Page:Yevgeni Alekseyevich Preobrazhensky - Third Anniversary of the Russian October Revolution (1921).djvu/22

 22 stored and partly under way. The labour problem, however, in the textile industry is more difficult, because the Soviet Government is not in a position as yet to assure the workers full rations in the current year. Still, there is the hope that at least by the autumn of next year considerable improvement will be achieved. The Supreme Council of Public Economy is re-starting one after another the textile works, at first, of course, the largest and those which have a sufficient supply of fuel. When the greater number of our textile works are re-opened we shall be in a position to clothe not only our army but also the workers and peasants.

Much more difficult is the position in the iron industry. The chief centres of our cast iron and steel industry passed several times from hand to hand. Petrograd with its first class metallurgical works had to be evacuated several times. The Urals were for a time in the hands of Kolchak, who before his retreat demolished the works. The South Russian works passed several times from hand to hand, and cannot be re-started even now. The works in Central Russia have been suffering from lack of metal, fuel and food for the workers. Nevertheless, the productivity of labour, in a number of works, rose to one and a half and twice the previous production; a few works which were closed were re-started, and in general the metallurgical industry is gradually reviving.

The peasants of Soviet Russia are suffering immensely from the disorganisation of our industry.