Stalin's Word

The cardinal principle of Communism is the abolition of private titles to property in favor of the community as a whole. If that goes, communism is no more than a name.

M. Stalin, chief of the Communist Party, and a member, with Kamenev and Zinoviev, of the so-called Bolshevik Triumvirate, last week addressed peasants' representatives, promised to grant land leases to the peasants for at least 20 years, perhaps 40 years, perhaps in perpetuity, which means unconditional return to private ownership.

The peasant representatives, who had threatened not to sow crops or to improve the land unless long leases were made and guaranteed, were flabbergasted, as well they might be. They asked if this new policy did not run counter to the Bolshevik Constitution and received in reply from Stalin: "We wrote the Constitution. We can change it also."

Stalin also promised the peasants equal representation with the town proletariat. At present, the peasants elect one representative to the local Soviet for every 40,000 inhabitants, while the cities elect one for every 25,000. Moreover, the peasants are eligible only for local office and are debarred from holding any of the higher positions. All this is to be changed and peasants, according to the authoritative word of Stalin, will in the future be eligible to hold the highest executive positions.