countries, but if possible we must collaborate with them in accordance with a common economic plan. Should the proletariat prove victorious in Germany, we should establish a joint organ which would direct the common economic policy of the two soviet republics. It would decide what quantity of products German proletarian industry should send to Soviet Russia; how many skilled workers should migrate from Germany (to the Russian locomotive factories, for instance); and, conversely, what quantity of raw materials should be sent from Russia to Germany. We are perfectly well aware that Europe will be able to recover far more rapidly from the present state of disorganisation in the event of a union being formed between the various countries. Naturally, we have no intention to unite with any capitalist land. On the other hand, we can and must enter into a close economic alliance with soviet republics, must collaborate with them in accordance with a common economic plan. THE ECONOMIC PROLETARIAN CENTRALISATION OF PRODUCTION UPON AN INTERNATIONAL SCALE — SUCH IS OUR GOAL.
97. The Organisation of small-scale Industry, Handicraft, and Home Industry.
We have seen that one of the chief obstacles to the upbuilding of communism in Russia arises from the fact that in general our country, like all undeveloped and backward lands, is one of petty enterprise. Above all is this true of Russian agriculture. But the manufacturing industry of Russia likewise retains vestiges of the old type of relationships; we have large numbers of home workers, independent artisans, and small-scale producers. According to pre-war statistics, in 34 provinces there were in all about 1,700,000 petty enterprises carried on by home workers.
In the following statement, these home industries are numerically classified according to the nature of the products.