REVIEW OF ROMANIAN WORKERS PARTY JOURNAL, MAY AND JUNE 1956

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81-00280R000100100001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 4, 2011
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 3, 1956
• Content Type: REPORT

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 4ix .its` RILAL, %,Af au.:i J&Ye.6 i#jb
Mey Issue
Editorial
The 35th anniversary of the foundation of the Communist Party of Rumania,
on 8 Msy 1921, provides Lupta de Class, with the opportunity for an editorial
restatement (pages 3-15) of the history of the regime in the light of the
theses adopted by the 20th Congress of the CPSU, ending, rather illogically
with an invitation to historians to "liquidate the weaknesses in the study of
party history," many important phases of which "have been insufficiently
studied" so far.
The editorial begins with a short account of the early days of the party,
which was outlawed after only 3 years of "semilegal" existence. It goes on to
claim that together with the Social Democratic Party, with which the Communists
had formed a united front, and with the collaboration of other parties, the
Communist Party had organized the "armed insurrection of 23 August 1944." For
this action, the editorial states, the party had taken advantage of the favor-
able conditions created by the victories of the Red Army and its liberating
offensive on Rumanian soil, and of the fact that "the revolutionary movement
developed directly from the struggle of the entire nation to. cast off the
fascist yoke."
According to the editorial, the leadership of the masses by the Communist
Party was greatly consolidated in the course of the revolutionary struggles for
the seizure of power by the people's democratic regime, which followed the
"armed insurrection." But, Lupta de Clasa continues in the new united front
spirit, "a role of immense importance for the establishment of workers leader-
ship ... was played by the Common Workers Front set up by the Rumanian Communist
Party and the Social Democratic Party on 1 May 1941&," for it was the pivot of
the "concentration of democratic forces" which von the victory of 6 March 1945.
No special tribute is paid by Lupta de Clasa on this occasion to Red Army
participation in the victorious "concentration of democratic forces." Havever,
it specifically mentions the participation of a part of the bourgeoisie in the
"broad democratic front" which subsequently carried out the program of far-
reaching democratic reforms drawn up by the Communist and Social Democratic
parties. For, the editorial continues, after 6 March 1945 the party used the
parliamentary method to establish the conditions needed to pass on to the so-
cialist revolution. For the first time, Inpta de Class claims, universal suf-
frage in Rumania became an actual fact and spelled the final defeat of the
bourgeois-landlord parties at the November 1946 elections, in which the over-
vhelming majority of the people voted for people's democracy.
The fruitful collaboration of the Communist and Social Democratic parties
was then sealed, writes Lupta de Class, by the fusion of the former with the
left, and by far the most numerous, wing of the Social Democratic Party, tc
form the PW1 (Partid'il Nuncitoresc Romin, Rumanian Workers Party).
The next section of the editorial is devotes to a review of the more im-
portant problems which had to be solved by the PKR in the years that followed.
The solutions, representing a synthesis of the party's collective experience,
constitute, in the editorial's opinion, an illustration of creative application
of Leninist principles to the specific conditions obtaining in Rumania.
 STAT
The concluding pages of the editorial contain an enumeration of the any
benefits conferred upon the people of Rumania by the Cosunist regime. Readers
are assured that leadership of the country by the firm hand of the party guaran-
tees every success, including, it is isplied, a substantial improvement in as-
terial and cultural standards to be attained by raising labor productivity,
reducing costs, and saving raw materials. Lupta de Class does not miss the
opportunity to rehash the familiar duties of party members for the successful
achievement of these results.
The Party statutes
In an article by P. Radovan (pages 16-28), Lupta de Class sets out to
demonstrate that the new party statutes adopted by the Second Plot Congress are
the embodiment of Leninist norms of party life, the essential one being internal
party democracy
The chief interest of the article lies in its very clear revelation of the
embarrassment of a Rumanian Communist having to deal with the subject. On the
one hand, he must duly castigate bossism in Rumania at the intermediate and
lower party levels but, on the other hand, he must never imply that this aberra-
tion might have been rampant at the highest levels. Furthermore, he is faced
with the problem of drawing the fine dividing line between reprehensible bossism
and dec..rabte leadership, and of not just wording the party statutes well, but
of preventing their violation. Finally, he must refrain from explaining why the
Plot claims on the one hand that it had never swerved from the straight and nar-
row path of Leninism (so proved by the proceedings of the 1953 Central Committee
Plenum and the 1955 Party Congress), but found it necessary on the other hand
to call another Plenum meeting in lrrch 1956 (after the 20th Congress of the
CPSU), which was followed by regime, re1on, and local party committee meetings,
in order to "draw very valuable conclusions in connection with the gigantic
importance of respecting the Leninist norms of party life."
Under the circumstances, it is hardly surprising to find that the proceed-
ings of the 20th Congress are rendered as follows by Radovan: "(The Congress)
stressed I. V. Stalin's meritorious work for the party, the workers of the USSR,
and the international workers movement, and his remarkable role in the defense
by the party of Lenin's ideological heritage, but [it] resolutely condemned the
cult of Stalin's personality, which did considerable harm to party work. Marx-
ism-Leninism combats the idealistic exaggeration of the role of personality, for
it proclaims the decisive role of the popular masses; but the small-bourgeois
and anarchical concepts, which deny the role of working class leaders as or-
ganizers of the masses, are foreign to Marxism-Leninism."
These lines are obviously Radovan's highly selective condensation of an
editorial in the Sovi t publication Partiynaya Zhizn' (Party Life), a Rumanian
translation of which is published in the same issue of Lupta de Class.
Obliged to steer a tortuous course betwt the pitfalls mentioned above,
Radovan's article defies summarisation. The E of the article is the claim
that the PMR had, if not always, at least sinc? K1, consistently and cor-
rectly interpreted Lenin's ideas on collective leadership, although in practice
they might not always have been respected at the lover levels. To prove the
Pr's orthodoxy, Radovan mentions a number of articles of the new party statutes,
approved by the December 1955 PM Congress for the purpose of reinforcing the
collective leadership principle. Be lists articles prescribing the election of
local committees and of their bureaus; the obligat..on to call plenary meetings
at regular, but somewhat longer intervals than heretofore, to give more time for
intelligent participation; the requirement that a'ren committee bureaus and sec-
retariats should take decisions by majority vote; the right and duty of all
party members to express an opinion, ctc. However, this last right is sharply
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qualified by Redo. 's yarning that it "does not include a license to oppose
the party line or to air anti-lhrxist-Leninist views. Party organizations can-
not tolerate small-bourgeois or anarchic manifestations, or manifestations that
are not Imbued with the party spirit or which betray negativism,. skepticism,
liberalise, or a blase attitude; for they harm party unity and the application
of the party line."
With respect to criticism and self-criticism, Radovan stresses the innova-
tion introduced into the new statutes, which makes it the duty, not only the
right, of party members to bring instances of poor work to the notice of party
organs. But, Radovan wares, the party cannot toLxrate that the right of criti
eisa, which is intended to strengthen the party, be abused to combat its policy
or to weaken it. A clear distinction must be made between constructive and de-
structive criticism.
Industrial Production
Specialization of production by, and cooperation between, plants in the
machine building industry are discussed by J. Baschir and H. D. Sterian (pages
29-39).
The authors agree that one of the most important preconditions for the ful-
fillment of the Second Five-Year Plan by the machine building industry, which is
to increase its output 80-100 percent, is a speeding-up of the specialization
and cooperation campaign.
The authors give a number of examples from Rumanian industrial enterprises
to show the any advantages achieved by a plant when it specializes in the
building of a small number of machines, or even of parts of machines. But the
authors concede that in a country like Rumania the process cannot be carried
too far, for a time at any rate. They emphasize that increased specialization
obviously requires good cooperation between the various plants producing the
parts to be assembled and that this demands in a socialist economy efficient
planning at the center and scrupulous, unselfish respect of contracts between
plant managements. Only thus can the uneconomic tendency of many plant managers
to achieve utmost self-sufficiency be counteracted.
The benefits of specialization, the authors conclude, will be even more
widely felt when it is applied on an international scale by the members of the
socialist camp.
The Cult of Personality
This issue of Lupta de Clasa contains a translation (pages 40-53) of the
editorial, "'Me Damage of a Cult of Personality," from issue No 6 of the
Soviet periodical Partiynaya Zhizn' (Party Life).
From "Party Work Practice"
Under this heading, I. Cotot first secretary of the Hunedoara Regiune PHR
Committee, describes (pages 54-641 the method used by the committee, stung into
action by the lashing administered by the Secord Party Congress, to increase the
output of the Hunedoara Steel Combine and the Jiu Valley coal field.
Broadly speaking the method appears to have consisted mainly in the organ-
ization of two collectives of activists to study the situation on the spot and
report to the committee. Armed _-ith their findings and recommendations, the
regiune committee was in a better position to guide the raion committees in
their remedial steps, which consisted in prodding base organizations, trade
unions, and management to correct their well-known shortcomings, such as failure
 STAT
to use machinery anywhere sear capacity, poor asintemence, inadequate training
of miners in the Jiu Val3a, and backward techniques used at 'wry flows. * The
most striking success achieved, for the tine being at any rate, appears to
have been the transfer of 3,000 "auxiliary" workers to underground "productive"
jobs in the coal mines.
In another article (pages 65-74), V. Daju, secretary of the Corstanta
Regiune PUB Committee, describes the successful work of a number of raion ter-
ritorial instructors who are responsible to a grctt extent for the leading
position of Constants Regiuns in agricultural collectivation. Daju cites a
saber of cases in which the instructors, who started their drive by trying to
pinpoint the causes of the backwardness of some of the existing collective farms,
found the members of these farms very critical of the councils and officers who
ran the farms, and the Comsmists among them equally so of their base organiza-
tions. Daju falls to explain why, if that was the case, and the positions are
indeed elective, the members bad not simply used their voters' right to turn
then out.
Party News
Under this heading, ha to de Clasa features (page 75) the punishment meted
out to a raion party committee irst secretary for incompetence and serious
violations of Leninist principles of party democracy, culminating in an attempt
to have a party member dismissed from his fob for having reported his offenses
to the higher party authorities.
Under the title, (pages 76-84) "To Help students of Economic Problems,"
Cr. Botoi and L. Nelinte review a Rumanian translation of a collection of I min's
speeches and articles dealing with labor productivity.
Lessons and Consultations
The theme of Iupta de Class's Nay lesson is "The Leninist Theory of So-
cialist Revolution and Its Creative Application to Rnaenian Conditions," given
by I. Radulescu (pages 85-100). The lesson is little more than a restatement of
Lenin's views on the socialist revolution and of developments in Rumania. The
description of the latter is practically identical with the description given
in this lout 'a editorial, with emphasis on the "parliamentary methods" employed
to effect the transition from the "democratic to the socialist stage of the
revolution." This transition, the article sirs, represents a "creative" spp_i-
cation of Lenin's theories, under the different conditions obtaining in Rumania.
With regard to the "democratic stage," Radulescu merely claims that, although
there was some fighting and loss of life, it was, generally speaking, achieved
without civil war, "the reactionary forces not being in a position to start
one...." Why they were not in a position to do so is not stated, but emerges
clearly from the following sentence, which says that "the victory of the popular
insurrection, combined with the liberating mission of the Soviet Army, gave the
coup de ,-race to the positions occupied by the exploiting class."
Radulescu draws the conclusion that the history of Rumania is another proof
of Lenin's uncanny foresight when he evolved the "different-roads-to-socialism"
theory.
Answers to Readers
This section answers a question on the proper drawing-up of work plans of
base organizations (pages 107-111), and a question on the organization and duties
of party groups in elected government organs and mans organizations (pages 1)2-
115).
 Under this heading, Lu de Clasp explains (psgs^ 123-126) the aims and
methods of "concrete econospr ci es, a movement launched in Stalin Regiune
for the purpose of improving the *cosmic knowledge of enterprise cadres.
June Law
Editorial
The subject of the editorial (pages 3-12) in the June 1956 issue of Lapta
de Class is the beneficent effect of the 20th Congress of the CPSU on party
activities in Rumania.
The theses adapted by the congress, the editorial claim, are a brilliant
model of courageous and creative development of )Yrxist-Leninist science, and
provide the solution of the most vital problems of our times. At the same time,
they are a priceless source of guidance for the practical activity of Communist
and workers parties. The report of the P)Rt delegation to the 20th Congress was
amply discussed, the editorial continues, by the PM Central Committee, by the
aktivs of the regiune, raion, and city committees, and by state organs and mass
organisations, and are at present being discussed by base organizations and are
being studied throughout the network of party schools together with the decisions
of the Second Congress of the PIRt.
The discussions of the theses of the 20th Congress of the CPS[[ have pro-
vided, the editorial states, a welcome opportunity for the P)Rt cadres to analyze
their own activities in applying the decisions of the Second PH Congress, and
are contributing powerfully to raising the ideological and organizational level
of the party. Of particular importance were the light shed on the new relation-
ship between the forces of peace and the forces of war, and on the significance
of the Leninist principle of peaceful coincidence; and the really profound and
courageous, truly Marxist-Leninist, manner in which the 20th Congress posed the
problem of the struggle against the cult of personality. The solution of this
problem provides the basis on which PW members are fighting this cult's conse-
quences in Rumania.
The effects of the cult of Stalin's personality in Rumania were well bought
out, Lu to de Claaa writes, by the Plenum of the Central Committee of the PMR
of itrch 1956. The deviationists unmasked in 1952 were held greatly responsible
for its spread in Rumania. Their eviction from the party had been of great im-
portance for the re-establishment of the principle of collective leadership.
As far back as 1952, the editorial states,the Central Committee "adopted a course
toward elimination of the practice of glorifying party leaders," which had taken
root in propaganda and press mediums, but as the criticism was "of internal
character" the results were inadequate.
However, ]upta de Clasp continues, the subject was again taken up by the
August 1953 Plenum of the Central coeaittee of the .PRt, and this time the en-
tire party membership was firmly enjoined to do away with the cult of person-
ality, to respect the collective leadership principle, to strengthen the spirit
of criticism and self-criticism, and to apply the party statutes. As a result.,
the practices of holding regular base organization meetings, of discussing
activity reports, of electing party officials, and of frequently convening the
party ektivc spread continuously. The Second Party Congress, the editorial
writes, could point to great successes in the building of socialism, but criti-
cized a number of shortcomings in the economic and ideological fields, and
provided the party with a powerful corrective instrument in the shape of a new
 party statute. This party statute's superiority over its predecessor Use STAT
ainly in the fact that it reflects Leninist principles of party activities
more consistently.
"Sow correct the decision of our Second Party Congress hoe been," Lupta de
Class boasts, "can be seen with greater clarity in the light of the teachings
ore 20th Party Congress," with their strong accent on "the decisive role of
popular masses in history and the party's role of leader of these manes."
The Basses' spirit of initiative can only be stimulated, their experiences
utilised, and the competence of party cadres put to account, the editorial goes
on, if decisions reflect the point of view of the majority of the collective.
However, collective leadership is not an end, it says, but a sang to tho
end of finding the best methods to carry out party and government decisions.
This means that all essential problems must be studied before meetings by cow-
mitten sabers, and the execution of decisions checked by them. Party semben
must also practice discipline and unity of action, and salt be imbued with a
deep sense of responsibility, in order to be able to lead the masses success-
fully on the road to socialism.
The editorial then proceeds to give concrete exalea of violations of in-
ternal democracy. It cites, for example, the came in which an unpopular secre-
tary v:,s forced on a base organization by the raion committee, cases in which
rriticiss were suppressed, cases in which leaden kept aloof from the rank and
file, etc.
Of great importance for the strengthening of the party's ties with the
masses, says the editorial, are tighter control of the state organs by the
party, more socialist democracy, and stricter "peopl;eve legality." The two
last problems had already preoccupied the 1953 Plenum of the Central Committee,
the editorial claims, and although some progress had been made in the meantime,
the Second Party Congress demanded that party and state organizations correct
the serious abuses still prevalent in those fields. Spurred on by the 20th Con-
gress of the CPSU, the PfR has intensified its drive to achieve a decisive im-
provement in the respect for people's legality.
On party initiative, the Grand National Assembly adopted in its last session
a law amending the Code of Penal Procedure with the aim of protecting citizens
against unjust prosecution, of ensuring that "in case of investigations, the
truth be established under strict observance of people's legality," and of en-
suring respect for constitutional provisions with regard to personal freedom,
inviolability of the home and of correspondence, etc.
In the opinion of Lupta de Class, the d"bates in party aktiv meetings re-
vealed the "strong unity and cohesion of the party members.... The thousands
of speakers who shoved up failings and negative phenomena were actuated by deep
solicitude for strict observance of the party's policy and reinforcement of the
party's leadership role...." That was the spirit in which, according to the
editorial, the members of the Bucharest I. V. Stalin Ralon party aktiv "de-
servedly rebuffed Alexander Jar and his slanderous outburst against the party
and its political line. Abusing internal party democracy, he actually tried to
deny the leadership role of the party in cultural work and the great achieve-
ments of our literature under its guidance, and to advocate a liberal attitude
toward bourgeois ideology...," do attitude which led to his expulsion from the
party.
The party members, the editorial explains, have the perfect right to dis-
cuss party problems and to criticize failings, with a view to correcting them
and strengthening the party. But they have no right to propagate antiparty
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.1.-?~ ~rni to sle=w. cr tie party with the aim or weakening it. Organic ,.elding
of internal party democracy to discipline and unity is the prescription supplied
by the editorial for the solution of the problem.
Anther danger against which good Communists must always be ai guard, the
editorial mama, is formalism, that is, confusing substance and form. Concrete
problems are not solved by generalities, or by careful avoidance by agitators of
"thorny" problems. If a Communist is to be a real leader of the masses, as he
should, Ia to de ClaTMa continues, he must be well educated politically and ideo-.
logically. Although gnat progress has been made in party ideological work, it
lags behind requirement.. Party organizations mast decidedly rare the level of
this work, while carefully shunning dogmatism. Rumanian Communists must derive
great encouragement from the lessons of the 20th Congress to develop, a lively
creative activity, especially in the social and economic fields. They must
study the specifically in the social and economic fields. They must study the
specifically Rumanian problems, and, starting from Marxist-Leninist premises,
"draw their scientific generalisations, and put them at the service of guiding
the practical activities of the (Rumanian] people."
At the same time, however, Lupta de Class utters a stern warning against
misguided elements who equate "peaceful coexistence" with peace between classes
and a pause in the ideological struggle; or with the achievement of socialism
without civil war, with "reformism." The socialist camp cannot for one moment
relax its struggle "to unmask the reactionary character of a system based on
subjection and exploitation." Among other mistakes to be avoided, the editorial
lists uncritical edairation tor bourgeois science and culture, which is some-
thing very different from the recommended utilization of real bourgeois achieve-
ments. In balance, the editorial asserts, the superiority of Marxist-Leninist
science is incontrovertible, the best proof of this being the victory of the
young Soviet science of physics over capitalist physics in the newest field of
nuclear physics.
The struggle against mysticism, complains the editorial, has also been
allowed to lag, in disregard of the injunction to intensify the campaign, is-
sued by the Second Party Congress. Again, the freedom of religion guaranteed
by the Rumanian Constitution does not preclude an unflagging campaign against
religious superstitions, provided it is conducted exclusively in the realms of
scientific argument and of persuasion.
Another Communist weakness, the editorial states, is the failure of party
organizations to heed the demand of the Second Party Congress to stimulate con-
tributions from nonparty intellectuals to the building of socialism. The first
secretary of the Bucharest I. V. Stalin Raion PMR Committee had to confess re-
cently that he had paid little attention to the matter, although the raion
comprises the majority of the capital's intellectual institutions. Many party
and state organs, the editorial complains, do not take any interest even in
the proper ideological equipment and the activities of the members of the
toaching profession, although their influence affects millions of childrer.,
virtually the entire coming generation. The party insists that the subordinate
organs rectify this mistake, writes Lupta de Class., and conduct a persevering
campaign among intellectuals, with due regard for the varied milieus in which
they live and work.
The editorial ends with a yarning that the measures to be taken as a re-
sult of the debates on the theses of the 20th Congress of the CPSU, in order to
raise the level of party work considerably, must not be treated as a campaign;
rather must they form a stage in the never-ending process of strengthening the
party for the better performance of its role of leader of the people toward a
happy and peaceful life.
 Scientific Work
An article by Academician St. Milcu is entitled `The Tasks of Scientists
in Support of Production During the Second live-Tear Plan" (pages 13-26).
History of Communism in Rumania
The article, "Same Aspects of the Struggle for the Victory of Nerxist-
Leninist Ideology in the Rumanian Workers Movement" (pages 27-40)j is an attempt
by H. Petrovici and I. lercu to retrace the history of the internal struggles
within the Rumanian socialist movement from 1918 to 1947.
The editors of Lu to de Class appear to have now doubts as to the correct-
"visa of the authors' viers, for the article carries a footnote requesting spe-
cialists in this field to contribute their own opinions an the subject.
Literary Criticism
In the article, "Essential Features of the Modern Hero" (pages 41-57), the
literary critic, S. Iosifescu, develops the theory that the heroes of contem-
porary (Communist) novels most be romantic, if they are to capture the readers'
interest and sympathy. Only romantic heroes can be lifelike, the author argues,
for they incarnate the "revolutionary romanticism" of the "present-day socialist
transformations of unprecedented magnitude."
However, the critic varns, writers must be careful to differentiate between
out.3rwn 19th century romanticism and the up-to-date variety: "Whereas isola-
tion and inadaptability to life were characteristics of the old-fashioned ro-
mantic hero, his modern counterpart, a soldier in an army fired by the grandiose
dread of C'-'ism, cannot be otherwise than imbued with unquenchable optimism
and indissoluble comradeship."
Agriculture in the US
In his article (pages 58-73) on agricultural practices in the Us, Gr.
Obrejanu, a member of the Rumanian delegation of agriculturists who visited the
US in 1955, tells what he learned about American agriculture on this trip.
Most of the article consists of what appears to be a fairly accurate ac-
count of conditions in the areas visited by the author and of a number of facts
and figures that were supplied to his. He implicitly concedes the high level
of technical proficiency achieved by the American farmer, especially in the
fields of mechanisation, fertilisers, herbicides, corn hybridisation, and live-
stock raising, but predicts the imminent disappearance of the small farmer, who
very soon will be completely ruined and forced to sell out to the large land-
owners. In Rumania, too, the future belongs to large-scale farming, but there,
Obrejanu claims, far from being ruined, the small farmer's standard of living
will rise as a result of technical progress.
Party Life
In the first of two articles in this section, I. Verdet elaborates (pages
74-85) on the these of internal party democracy.
According to Verdet, the beginning of the drive to strengthen this Len-
inist feature in Rumania goes back to 1951, when elec':ion of party organs by
secret vote, the holding of the statutory party meetings, etc., started to be-
came an increasingly regular practice. The experience gathered during the last
years was embodied by the Second Party Congress in the amended party statute,
which introduced a number of useful provisions along these lines. However, the
 effects of these amendments seem to have been disappointing, for Verdet goes on
to state that the Plena of the Central Committee of the PM6, meeting in March
1956 to digest the lessons of the 20th Congress of the CPSU, drew valuable con-
elusions out of its discussions, and stressed its own obligation to respect
"strictly" the statutory provisions with regard to the frequency of party con-
gresses and central committee plena, as well as the obligation of regiune and
raion committees to abide "firstly" by the Leninist party norms.
The intensified efforts of the party organs to apply the decisions of the
Second Party Congress of the P111% and of the 20th Congress of the CPSU, the
author claim, began to bear fruit during recent months. Nov party democracy as
well as party life are said to be developing vigorously. They are at present,
Verdet states, of capital importance, for maxim= efficiency of -party work is an
indispensable condition for the fulfillment of the party's huge tasks.
The author then recapitulates the chief characteristics of party democracy,
among which are. the election of members of party organs by secret vote after
public discussion of their qualifications, and their obligation to account
periodically for their stewardship. Verdet admits that the rule that all party
organs must be elected is not always respected.. Members are being coopted in-
stead of elected, although by-elections can always be held to fill vacancies in
base organisations and sufficient alternate members are always available to
replace full members of regiune and voice committees. Mother reprehensible
practice resorted to by some raion committees is rigging the election of members
of the bureau.
With regard to the obligation of party committees to account.. for their
stewardship, Verdet points cut that stag enterprises and other base organization
committees have failed even to can a general assembly during the last 12 months.
He adds that the Central Committee of the P1k has recently drawn up new instruc-
tions with regard to the elect$.on of party organs and has decreed the holding of
new elections in August, September, and October 1956.
The purpose of party democracy, the author recalls, is maximum "activizs-
tion" of the Communist members, that is to encourage them to take an active
part in discussing all party problems and to collaborate in the execution of
decisions reached by majority vote. However, freedom to discuss all party prob-
lems must not be confused with freedom for disguised enemies of the party to
undermine Narzist-Ieninist principles by slanderous attacks. Other characteris-
tics of party democracy named by Verdet are the right to criticize other party
members, regardless of party meetings, the severe disciplining of those who
punish or persecute critics, the right of an accused member to be beard before
he can be expelled from the party, election of the presiding officers of base
organization meetings, and so forth.
Party democracy and collective leadership, the author continues, are in-
separable, for leadership by one man would negate the right of members to select
their leaders. The Central Committee of the PMR, Verdet states, had consistently
fought the growth of the tendency to undermine collective leadership, beginning
:with the elimination of the right-wing deviationists in 1952, and is now engaged
in an all-out effort to cleanse the party of every vestige of the cult of per-
sonality. One of the most effective ways of ensuring collective leadership, the
author continues, is to hold plenary meetings and meetings of the party aktiv
regularly; for experience teaches that where all important problems are thor-
oughly debated, decisions are taken collectively, and committee members are in
the van when it comes to carrying them out. Economic and political progress is
then greatest. However, Verdet explains, collective leadership does not absolve
individual committee members of personal responsibility for action in the fields
assigned to them.
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The second article (pages 86-95) in the Party We section is an unsigned
account of a round-table conference of doers in the newspaper, radio, publish-
ing, sociological research, and propaganda fields, Which was emenised in
Bucharest by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the PMR to discuss
the decisions of the recent Fkasniaa and Soviet party congresses insofar as Work
in these fields was affected by than. The date of the meeting is not given.
According to the Lt do Class account, the participants an in agreement
that Marxist-Lainist to-chis am aside remarkable progress among party and
nonparty members during the last few years, and that the ideological level of
the party cadre had also rim. M WW speakers extolled the successes achieved
by the party esong intellectuals, indeed, the account clalas, it had succeeded
by dint of tact and hard ideological work in winning over the most valuable
scientific, artistic, and technical elements. However, sociological scientific
activity had suffered from the effects of the Stalin personality cult, which had
led to dogmatism and parroting of 'authorities,' mainly Stalin, or else to flight
into abstract speculations without practical value.
1. Ceterchi pointed out in his address to the conference, the article says,
that the thesis according to which Stalin had always said the last word on the
theory of the state and of law inevitably discouraged any original research on
these subjects, while in natural sciences, such as biology and pedology, theo-
ries were applied uncritically to Rumanian conditions. The Ministry of Educa-
tion was criticised by other speakers for neglecting to take into account the
specific character of Rumanian teaching requirements and taking over mechanically
the curriculums of Soviet social science chairs; also for the manner in which
scientific advisers of candidates for doctor's degrees in social sciences per-
formed their duties.
Press propaganda, says Lupta de Class, also came in for considerable criti-
cise at the conference. Many articles were nothing more then dry paraphrases
of theses and decisions. The press should be more combative and interesting,
and could learn a great deal from the democratic and Communist traditions of the
Rumanian press of yore.
On the other hand, a number of economists pointed out that scientific re-
search was greatly hampered by the secretiveness of the Central Statistical
Directorate, the State Planning Committee, and the Ministry of Finance, and
that a more lively exchange of information with specialized institutes in other
People's Democracies was also needed.
The meeting brought out, the article states, how necessary are ample dis-
cussions, the free interchange of o-iniont, and the clash of ideas -- on the
platform of Marxist Leninist ideology -- for developing creative scientific
thought and solving problems. Speakers underlined the need to organize system-
atically creative debates in all fields of %cience, especially in the social
sciences, on various problems that had beet cadequately studied but were of
great practical and theoretical urgency. fc also emphasised the need for dis-
cussion columms in scientific periodicals. opeakers drew attention to the
need for ideological vigilance against bourgeoi. 'deology, inasmuch as it was
to be expected that reactionary elements would take advantage of conflicts of
opinions for "nonscientific" (i.e., political) purposes; they further yarned
against nationalism and cosmopolitanism and underestimation of scientific
achievements in the USSR and 3n People's Democracies.
Lu to de Class then proceeds to draw some genera] conclusions from the pro-
ceedings. In the first place, the periodical calls upon historians and phi-
losophers to study "creatively" the revolutionary developments in Rumania since
the 1931 Congress of the Rumanian C-ramunist Party, in the light of the theses of
the 20th Congress of the CPSU, which provide a clearer insight into the essence
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of social phenomena in Rumania. Lu to do Class, draws special attention to the
problem of the class struggle during the transitional period from capitalism, to
socialism, a problem in which great confusion was sown'by Stalin'a dictum that.
the class struggle increased in sharpness to socialism progressed. Instead of
esaaiaiag whether this dictum was borne out by facts in Rumania, propagandists
spent their time looking for proofs of its applicability in Rumania.. Agri-
culture is also a fruitful field for improved propagandistic activity, Lupta do
Class continues, for although in some regimes, such as Constants, Galati, and
ova, socialisation had made remarkable progress, in Stalin Regime, the
aupgarian Autonomous Regime, and others, progress is very slow.
Lupta do Class then reverts to the deficiencies of Rumanian historians, who
consistently avoid contemporary history or, when they do write about it, think
they are helping the party by embellishing the facts. The article also invites
the Institute of Economic Research of the Rumanian Academy to help more ef-
fectively in the solution of economic problems; it chides the Institute of Phi-
losophy for neglecting problems of historical and dialectical materialism and
for lack of energy in fighting manifestations of idealism in Rumanian science;
and it blames some chairs of social science for their neglect of practical prob-
lems, and others for their barrenness in the matter of scientific works.
Lu to do Clasa agrees that researchers, especially economists, have been
hampered y the difficulty of obtaining statistical data, but believes that this
difficulty has been removed to a great extent by the reorganization of the In-
stitute of Economic Research of the Rumanian Academy. On the other hand, the
periodical accuses many researchers of sitting back and waiting for the plums to
drop into their laps, instead of collecting facts in the field themselves, dis-
cussing matters with party leaders, government officials, engineers, workers,
and farmers; and, incidentally, helping them solve some of their problems by
studying then scientifically.
The article ends with the usual exhortation to all concerned to take the
lessons of the recent congresses and plenums to heart, and to pay more atten-
tion to the explanation of the respective roles in history of the messes and of
personalities, such as Lenin. In this connection, the article recommends fol-
loving Lenin's injunction to party propagandists to discuss economic problems
concretely. To this end, Lupta de Class points to the need for greater dif-
ferentiation in party education, especially in the night classes, according to
the intellectual level and the different trades of the trainees. It also rec-
ommends recruiting propagandists among engineers, one of the urgent needs being
to spread technical know-how among the population.
Party Information
Under this heading, Lupta de Clasa gives examples of successful methods
used by party organizations to increase labor productivity in a number of in-
dustrial enterprises (pages 95-96).
Answers to Readers
Questions answered in this issue are:
How did the 20th Congress of the CPSU solve the problem of the prevention
of war at the present time? (pages 96-106)
What must a recommendation of a candidate for party membership contain?
(pages 106-109)
Hov must the dues of party members without fixed income be assessed?
(pages 109-111)
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 From the Cassamist and Workers Press
This section (pages 112-119) gives excerpts from Kim Il-song's report to
the Third Congress of the Korean Workers Party.
Reviews and biblicgnpby
This section (pages 120-125) contains a review of Le. Origiaes de 1s Do
liaion (The Origins of Religion) by the French Cusmist, Gh. Hainchelin, re-
cently translated into Rumanian.
Notes
This section (puss 125-127) contains a sharp criticism of the periodical
Studil si Cercetari de Istorie Literary ei Folclor (Studies and Research in
Literary History and o ore issued y t institute of the same new of the
Rumanian Acada . Only three issues of this publication have appeared since
1952. The periodical, as von as the institute itself, is said to have ful-
filled its task of 're-evaluating' older Rumanian authors very inadequately.