Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 3 - From Marx to Mao

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAPITALISM IN RUSSIA
423
to the ears, a third solders these parts, and, lastly, a fourth
polishes the finished ear-rings. None of this work is difficult,
or requires much training; very often the soldering and
the polishing are done by women and by children of 7 or
8 years of age” (2041).* Here, too, the working day is
excessively long, usually as much as 16 hours. Payment in
provisions is common.
The following statistics (published quite recently by a
local assay inspector) clearly illustrate the economic structure
of the industry: 139
Group of craftsmen
No. of
craftsmen
%
Who submitted no
wares. . . . . . . . 404 — —
Who submitted up to 66.0 1,000 58
{
Total
workers
(approx.)
12 lbs. of wares. . . 81 11 1.3
Who submitted 12 to
120 lbs. . . . . . . . 194 26.4 500 29 236 28.7
Who submitted 120 lbs.
and over. . . . . . 56 7.6 206 13 577 70.0
Total . . . . . 735 100 1,706 100 824 100
“Both the first groups (about two-thirds of the total
number of craftsmen) should be classed as home-working
factory workers rather than as handicraftsmen.” In the
top group “wage-labour occurs more and more frequently. . . .
The craftsmen have begun to buy articles made by
others”; in the upper strata of this group “buying-up
* “Among the Krasnoye handicraftsmen every kind of article and
even every part is made by a specific craftsman, and therefore one
rarely finds, for example, rings and ear-rings, bracelets and brooches,
etc., made in the same house; usually a particular article is made in
parts by different worker-specialists who live not only in different
houses but even in different villages” (Reports and Investigations,
Vol. III, p. 76).
%
Total
articles
(poods)
{
%