Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

The Crisis in Russia by Arthur Ransome
page 101 of 144 (70%)
exclusively for purposes of work, sections of the civil
population. I asked Unshlicht, who had much to do with
this organization, if the peasants came willingly. He said,
"Not very," but added that they did not mind when they
found that they got well fed and were given packets of salt
as prizes for good work. "The peasants," he said, "do
not grumble against the Government when it shows the sort
of common sense that they themselves can understand. We
found that when we said definitely how many carts and men
a village must provide, and used them without delay for a
definite purpose, they were perfectly satisfied and
considered it right and proper. In every case, however,
when they saw people being mobilized and sent thither
without obvious purpose or result, they became hostile at
once." I asked Unshlicht how it was that their army still
contained skilled workmen when one of the objects of
industrial conscription was to get the skilled workmen back
into the factories. He said: "We have an accurate census of
the army, and when we get asked for skilled workmen for
such and such a factory, they go there knowing that they still
belong to the army."


That, of course, is the army point of view, and indicates one
of the main squabbles which industrial conscription has
produced. Trotsky would like the various armies to turn into
units of a territorial militia, and at the same time to be an
important part of the labor organization of each district.
His opponents do not regard the labor armies as a permanent
manifestation, and many have gone so far as to say that the
DigitalOcean Referral Badge