Comment on the Report on Living Arrangements
(March 15, 1960)
Shandong’s report[1] is very well written. It contains investigation, analysis, research, and solutions. Grasping twenty key backward counties, dispatching over two hundred capable cadres, led by strong leaders, with over twenty cadres going down to each key backward county to provide assistance—this is a very good method. The problem of grain shortage must be thoroughly and conscientiously resolved in a short period of time. The Central Committee suggests: Where leading cadres in backward counties, communes, and brigades are truly incompetent, make prompt decisions, remove them, and replace them with good ones. Do not be soft-hearted and fussy, tolerating evil and thereby ruining major affairs.

The Central Committee
March 15, 1960

--- Notes

[1] Refers to the report on living arrangements submitted by the Shandong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China to the Central Committee and the Shanghai Bureau on February 27, 1960. The main contents of the report are as follows: (1) Regarding the issue of commune members’ living arrangements, Party committees at all levels from the provincial level down to the grassroots have paid relatively serious attention. A total of 45,000 cadres were organized at the provincial, prefectural, county, and commune levels, led by responsible comrades at each level, who went to various localities to conduct in-depth investigations and provide focused assistance, achieving relatively notable results. (2) At present, there are still some counties, communes, and brigades that have problems of varying degrees in living arrangements. Among them, a small portion have quite serious problems; living arrangements have not been implemented, and the outflow of population and cases of edema have already appeared. The main reasons: First, in distribution, contradictions between the production contracting teams and the basic accounting units are widespread, and these units are often intertwined with problems of ideological and organizational impurity. Second, last year our province suffered natural disasters unseen in decades, among which drought was the most severe. Third, some cadres were blindly optimistic about the rural situation, reporting only the good news and not the bad, failing to do arduous and meticulous ideological work, which affected the rapid implementation of living arrangements. (3) Based on the actual situation, the provincial committee determined the current policy for rural work as follows: Taking the continuation of socialist education as the key link, centering on spring plowing and production, comprehensively arranging the people’s livelihood, and driving continuous leaps forward in all work. It is required that the first secretaries of Party committees at all levels personally take command, grasping production with one hand and livelihood with the other, doing ideological work well while also solving problems in a down-to-earth manner. Specific measures are as follows: 1. Grasp the key points, giving prominence to solving the problems of 24 backward counties and cities. In addition to allocating additional grain unified sales quotas and relief funds, over 260 cadres were dispatched to various counties to take charge and assume full responsibility to the end. The Provincial Committee’s Livelihood and Welfare Office directly monitors the situation in these counties, discovering problems and resolving them promptly. 2. Unified grain sales must both guarantee the minimum supply standard for grain-deficient areas and try not to exceed the adjusted unified sales quotas. 3. Allocate 200 million jin of feed to solve the livestock feed problem in a focused manner. 4. For units where commune members’ living arrangements have already been properly made, guard against slackening and paralysis, and cadres must change their work style and strengthen ties with the masses. 5. While launching a campaign to economize on grain consumption, vigorously grasp the sowing of spring vegetables and the management of winter vegetables, planting more early-maturing melons and vegetables according to local conditions.
On March 18, 1960, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China forwarded this report.