Notes by the Way
Tall Stories from Russia
Owing to technical deficiencies and the repercussions of the world crisis, the industrial development of Russia is failing to come up to expectations, and many exaggerated claims are now being written down. Information is not easy to obtain. For example, as soon as the monthly output figures in various branches of production began to fail below the figures for the preceding month and the corresponding month of the previous year, the monthly journal of the Soviet Bank in London conveniently ceased to publish the figures at all, although hitherto they had appeared regularly.
Much has been written of the enormous motor works built on “Ford” lines at Nijni Novgorod. It was declared open on November 1st, 1931, but it was soon apparent that it was beyond the present capacity of the Russian workers to operate this up-to-date mass production, plant. Mr. Emrys Hughes (Forward, September 17th) writes of these difficulties, and then says : —
“From nothing the output had reached 30 cars a day, and then 40. Order was slowly emerging from the chaos. Every day brought more experience: in 1933 Nijni would turn out 70,000 cars.”
Mr. Hughes is, we believe, mistaken, his figures refer to “trucks” not passenger cars, although the works are equipped for both. The claim for 30 or 40 a day is far below the promised 70,000 a year, and a very sorry output in comparison with what was promised in January, 1932.
The Moscow Daily News Weekly Edition, (August 15th) publishes an article by Victor Vacsov dealing with the car output of the Nijni Novgorod works. In it Vacsov admits that “the automobile industry of the U.S.S.R,, which is only one year old, has not as yet produced any passsenger cars. The first cars of a Ford Model-A type are now being produced.”
He says that research is still going on to decide “What type of car is best suited to Soviet conditions.”
The failure of the Nijni Novgorod works up to the present, incidentally, shows up many visitors in Russia who came back and reported that all was well. For example, there is the dramatic critic, Mr. Herbert Griffiths, who, in his “Seeing Soviet Russia,” reported—on the strength of second hand accounts from expert eye witnesses–that it was a “star-turn” !
The Communists get very angry when doubt is cast on their figures and claims, but they should remember that they have themselves to blame. A Party which for years has preached the doctrine of “lying and subterfuge” (Lenin’s words) as a method of gaining control of the workers’ trade union organisations, can hardly complain if the world occasionally doubts their veracity.
The Means Test and the Labour Party
The agitation for the removal of the “Means Test” is instructive from several points of view. The unemployed man or woman ceases after 20 weeks in a year to be entitled to unemployment insurance pay on the ordinary conditions. He or she then has to apply for transitional benefit, which is granted in whole or in part according to the means of the applicant and his or her family. The decision is made by the Public Assistance Committee and is based on a minute inquiry into the savings, earnings, pension, etc., of all the members of the family. In short, it is the application of the years old Poor Law system to unemployment insurance pay—which has not prevented the Labour Party (which administered the system for Poor Law purposes when in office) from protesting indignantly at its use for unemployment insurance purposes.