a Pes “te ‘rhienarosee:: RUSH REPORTS ON VISIT German Democratic Republic advancing with giant strides By MAURICE RUSH A visit to the lands of socialism is an unforgettable experi- ence. This summer the opportunity came my way to join a delegation of five other Canadians for a six-week visit to the Soviet Union, with a brief stay in Prague en route. After leaving the Soviet Union it was also my good fortune to attend the 5th Congress of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in Berlin as a fraternal delegate from the Labor - Progressive Party, and later to tour the German Democratic Republic. In the space of a_ few articles I shall try to share my impressions and experi- ences with Canadian workers. And since the Socialist Unity Party’s congress has been most recently in the news, it is in Germany that I shall begin my account. If you were to ask me what was my main impression after months in the socialist two world, I would unhesitatingly reply: Socialism is winning the race with capitalism. Al- though there are many prob- lems still to be overcome the advance is on a gigantic scale. Every month brings new big achievements. Everywhere you get the impression’ that, given a few more years of peaceful labor, the socialist countries, will prove beyond doubt the superiority of the socialist way of life. My experiences in East Germany convinced me that this wasgtrue not only of the Soviet Union but of the New Democracies too. I approached my visit to East Germany with >great in- terest. After all, I had served in the Canadian army in the Second World War and spent some time in a German pris- oner of war camp; where I met and talked to many Ger- mans and had an insight into the twisted ideology with which Nazism imbued masses of German people. I was anxious to see for myself what changes a work- ers’ government had brought to East Germany. The capital- ist press in this country car- ries very little news about the German Democratic Republic; except -when there are diffi- culties. Most of the time the dailies pretend that it doesn’t even exist. Still fresh in my mind also were statements made in re- cent years by such B.C. CCF leaders as Harold Winch MP, and Colin Cameron who after walking across the line from West to East Berlin, came back to tell us East Germany. was like the land of the liv- ing dead. Well, I found East Germany far from being a land of the living dead. It’s .very much alive and moving’ahead with seven league boots to chagrin: of West German Chancellor Konrad. Adenauer and his imperialist Sponsors who absolutely refuse to ac- cept the thought that* social- ism should be allowed to de- velop on German territory. But nontheless, it*is! The 5th Congress of the Socialist Unity Party was an inspiring event and of great significance not only for Ger- many but for working people all over the. world. Close to 6,000 people were in attend- ance, most of them delegates and alternates from every cor- ner of the “country. There weré also guests from the other political parties in-the government (The GDR has a government coalition of five parties; of which the SUP is the leading. party enjoying wide support) and cultural workers, educationalists and others. The main economic task set by the congress is breath- taking and indicates the great progress being made in the country. The congress drew up a pro- gram which, in the words of Walter Ulbricht; SUP secre- tary, in the next three years will so develop the people’s economy of the German Democratic Republic as_ to prove the superiority on Ger- man territory of the socialist way of life over the capitalist way represented by the Bonn government. To achieve this goal in the next three years the capita consumption of all im- portant items of food and in- the per | dustrial goods* by the people of the GDR will reach and surpass that of West Ger- many. Achievement of this goal in the next three years will have world - wide significance. It will mean that in a large mod- ern industrial country in the heart of Europe where both socialist and capitalist states face each other, the socialist system has proven it can pro- vide a higher standard of liv- ing for the people. Ii’s easy to see that this victory for the German Democratic Republic will have wide repercussions. From what I saw at the congress and later in my tour through East Germany there is every reason to believe the working class and progressive peoplé of the GDR will ac- complish their aim. This industrial progress al- ready made provides a solid basis for a great leap ‘forward to complete the building of socialism. Nearly 90 percent of production now comes from socially-owned industrial en- terprises. : In agriculture there has re- cently been an advance to soc- ialist methods of farming, and already one third of farm pro- duction comes from coopera- tive farms. I visited one such cooperative farm which a short while ago started with eight members and now has nearly 200. Already per capita con- sumption in practically all foodstuffs is higher in the GDR than West Germany. This will be increased and ex- tended to all the main lines of consumer* and industrial goods. There will be a huge expansion of chemical, metal working and light industry. Here are examples of what they intend to do by 1961 in some main lines- of consumer goods: Woollen. goods will be doubled; leather shoe produc- tion: will be upped by one third; woven cotton increased by fifty percent; nylon pro- duction. increased seven times. In 1961 the people will be able to buy four times as many television sets as in 1957; four and a half times as many household refrigerators; and three times as many. auto- mobiles. This is a major part of the pattern for the next three years. This is how the work- ers plan their future when they are at the helm. This is one of the new apartment the German Democratic Republic, which has now the aim of surpassing the German Federal Republi¢ production of all lines of consumer goods within thé three years. What: impressed me very- much, at the congress was the new» attitude of the workers to production and the grow- ing enthusiasm for increasing productivity. Of course, the secret is: that when workers _ realize they are producing for themselves and their families they are bound to have a different attitude to work. On a number of occasions ‘workers’ delegates arrived ‘with special presentations of goods produced to honor the congress. In the lobby there was a large display of new models of television sets, elec- trical goods, lathes, motor bikes, scooters, etc., which were made and sent by the workers from the- plants to honor the congress. From many factories there were books containing the signature of thousands of workers to pledges to exceed their quotas to help fulfill the economic aims of the country. Delegates who had done out- standing work in, their fac- tories or farms were warmly greeted by the congress. 503 $03 xt I traveled hundreds of miles by car through the southwest portion of the GDR visiting cities like Leipzig, Jena, where the famous Zeiss optical works are located, Weimar, Gera and other in- dustrial» areas. Every few miles we passed industrial sites with huge smokestacks rising to. the sky. The enthusiasm of the work- ing people for the socialist “way of life they are building and for the new economic aims worked out by the. con- gress are the surest sign they will reach their goal. I saw many signs of. this eS: August 29, 1958 —PACIFIC TRIBUN” s in East Berlin pul enthusiasm when I large meetings like ©” Gera, where 40,000: city’s 90,000 people the city square 1 — ports on the congres> der if Winch «and, ns had seen these entht crowds, they WY" qi think they were dead.”’) . I told the meetin 4 ference between the da in the GDR and ane ? that when product under a workers’ | standards hours of work ‘ prices. fall; but ne countries when k houses are overstoe goods it becomes ® for the workers capitalists cut pre throw the work breadline. : When I told Be there’ were 500,000 y ed in Canada we their, heads in dish? y worker came UD) the meeting and interpreter aske@: the workers of for that kind of tion?” It was? to answer that assured him th@ later the workine aif Canada . would rei? superiority of soe aa 4 tee e ie niet ess yet Ever since th ocracies arose # the capitalist pr labored the theme ate new peoples’ sta Jo tives” of and “exh pe the Soviet Unio? ig State Department ; gone so far on™ eit as to call for. th tion.” ae Continued.