INDICATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL VULNERABILITIES
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CIA-RDP78-04864A000300040011-2
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K
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10
Document Creation Date:
December 12, 2016
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March 6, 2002
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Publication Date:
January 19, 1953
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT NO.
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT INDICATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL VULNERABILITIES
HOW
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE
OF THE UNITED STATES, WITHIN THE MEANING OF TITLE 10. SECTIONS 79
NND 761, OF THE U.S, CODE, AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSI.ON OR REVS.
T.ATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT BY AN UNAUTHORI2EO PERSON I/
SOURCE Monitored Broadcasts
CPW Report No.-62
(12-30 November 1952)
AGRICULTURE . ? . . . B ? a ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 1
Mechanization . . . . . . . .. . ? . . . ?
Stock-Brp'ding? . ? ? . ? a ? ? ? ? ? . ?
Statute Violations. ? ? ? a ? . ? . a . a
Studies 4 ?
INDUSTRY a ? , ? . ? ? . ? a ? ? a ? a a a . a 6
Quality-Quantity Production ? ? . . . ? .
HOUSING, WELFARE ACTIVITIES a . ? . . ? . . ? 7
MISCELLANEOUS .. . ? a ? ? ? a a ? ? ? . ? 8
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
STATE`.
ARM'I
CLASSIFICATION
NSRB
FBI
DISTRIBUTION
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STATINTL
DATE OF 12-30 November 1952
INFORMATION
DATE DIST. q TEA/ /qvr-~
NO. OF PAGES /tv
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
STATINTL
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Mechanization Still a Major Bottleneck: Most of the broadcasts on agricultural production
in the period under review harp on the continued reluctance to extend mechanization to
as many phases of field work as possible, on the one hand, and the inadequate maintenance
and repair of technical equipment, on the other. Although in some instances the trade
unions are said to be the chief culprits, the claim is made that it takes more than trade
unions to prod the farmers and local agricultural officials into embracing the idea of
complete mechanization and adopting a more scrupulous attitude toward the utilization
of available equipment. Lack of mechanical skill in the rural areas presumably accounts
for a great deal of the breakdowns and inept handling of machinery but that, it is
frequently pointed out, is not always the case. "Indifferent attitude" and "under-
estimation" (khelatnoye otnoshenie, nedootsenka) are the terms most often applied to
local Party and Executive committees as well as to individual officials whose duty it
is to encourage 'further mechanization of agriculture.
A XRASNY KOGAN editorial of 15 November is sharply critical of the antiquated methods
of machinery repair employed by the oblast agricultural administration. The so-called
centralized method of tractor repairs whereby different parts of the same machine are
mended by specialized service men is said to be discarded in favor of the outmoded
handicraft method. Nothing but this reluctance to introduce advanced technological
methods, says the paper, can explain the failure of so many machine-tractor stations
to cope with their assignments. What makes the situation "absolutely abnormal"
(sovershenno nenorlnoye) is that new technological processes are always discussed,
blueprinted--and left on paper. Progress in the meantime is "very slow" for the simple
reason that the repairs never catch up with the breakdowns.
It is unfortunate, says SEVEF MAYA PRAVDA (18 November), that many of the Kostroma oblast
Party, Soviet and machine-tractor station officials are "repeating the mistakes of
last year." Far from providing a sufficient number of mechanics for the oblast work
shops, "they have not yet solved the problem" of training qualified tractor, combine
and other machine operators. The result is that even the serviceable equipment cannot
be used for two-shift work and "machines remain idle for long periods of time." The
oblast mechanization schools for tractor mechanics, electricians and combine operators
are said to he-ire deteriorated to such a "low level" that in some instances the graduates
know just bout as much as they did before their enrollment. Many of the MTS directors
are reportel to be unwilling to send their workers to those schools for lengthy periods
due to the manpower shortage at the stations, but that, says the paper, is a very poor
excuse becaaus* the shortage of skilled mechanics and operators is more acute than anything
else.
A report from Alma Ata (18 November) quotes KAZA1 STANSKAYA PRAVDA as saying that the
mechanization of agriculture and particularly the livestock industry of the Republic
is "extremely unsatisfactory." That paper is said to have revealed, for example, that
autumn plowing plans in the Republic "remain unfulfilled from year to year" and that a
variety of violations of agrotechnical work schedules "have a negative effect on the
crops." All this, it is explained,is due to the inadequate utilization of machines
and tractors and the resultant "considerable idleness of machines." But inept employ-
ment of equipment, it appears, is only one evil and a lesser one at that, for it is
disclosed that
there are many cases where technical means destined
for the mechanization of labor-consuming work in the
livestock industry ... are not used at all.
CPYRGHT
The plain truth is, according to the paper, that most (bolshinstvo) of the Republic's
machine-tractor stations "are far from satisfying"(daleko ne udovletvoryayut) the
daily requirements of agricultural production. The situation is said to have reached
a new low in such large areas as West Kazakhstan, Aktyubinsk, North Kazakhstan and
East Kazakhstan oblasts where largely for technical reasons but also for reasons of
general inefficiency the MrS do not keep their agreements with the collective farms or
stock-breeding enterprises.
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ZAICARPATSKA PRAVDA (14 November) says that now that the grain problem, "the most serious
and greatest of all problems," has been solved, the livestock problem is looming higher
than ever before in the oblast. The Transcarpathian collective farms are not doing so
well in their development of the stock-breeding industry, and isolated successes cannot
conceal the serious shortcomings, the paper says. Meadows and grasslands have not been
prepared and no measures have been taken to plant sufficient amounts of root crops or
perennial grasses:
The main cause of low livestock productivity on
most of the farms is the lag of fodder accumulation
behind the expansion of livestock herds.
CPYRGHT
The upkeep and feeding of cattle in wintertime is also the object of a KOMMUNIST
TADJlh;STANA editorial (19 November). Assailing the Republics livestock industry
officials for their do-nothing policy in the face of "numerous and serious shortcomings,
the paper warns that "a hard winter is expected, and livestock losses are therefore
possible not only from undernourishment but also from cold and scow drifts." All the
material resources for insuring adequate fodder supplies and winter quarters are
available, it is claimed, and the only thing that is missing is a little initiative on
the part of the Party Committees and agricultural officials. It is due to their inert-
ness that "so many tasks have been left undone." Large quantities of cattle will be kept
for some time in remote winter pastures, and great losses may be incurred if something
is not done at once about building winter sheds for them. Garmeky oblast and Gorno-
Padakhahan Autonomous Oblast, two important cattle-raising areas, are aaid to have
failed in their fodder-procurement plans, and "urgent and exhaustive measures" to prevent
livestock losses are needed: "Time does not wait, and every hour is important."
Following are a few extracts from regional comment on the progress of the livestock
industry:
Minsk--There is an unsatisfactory state of affairs in Baranovichi and Molodechno oblasts.
The (pasture and cowshed) plan has not' been fulfilled in these oblasta, and thousands
of hectares of land which could be used as pasture remain fallow (21 November).
Pskov--Tree collective farms of the oblast must take all measures to fulfil the State
plan for increasing the number of cattle and raising their productivity.... In many
rayons people forget this fact (23 November).
Stalino--In many kolkhozes of Pershotravnevy, Krasnolimansky, Dobropoleky and other
rayons all the opportunities for obtaining fodder are not utilized (25 November).
Kiev--Chernigov, Zhitomir, Sumy, Kiev and Poltava oblast kolkhozes have not prepared a
sufficient amount of Juicy and coarse fodder. Many kolkhozes in these and especially
in the steppe arga oblasts have failed to fulfil the plan for construction of livestock
buildings (27 November).
A icultural Statute Violations: A short broadcast from Alma Ate of 20 November refers
to the "empire building" tac vities of the director of the Kazakh Agricultural Institute
and his principal assistant. These officials, the report says, were found to be
"embezzling State funds, plundering products...." Ten members of the Institute who
attempted to unmask the nefarious activities of these "unrestrained lords" (zarvavshiesya
velmozhy) were dismissed from their post within a short time. This incident, it is
intimated, is not so significant in itself but the element of complicity with higheiCPYRG HT
Communist officials lends a more somber aspect to the picture:
At the Alma Ata town Party conference the delegates frankly
stated that the Agricultural Department of the Central
Committee of the Kazakh Communist Party had "shelved"
(zamarinoval) the information on the unworthy behavior
of the Institute leaders.
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A summarized version of a ZARYA VOSTO A editorial (21 November) asserts that uneconomic
management and "squandering of socialist property" are incompatible with the reaolutiois
of the l9th Party Congress. The struggle for the. preservation of socialist property
under the deposed leadership of the Georgian Communist Party was weakenedBA (oslabla),
and although mach has already been done in the fight against 'transgressors of agri-
cultural orders and squanderers of public funds the heritage of times past has not
yet been eliminated, In a number of the Republic es trade organizations, it is
disclosed., Party control is not sufficiently rigid to prevent abuse. Party and
Soviet organizations must therefore concentrate their attention on the complete
abolition of bribery and squandering" (no further details are offered),
A Ong Tkanhenko article carried by RADYANSKP UKRAIMA on 25 November but not broadcast
cautions the Ukrainian agricultural authorities against tampering with the collective
farms v indivisible funds (ne odilny f ondy) a The latter are "sacred" (svyaty) and are
not to be used except as officially prescribed, that is for capital investment, the
ai quisitivn of pedigreed stock and similar forms of collective farm expansion. Not
even a temporary shortage of payroll funds can justify a "loan" from the indivisible
fund. Thus the author reveals, for example, that in Teplitsky rayon, Vinnitsa oblast,
some collective farms committed a grave violation of the Agricultural Artel Statute
by "borr owing0? over 100 thousand rubles from their indivisible funds to cover a payroll
deficit and ad ai.nistrative expenses. Curiously enough, comrade Tkachenko does not even
suggest alternative measures to cover payroll or other deficits, the implication being
that such deficits should not occur in the fI silt place. The article states further
that many farms are even less scrupulous in their attitude toward the indi. Asible
funds than is the case in the mentioned Teplits rayon, but they are too many to be
listed, In Stalingrad and Vinnitsa oblasts alone the funds are said to be over 15
million rubles short of the prescribed amount.
Better ?icu ?tural Knowledge Needed: The Soviet Government's attempts to raise the
qualifications and efficiency of the collective farmers in the postwar years have led
to the institution of a large and ramified network of specialized agricultural schools
designed to train and 99retrain" farm chairmen, brigadiers mechanization and ordins,
workers o But just as in many other Soviet large-scale undertakings, the chronic
inefficiency of nboth instructors and students seems, to have got the better of the Partyss
sincere intentions o Enrollments are almost never up to plan, and the quality of
instruction is often sharply criticized by Party and government bodies. Inadequate
classroom facilities and study We as well as poorly heated rooms undoubtedly have
something to do with the farmers' reluctance to attend these schools although the
official line is that local authorities usually rforget" or simply 40neglect" to provide
the required number of trainees or supervise their attendance, ND TEs editorial on
this subject (18 Nov.) is typical of most of the regional comment. In Rostov oblast, it
says, mass agricultural studies have not been organized satisfactorily. The schools of
Razviilenskiy rayon alone were scheduled to train 857 farm workers but only 353 actually
attended, and of this number only 200 managed to stick it out to the end and pass the
required examinations a The situation is said to be still worse in a number of other
rayons where low=quality instruction, lack of study facilities or both prevented entire
groups of students from finishing their courses and passing the examinations o In Salek,
Oktyabrskiy, Ak.sayskiy and a number of other rayons the 3-year agricultural courses "tare
being delayed for no apparent reason" while in Orlovskiy rayon many kolkhoz workers "were
unwilling to attend courseedl (As indicated above, references to the farmers* unwillingness
to attend school are infrequent, and the rare admissions to this effect are apparently
prompted by large-scale absenteeism with which local authorities are unable to cope.) As
one of the methods of attracting full attendance the paper suggests the employment aJi
9?qulified workers from scientific institutions and teaching establishments" as
instructors for the 3-year courses.
CH O RSK'A FSO A (22 November) complains that the Odessa Oblast agricultural schools are
not doing their share in the introduction of scientific achievements and the experience of
leading workers into agricultural productions Here the accent is on the quality of
instruction at the 3-year courses which is reported to be conspicuously lacking in
Fru ,zovskiy, ahiryaevskiy, Ovidiopolskiy and a number of other unnamed rayons,
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INDUSTRY
Production Quality, Labor Efficiency & Economy Stressed: The familiar complaint that
industrial management is striving primarily for impressive quantitative production in-
dices-to the'detrfte2it,d?? quality is repeated on the radio and in the press with
monotonous regularity. This race for quantity, it is claimed, invariably results in
large percentages of the output being rejected as inferior, and in the end both
quantity and quality are adversely affected. The rise in labor efficiency is said
to be anything but systematic, that is not always according to plan in terms of
percentage figures, and among some of the reasons mentioned are poor mechanization of
work process and unsatisfactory "organization of labor" (organizatsoa truda) in
general, The perennial drive for rigid economy of raw materials and other resources
is kept alive by repeated exhortations to industrial workers to become economy-conscious
and eliminate the lavish use of materials.
A number of enterprises of the Kostroma :blast light industry, says SEVERNAYA PRAVDA on
22 November, "do not show any effort" to improve the quality of their production. This
is particularly evident in the textile industry whose output is of very poor quality."
Referring to labor efficiency, the paper stresses "the paramount importance of rigid
discipline" for which this industry is apparently not noted. A little cooperation
between science and industry would help a lot but, as the paper implies, would not
entirely solve the problem of lax discipline and low labor productivity. These should
also be dealt with by an energetic management with the tried and tested "Bolshevik
method" of criticism and self-criticism. An almost identical complaint was voiced by
ZARYA POIIAVSHCHINY two days earlier (18 November). Labor productivity and therefore
also production in the oblast's light industry "are lagging behind the plan," it was stated.
Twenty-four Poltava enterprises, including the bread-baking combine, spinning factory
(pryadilnaya fabrika) and a variety of unnamed others did not fulfill their labor-
efficiency and production schedule in the first nine months of this year. SOTSIALISTICHESKf
DORBAS says (20 Nov.) that "the quality of products of our machine-building plants leaves
much to be desired." This is mentioned in connection with the current drive among the
plant'engineers and technicians of the Kramatorsk Works to "reduce the weight" of machines
and step up their output. Hinting that these two processes do not always go hand in hand,
the paper suggests that "the struggle for excellent quality (borba za otlichnoye
kachestvo) must supersede everything else, including the weight of the machines, and
urges the Party and Soviet organizations to take the situation in hand with a view to
achieving that purpose.
Established standards of quality "are being crudely violated" (grubo narushayutsya) in
a number of Rostov oblast enterprises of the consumer industry, according to NOLOT
(26 November). The coal produced at the,Bogurayev-ugol Trust, for example, is of such
poor quality that in some cases entire:;8hipments were rejected by the consumers,
returned to the Trust and "those responsible were held liable." Similarly defective C HT
is the output of-other industrte.!,working for the consumer;
...defective footwear manufactured by the industrial council
artels (arteli oblpromsovieta) can still be seen in the
Rostov stores. Bad quality metal kitchen utensils, furniture
and blankets also exist. The Novocherkassk "Budenny" plant
lost over 2,000,000 rubles through defective goods during the first
nine months of this year. The machine-building and metallurgical
enterprises of the oblast are suffering enormous losses from
bad-quality goods.
NADDNEPRYANSK'A PRAVDA (26 November) appeals to the Kherson oblast industrial management
"not to show any liberalism toward producers of rejects" (ne liberalnichaty z brakorobami).
The losses sustained by the footwear industry due to wastage of raw material are said to
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be enormous., and the same is reported to be true about the Khereon canning plant,
steam engine works (lokomobilniy zavod) and & number of others. A report from Smolensk
(25 November) quotes RASOC1r PUT as criticizing the "disdainful attitude" (prezritelnoye
otnoshenie) toward economy and thrift on the part of some oblast industrial executives
"who have forgotten about the regime of economy." Losses and excessive use of materials,
says the paper, characterize the work of the Smolensk lumber and metal-processing
industry and other enterprises including collective farms and machine-tractor stations.
The charge of "forgetfulness" in connection with enforcing greater' economy in
production is leveled also by VILNA UKRAINA of 26 November, The Lvov industrial
plants, the paper declares, have shown very little initiative in the matter of
utilizing internal reserves, Nor have they done much toward a rational exploitation
of machinery. The city's automobile assembly plant (zavod avtomontazhnykiv), the
spirits factory (epirtzavod) and the fats-producing combine (zhirkombinat) are cited
as outstanding examples of sloppy and wasteful production.
Hcusin Construction And Welfare Activiti6bi The retail trade organizations, says the
l November PRAVDA editorial, must pay more attention to the Soviet consumer by studying
his requirements and satisfying them. The procurement and distribution of goods among
the oblasta, says the paper, is still being done in a haphazard way and in a number of
localities the service to the customer is bad. The consumer, it is implicitly admitted,
is frequently supplied with inferior quality goods of a very limited assortment,
PRAVDA$S previous strictures against taking advantage of the consumer, it appears, have
not always been taken too seriously: ,
CPYRGHT '
It is inadmissible that the undertakings of the
light?i:dustry still produce goods of inferior
qua1ity.
The housing, situation is no less grim, according to the paper: "we are still suffering
from arc acite housing shortage." It is not the lack of building materials or other
facilities that hinders the progress of housing construction but, as pointed out in
previous CPW reports, the general attitude toward the consumer is not a high-priority
object in the Soviet scheme of things. Nor is the failure to improve the lot of the
consumer ever referred to. as "anti-State" as ie:ithe oae witt_3.ideoleagiet~~ ,oapc~l,itical
blundersn>.~
CPYRGHT
It is regrettable that we still have administrative,
trade union and Party leaders who regard the need of the
workers for dwelling houses as a secondary affair (delo
vtorostepennoye).O
UNIT RADSKA!A FRAVDA.(19 November) echoes the same sentiment. The oblast building
trusts are said to be repeating last year's mistakes by delaying the construction of
new houses and the reconditioning of old,oues. Mismanagement and lack of responsibility
on the part of the building executives are given as'the chief.reasons. Plastering,
for example, is still being done by hand as are other aspects of the work despite
the fact that special machines are available for those jobs. Housing construction,
it is pointed out, has reached a new low in Vassilevskiy Ostrov, Kalininskiy,
Petrogradskiy, Kirovskiy, Sverdlovskiy and Leninskiy rayons. Inadequate attention
to the consumer is also the object of a K K&YA PRAVDA discussion (21 November).
A large part of the consumer industry is said to have fallen short of the targets in
the third quarter of this year, and yet "there has been no perceptible change in
their work" in the fourth quarter. Food products, garments,, knitwear, shoes and
building materials are listed as "undersupplied" commodities.
Town communal service, says KAZAKHSTANSKA.XA PRAVDA (21 November), is still far behind
the 1wotessed demands of the population, and retail trade "does not satisfy the
workerse requirements." In Leninogorsk the house construction plan "is not being
fulfilled" while in East Kazakhstan oblast only 26% of the planned houses have been
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completed so far. RADYANSKA RAIN AA (25 November) says that the consumer is all_ too
often abused' by the retail .trading organizations and , it is high time to think * of
his vslf s
In a number of placesp as for example Lvov9.Odessa9
Poltava and other cities footwear and garment-making,
and repair shops p metal .goods repair shops and
cleaning and daring establishments do not meet the
peoplets demand.
Ukrc^aizkiat version:
V ryadi mist, napry a p u vovp p
inshykh, maysterni dlya poshyttya.i lagodzhemya
vzuttya to odyagup po remontu metalevykh vyborivp
khimichniy chysttsi i farbuvannyu us zadovolnyayut
potreb neselenis.
CPYRGHT
CPYRGHT
The trade network itself is. reported tb 'be shot through with "opportunists p unscrupulous
people and thieves of communal property" (nevypadkovyp necheeny lyudyp rozkradachi
narodnogo dobra). Evidence of such untried and unreliable personnel has b?en noted
in the retail outlets of Voroshilovgrad., Chernigibp Drogobych and a number of
(unnamed) other oblasti. The above-mentioned "evidencep"'however, is not amplified.
Critical editorial comment on consumer services is heard also from Transcarpathian
oblast (21 November), Stavropol krai (25 November), North Ossetia (26 Tgvember),
and Tbilisi; Georgia (30 November).
Miscellaneous. The use f radioactive isotopes in treating malignant tumors and
malignant,. growths on thyroid glands; says Prof. Kuzinp has been singularly successful
and is preferable to X-ray and. radium which inevitably affect the live tissue around
the gr? h. (some Service, 22 November). 4
A sun reflector^ designed by astronomer Sukhman is said to have produced good results
in the treatment of rheumatism, neuralgia, and skin diseases (30 November).
J Y.Z.
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT NO.
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD No.
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT INDICATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL VULNERABILITIES
HOW
25X1A
DATE OF 12-30 November 1952
INFORMATION
PUBLISHED DATE DIST.
WHERE
PUBLISHED NO. OF PAGES
DATE
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES, I TITLE 18, SECTIONS 79S
AND 794. OF THE U.S. CODE, AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR ROVE.
CATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT BY AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON I9
PROHIBITED Y LAW. THE R PR D TION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIB
SOURCE Monitored Broadcasts
SU:PPLEMEt T TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
CPW Report No, 621-; USSR
(12-30 November 1952)
SECURITY INFORMATION
CLASSIFICATION
DISTRIBUTION
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CONFIDENTIAL
SECURITY INFORMATION
SUMMARY
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The mechanization problem in all its ramifications and the anticipated setbacks in
the livestock industry under winter conditions predominate the output on agriculture.
Propaganda pressure is familiarly concentrated on the human element behind the technical
troubles since, as it is implicitly suggested, agricultural implements are in abundant
supply and their quality is good, It is the lack of mechanical skill paralleled
by an equal lack of enthusiasm for further mechanization that are said to constitute
the chief bottleneck of agricultural production, Repeatedly attacked are the heads
collective farms and other agricultural officials who acquire new machines for their
respective farms or areas only to let, them stand idle while continuing to use
manual labor for the type of work that could and should have been mechanized long ago.
The old propaganda refrain about possible livestock losses due to cold weather is
still heard-in connection with the expected "severe frosts" (surovie morozy) and
the continuing shortage of adequate winter quarters and fodder supplies. Reiterated
frequently also is the warning to agricultural officials against "a repetition of the
mistakes of 1951" (povtorenie oshibok 1951 goda) when the industry suffered severe
losses of young cattle followed by a substantial drop in the productivity of the
undernourished stock.
Broadcasts on industrial activities emphasize the "struggle for excellent quality"
(borba za otlichnoye kachestvo) and "profitable operations" (rentabelnost) as the two
major production goals, although quantity output in not entirely left out of account.
Regional appeals for the introduction and observance of the "economy regime" (rezhim
ekonomii) in production, particularly in the consumer industry, are reinforced with
accounts of lavish and excessive expenditures of raw materials and their deleterious
effect on the State economy and the people's welfare. The housing shortage, a subject
of infrequent discussion, is admitted to be acute (ostriy), and one of the familiar,
and to some extent probably true, reasons given is that local Party and administrative
officials still consider housing for workers a matter of secondary importance. (The
emphasis on the word local is significant and in keeping with the general line that
all sources of economic troubles reside in the improper implementation of the well-
intentioned directives from above.) Dishonesty among-retail trade personnel is
referred to as a contributing factor in the shortage and inferior quality of footwear
and other consumer items.
CONFIDENTIAL
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