QUESTION OF RICH PEASANTS AFTER LAND DISTRIBUTION (Situation at Yung-hsin and in the Northern Party)

October 1930

[Text] Exploitation by the rich peasants of the Red area of Yung-hsin is done by (1) hoarding of grain to raise its price and (2) selling of industrial products. Hoarding of grain is in turn done by two methods: one, hoarding of their own surplus grain and two, buying of grain from poor peasants at very low prices, causing this year's serious spring famine. Because they wanted to hoard grain and raise its price, and as the maximum price of grain was set by the government, the rich peasants concealed all their grain, so that poor people and workers in the town had to subsist on thin gruel for whole week. Even farm hands and poor peasants in rural villages, unable to buy grain, had to fight with starvation. Later, the county soviet led a spring famine struggle, waging a resolute fight against the rich peasants without making any concession, in a determined bid to hold down grain prices. The party acted in all districts and villages, leading Young Pioneers in throwing open storerooms and uncovering large amounts of grain concealed by the rich peasants in wine barrels, double walls, barns and under brick-covered yards, and beds. As a result, there was enough grain for all and to spare. And when new grain was harvested, the rich peasants all brought their old grain to the town to sell. In selling industrial goods and doing small business, the rich peasants make extraordinarily large profit. They deal mainly in salt, imported stocking, handkerchiefs, sugar and soap. They have money and various old social connections. They can buy in quantity what the poor peasants and farm hands cannot buy. (The above is reported by Wang Huai [3769/2037]; the following is by Ch'en Cheng-jen [7115/2973/0086])

The situation prevails not only in Yung-hsin, but also in the northern parts, where a spring famine struggle was also waged this year. There the rich peasants do business and make money like their counterparts in Yung-hsin. There is Chhiu Ju-t'ang [4428/3067/1016] which is a small-time capitalist. Where there is a shortage of salt in the north, it goes to buy salt in Nan-chang. When supplies of printing ink and paper run short, it also buys them from Nan-chang. Consequently, it has friendly contacts with the leaders of the Kuomintang lookout squads as well as old social connections. Chhiu Ju-t'ang

sells salt and other goods at a very high price. In June-July it sold salt at a strike and 600 coppers a catty. It has two sewing machines and is opposed by all tailors and dressmakers of Fu-t'ien, as it takes their work from them. Because it sold goods at too high prices, the Fu-t'ien town soviet, acting on demands by the masses, had the proprietor of Chhiu Ju-t'ang arrested and fined him 1,000 yuan. After the fine, he continued to do business in Fu-t'ien. After the capture of Chu-an, his business has grown even more. During the spring famine in the north, the rich peasants sold their grain in white areas. The spring famine struggle was to stop grain from flowing to white areas, permitting such flow only between Red areas.