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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1963)
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORP. OREGON THURSDAY, APRIL ,25. 1H3 g 3 Commune System Restored in China as Spring Nears (Editor s note: A harbinaer iv.i. , u v il. ... ., - ,., . .,.., . , . , . ' V J. . . i . . 1 " ivang ana ine in pari mis renecis con- areas ot millions ot aotiars Communi.i rSi m n,'9hborlIl9 Portuguese tar- cessions that the Peking re- worth of foreign grain, which ful re-in'rodu K " "'v.' I ",0rV ' Mac,0- gime has made to the peas- it is paying for). This seems rnmm,. . on t. . I n pTu..n . ........ ants, and in part the dropping to have strengthened its con- TX,.H ""li hi:h W"! J ARTHUR J. DOMMEN o a rapid industrialization trol over the Chinese people. i... .u" .1 b"' nmei Un"l P"" International program, sacrificed for the Few Protest mie.di7.d n irward j Hong KongJPD-Food is still build-up in agriculture. follows is by i ipon inI short in Communist China UPI COrrp. H.., U :4..: t n.jM( . . ""v uic auudiiun is less gr m spondent who consulted wM.Uk. This conclusion appears to Peking has been able to be borne out by the apparent weather the hunger crisis failure of Formosa-based guer completely without foreign rillas to strike a sympathetic aid (although it received hun-1 response in the countryside and induce any significant number of people to protest against the existing state of affairs. Instead, the people are sitting tight. The regime itself now feels confident enough to slowly rehabilitate the com munes, which were virtually dropped two years ago. This time, it appears, the regime has learned a lesson It is embarking on re-introduction of mess halls before getting mass production units started again. This schedule will enable it to keep constant surveillance over consumption and reserve food stocks. The first trial runs for the new-version communes have already been launched in Penneys ALWAYS FIRST QUALITY OLD F25SHIONEQ BAutkiN DAYS am SPECIAL BUY! BIG 9x12 ROOM SIZE RUG ! 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Beige, camel, turquoise, pink, green, orange. SCATTER RUG SPECIAL! BIG 4 FOOT BY 6 FOOT SIZE This colorful rug buy is rayon tweed loop pile with skid-resistant springy foam cushioning. Bound on all 4 sides, and extra big at Penney's low price. 4 88 Kwangtung province, which is always the earliest of the big grain regions to start spring planting. The reports of refugee peas ants in the listening-post city of Macao are being interpreted by the analysts as signifying a test run by a regime newly confident after three disas trous years on the farm front. The communes have been vaunted by Mao Tse-tung as the way of propelling China into Communist plenty. But this time there is a differ ence. The communies are being Introduced not with a drum roll of parades and slogans, but in a cautious, almost se cretive restoration of the mess hall system. In Lee Chi Young's com mune, for example, the first sign of the new policy appear ed six weeks ago when a meet ing of high officials was ru mored to have discussed com mune policy. Attend Meeting Lee, 48, was not in on that first meeting. But he did at tend another meeting two weeks later at which sugges tions were voiced from the floor that it would be better for everyone if all ate In a mess hall "as before," that is, back in 1958. Lee knows enough about the workings of the Commu nist system to recognize that what might have appeared as spur-of-the-moment opinion was in fact the expression of an official policy line decided upon days and weeks before hand. Lee lived at Sakal com mune in Chungshan county, which adjoins Macao. It was not difficult for him to slip out of Chungshan on the night of March 19 in a Sampan with five other persons. No Man Halls This correspondent heard corroborative accounts from refugee peasants from Cheung Ka Ping commune in the same county, and Ngol Hoi com mune In Sun Wui county, west of Chunkshan. Recalling the initial estab lishment of the communes, five years ago, Lee Chi Yeung said the mess halls were not set up until three or four months after the communes had been formed in the first burst of enthusiasm which swept the cadres (party work ers) and transformed the countryside in the space of a few weeks. The slogan of the mess hall in Sakai commune when it was first opened in 1958 was "eat as much as you like." But as 1958 gave way to iwoa ana to ihbu. mess hall rations got steadily shorter, Lee recalls. In the worst year, 1980, the diet was reduced to two meals a day, each con sisting of three to five taels (four to six ounces) of cooked rice with no meat and very few vegetables. Finally, in 1981, the mess hall was closed down. Pri vate lots of land were made available so the peasants could till their own crops on their own time, the commune remained the basic agricul tural unit - but only on paper. the last time the mess hall was used in Hang Tang com mune in Sun Tai county, Chungshan province, was in early 1961. At that point the rice ration was down to four taels per meal twice a day, according to cneuk Yee. Cheuk, 50, a barefooted, large-handed peasant whom this correspondent interview ed through an interpreter as Cheuk was waiting to regis ter at a relief center in Ma cao, had left his wife and child behind In China. Cheuk said party workers in his commune made an an nouncement explaining the necessity of reviving the mess hall at a meeting about a month ago. He said he left because he was afraid this foreshadowed the disappearance of his pri vate plot of land, about 10 feet long and 15 feet wide, on which he grew enough vegetables for his family. He said surplus produce from this plot could be sold on the frea market in nearbv villages if the party official In charge waa told about it ahead of time. Hang Tang commune is in a region suit able for growing vegetables and sugar cane. Another farmer from Sakal commune, Lee Kong, 29, summed up the feelings of many: "wun tne mess halls back, those who do not work collectively will not be able to eat." The communes orlainallv were introduced as a device to mobilize China's vast re serves of peasant labor for large-scale undertakings ei ther concentrated in one place, like dams, or scattered. like the backyard furnaces. The previous agricultural cooperatives had not been big enough to fill this role. When the dislocations caus ed by these basic changes re sulted in reduced fcrm out put, the regime dismantled many of the commune institu tions, such as the mess halls and don. 'lories, and gave up plans to extend the commune system to the cities as well. Today, observers believe. with farm production pulled out of its nose dive, the re gime feels once again secure enough to begin restoring the communes. But the new ones may bear little resemblance to the 1958 model. Despite the absence of fan fare, observers believe the re gime's Intent is clear. The principal function of the mess halls, from the of ficial point of view, is to con trol consumption. In 1958 the slogan was "eat as much as you like" because In the first whirlwind of com munlzatlon the peasants real ized their crops and livestock were due for public expro priation in any case, and so there was a splurge of slaugh tering and eating. Today the regime appears determined to avoid the mis take it made last time, and by setting up the mess halls before communizlng produc tion methods Instead of after, to limit consumption from the outset and lay up stocks against the natural calamities which have plagued China tor centuries. Saamgjfl riia' Hesssssi I Br WassW LgShKaBfl iw'- ;s$$kr "h - 4 t i TIsssssssssB lajk! LiBbbB' JFl Hv.nll. lIt9ILbbbVShbbrSB) f" t?B sssVEsBakl. 3f . B liaHislPirWM ffiRtSCm.. REACH FOR FOOD Refugees being re- Province farmers employ bullocks and turned to Red China are shown here reach- crude wooden equipment to harrow paddy ing for food. In the bottom photo, Szechuan fields. (UPI) Homeowners Told About Rackets in Number of Fields Warnings have been issued again by the Better Business bureau to help homeowners svoid losses through various rackets that seem to increase each year with the spring season. Itinerant repairmen, pscudo gardeners and high pressure salesmen, who do not repre sent reputable firms, are re ported in various localities, the bureau noted. All persons, approached by unknown sales men, are advised to check the Chamber of Commerce list. The public Is asked by the bureau to watch for "humus peddlers In trucks," itinerant roofers, linoleum specials, tree surgeons and garden tool re pairmen. Peddlers, offering "genuine maple syrup" at bargain prices; and vendors of "con trolled grass seed", are also added to the warning list. Horsemen Activities Scheduled Sunday A team-roping and play day will be held for all interested horsemen starting at 10 a.m. Sunday at the Charles Poy- thress ranch, 323 East Vilas I rd. A small entrance fee will be charged to finance opera I tlonal costs and prizes. The humus peddlers offer to cover lawns and flower beds with "rich, black humus for only 50 to 75 cents a bas ket." In addition to spreading material, often dangerous to lawn growth, the peddlers frequently build up a bill ot $75 to $100. The linoleum specials, the Better Business Bureau states, are seldom genuine linoleum and the peddler seldom re turns to lay it as promised. PERSISTENT BILL Great Bend, Kan. 1MI-BI11 Daniels, 32, got into a scuffle at a cafe Monday. When of ficers arrived to break it up, he hit one In the face. Tues day, Judge Roy Butler sen tenced him to four months in city jail and fined him $75. Daniels rcpsonded by hitting the judge in the face. The jurist "Calmly added another six months to the sentence. Subscribers To rport Improper or non dtllvery of the Mail Tribune In Medford, phone 772-6141; Ash land call at 418 Brldrt at-, or phone 482-3003; Yreka, phone victory 2-2898 before 8:45 p.m. dall- and in an a.m. Sunday. If regular delivery arrives shortly after you cull please notify office, thus eliminating special messenger senridK
