U.S. S. R. SPEAKS FOR ITSELF VOLUME THREE DEMOCRACY IN PRACTICE LA WREN CE & WISHART LTD. 2 Southampton Place, W.C.l A3 CONTENTS First Publzshed September 1941 SOVIET DEMOCRACY JJy I. TRAININ, Member of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. 2 THE NATIONAL QUESTION SOLVED JJy CmMNAZ AsLANOVA, Vice-Chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. High School Principal, Bairn, Azerhaijan. 3 CHILDREN IN THE LAND OF SOCIALISM ny A. MAKARENKO, Or<ler of the Red Banner of I .:ihour. Author of the "Pe<lagogical Poem." 4 SOVIET YOUTH AT WORK AND PLAY ny s. SoBOLEV' Member of the Aca<lemy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. Member of the Supreme Soviet of the R.S.F.S.IZ. 5 WOMEN IN THE U.S.S.R. By P. PxcHUGINA, Order of the Re<l Banner of Labour, Mem­ ber of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. Chairman of the Tagansk District Soviet, Moscow. 6 HOW OLD AGE IS PROVIDED FOR Ry M. SHABUROVA, Order of the Red Banner of Labour; People's Commissar of Social Maintenance of the U.S.S.R. 7 PUBLIC HEALTH PROTECTION ny Prof. N. P1wPPER-GRASHCHENKO , Assistant People's Printed in Great Britain by Cra.fton Press Ltd. (T.U.), Commissar of Public Health of the U.S.S.R. Correspond­ 30-32 Brunswick Street, Leicester ing Member of the Academy ·of ~ciences of the U.S.S.R. nver 8 PUBLIC EDUCATION. By 0. LEoNovA, Member of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. Teacher of Merit. 9 CRIME RECEDES. By A. VYSHINSKY, Order of Lenin.Procurator of the U.S.S.R. Director of the Institute of Law of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. Member of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. This series, U.S.S.R. Speaks for Itself, consists of the following volumes, uniform in appearance and format. 1. INDUSTRY 2. AGRICULTURE AND TRANSPORT ILLUSTRATIONS 3. DEMOCRACY IN PRACTICE Facing Page 4. CULTURE AND LEISURE KIEV SQUARE OF THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL 32 THE STA TE PUBLISHING HOUSE 33 MOSCOW ZOO PARK 48 A KIRGHIZ COLLECTIVE FARM WORKER 49 MOTHERS IN THE U.S.S.R. 64 BURYAT, MONGOLIA 65 SANATORIA AT SOCHI 80 \ THE WALL NEWSPAPER 81 GROWTH OF THE U.S.S.R. 1913 figures are represented by one unit PUBLISHER'S NOTE. DURING the last twenty years, hundreds of books about the POPULATION 130 193 MILLIONS Soviet Union have been published in England. Many of them • •• have shown a sympathetic understanding of this great experiment WORKERS & £.MPLOYEES • 11.2 80.4 AllLLIONI in civilization, but many also have been marred by hostile preju­ NATIONAL INCOME • 21 ••••••••• 1258/LUON dice, whether avowed or implicit. Only a very few have been ROUBLES the work of experts, qualified by training and experience both to BUDGET EXPENDITURE • s.110 173,259 •llLLION ("") •= ROUBLES observe and to report objectively; and, to whichever category they HOSPITALS (beds) ~175 may belong, the greater majority of books that have appeared have been written by foreigners. INSTITUTIONS (forcare of women & infants) 9 It is therefore the special interest of the present series, U.S.S.R. a:nm••= 4.384l1U1) Speaks for Itself, that all the articles have been contributed by EDUCATION (attendance • 7.8 ... 35 Mii.LiONS at pnmary & secondary Soviet citizens actually engaged in the work which they describe. schools/ HIGHER EDUCATION Moreover in every case the author is a distinguished specialist in • 112 • ill ~. Ci i 620 rHOUSANOS his•subject, occupying a position of honour and responsibility in BOOKS • H • •• • • • • • Ml~?foNS Soviet Society, sometimes as a member of the Academy of THEATRES Sciences, sometimes as a member of the Supreme Soviet-and lliiD 15.J am am an11m1 imi m 825 often enough as both. Thus in these four small volumes, Industry, ELECTRIC POWER t 1.• tt t t t # t # 11 3SJ.6 BILLION : t t f t fr # f ft K.W. HRS. Agriculture and Transport, Democracy in Practice, Culture and (ltll} Leisure, we have a picture of unrivalled authenticity of the COAL 211 e e - e 9 t 'f,~i.~tON TONS • material and spiritual strength of our great ally in the war against OIL & <MS 11.2 Fascism. m ~ ~ ~ 9 34.2 MIU.ION roNS The articles were originally prepared as separate brochures in STEEL I 1111 3 /BA MILLION roNS connection with the New York World's Fair, 1939, and the pre­ NIL ............. _ 523 sent volumes are only a selection from a very much larger number. TRACTORS rHOUSANDS At the time they were written two Five-Year Plans had been GRAIN fl1 ao1 Ill ~ 1,195 MILLION CFNrNFRS completed and the third had just commenced, but such is the tremendous rapidity of progress in the U.S.S.R. that already by the RAW COTTON @'! 0 0 !ft 25.2 MILLION CENTNER$ end of 1940 further huge increases in production had been The statistics on which the above diagram is based are those referred' to in the Pub- lishers' Note and arc more recent therefore ,.Jhan the figures used in the various achieved. In order therefore to bring the statistical material up to articles. The basic sources for the diagram are U.S.S.R. STATISTICS (Moscow); AMERICAN REVIEW ON THE SOVIET UNION (June 1941) published in New date we give below extracts from the report made on February 18, York by the American Russian Institute; the REPORT made by N. VOZNESENSKY to the 18TH ALL UNION CONFERENCE OF THE C.P.S.U. (B), February 1941, to the Eighteenth All Union Conference of the Communist 1941, and since published as a pamphlet in English. I BUDGET OF THE U.S.S.R. FOR 1941 REVENUE EXPENDITURE 216,840,000,000 Rubles 216,052,000,000 Rubles Increase of 21 % on previous year Increase of 23% on previous year ©©©©©>©©©©© TURNOVER TAX ©©©©@©©©©© NATIONAL ECONOMY on Industry and State and New Factories, Mines, Elec­ ©©©©©©©©©© Co-operative Trade ©©©©©©©©@• tric and Power Plants, ©©©O©©©©©© 124,500 million rubles. Transport and Communica­ •••••••• tions, Research, etc. ©©©©©©©O©© 59,320 million rubles. ©©©©©©©O©e AGRICULTURE C r e d i t s and Technical •••••••• Equipment to Collective Farms, 387 New Tractor 00©©©©00©0 PROFITS TAX Stations, Experimental Sta­ 31,000 million rubles . tions, Irrigation, etc. ••••• 13,580 million rubles. SOCIAL AND CULTURAL STATE SOCIAL ©>©©©©©©©©© SERVICES OO©@f INSURANCE ©©©©©©©©©• Education, Health, Pensions . 10,000 million rubles. Protection of Mothers and Children, Sanatoria and R<'st •• Homes, etc. STATE LOANS 47,800 million rubles. 13,000 million rubles. ©©©©©©©©©© DEFENCE INCOME AND 70,900 million rubles. AGRICULTURAL TAX ©©©©©©©©©© 10,842 million rubles. ©©©©©©••••••• OTHER ITEMS ©©©©@©©@•• OTHER ITEMS 27,498 million rubles. •• 24,452 million rubles . Each circle equals 1 % or 2,168.4 million rubles. Each circle equals l % or 2, 160.52 million rubles. Black circles denote increase over previous year. Black circles denote increase over previous year. The basic source of this diagram is the speech by 'Lverev, People's Com1nissar for Finance of the V.S.S.R., made at the 8th Session of the Supreme Soviet in February, 1941 10 PUBLISHER'S NOTE PUBLISHER'S NOTE 11 Party of the Soviet Union by N. VozNEZENSKY, the Chairman of 537,000 in the factory training schools. Already in 1941 the State Planning Committee.1 socialist industry will be reinforced by 794,000 young "I now pass to the material and cultural standards of skilled workers who have been through the factory train­ the peoples of the U.S.S.R. ing schools. "The systematic growth of the national income of our "The steps taken by the Party and Government to country2 and hence of the social wealth_ and the per­ create state labour reserves are of fundamental import­ sonal consumption of the working people, is <lue to the ance in determining the qualitative and quantitative fact that new contingents of workers, collective farmers composition of the working class, in further advancing and intellectuals are constantly being drawn into pro­ our industry, and in placing the Socialist planning of duction, as well as to the increasing productivity of the national economy on a firm footing. labour. "The rising standard of living of the people of the "The size of the working class in the U.S.S.R. is U.S.S.R. is attended by a rise in the level of culture. growing from year to year. The number of ~orkers and State appropriations for social and cultural services, office employees engaged in the national economy in­ which amounted to 35,200 million rubles in 1938, in­ creased to 30,400,000 in 1940, as compared with creased to 41,700 million rubles, or by 18.5 per cent, in 27,000,000 in 1937. According to the plan for 1941 the 1940. The draft state budget for 1941 provides for an number of workers and office employees is to increase increase in expenditure on social and cultural services to 31,600,000. to 47,800 million rubles, 14.6 per cent more than in the "The continual <levelopment of industry demands the previous year. systematic replenishment of the working class with new "The cultural progress of the peoples of the Soviet skilled forces and a proper distribution of labour power Union is indicated by a further increase in the number of among the various branches and regions such as the school pupils and university students. The total number interests of the national economy warrant.