Russian Government Has Taken Decisive Steps to Relieve Ex-traders’ Situation, Says Dr. Rosen, Agro-j

The Russian government has taken decisive steps to correct the serious situation growing out of the condition of the so-called “lishentzy” people deprived of voting rights because of their present or former occupation as traders or employers of hired, said Dr. Joseph A. Rosen, director of the Agro-Joint work in Russia, in a statement issued on the eve of his departure for Russia, through the American Society for Jewish Farm Settlements in Russia.

“For a time,” Dr. Rosen said, “the situation was extremely serious. A ‘lishentzy’ does not receive any bread and commodity cards, cannot become a member of a cooperative, and is deprived of many privileges. Fortunately the Soviet Government has taken decisive steps to correct this condition, and the greater part of the ‘lishentzy’, including all former petty traders of the first and second category, families who have suffered from pogroms, and families whose heads served in the Red army, have been reinstated in their voting rights. There still remain about 300,000 Jewish men, women and children in the ‘lishentzy’ group, and opportunities have to be found for them to take up productive occupations either through land settlements, or through the cooperative shops of the Aid and Mutual Aid Societies; for others, ways will have to be found to facilitate their emigration.

“For the Jews who are not in the ‘lishentzy’ category, the Government is extending every possibility to be drawn into the general industrial and agricultural development activities. The Government is planning to place this year, over 20,000 Jewish youths in the new government factories, and has greatly increased the land settlement program.

“Secondly, we are faced with a new problem in our farm settlement work,” Dr. Rosen declared. “One of the main features of the new Soviet policy is the complete collectivization of the peasantry. In our work, the collectivization policy will not be completely new, as a great deal of our work has been carried on from the very beginning on a collective basis. We always had a community crop rotation, communal vineyards, common ownership of machinery, and a great number of cooperative enterprises. The new feature we shall have to adopt now is the collectivization of live-stock. The homes, even in the hundred per cent collectivized districts, are still individually owned. There is a fair chance for this collectivization plan to succeed under present conditions when it is being particularly favored by the government. If it succeeds, it will benefit the country; if it fails, the Jews will be in the same position as the rest of the population.

“Another difficulty we had experienced last year was the method of grain collection applied by the Government. In many instances the line was overdrawn both in the methods applied and in the fact that not enough grain was left the farmers for their own requirements. There was a great deal of dissatisfaction on account of that in some of the Jewish colonies. The general impression outside of Russia is that the grain is being taken away from the peasant without compensation. This is not correct.

“The peasants are being paid for their grain at a price fixed by the Government arbitrarily. Figured in dollars per bushel at the official rate of the rouble, this price is even higher than the American farmer gets for his grain. In other words, the Government is paying to the peasant one rouble and 60 kopeks per pound of grain; this at the official rate of exchange amounts to $1.33 per bushel, which is more than the present world market price on wheat. The difficulty, however, is that when the peasant has to buy commodities that he needs for the money realized for his grain, he has to pay proportionately much higher prices than in other countries. On the other hand, the Government is striving to reduce the cost of production of the manufactured articles.

“In spite of these difficulties, however, we feel that the colonization work is of utmost importance to the Jewish population in Russia. Thousands of people have been settled and are making a living. They are much better off than the people in the towns. Other thousands still have an opportunity to be settled. The Government support and appropriations for the Jewish land settlement work is increasing from year to year, much faster than we expected.

“By the terms of our agreement with the Government, they were obliged to appropriate for Jewish farm settlement work an amount equivalent to our investment. Of this, only 500,000 roubles per year was supposed to be allocated for the districts where the Agro-Joint is carrying on its work. In reality, the Government allocated for our districts alone more than 2,500,000 roubles last year. This enabled us to settle over three thousand families. We are using up the land allocated for Jewish settlement in the Crimea faster than we expected.

“Negotiations are being carried on for an additional allotment of land, and if conditions turn out favorably, and means will be provided, an opportunity will be open for the settlement in the Crimea of additional 15,000 to 20,000 Jewish families.

“We expect to go ahead with a number of industrialization plans this year, such as the organization of cooperative shops through aid and mutual aid societies, and will cooperate with the Commissariat of Labor and the Comzet in placing a considerable number of Jewish youths in the new Government factories. We are also planning to train this year, a thousand or more Jewish young men as tractor mechanics for whom there is at present a great demand in Russia.”