On Cooperatives

(October 14, 1943)

This year the Border Region has carried out another revolution in developing production, namely, the introduction of cooperatives. By organizing the labor force of the communes we have aroused the masses' enthusiasm for production, raised labor efficiency, and greatly expanded production.

In the past, what shackled the productive forces in the Border Region and prevented them from developing were the feudal relations of exploitation. In half the region, these feudal shackles were smashed through the agrarian revolution; in the other half, they were weakened through the reduction of rent and interest. Taken together, then, a major portion of the feudal relations of exploitation in the entire Border Region has been destroyed. This was the first revolution.

However, the productive forces cannot undergo further growth without a reform in the mode of production, a shift from individual to collective labor. Therefore, it is essential to establish labor mutual-aid organizations, that is, peasants' agricultural production cooperatives, founded on the basis of the individual economy (without undermining the basis of individual private property); only in this way can the productive forces be greatly enhanced. Experience in the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region now shows that in general, two persons working through labor exchange and mutual-aid teams can do the work of three, and in model cases, one person can do the work of two or even more. If the labor power of all the peasants is organized in collective mutual-aid labor, then the existing productive forces in the entire Border Region could be increased by 50 to 100 percent. This method can be applied in all anti-Japanese base areas, and in the future it can be applied throughout the country; this will deserve a special chapter in Chinese economic history. In such a reform, the tools of production have not changed at all, and the fruits of production do not go to the public but to private individuals; however, the relations of production among people have changed. This is a revolution in the system of production.

This is the second revolution.

There are now 350,000 able-bodied laborers in the entire Border Region. Over 30,000 of them, one-tenth of the total, have been organized this year into regular collective labor exchange and mutual-aid teams, while temporary labor mutual-aid has reached 70 percent in Yenan County alone, and can still grow next year. If the regular collective labor organizations in all counties can be raised from one-tenth to two- or three-tenths of the labor force, reaching about 100,000 persons, and if in addition the temporary labor mutual-aid organizations can catch up to the level of Yenan, with semi-able-bodied laborers also participating in these organizations, this will be a very large labor army.

The production of our troops, government organs, and schools also bears a cooperative character. For instance, a company is a small cooperative, and a brigade is a large cooperative. Among the cooperative production of various troops, organs, and schools, the experience of the Yangchialing Transport Team merits attention. Before its reorganization, the Yangchialing Transport Team had eight large carts and sixteen pack mules. Under ordinary circumstances, it should have transported at least 270,000 catties of goods per day, but it actually transported only 190,000 catties. As for expenditures, apart from the standard supplies, it required an additional subsidy of 60,000 yuan a month. This year, under the principle of benefiting both public and private interests, the transport team was changed into a transport cooperative. The public side contributed eight large carts, sixteen pack mules (later increased to twenty), and all equipment as eighty shares; the twenty transport workers contributed their personal labor as twenty shares, making one hundred shares in total. Profits are to be distributed monthly on an 80-20 basis according to shares. All expenses for personnel, animals, and equipment are to be met entirely by the cooperative itself; the cooperative is to be paid transport fees for delivering public goods according to distance and weight; and the living conditions of the transport workers are to be suitably improved by the transport cooperative. After this method was explained, all the transport workers unanimously approved it. As a result of its implementation, the monthly transport volume rose from 190,000 catties to 389,000 catties, an increase of over 100 percent, exceeding the ordinary transport capacity by 30 percent. At the same time, the sense of responsibility and enthusiasm for work among the transport workers was greatly enhanced, many expenses and tools were saved, and the animals were better cared for. For instance, in the past, if a flour sack tore open a hole as big as a bowl, no one bothered about it; now the transport workers carry needle and thread with them and sew up the sacks. In the past, embezzling horse feed was an open secret; now there is no such embezzlement. In the past, whenever a cart or harness was slightly damaged, a request would be made for the public side to provide new replacements; now, as long as they can be made to work, they make do and keep using them. In the past, the animals were treated carelessly; now they are gradually being better fed. Transport expenses, after the reorganization, have been reduced by one-third compared to before. In the past, apart from the standard supplies, an annual subsidy of 60,000 yuan was needed; now not a penny of subsidy is required, and the cooperative makes a profit of tens of thousands of yuan every month.

After adopting this method, various offices have also achieved considerable results. The Transport Battalion of the Administration Bureau, with 130 animals and 20 large carts, transported only 1,200,000 catties per month before it was organized as a cooperative; after reorganization into a cooperative, its monthly transport volume rose to 1,850,000 catties, an increase of 50 percent. Therefore, I ask everyone to consider whether this cooperative method can be extensively applied to our publicly-run factories and publicly-run farms.

This whole set of methods is something the capitalist countries and the Kuomintang cannot carry out; only we can do it. Because we do not exploit the people as our aim, and we carry out the principle of giving consideration to both public and private interests.

In units like the 359th Brigade, soldiers spin woolen yarn and weave various utensils from willow and elm branches, with the stipulation: for manual labor using public tools, four-fifths of the product goes to the public and one-fifth to the individual; for labor not using public tools, two-thirds goes to the public and one-third to the individual. This method, on the one hand, solves the need for public goods while undoubtedly increasing the soldiers' allowances, and also contains the elements of a cooperative.

The nature of a cooperative is to serve the masses, to always think of the masses, plan for the masses, and put their interests first. This is the fundamental difference between us and the Kuomintang, and it is also the starting point and the goal of Communist revolution. "From the masses, to the masses"—if we consider problems from the standpoint of the masses and take the masses as our goal, then everything can be handled well. Therefore, every one of us Communists must think on behalf of the people: leading comrades in the troops must think on behalf of the soldiers; leading comrades in organs and schools must think on behalf of the mess halls and the support staff. This productive theory, rooted in the mass viewpoint, has shattered all kinds of previously incorrect "theories." Only this theory that serves the masses can make production a success.

I hope comrades everywhere will pay attention to promoting cooperative production. The production of troops, government organs, and schools is one kind of cooperative; rural collective mutual-aid labor is another kind of cooperative; in addition, there are comprehensive cooperatives embracing various lines of business, transport cooperatives called salt-transport teams, and handicraft cooperatives where workers engage in collective mutual aid. When all these many types of cooperatives are developed, all public and private individuals among the masses will become prosperous. The present difficult conditions in the base areas behind enemy lines can then also be overcome.