XIX Congress of the CPSU (b) - (October 5-14, 1952). Documents and Materials

October 6, (Morning session)

Presiding N.S. Khrushchev.

At the meeting, the report of the Central Auditing Commission of the CPSU (b) is heard. Then the congress goes on to discuss the reports of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) and the Central Auditing Commission of the CPSU (b).

N.S. Patolichev, (Belarusian SSR)

Comrades! In the report of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) comrade. Malenkov reported to the congress about the heroic struggle waged by our party under the leadership of Comrade Stalin during the period from the 18th to the 19th party congress.

The tasks of our party in the field of domestic and foreign policy set out in the report of the Central Committee ensure the further strengthening of the might of our Motherland as the leading force of the international camp of peace, democracy and socialism, the further victorious movement of our society towards communism. There is no doubt that the entire Soviet people will warmly approve and support this policy, rally their ranks even more closely around the party, around their leader and teacher, Comrade Stalin! (Applause.)

Together with the entire Soviet people, the working people of Belarus greeted the decision to convene the 19th Congress of our Party with the greatest joy, political and labor enthusiasm. The materials published for the congress are deeply studied by the working people of the republic, and are widely discussed in party organizations. At the past meetings of the primary organizations alone, 85,000 communists spoke, who unanimously approved the materials for the congress and made many proposals and comments. All of them were transferred to the Central Committee of the CPSU (b).

The Belarusian people receive with special warmth the new plans of our party for the development of the national economy of the Soviet country. He has deepest reasons for this. In the period between the 18th and 19th Party Congresses, the Belarusian people withstood the greatest trials. Much has been deposited in his memory, in the hearts of millions of workers of Soviet Belarus. Everyone knows the degree of destruction in Belarus during the Great Patriotic War and the temporary occupation. The Belarusian people are fully aware that such a destruction of the national economy under different conditions, under capitalism, could lead to the complete impoverishment of the people, to its extinction. Only thanks to the Soviet system, thanks to the concerns of the Central Committee of the All‐Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Union Government and Comrade Stalin personally, Belarus restored its economy in a short time and went further along the path of industrialization, a powerful upsurge of the entire socialist economy and culture.

Comrades! The rapid revival of the national economy of Belarus after the Patriotic War is a triumph of the Leninist‐Stalinist nationality policy, a convincing example of the correct resolution of the national question, the problem of cooperation between nations in a multinational state.

The industry of Belarus, which was destroyed to the ground during the war years, has now been fully restored, has received further development, and the industrial output in 1952 is 150 percent. to the pre‐war. The rapid development of industry in Belarus is evidenced by the fact that the average annual growth of industrial production for the five‐year period was 41 percent, the capacity of power plants was increased by 2.5 times against the pre‐war level. The pre‐war industry of Belarus was based to a certain extent on the use of the republicʹs raw materials. The main place in its development was occupied by the food, light and local industries. In every way developing these industries based on local raw materials, the Communist Party of Belarus pays special attention to the development of mechanical engineering, the output of which has increased 15 times against the pre‐war level.

On the initiative of Comrade Stalin, such new industries as tractor construction, automobile construction, machine‐tool construction, the production of bearings, motorcycles, bicycles, etc., were created in Belarus, which is a huge achievement in the post‐war development of the national economy of Soviet Belarus. These branches of industry are developing on the basis of new achievements of Soviet industry, its technical growth and improvement. All of this is a concrete embodiment of Comrade Stalinʹs instructions regarding ensuring maximum satisfaction of the constantly growing material and cultural needs of the entire society through the continuous growth and improvement of socialist production on the basis of higher technology.

The public economy of the collective farms of Belarus during the war was completely plundered and destroyed. I had to re‐create everything. And now the Belarusian people can proudly declare that the agriculture of Belarus, with the huge help of our party, Comrade Stalin, has not only been fully restored, but has also received its further development. At present, the indivisible funds of the collective farms are much larger than they were before the war. The sown area of grain and industrial crops has been restored. The number of tractors and agricultural machines increased 2 ‐ 3 times. Collectivization was carried out in the western regions of the republic. Millions of peasants in our western regions have taken up socialist agriculture, are building and strengthening collective farms, and developing their social economy. In Belarus as a whole and in each of the 12 regions separately, productive public livestock raising on collective farms has significantly exceeded the pre‐war level.

The party organization, the Belarusian people realize that all these achievements became possible thanks to the enormous help of the party, the Union government and personally Comrade Stalin, who shows tireless concern for the general welfare of the people. (Applause.) With their help, the hard work of the Belarusian people gave its great fruits. But we also realize that we still have many shortcomings that hinder the development of the national economy. The production capacities of the new enterprises are not yet fully utilized; they must significantly increase the output. The industry of Belarus can develop much faster. The republic has sufficient human resources, welldeveloped water and rail transport, its national economy is fully provided with all building materials. The republic has a solid fuel base ‐ I mean extremely large reserves of peat. Currently, about 75 percent. the needs of the industry are provided with local fuel. All these favorable opportunities for the further development of industry in Belarus should be more fully taken into account both by the governing organizations of the republic and by planning bodies and union ministries.

There are also many shortcomings and untapped opportunities in the development of agriculture in Belarus. The most important shortcomings are that we have not yet achieved the necessary increase in crop yields and livestock productivity on collective farms, have not overcome the backlog in the production of one of the most important industrial crops, flax, and are poorly using MTS equipment, material and labor resources of collective farms. Violations of the Rules of the Agricultural Artel in many collective farms have not yet been eliminated. The Belarusian party organization is fighting for the fastest elimination of these serious shortcomings.

Comrades! The Belarusian people, with great gratitude to our party, to Comrade Stalin, took the decision to carry out drainage works in the Polessye Lowland and regard this decision as a new manifestation of Comrade Stalinʹs greatest concern for the Belarusian people, for the growth and prosperity of Soviet Belarus.

The Polesie problem has long worried the Belarusian people. But the solution to this problem is associated with colossal material costs and great difficulties in the construction of hydraulic engineering. Only our great country with its inexhaustible potential, modern technology, accumulated experience in the struggle to create the material and technical basis of communism is capable of solving such complex problems. By constructing the great construction projects of communism, transforming nature, the Soviet people are putting into practice the plans of Comrade Stalin on the paths of the transition from socialism to communism.

The solution to the Polissya problem is a radical transformation of nature on a vast territory covering over 42 thousand square kilometers. The solution to the Polesie problem will result in the development of millions of hectares of fertile peat lands. In Belarus alone, in the regions of the Polesye lowland, more than 3.5 million hectares of swamps and wetlands are to be developed. It is difficult to overestimate the significance of the Polissya problem, which our party is tackling. It should be emphasized that in the conditions of Belarus (which has soils of normal moisture), highly fertile peat lands in terms of their production efficiency can be equated to the irrigated lands of the south of the country. To solve the Polesye problem, it is necessary to carry out a whole range of hydro‐construction works in the Pripyat River basin, namely: cleaning and embankment of Pripyat itself, regulation of its tributaries by creating numerous reservoirs and other hydraulic engineering works.

In Soviet Belarus, there are a huge number of large and small rivers. A significant part of them, like some rivers of Ukraine, flows in the direction of the Pripyat, which is not able to absorb huge inflows of water, and therefore creates, so to speak, a congestion that is transmitted to all its tributaries. The flow of rivers slows down, and this leads to the flooding of swamps, meadows and pastures for a significant period of the year. The task is to eliminate this congestion on Pripyat with the help of a system of hydraulic structures, to make more than 400 rivers and streams in the Polessye lowland flow much faster, freeing the Polesye lands from excess moisture. Itʹs not an easy task. But, armed with Stalinʹs instructions that ʺpeople, having learned the laws of nature, taking them into account and relying on them, skillfully applying and using them, can limit their sphere of action, give the destructive forces of nature a different direction, turn the destructive forces of nature for the benefit of societyʺ ‐ the Bolsheviks create seas, break through canals, turn river beds, they will be able to solve this problem too. Millions of hectares of the most fertile lands of the Polessye lowland will be put at the service of communist construction. The waters that are now inundating the lands of the Polessye lowland will be collected in reservoirs, and their destructive power will be converted into electricity.

To this I just wanted to add that the huge deposits of potash fertilizers discovered in Belarus on the territory of Polesye are very favorably combined with the presence of large tracts of peat lands that need these fertilizers. Therefore, I believe that the postponement of the start of the development of potash fertilizers from the Belarusian deposit is undesirable. This will lead to a serious decrease in the material results of the development of the Polesye lowland.

I would also like to say about the enormous untapped opportunities that are fraught with numerous peat massifs located on the territory of Belarus and throughout the non‐black earth zone of our country. Drainage and development of these lands does not require such large material costs and complex hydraulic structures. It is necessary to regulate water intakes, which are mainly small rivers, and establish a shallow drainage network. In Belarus, there are a lot of such tracts, and if we take all areas of the non‐black earth belt, then we will talk about millions of hectares. The inclusion of these lands in agricultural circulation will make a significant amendment to the very concept of a non‐black earth zone.

High yields of many crops are grown on peatlands. Experience shows that 20 ‐ 25 centners per hectare is a guaranteed yield. The country will receive an additional tens of millions of poods of grain. Soviet Belarus, following the instructions of the Central Committee of the All‐Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and the Union Government, is doing a lot of work to drain and develop peat lands. In 1952, about 100 thousand hectares were already drained. This work will be expanded in subsequent years.

I would like to raise another pressing issue of the development of agriculture in the central and northwestern regions of the country, which includes Belarus. The experience of the leading collective farms shows that the lands of this part of the country can yield two to three times more grain than they give at the present time. The mechanization of the main field work, especially on grain crops, has grown significantly and, according to the draft directives of the 19th Party Congress on the fifth five‐year plan, will be completed by the end of the five‐year plan. Now all the necessary conditions have been created for the timely and high‐quality cultivation of land. The time has come when it is equally necessary to tackle the improvement of the fertilization and liming of fields. I believe that in areas of the nonchernozem belt, the issue of fertilizing fields is belittled. It is impossible not to notice the presence of a gap in the methods of work, which takes place in the agriculture of these areas. On the one hand ‐ first‐class technology in land cultivation, in caring for crops, in harvesting, the introduction of scientific achievements in field cultivation and animal husbandry; on the other hand, there are imperfect methods in the accumulation and application of fertilizers.

In the conditions of the central and northwestern regions, the widespread use of peat as a fertilizer is of great importance. Collective farms of Belarus in 1952 exported 12 million tons of peat to the fields. This is 2 ‐ 3 times more than in previous years, but still far from enough.

If the business of extracting peat for fertilization is organized properly, on a large scale, covering all the lands of the non‐chernozem belt, the material effect will be great. Practice shows that the main obstacle in the implementation of this task is the lack of mechanization. It is necessary on a national scale to solve the problem of creating equipment for the extraction of peat and lime for fertilizing and liming fields, concentrating this equipment in machine and tractor stations.

Comrades, I would also like to highlight some issues related to the development of science and the improvement of the activities of scientific institutions of the republic. Higher educational institutions, the state university, the Academy of Sciences, and cultural and artistic institutions have been restored and developed in Soviet Belarus. Much work is being done in the field of political and ideological education of the working people. Publishing activity has been significantly expanded. In 1952 the fourth edition of V.I. Lenin and 13 volumes of the Works of I.V. Stalin.

Achievements in the field of science, culture, art in our country are enormous. At the same time, it should be said that there are major shortcomings in the development of science in a number of Union republics, including Belarus. What are they? For a long time, scientific institutions have been dealing with a narrow range of those issues that are, as it were, of direct importance for the development of the national economy of the republic. There is no doubt that the academies of sciences must first of all resolve the fundamental questions of the development of the national economy of the republics. But is it really possible to allow them to confine themselves only to these issues and break away from the general problems of science, which is developing in our country? It is indisputable that the republican academies of sciences (in this matter, the Union Academy of Sciences should have shown great initiative) should have a closer connection with the scientific centers of our country, more actively participate in the solution of scientific problems put forward by the communist construction of science.

And further. The Belarusian Academy of Sciences has 17 institutes, but until the last year it did not have a Physics and Mathematics Institute, an Institute of Physiology, an Institute of Linguistics, or an Institute of Energy. Until recently, the Institute of Economics did not have a sector of political economy. It is clear that the absence of these institutions limited the scientific activity of the Republican Academy of Sciences and its scientists.

It is necessary to take additional measures to ensure that the scientific institutions and scientists of the Union republics would be more closely connected with the scientific centers of the country, more actively involved in scientific work to resolve the most important problems of Soviet science.

Comrades! In the party organization of Belarus, as well as in our entire party, before the 19th congress, reporting meetings, conferences, and a congress of the republicʹs communist party were held from top to bottom. The results and state of the work were comprehensively discussed. The Communist Party of Belarus is aware of the fact that along with the successes achieved in economic and cultural development, there are major shortcomings. Reporting meetings, conferences, XX Congress of the Communist Party of Belarus showed that the communists of the republic do not want to put up with these shortcomings either in the activities of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus, or in the activities of regional committees, city committees, district committees, Soviet and economic bodies.

The convocation of the 19th Party Congress caused a new wave of communist activity. Meetings and conferences were held under the sign of sharp and deep criticism and self‐criticism. Criticism was directed against the bureaucratic methods of leadership, violations of internal party democracy, suppression of criticism, against the false behavior of individual communists in front of the party, non‐Bolshevik selection of personnel and the cultivation of so‐called personal loyalty among leaders. A broad pre‐congress discussion of materials for the 19th Congress and reports of party committees, a high level of criticism of shortcomings will serve as a powerful impetus for the further rise of allparty work.

Comrades! The Communist Party of Belarus came to the 19th Congress of the Party of Lenin ‐ Stalin as never before devoted to the great Leninist banner, as never before rallied around our genius leader and wise teacher, Comrade Stalin. (Prolonged applause.)

The Belarusian people are filled with deep heartfelt gratitude to Comrade Stalin for helping Soviet Belarus to overcome the consequences of the war, to enter the broad road of powerful upsurge and all‐round development of the national economy and culture, national in form, socialist in content.

Comrades! Our party and the Soviet people received a wonderful gift for the 19th Congress ‐ Comrade Stalinʹs brilliant work ʺEconomic Problems of Socialism in the USSR.ʺ Comrade Stalin has enriched Marxist science with new theoretical propositions that are of historical importance for the party, the state, and for the entire international communist movement. Comrade Stalin clarified the fundamental questions of communist construction, discovered the fundamental law of socialism, and defined the basic conditions for the transition from socialism to communism. Our leader and teacher, Comrade Stalin, showed the Party and the people a clear path — the path to the complete victory of communism.

The peoples of the Soviet Union, the workers and working people of the whole world are deeply grateful to Comrade Stalin for his unparalleled feat in science, which opens up a bright future for mankind.

Under the wise leadership of Comrade Stalin, the Soviet people will build a communist society!

Long live our great and dear comrade Stalin! (Prolonged applause.)