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ECONOMIC RECONSTRUCTION IN…
ECONOMIC RECONSTRUCTION IN RUSSIA Valuable Facts From Moscow. I What Twelve Months of Soviet Work Has Done. I Order Being Brought Out Of Chaos. I As great interest has been evinced in Economic Reconstruction in Russia, we reproduce the fol- lowing valuable facts given by L. Lavin in Mos- cow in March, 1919:- I.-Zrhe last six months constituted the first period of organic reconstruction. The extraor- dinary exhaustion of the country's resources as the result of the war prevents us from attaining as early as this a raised economic level. Never- theless, the preparations for economic reorgani- sation have made important progress. One ex- ternal proof of this, stifficient-ly appirent even to the foreign observer, has been the creation, in less than a year, of a strong army pf over a million men, which will considerably assist econo- mic life by giving us the possibility of continuing to exist, thanks to Its success on alM'ronte. CENTRAL ORGANISATION. 2.—In the realm of ii^dusfer}'. we have entirely passed through the stage of transition from workers^ control to the complete administration of factories and workshops by the Labour Btate. Previously the factories were n»tionalise<i«»only on paper, or were carried on by workers' com- mittees which had no connection one with an- r other. To-day, in all the important branches of production, central administrations have been formed which direct all the enterprises in any given branch of industry as one organic whole. In this way central organisations have been > set up for the textile industry, metal industry, paper, rubber, copper, cement, coal, saw-mills, turf, salt-mines, bisctri* factories, matches, to- i l*uxx>, starch, alcohol, stigsfr, electrical appara- tus, boot-making, leather, and a number of other, industries. t A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT. 3.—Thanks to the success of the work of or- ganisation, and of the complete centralisation, of all resources in the way of raw materials, fuel v and machines, it became possible this year for the first time to draw up programmes which have been correlated and co-ordinated with one another. In this way, in the interests of the proletariat, there has been realised for the first time the central administration of the, whole of industry for a country of eighty million inhabi- L tants. At the same time, though on a more modest scale, new branches of production have been founded which never existed .in the country ■ before, and which became necessary for the har- monious development of industry in a country which is in the position of an isolated State. DISTRIBUTION. 4 The work of the Supreme Public Economic Council created the possibility of suppressing private dealing in manufactured products of fac- tories and workshops ('decree of November 21st, 1918), and of the creation by the State of a network of provisioning centres throughout the oountrv in place of the former private stores. The bHSis of the new State organisation is the compulsory co-operative organisation of consu- mers. After experiencing the formidable diffi- culties of the first months, when the new organi- sation was not functioning in all its branches in place of the old private trading which had been forbidden, the apparatus of the new system is now beginning to wo with regularity. The distribution of products has been going on since February 1st on the principle of classes; the workers receive more cloth, matches, isngar, petrol oil, shoes, etc., than the other inhabitants of the towns, and these again receive more than in the territories under the Soviet Government, the peasants. The census taken on February 1st with the exception of Turkestan and Latvia, J gave the following results:- Eleven millions of working-class population without domestic servants, of whom 4, millions were workers and 6* millions members of their families; 6 million town dwellers of the bour- geois type, including independent artisans, workers in their own homes, employers of do- mestic servants, independent intellectuals, 'and the remainder of the commercial bourgeoisie; and 60 millions of peasants, constituting about 75 per cent, of the whole. In addition to this, Turkestan counts about 7 million iiihabirtanits, and Soviet Latvia about two millions. Of the workers, about 1,800,000 are employed in the factories and workshops of large and medium scale production, while 1,200,000 are employed in railway, water and other transport. MONEY CEASING TO FUNCTION. 5 Parallel with the growth of torganisa;bion of public economy, the need of money as a means of exchange is decreasing; it thus results that the budget figures for the first seven months (November, 1917—March, 1918) and for the first months of 1919 remain at the level of the second period of seven months, namely, three milliards of roubles per month. The decree of February 20th enlarges and sys- ternatises the first results. It introduces in the sphere of industry the supply without payment of all manufactured articles to the State Com- missariats. (Locomotives are supplied to the Transport Commissariat, rifles to the Commis- sariat for War, natural products to the Food Commissariat, etc.) It even abolishes payment by means of entry in a banking account. It in- troduces, to correspond with this, a mixed form of Sta:t,- dget-in money and in natural pro- ducts—which allows for the payment of only such funds (in money or by bank account) to the factories as correspond to the requirements (for example, wages) which cannot be satisfied by the supply of the necessary natural products coming from other commissariats. For example, there are to be supplied, without payment or banking transactions, fuel, raw materials, ma- chines, etc. It abolishes, as from July 1st, 1919, railway charges for goods traffic, just as it has already abolished the postal charges for letters. The public services will be gradually made free to the population in the course of the coming months; tfhis covers, ii; particujar, the abolition of house-rent, which is a companion measure to the municipa-lia-ationof houses in the cities. DECREASED ARMY RATES. 6.—The progressivo intr<S&totion of a plan into the economic life of the country has allowed the forces of production to be raised moreVffec- tively in 1919 than in the previous year. The rise to power of the Workers' Government al- ready, in the first year of its existence, led to a complete transformation in the character of this part of the people's activity. The State Budget reflected this transformation. In 1918, as in 1917, 28 milliards of roubles were spent; but, while in the bourgeois" year two-tliirds of this sum were* spent on the army, and only one-t^ird reserved for other expenses, in the "Socialist" year only one-third was spent on tfhe army, two-thirds being devoted to other pur- poses—although the war had not ceased. This decrease of unproductive expenditure will be still more marked in the year 1919, as military operations have permitted of the realisation of several large undertakings which were planned in 1918 (the irrigation of 150,000 desaiaitines in Turkestan, the Volga-Don canal, the establish- ment of a railway from the Yolga to Emba, the new naptha centre north of the Caspian Sea, which promises to becomc a second Baku). (To be continued). I
Mr. Stanton Catches A Tartar.…
Mr. Stanton Catches A Tartar. I The Irish members of Parliament—those, that is, who sit in Parliament—criticised the action of the military authorities in court-martialling Father O'Donnell for conduct alleged to be pre- judicial to good order and military discipline, and who was found not guilty by the Court. Mr. Develin characterised the treatment of the Chap- lain as the latest infamy perpetrated in the name of the British Empire in Ireland," and mentioned that he understood that it had cost Father O'Donnell £ 1,000 to defend bimsolf. Commander Wedgwood Benn, Commander Kenworthy and Mr. Jack Jones ialso took part in the debate—as did Mr. Stanton-Aberdare's M.P. Mr. Jack Jones had adopted the usual Par- liamentary devise of beginning his observations with the remark that he had little to add to the discussion when Mr. Stanton (C., N.D.P.) asked Then why don't you sit down? Jack Jones is not the man to take things like that- with thfi smile of geneal indifference, and the House laughed heartily when he retorted: All right, Henry Irving." Whether Mr. Stanton thought that the game was going too fast for him to fol- low or not it is impossible to say, but at all events lie called in the assistance of the speaker by asking: If a member uses and declares he has nothing to say is he entitled to take the time of the House." The Speaker: That is the usual way in which every member begins. (Lafighter.) Mr. Stanton: May I also call your attention to the faot that the hon. member called me names. I shall hit back if you don't protect me. Mr. J. Jones: If I said so many things as you do and of so little use, I should never intervene a,t all.
Cyfarthfa Colliers' Coal.…
Cyfarthfa Colliers' Coal. I WERE MAGISTRATES MISLED? I When two miners, Edward Jones and Samuel Jenkins, employed at Messrs. Crawshay Bros'. Gethin Pit, appea-red before the Mertnyr Stipen- diary (Mr. R. Griffitills) on Friday on adjourned summonses for stealing coal, Mr. D. W. Jones (solicitor for the company) averred that, in re- gard to the other two rpen, against whom at a previous court, similar surnniomes failed on their plea that they were without coal, because (they alleged) of delay in delivery by the colliery pro- prietors, the bench had been misled. There were no arrears in ooal supplies in any single case in the colliery, sa,id Mr. Jones. The Stipendiary I won't deal with these cases now. Evidence was oalled to the effect that Edward Jones carried away with him four pennyworth. The former not being a householder was stated not to be entitled to the benefit of the coal ar- rangement between the workmen and the em- ployers. The excuse tendered by him that his landlady was out of fuel was characterised by the Stipen- diary as no defence sit all," and a fine of 10s. was imposed. Jenkins, in evidence, said he was a house- holder, and declared that, prior to November 18, when he took the coal, he had had none delivered him for eight weeks. In cross-examination, he admitted that a load due to him on December 19th had been sent last Saturday, and that the previous delivery was about November 20th, but he denied receiving a load on October 6th. Mr. D. W. Jones: There is nothing due to you ?—No sir, not by the ooal cards. In reply to the Stipendiary, defendant alleged that though he had been given ooal for August, September, and Ofttober, the three loads had been rushed in six, weel-s, and that the Octo- ber delivery was in September. Rebutting evidence by NtT. Williams, house ooal weigher at the colliery, proved that de- liveries approximated the dates upon which they were due, and that there were no arrears. Special efforts had been made by the company in order to avoid coal supply delays. y After hearing this witness and examining coal dockets produced, the Stipendiary remarked: "I am quite satisfied no coal was due to this man, and, as he has told a falsehood in the witness- box, I shall fine him 40s."
Education in Wales.-I
Education in Wales. I CONTROL BOARD'S SUGGESTIONS. I No party in the nation is so keenly interested in educational matters than the Labour Party, and the members of the Party will be at one in supporting the efforts of the Central Welsh Board in its attempts to consolidate and co-or- dinate with other branches of education for the purpose of establishing a national and efficient system of education in Wales. At the meeting of the Board held in Chester last week the body adopted the conclusions of the committee that it had previously set up to inquire into the ques- tion in the following terms:— The Board ask that the power it now possesses to inspect and examine intermediate schools in Wales and Monmouth shire be extended to all other secondary schools and educational institu- tions, whose are willing to ac- cept their inspection and examinaitBon in Wales and Monmouthshire, which receive State or rate aid, other than publir., elementary schools, uni- versity colleges and colleges. Affiliated to the University of Wales, training colleges and theo- logical colleges, the Treasury and Board of Edu- cation to laooept the Board's certificates as a sufficient authority for the payment of grants; the power to examine ex-county school pupils for supplementary certificates in order to com- plete a qualification; the power to inspect and examine as and when requested by the governors or local educational authorities the schools ap- plying to the Board of Education for recognition, but which do not receive State or rate aid. That in view of the fact that the present in- come of the Board is insufficient, particularly on the inspection side, and the annual contribution from the Treasury should be substantially in- creased. While asking for increased powers the Board are strongly of opinion that pending the granting of self-Government to Wales in domes- tic affairs there should 1\e created a Welsh Edu- cational Council, controlling all forms of educa- tion below university education. The report con- cluded, Wales has long been ripe for autonomy in educational matters. The co-ordination re- quired by the Education Act, 1918, can best be attained by the establishment of such a body." In the executive committee report., it was stated that a, conference on the teaching of his- tory representatives of the Central Welsh Board and the teachers of history in county schools has been arranged.
One Against The Secretary…
One Against The Secretary for War. I UKRAINIAN MISSION PROTEST AGAINST ANSWER TO COL. WEDGWOOD. A WITH A SIDELICHT On DENEKIN. I In the last issue of "The Ukraine," the offi- oial bulletin of the Ukrainian Press Bureau in London, the representatives of that State found it necessary to give the lie direct to an answer of the Secretary of State for War to Col. Wedgwood. As the reply is an interesting side- light upon ministerial answers to questions, and since it shows another lurid side of Denekin's acts, as well as hinting at the sources of infor- mation upon which our Government draws for its information we give the article in full:— LONDON, December 3rd, 1919. The following is the text of a Note handed to the Foreign Office by the Ukrainian Special Dip- lomatic Mission in London:— At the sitting of the House of Commons on November 26, 1919, the Secretary of State for War, replying to a question by Colonel Wedg- wood as to whether he was aware that General Denikin had issued orders that deserters were to be punished by death and their property con- fiscated, and whether, in view of the fact that Ukrainians joined the Volunteer army to fight the Bolshevists and were now being used against the Ukraine, he would make representations to prevent those oixlers being carried out in the case of Ukrainians," in the course of his answer made the following statement: General Deni- kin is fighting the Bolsheviks, and only such in- dividual U, kminiame as adhere either to the Bol- sheviks or to Petloura. He is not fighting the Ukrainian people." (Report in the Times of November 27th.) PROTEST. I I The Ukrainian Special Diplomatic Mission in London, representing -in tins country the Ukrain- ian Directory, of which General Petkmra is the head, deems it its duty to protest against such an interpretation of thesituati-on on the part of the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for War. H.M. Government is undoubtedly aware that the Directory is not a self-constituted body, but was elected by the National Union of the Ukraine. Aftem-ards the election was confirmed by the Congress summoned in December, 1918, which consisted of representatives of all classes of the Ukrainian people, and the authority of the Directory was further supported by the State Council recently held in Kamenetz- Podolsk. Being the head of the Directory, General Pet- loura is in fact the President of the Ukrainian Republic and represents the Ukrainian people. His name, therefore, is a synonym to that of the people whom he represents—i.e., the Ukrainian people. Moreover, the whole able-bodied population of the territory controlled by the Directory has joined the Ukrainian army, and only those men who are unfit for military service are left, in ad- dition to women and children, in civilian life. As nobody can suppose that General Denikin is using British tanks and artillery against the civilian population as indicated above, the an- swer of the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for War cannot mean other than that in fight- ing the adherents of General Petloura he is in fact fighting the Ukrainian nation itself. As a matter of fact, General Denekin uses the assistance of the Allies not so much against the Bolsheviks as against the democratic Ukrainian nation, with the object of entirely suppressing their powerful and spontaneous impulse towards independence which they have revealed after centuries of oppression. MISINFORMED? I Although convinced of the impartiality of the Government of Great Britain, the Ukrainian Mis- sion knows well, on the other hand, in what manner and how often certain Russian groups, which have not changed politicailysince the time of the Tsarist regime, have attempted to misin- form them. Nevertheless, the Mission is persuaded, after the recent declarations of the British Prime Minister, who has spoken sympathetically of General Petloura and of tho latter's struggle for the realisation of his aspirations, that news emanating from Russian sources concerning the Ukraine would not be accepted without reserve by H.M. Government. The Ukrainian Special Diplomatic Mission in London is, with much regret, constrained to state that the above-mentioned expression of the Right Hon. Secretary for War can only be based on news of the nature indicated above.
[No title]
A recommendation that women shall have the right to hold office as judges in Finland has been put forward by the Judicial Committee of the Riksdag. A
IPre-emptory Pierpont.
I Pre-emptory Pierpont. MEN'S TERMS TORN UP, AND WOMEN LOCKED IN. The Lanston Monotype is a. mechanical type- setting and casting labour-saving machine that has revolutionised printing. It stands for that mysterious something that is spelled Modern Methods, and the capital letters in which denotes it as a subject of special worship, but if one can argue from the case of the Lanston Monotype Corporation, Ltd, in its Salfords, Redhill, works, Modern Methods at foundation are no more in love with workers and their organisations than were, the old, old Capitalists of the birth period of industrial production in the closing half of the Eighteenth Century, and with their Com- bination Acts. At that works Geo. Press, who is a tool maker, and who has acted as the spokes- man of the employees before the tribunal set up under the War Wages Temporary Regulation Act, was called before the manager, Mr. F. Pier- pont, last Thursday and discharged with a week's wages in lieu of notice. His work it was said was too expensive. Geo. Ross, a, tool setter and charge hand, who presided at the shop meetings, was given a week's notice too. Now, the workers took it into their beads that Press was being victimised, and at ai meeting they appointed a deputation to wait upon Mr. Pierpont with an ultimatum, in which he was notified that failing a satisfactory answer to the workers by 10 o'clock on Saturday morning, work would cease. Mr. Pierpont tore up that ultimatum in the presence of the deputation on Friday, and later in the day lie addressed the skilled artisans in a speech informing them that they could leave if they wished. The men did not seem to take him seriously, for they laughed at him Anyhow they got no reply to their ulti- matum, and at 10 o' elocji precisely on Saturday morning out of the shops the workers trooped- women and men—although Mr. Pierpont had called the girls together and promised them a full day's pay for Saturday if they would turn in on Monday. To the honour of the girls be it said that they refused to listen to Mr. Pierpont unless Press was allowed to be present. That statement about the whole of the work- people trooping out at 10 o'clock on Saturday is hardly correct. It should have been said that many of the girls rushed out to join the men, but Mr. Pierpont was too quick for some of them, and despite their expressions of determina- tion to join in the stoppage, they were locked in the room. Inside and outside there was a row —everybody was demanding the release of the prisoners, and democratic demand won the day The door was unlocked, and amidst general de- monstrations of joy the girls inside came out on strike. On Sunday Press presented himself before an audience at the Redhill Picture Pavilion, and by show of hands 500 persons pledged themselves to give moral, and, better, financial support to the workmen and women who have declared their intention of remaining out until Press, who they say is being victimised, is reinstated. We take it that Ross will be treated exactly the same, too.
I ITheArmy & Navy* Strike
I ITheArmy & Navy* Strike A truce was called on Saturday in the indus- trial war between the Army and Navy Stores and the employers at their huge Westminster- street Emporium, London. The demands were for a 35 per oet. increase in wages and a 44-hour week-and both the Vehicle Workers' Union and the Shop Assistants' Union actively engaged with the workers in their struggle. The directors position was undermined, too, by the fact that the Narthcliffe.Press rooktheeide of the worken and even talked aboot smarting a. fund to help them in the fight. The vehicle workers was a strong arm of the strikers forces, and both John Turner, the General Secretary of the Shop As- sistants, and Mr. Roffman, the organiser who will be remembered in South Wales for his ac- tivity in connection with the Anti-Living-In cam- paign of a few years back, were concentrating all their efforts in the struggle; invaluable as- sistance being rendered by Miss T. Wilson-Wil- son, who as a shareholder opened a petition for other shareholders to sign declaring that the life and well-being of the staff took precedence over dividends. During the two days of the strike business was practicably at a standstill. Then came a conference between directors and union representatives, as a result of which Mr. Turner .was able to announce that the directors had agreed to pay the national awards for the vehicle workers and the bakers, whilst the shop assist- ants demands were to go to arbitration. The directors in their statement announced that the negotiations had been of an entirely amioable nature and had resulted in a settlement, with an agreement to submit certain points outstanding to arbitration.