberlin doubts
1t. Perhaps the ordinary comforts OF
life do more than patriotism or reli-
gion to keep the average individual at
! least superficially contented. Ration
i ing and queues are not effective in
providing the people with enough to
eat and wear, and population has been
| growing at such rate that the new
housing has been unable to keep up
with it. As for sanitation, "a cynic
might suggest that Russia breaches
sanitation more and practices it less
than almost any other country" Gov
srnment, lacking popular participation,
is by propaganda and terror. The peo-
pie do not fear unemployment; there
Is plenty of work. They do not fear
the loss of stocks or other financial re-
sources; they have none. They fear
charges Of heresy or disloyalty, purge
with blacklisting. the accusation of
sabotage, being called kulak. Com
munisrn, despite its name, does not
mean equality, nor even what 1t meant
In the early days. "Since 1884,. Mr..