Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-05-16
By EARL H. vOSS

The Soviet Unions massive de-
Capitalization Of industry, rated
here as the biggest administra-
tive change in Russia's economic
life since 1928. may produce q
small increase in output.
But basically the new concept
Of decentralization" Is simply
rearranging inefnciency" in the
old Soviet system Of control,
which Is Inherently wasteful."
These are the considered opin-
ions Of Washington experts who
make 1t their business to evalu-
ate what goes on in the Soviet
Union.
Communist Party Chief Nikita
Khrushchev has set July / as
the deadline for completing de-
Capitalization.
A falloff in the rate Of in
crease in the Soviet gross ma
tional product. from the phe-
nomenal IL per cent Of recent
years to 8 per cent last year.
has all but crushed Moscow
hopes Of meeting its 1860 out
put goals. economists expert on
Soviet affairs. believe.
Avoid Predicting Failure
But these scholars have seen
the Soviet dictatorship squeeze
essential industrial advances out
Of their people before. and they
avoid making any nat predictions
Of failure.
Rather, they conflne them
selves to commenting that 1T
would be q spectacular per-
Torrance" II the Soviet industrial
machine achieves its ambitious
goals.
Even at the reduced rate. the
Soviet economy is expanding
more than twice as fast as the
United States.
Political effects Of the decen-
tralization Of Soviet industry,
which may involve the trans
fer out Of Moscow Of as many as
$4,000 bureaucrats. are meal
culable here.
Scholars believe that even Mr.
Khrushchev himself cannot pre-
dict where the REORGANIZATION
will lead.
The Soviet scheme is to sacri-
flce . little Of its strict control
over the national economy in the
hope Of stimulating more ef-
flciency.
Local Level
More problems in production
and marketing are to be settled
at the local level. rather than
in Moscow. This should save
some time and avoid some mis-
takes by Moscow bureaucratic
unfamiliar with the local scene
But 1t also may give many
local-level officials the taste OF
thinking and acting for them
selves.
1t Is the thesis Of Central
Intelligence Agency Chief Allen
Dulles that this decentralization
plus the swiftly broadening edu-
cational base may mellow the
Soviet dictatorship and make
OF 1t Q more reasonable, les,
bellicose regime. Satisfying the
needs and wants Of more people
may siphon OF some Of the
effort now going into armament,
and imperialist schemes.
In the past the Soviet econ.
omy has been organized BY
industry. with a ministry ir
Moscow supervising almost ever
move. Experts call this q "ver.
tical organization"
It has produced history-mak.
ing progress in the past 20 years
but at considerable cost in popu.
lar discomfort. Overcentraliza.
ton resulted. ,All orders cam,
from the top. local initiative wa
not countenanced. Mistakes tina
could have been spotted and cor,
rected at the local level thu
were allowed to go uncorrecteC
and ballooned into nationa
crises before they came to tn,
attention Of Moscow.
Each ministry acted as q self
contained unit. This often re-
suited. by the Soviet leaders owl
admission. In one factory's hav
ing to go through Moscow to &c
supplies which could have beef
procured locally much faster.