Defending the workers & National defense

Title

Language

English

Source

Socialism today August 1936

Year

1936

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

Page 1~ SOCIALISM TODAY Why Crime Is Decreasing. the Soviet Union • ID By A. SHLY APOCHNIKOV Assi8tant Director of the Scientific Research Institute of Criminal Policy THE SOVIET UNION is converting into reality the age-long dream of the best minds of mankind: the building up of a classless socialist society. In solving this task, the Soviet Union, simultaneously with the aQ.olition of classes and survivals of the past in the minds of people, 'is abolishing crime-one of the worst survivals of the past. The October Revolution, which led to a radical break-up of old productive relations and to the elimination of private property in the means of production, could not but give rise to embittered resistance of all the forces of the old society, which were ready for any crime that might stop the victorious march of socialism. This resistance has found its expression not only in counter-revolutionary crimes, directly expressing the struggle of the remnants of hostile classes and their agency, but also in general crimes which equany reflect the traditions of the old order are a heritage of the past. The tremendous successes of socialist construction could not but bring about a considerable limitation in the scope of crime. The improvement in the living conditions of the masses, the immense growth of culture, the abolition of unemployment and the elimination of poverty in the village resulted in a sharp reduction of crime. Statistics conclusively substantiate this. Taking the number of persons convicted of criminal acts in the RSFSR during the first half of 1933 as 100, the number dropped in the second half to 93.1; at the end of 1934, the number of cases dropped to 69.9; in the first half of 1935 it fell to 60.7. In the Ukraine, the number of persons . convicted of criminal acts declined in the last quarter of 1936 to one-fourth the number in the first quarter of 1933. In 'soviet White Russia, this number declined by 67 .1 per cent. A similar picture of the reduction in crime is to he observed during the past three years in the other repubics of the Soviet Union. THE NUMBER of convictions in va. rious categories of crime shows more cIE;arl~, perhaps, the sbf-rp decrease in crime m the USSR. Thus, there has been a marked decline in the number of persons convicted for breaking the law of Aug. 7, 1932, on the protection of socialist property. Taking the number of convictions under ~his law during the first half of 1933 in the RSFSR as 100, they dropped to 27.9 in the first half of 1934 and to 9. 6 in the second ha1f of. 1936. In the Ukraine, the number of similar cases fell even more. A further drop is shown by statistics of succeeding periods. Property crimes, particularly theft, which constitute more than 70 per cent of this category of crime, have declined equally sharply. Statistics show that convictions for theft declined 61.4 per cent in the first half of 1936 in comparison with the same period in 1933. A striking reduction in the number of crimes against the person is also shown by figures. In 1926, the proportion of these acts in the total number of criminal convictions amounted to 26 per cent in the RSFSR. Beginning with 1929, the percentage decreased year by year until in 1934 it dropped to three per cent. The number of convictions for sexual crimes in the RSFSR today has dropped to 25 per cent of the number in 1929. Du4'ing the same period, the number of cases of bodily assaults dropped 40 per cent and murder convictions 60 per cent. The- main sources of juvenile crimes were homelessness, neglect and adults' instigation and recruiting of children for criminal acts. The decision of the Council of Peoples Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the Party of the USSR on the "Abolition of Child Homelessness and Child Neglect," and also the law of April 7, 1935 on the "measures of fighting against crimes among juveniles" played a .colossal role in reducing children's crimes. The law is· directed most sharply against adult instigators and against those juvenile law-breakers closely connected with a criminal environment. In the courts of Moscow Province, 54 cases of juvenile cri~e were tried in May 1935, in November the number dropped to 23 and in1 December to 21. In Voronezh Province, 8·8 were convict!!d of juvenile crimes in the second quarter of 1936, 77 in the third quarter of that year, and 34 in Jwo months of- the last quarter. A similar reduction in junnile crime is observable in other districts of the country. . . ..... . THUS, as a result of the decisive successive successes of socialism. in our country, the etiourmous rise in the standard of living arid culture of the masses, and the elimination of hostile ,class elements, the Soviet Union has 'achieN'ed .a August, . .:1986 Defentlingy the Workers and· ·National· Defense Working' men of England" have their own idea· of National 'I)efense. In his maiden speech in the House of Commons, William Gallacher, representing· the miners of West Fife, has t}J.is ta say: "There were over 1,000 men killed in the pits last year and nearly 200,000 injured. Have you defended them? "Come with me to the· mining villages, day after day you can see the terrible tragedy of ·the pit, and the tragedy of the mines' homes. "Have you defended the miners' families in Wales, Lancashire, on the North~ east coast and in Scotland? Have you defended· these places-go and look at them-which give the appearance of a country that has been devastated by the enemy? Have you defended the miners? "We say not a penny fc:ir armaments. It is a crime against the people of this country to spend another penny on armaments. "Every penny we can get should go in wages for. the miners, towards the .health and well~being of the mothers and the children and adequate pensions for the aged and infirm. We require every pe~ ny we can get to make life better for. the working class. "If the seven billion pounds which we spent during the war in ruin and destruction had been spent in making life brighter and better for the workers of this country what a difference it would· have made." · To hospitals of the big mines of the Philippines every day 'brings its train of ambulances bearing bleeding bodies of the maimed, the dying and the dead. Is our government defending these men and their famiiles? Socialists in England don't like to see school boys performing military drill. Since Socialiss are now in c:IOntrol of the Council ef the City of London military men are refused the uae of elementary school buildings for company training. They have abolished .0 T C and Cadet Corps from all schools under ' their charge. School children are forbidden to attend Navy. League lecture. Also, .when an Anti-air-craft BrigAde planned a march to stimulate recruiting the. Council refused permission to use Battersca Park for thls purpose. substantial reduction in crime. '·Th¥ -decrease should be specially noted in the rural districts as irn evidence of t.he rooting out of petty propriet0rship habits resulting from the strengthening of the collective farm order and the whole process of .remaking .the minds of these people. · The shit.rp rechi~i91l ~t. 1.1rime; howevec,

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