K. This is the 1st working draft of vol. VI. It still ... - From Marx to Mao

304 MAO TSE-TUNG
“welcomed” grain tax from immigrants, and we have levied one-half
of the grain tax for land planted to cotton. We originally stipulated
that when livestock was bought from areas outside the Border Region
we would reduce grain tax by a definite amount for the first
year, but this has also not yet been implemented. In addition regulations
for giving rewards for increased production have not been
fully carried out. All these things not only affect the authority of
the government but also diminish the enthusiasm of the peasants.
From this we may conclude that henceforward everything pertaining
to the decrees announced by the government must be resolutely
implemented.
(5) More equitable adjustment in the use of labour power and
FROM MARX
TO MAO
other methods helpful to peasants, such as exchange-labour teams,
⋆
contract-labour teams and so forth, have a strong influence on agricultural
growth. However, with the exception of some counties like
Yanan, we have still not done enough to organize and promote them.
There are certainly many comrades among the county cadres who
are actively striving to put ideas to the people, and who have originated
many good methods for mobilizing the masses to develop production.
They have created many model examples. However, many
other comrades are not like this. They lack the spirit of factual investigation
and enthusiastic effort. They lack creativity. They feel
that there is no work that NOT they can do FOR for agriculture, or they do not
know how to set-to. Therefore they only raise empty slogans like
“spring ploughing” or “autumn harvest”. They remain passive, and
let the peasants do COMMERCIAL
things as they like. The government simply keeps
a record of what is done. But in fact there are many things to be
done. Many good methods can be thought up. For example, during
spring ploughing in 1942 some of the peasants in Yanan felt very
discouraged. Instances DISTRIBUTION
of moving out, splitting up the family, and
selling livestock in preparation for reducing production occurred.
From the point of view of the comrades who lack enthusiasm and
creativity, these phenomena would be insoluble and it would be best
to accept fate and let such bad things happen. But the comrades
from Yanan were not like this. They were neither passive nor bureaucratic.
They were able to grasp the key to the problem and adopt
active methods. They overcame the difficulties. At that time, the
Party and government did much propaganda work, and gave help
with grain, cave houses, and agricultural tools. Afterwards not only
did production not decline, but cultivated land increase by 80,000