Speech at the Conference of Fifteen Provincial and Municipal Party Secretaries

Democratic personages go to the countryside and raise the issues of grain and the suppression of counter-revolutionaries.

We must rely on the poor peasants and unite with the middle peasants. Cooperatives must be based on mutual benefit to be voluntary; without mutual benefit, they cannot be voluntary. Livestock not to be turned over to the collective, false fairness, investment shared equally, given by the poor peasants.

Halt, shrink, develop. Halt what should be halted, develop what should be developed, shrink what should be shrunk.

Democratic personages go to the countryside to inspect. We should align our talking points. More than a dozen provinces have many problems; they raise them, and we seize upon them.

Achievements, shortcomings. They only talk about achievements, not shortcomings. In fact, there are quite a few messes, but overall, things are fine. Take a look, analyze the good, the bad, and the mediocre, and sort things out. How many are without messes?

The reactionary forces are rampant, this must be addressed. The democratic personages see no counter-revolutionaries in their eyes; it is beneficial to use them to apply some pressure.

It is not easy for them to be democratic personages, not touching the sky above or the ground below.

The cooperatives also have quite a few messes, but overall, they are fine. First, halt; second, shrink; third, develop. Shrink—fully shrink, partially shrink, shrink a little, shrink a lot, according to the actual situation. It won't do not to act.

In the later liberated areas, it is generally development, basically development. North China and the Northeast should also have development.

Develop what should be developed, halt what should be halted, shrink what should be shrunk.

Voluntary and mutual benefit; mutual benefit is exchanged for voluntariness. Getting middle peasants to join the cooperatives is beneficial to the poor peasants. Partial, partially beneficial, cannot be interpreted as the middle peasants losing out. No such thing has ever been said from Marx to Lenin. The poor peasants get loans and their backs are stiffened.

The regulations must ensure that middle peasants do not lose out at all.

In five years, 1.5 million counter-revolutionaries have been arrested, 300,000 per year. Fewer executions, more imprisonment and reform. I advocate for more arrests; the democratic personages advocate for a general amnesty, which is inconvenient to oppose. The constitution has it, it can be discussed. Is amnesty better? Or are arrests better? I have already granted amnesty; the Three-Antis Campaign in the Party and Youth League were all amnestied, many war criminals were also amnestied, and there are also those who became counter-revolutionaries again after being amnestied.

There is still a batch on hand, over seven hundred above the rank of colonel. On the question of whether to release them, we need Zhang Zhizhong to sign a guarantee; releasing them could be like fishing.

Large-scale arrests are the focus; large-scale amnesties are not the focus. This is the opinion of the people. At the July meeting, everyone agreed on the necessity of large-scale arrests.

On the grain issue, there is a trend both inside and outside the Party, saying: things are in a terrible state. I say: things are fine, with a few messes. The five-year plan requires us to manage grain and manage supply and marketing.

Among the peasants, grain-deficient households want grain, and surplus-grain households also want grain. This must be solved through production. Excess grain should not be purchased, leave it be.

The main contradiction: the contradiction between the individual and the state, a socialist contradiction.

The grain work has five benefits: first, it benefits the grain-deficient households; second, the city dwellers; third, the disaster victims; fourth, the urban workers; and fifth, the campaign to take Taiwan.

The grain work does no harm to self-sufficient households and slightly harms surplus-grain households.

We are now supplying 300 million people.

According to materials from Henan, grain-deficient households account for 1.5 percent; they should be crying out.

On the issue of unified purchase, some say the fixed output is too high. Is it too low, or is it too high? How much too high? Is it as high as twenty percent? We must clarify this before we can answer people inside and outside the Party. Interjections during the meeting (during the report from Guangxi Province):

Shrinking 100 or 200 out of 17,000 cooperatives is a small matter. Developing 5,000 cooperatives, isn't that too few!

(During the report from Hunan Province):

No wonder Hunan is not crying out. (Referring to the grain work)

Developing 4,000, so few, not even a doubling!

(During the report from Jiangxi Province):

Develop 8,000, in thirty-four percent of the townships. Then develop another 14,000.

(During the report from Hubei Province):

Turnover grain is indispensable. Not including it in the plan is good! Don't buy excessive grain, don't count turnover grain.

(During the report from Zhejiang Province):

There are now 55,000. 7,000 have already been dissolved, another 3,000 will be dissolved, leaving 45,000. Blank townships still need to develop. Can the other provinces double theirs?

(During the report from Jiangsu Province):

In five percent of the backward townships there are counter-revolutionaries, ten percent are bad elements, degenerate elements. These are the allied forces of the counter-revolutionaries. Cadres at the county, district, and township levels must be investigated. We cannot let the middle peasants be in charge; the middle peasants can be educated, and if they are willing to act according to the Party's policies, that is also acceptable.

Thirty-two thousand and no development?! You should compare with Zhejiang.

(During the report from Anhui Province):

Underdeveloped provinces should make use of the experience of developed provinces. Jiangsu should catch up. Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, and Guangxi should develop freely. The majority of cooperatives should develop greatly; ninety percent are relatively good, ten percent should be dissolved.

(During the report from Shandong Province):

Do dead people really save grain? Hunan said dozens died, but only one person died. Separate the phenomenon from the essence. A typhoon comes, the sky darkens, it seems terrible. Upon investigation, it's false. Ninety percent of the cooperatives are good; they have weathered many storms. A few more points:

One, prove that it is three to five percent. The margin of flexibility needs further study, no decision yet. 88.8 billion, 1.1 billion to be reduced from key areas. Hunan, Anhui, and Shandong should add a little. This is for the grain conference, established for those who need grain.

Two, having each level take responsibility has its benefits, but it can create countless independent kingdoms. The more than 200,000 need to be unified and graded. Under a unified plan, each province is responsible.

Three, turnover grain, fine grain, and coarse grain will remain as before. Do not engage in fraud with grain; the supply is too broad. The shortage in XX is a false shortage.

Four, cooperatives are voluntary and based on mutual benefit. If it is voluntary, a decision must be made. What has been acknowledged should be carried out, ensuring ninety percent reliability.

Five, there are disputes over study, law, and public review. The Party committee should unify them, making them both legal and sensitive, and do it well. The Rao, Pan, and Yang case involved shielding three counter-revolutionaries. The great traitor Hu Jinghe was used. This can be communicated down to level 14 and above.

A separate notice will be issued for the Hu Feng case; that document number is unclear.