a = _ —— ee

Old and new life styles in Soviet Yakutia

By JAMES LEECH

Jack London often pitted man
against nature ‘in his stories of the
North. The name of the U.S. wri-
ter came up at dinner in the new
Siberian town of Nerungri, as we
discussed the vast industrial
development in the South of the

akut Autonomous Soviet
Socialist Republic.

“We have three elements of
STomanticism here,’ the direc-
tor of the South Yakutian Territo-
Nal Development, Yevgeny Var-
Sharsky, noted, ‘‘There is a se-
vere climate, lack of living quar-

and a scarcity of entertainment.”
Itis a test of the individual, much
48 London would have depicted,
he Suggested. Young workers had

id me the same: they wanted to
Prove their qualities, largely to

€mselves. They do it in the
Main in the process of socialist
Competition, contests of teams of
Workers, which ties together indi-
Vidual and team striving.

This

‘‘romanticism’’, Var-

Sharsky felt, was not what writers
Tom capitalist media would care
to report because the insatiable
drive for achievement was always

Experienced head of Zolotinka
reindeer breeders’ collective farm
§ of Buryat nationality.

ters, throwing people together, :

Tribune photos —James Leec

Deputy Mayor of Nerungri, Se-
myon Nikolayev, a Yakut, affirmed
that equal rights guaranteed by
the Soviet Constitution apply to all
Soviet minorities.

linked to the goals of the collec-
tive. They also failed to find Jack
London’s other powerful theme
— workers against bosses.

In his office, the director had
described the overall plan merg-
ing steel, coal, railway transport
(on the new Baikal-Amur Main-
line and its vital spur into Yakuti-
a), and providing for the everyday
lives of the thousands who were
creating the complex in these
forested mountains. There was
also the question of meeting the
needs of minorities not entirely
ready for industrial participation.

And Earthquakes

The director-could not hide his
satisfaction at having the job of
guiding this great.bundle. of prob-
lems to a successful solution. And
problems they had, Varsharsky
said in his forceful way.

Added to the instability of the
‘‘mild’’ permafrost, and tempera-
tures of -50°C (-58°F), is the area’s
susceptibility to seismic distur-
bances — earthquakes. It ap-
peared unencouraging for railway
builders, and those constructing a
power plant, water and sewage
system, precast concrete build-

ings, roads
operations.
‘‘We’ve studied Labrador,”
Varsharsky said. ‘‘There are a lot
of similarities in climate and re-
sources, but there are also differ-
ences. We are not copying be-

cause no one in the world has .
experience in exactly our condi-

tions.’’ These hard technical facts
the director handed out’ with a
sure knowledge, pointer in hand,
and charts to illustrate his re-
marks. Questions of the human
element he reserved for the din-
ner table, and another mood.

He spoke warmly of the Yakut
people who welcomed him (from
the Kuzbas region) and workers
from all over the USSR to partici-
pate with them in this huge de-
velopment. The citizens of
Yakutia include, as well as

REINDEER AND DIESELS |

and mining .

Yakuts and nationalities from the -

west and south of the USSR,
northern peoples such as the
Evenks and Nenets.

In the area of the southern
Yakutia project live 750 members
of the Zolotinka collective farm
— reindeer breeders, trappers,
fur and dairy farmers, mostly
Evenks.

Evenk Language

‘Those who wish will continue
fur trapping,’ the mayor of
Nerungri, Mikhail Pan-
teleimonovich, had told me ear-
lier. ‘‘Those who do not wish to
continue that will be attracted to
fur and dairy farming.’’ They al-
ready have some elements of
farming and are being aided with
funds from the state council, in
the rearing of domestic foxes, for
example. In the village of
Zolotinka there is a boarding
school for childr8n of parents who
are away trapping; they also have
their own hospital and local cul-
tural club.

‘*Up to third grade in the school
they study all subjects in Evenk,”’
Mayor Panteleimonovich
explained. ‘“‘The working class

‘Soviet Russia

pays a lot of attention to this
matter.”

Project director Varsharsky
added with feeling:

‘‘The Evenki to the north of us
stick to the old traditional ways
(reindeer breeding, trapping), but
they shared with us everything
they had, forinstance, giving us a
lot of reindeer meat. We still feel
indebted to the _ national
minorities of this area.

‘‘T am especially happy to hear
from one of the leaders of the col-
lective farm that some Evenki
would like to learn industrial
trades such as_ excavator
operator. And I believe the indus-
trial development of this area will
help those people make dreams
come true. Industrial develop-
ment here will involve each na-
tionality in its own time.”

Local People Benefit

He said that in terms of ‘‘new
jobs, learning new trades, getting
further education, we do all we
can to help the Evenki.

“‘On the other hand,’’ and he
emphasized it, ‘‘with all the tech-
nical difficulties we have, if we
also had the animosity of the local
people, we could not fulfill the
project.

‘‘No doubt,’’ he said, ‘‘the
local people get a higher culture,
economy and social life, with our
help, due to the development
here. The Evenki, who are
talented, capable and very poetic,

are ‘overcoming age-old back-
wardness. If for no other reason,
to the extent that we can help,
that would make our coming to-
gether worth while.”’

Both Varsharsky and Nerun-
gri’s mayor were enthused over
the annual Day of the Reindeer
Breeder, at the end of February.
As I looked over the book con-
taining the ‘‘Patronage Agree-
ment’’, signed by management of
various enterprises, it took the
shape of a kind of pact of goodwill
and friendship between the advo-
cates of industrialization and the
people of the land. Some non-
legislated assistance was being
given to the reindeer and fur far-
mers and hunters, to help them
reach their production goals. .

Signing of the patronage
agreement was accompanied on
the Day of the Reindeer Breeder
by reindeer races, prizes for best
hunter and best reindeer, and by
contests of skill and outright fun.

Selection of a few of the items
in the agreement — 50 portable
heaters, a diesel electric power
station, 300 fox houses — do-
nated. by enterprises showed
them to be contributions to help
people who wanted to stay on the
land, to pursue their chosen lives
less onerously.

Needless to say, these are no-
strings-attached extras; the far-
mers and hunters ‘receive their
regular income for their part in the
“‘production”’ of the collective. _

What’s behind the RCMP scandal?

e the right to compensation for dam-

Affirming also that men and in-
Stitutions remain free only when
€edom is founded upon respect
for moral and spiritual values and
€ rule of law.
Canadian Bill of Rights,
August 10, 1960
* * *

A the past couple of months the

“ee media has regaled Canadians with
t andalous examples of illegal ac-
ae: of the Royal Canadian Mounted
es ce. Wire-tapping, letter snooping,
ines cropping, burgling, pilfering of

OMe tax information and medical re-
ae and compilation of secret dos-
citi Sona wide spectrum of individual
‘. Zens. In addition they have infiltrat-
. 48€nts into the democratic organiza-

©NS of the people suchas trade unions, ~

‘organizations, Native peoples’ as-
lations, the New Democratic Party,
Communist Party, government
“8encies, and even in the high echelons
ion provincial governments. The
18 long and ominous.
f aken together the scope and extent
€ illegal activities of the RCMP
aba a massive attack against the
. € ideals expressed in the extract
M™ the Canadian Bill of Rights repro-

duceq . RJEB
5 oie What lies behind this

Marxism-Leninism in Today’s World

The pattern that emerges shows that
the political thrust of this unlawful as-
sault is directed against the democratic
anti-monopoly forces. The purpose?
To carry out the basic aim of the big
capitalists (the real rulers of Canada at
this period in time), namely, to prevent
any change in the status quo in a pro-
gressive direction. For the corporate
elite is frightened of the massive power
that resides in the ranks of the develop-
ing anti-monopoly movement. This is
particularly so in this period of deep and
all-pervading crisis of capitalism.

Unfortunately, the right wing in the
NDP and in the trade unions, instead of
fighting back to uphold the rule of law,
are retreating before the reactionary as-
sault against democracy. This assault,
carried out through the agency of the
RCMP and with the connivance of gov-
ernment agencies, aims to undermine
the rule of law while pretending to pro-
tect ourcountry’s security against crim-

‘jnal subversive elements.

What is at stake at this moment in
the history of our country are: the
people’s hard-won democratic rights
and liberties. The task before us is to
unite in struggle for the defence of all

existent democratic rights and liberties -

with all our might.
* * *

Contrast the foregoing with the
guaranteed rights of the citizens of the
Soviet Union that are entrenched in the
constitution of the USSR.

For instance Soviet citizens are
guaranteed:

e inviolability of the person, no one
can be arrested except by court deci-
sion, or by order of a judge (who, by the
way, is elected);

e inviolability of the home, no one
without lawful grounds can enter a
home against the will of those residing
in it; :

e privacy of the person, and of his

correspondence, telephone conversa- -

tions, and telegraphic communications
is protected by law;

e respect for the individual and pro-
tection of the rights and freedoms of the
citizen is the duty of all state bodies,
public organizations and officials;.

e the right to lodge a complaint
against actions of officials, state and
public bodies, such complaints must be
examined according to the procedure
hi within the time limit established by

aw;

age resulting from unlawful actions by
state and public organizations or by of-
ficials in the performance of their
duties.

* * *

As can be seen by the foregoing ex-
tracts from the constitution of the
USSR, the rights of the citizen in a de-
veloped socialist society are in sharp
contrast to the lack of such guarantees
in Canada. Why is that so? A very good
reason is that in a socialist society the
ruling power rests in the hands of the
working people who are the real guar-
dians of democracy, and whose vital
interests correspond to an ever-expand-
ing democracy.

We, too, can have our basic rights

embodied in a made-in-Canada con-

stitution. But we will have to struggle
unitedly against the entrenched power
of the big monopolies in parliament and
in the state structure.

An important step in that direction
would be the winning of measures to
establish democratic control over the
RCMP, to clean out the right-wing
reactionaries from the commanding
posts in that force, and to make the
RCMP accountable to parliament.

In short to establish the rule of law in
the land.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—DECEMBER 9, 1977—Page 5