The workers also stay away from the job, in order to procure, in a different manner, the necessaries of life which they can not get in the factory. Part of them are only "semi^proletarians" ; part of the workers are peasants who still have a piece of land which they work and which supports them a little bit better. Another part strolls out in the country, in order to "rustle". The workers organize themselves for this purpose. They send some of their number out in the country for provisions. These buy provisions for the whole factory or for a group of 20 men, according to how many take part in it. In all Ukraine and in all Russia this kind of workers' co-operatives at the place of work are very common. This shows us also> a new form of distribution and of supplying the factory workers with food stuffs and which has sprung up spontaneously among the workers as a result of the economic conditions. The consumers'
co-operatives were formerly free, that is, independent of the state. They were not then constructed in socialist fashion, but like everything else in the capitalist system, in capitalist fashion. After they were nationalized, they were, of course, state socialistic but had lost their efficiency. As organs of the state they are not independent but tied up, dependent upon the state to deliver the food stuffs to them. But the state can do this only to such a small extent that these societies are not able to properly perform their duties. The procuring of food stuffs the state could accomplish only by means of the requisition policy through the military. It could not follow a different policy due to the bad economic situation. Again we are confronted with the blockade. We are always turning round in a circle which we cannot get out of as long as the blockade is not lifted.
If, on the other hand, the state had not nationalized the consumers' co-operatives, the independent consumers' co-operatives would have served the peasants better. But the nationalization of the consumers' co-operatives was a necessary result of the strangling of free trade among the prod^lcers. The abolition of the Russian markets of the peasants and the workers proved to be a very disastrous error which revenged itself heavily in the paralyzing of the food stuff supply system, through which again industry and the whole of production was badly injured. After the abolition of private property the economic life should have moved in a socialist direction without further interference by the state.
All these phenomena are extremely instructive and shoiv us that it is impossible to regulate the economic life of a country through political organizations, yes, even that the political rule over economic life must have far-reaching destructive effects. Independent of the state the workers themselves create their own economic organs for the regulation of economic life, for their own maintenance and for their bare existence. The state could not carry it through with the best will in the world. It his not the intelligence necessary for this purpose. It is strange to economic life. This duty devolves iipon the working people themselves*'
The supplying of the cities with fu&l and building material, principally wood, the Soviets of the cities are taking in hand. The soviet of Charkov, has for its duty to supply the city with wood for the winter. The executive committee of this soviet puts itself in connection with the executive committees of the Soviets of the districts. Each commune, each village is ordered to deliver a certain quantity, according to its size and number of inhabitants. The Soviets are responsible for compliance with orders. In the year of 1920 Ukraine received a total of 6,000 saws and 4,000 axes. These were distributed to the various communes, which in their turn were bound to deliver wood. But the peasants are not very willing to deliver cut wood for the government because they are not sufficiently paid for it. Even here the military has to interfere once in a while, which again creates bad blood among the peasants.