A Comment on a Xinhua News Agency Report Concerning the Decline in Labor Efficiency in the People’s Communes of Xinhui County, Guangdong
(January 25, 1959)

Comrade Xiaoping:

This item (I) is extremely useful. Please have it printed and distributed to all comrades attending the meeting for them to read, think it over, and study this issue.

Mao Zedong
January 25

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This report, published in Reference Information (Neibu Cankao) No. 2688, compiled and printed by the Xinhua News Agency on January 19, 1959, stated that after the first distribution of wages in some people’s communes of Xinhui County, Guangdong Province, both the attendance rate and labor efficiency declined universally. Remarks negating the supply system surfaced again, and some people went so far as to demand a complete return to the distribution method of distribution according to work as practiced during the period of the higher-stage cooperatives. Consequently, some basic-level cadres also became passive, not daring to wage a resolute struggle against backward phenomena; some even drifted with the tide and lacked confidence in this year’s greater leap forward. The causes for this phenomenon are: (1) The main cause is the irrational proportion of distribution, with an excessive portion allocated to the supply system and too small a portion going to wages. The commune members in general felt that more work does not result in more pay, and working more or less makes no difference, adopting an attitude of “work according to pay,” with their initiative stifled. (2) The labor organization and responsibility systems were unsound, leading to a situation where people had no work to do while tasks were left undone—this was an important reason for wasted work-hours and passive slowdowns. (3) Insufficient publicity work regarding the people’s communes was also an important reason for the masses’ low level of initiative. In addition, it was also closely related to the coercive and commandist work style of certain cadres. At present, the CCP Xinhui County Committee is acting in accordance with the spirit of the resolution of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee to rectify the situation by taking measures such as adjusting the distribution ratio, strengthening the responsibility system, and enhancing communist education.