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
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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.
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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.
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