Dee.
Indications of political reailjustments at Moscow naturally inspire speculations on the possibility 6f a break in the present stranglehold of the Com: munist caucus over There are reports occasionally. of threatened risings; they should however, be regarded as nothing more serious than the usual opposition which any strongly organized has to meet, The Soviet Government, as at present constituted, is plainly capable of dealing with any overt threat to its domination from within, The trial now proceeding at Moscow. shows that there is some disquietude over the activities of certain intellectuals, but it betrays no evidence of an inability to cope with them. Indeed the. great strength of the Government at Moscow lies in the recognized fact that the only alternative to it at the present time is chaos. It can, therefore, count with certainty on the support of groups and schools of thought which, in many fundamentals, dislike its creed, detest, its methods and distrust its ultimate ability to make stability permanent. The propaganda which, from time to time, despite assurances and pledges given to Foreign Ministers, proceeds unchecked in countries technica! ly friendly but publicly stigmatized in Russia as capitalls: foes, is the product of the now almost discredited belief that the regime within Russia itself could be assisted by the deve-' lopment among other nations of similar doctrines. There is little doubt however, that the bulk: of the propaganda is now being. carried along by its own momentum stimulated by adventijous local influences, such re apparent for example, at this moment.in the coal-mining reas of South Wales. In Russia, there may be still a settled official policy to attribute evil designs to the "capitalist" powers, thus giving rise to the eccentricities against which the French and British Governments. are being moved to protest in connection with the Moscow Conspiracy Trial. In the main however, the energy of the Government is being devoted exclusively to securing the smooth working of the ambitious economic plan of 1928-33. On the success of that plan the reputation of the Soviet system wi largely depend. This feeling has penetrated the minds of the Russian people to a remarkable degree. It has produced a despair among the older men bet an enthusiastically blind hopefulness in the younger generation.
The two sentiments are in. reality one—they are the express sion. of recklessné instinct with all the qualities of the gambler.
In brief Russia is endeavouring to organize the economic fabric of the country on a 80- cialistic scale. The plan is mote than a programme of work; it the foundations of a socialist state, To this end all the resources of the Government propagandists are being directed. Enthusiasm is being artifcially generated; knowledge is being imparted by intensified in-In a sense military mobilization methods are being employed for the creation of an industrial nation capable of asserting its dominance on lines diametrically opposed to those hitherto applicable to human be lationships in the commer the world. The critic is wasting time if he lingers on discussion of the immediate effect of this plan on the Russian people of to-day. So much misery has been experienced since 1917 that the mere overflowing of the cup of bitterness means nothing ther to the victims or to those who are desperately trying to justify their tenure of the reins of power. The only thing that matters is whether the plan in the long run will succeed. Can it proceed to its chronological term and then be reviewed for judgment? Can it become gradually merged in an extension leading to ultimate success? Or will it break down in mid career? Those are the questions now being asked by interested observer:
One thing seems clear; the need for carrying the Russian people with them must before long greatly affect the position of M. Stalin and his immediate associ The trial at Moscow with its farcical "confessions does not deceive anyone outside Russia, It may be doubted whether it is accepted at its face value by many of the int lectuals within that countr: The need for stilling the void of the more thoughtful of their critics will soon impress on the Soviet leaders the importance of that right wing element to which last summer so severe a re bull given, in the ostracism of Rykov,—Bukharin—the schoolmaster of the revolution" and Tomsky. Those once powerful forces are not likely to be left for long in their present inactivity. There is a strong element which relies on their judgment. The gradual working out "of the Five-Year-Plan is certain to arouse doubts, to evoke fears and, therefore, to throw on the Government responsibilities which will encourage the renewal of association with the right wing of the Party. It is more than probable that during the coming winter this development will take a definite shape. The magnitude of the effort implied by the Five-Year-Plan must make for reaction unless the Government take the'precaution to forestall criticism. The organization of a national accumulation of capital on a colossal scale and at a rapid rate can be done only by limiting domestic consumption and, therefore, by insisting on personal sacrifices on the part of the individual citizen. Autocracy can carry such a plan forward within limits. It will, however, require in the long run considerable reinforcement from. every influential school of political thought which is not implacably hostile to the socialist creed. Even then the possibility that the scheme may fail by' yeason of the lack of adequate organizing ability to marshal the enormous resources of machinery and mass-labour requi: ed. It is exceedingly doubtful moreover whether, within the time allotted, the change in the economic fabric of a country already torn by deprivations and weakened by poverty can be effected without completely wreckig the whole of the system, poli tical and constitutional. The space of time sufficiently short to enable them to avoid the cataclysm -bora of disillusionment and the spectacle of certain failure. The interesti feature of the experiment to-day is its bold chal we to what have hitherto been regarded as the accepted principles of the economics of Labour. It is an experiment which makes of the lives of the whole of a great nation pawes in a super-gamble. It demands, in truth, a radical change in human nature. Whether it will succeed time alone can tell. Fortunately for the world the chances are that the verdict will not be long in coming.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.