How to Consolidate Newly Captured Cities

#PUBLICATION NOTE

This edition of How to Consolidate Newly Captured Cities has been prepared and revised for digital publication by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism under the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Switzerland on the basis of the following edition: Telegram to the Headquarters of the Loyang Front After the Recapture of the City, in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Vol. 4, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1965.

#INTRODUCTION NOTE

This is a telegram drafted by Comrade Mao Zedong for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the 8th of April, 1948. It was first published in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 4, in 1960.

Because the contents of the telegram were applicable, not only to Luoyang, but, in the main, to all newly liberated cities, it was sent concurrently to the leading comrades on other fronts and in other areas.

#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!

#HOW TO CONSOLIDATE NEWLY CAPTURED CITIES

#TELEGRAM OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA TO THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE LUOYANG FRONT AFTER THE RECAPTURE OF THE CITY

#Mao Zedong

#8th of April, 1948

#★

Luoyang is now recaptured¹ and can probably be securely held. In our urban policy, pay attention to the following points:

#1

Be very prudent in the liquidation of the institutions of Nationalist rule, arrest only the chief reactionaries, and do not involve too many persons.

#2

Set a clear line of demarcation in defining bureaucrat capital; do not designate as bureaucrat capital and do not confiscate all the industrial and commercial enterprises run by Nationalist Party members. The principle should be laid down that the democratic government should take over and operate all industrial and commercial enterprises which are definitely verified as having been run by the Nationalist Party's central, provincial, county, or municipal governments, that is, enterprises operated wholly by official bodies. But if, for the time being, the democratic government is not yet ready to take them over or is unable to do so, the individuals previously in charge should be temporarily entrusted with the responsibility of management, so that these enterprises can function as usual until the democratic government appoints people to take over. The workers and technicians in these industrial and commercial enterprises should be organized to participate in management, and their competence should be trusted. If the Nationalist personnel have fled and the enterprise has suspended operations, a management committee of representatives elected by the workers and technicians should be set up, pending the appointment by the democratic government of managers and directors who will manage it together with the workers. Enterprises run by notorious big bureaucrats of the Nationalist Party should be dealt with in conformity with the principles and measures stated above. Industrial and commercial enterprises run by small bureaucrats or by landlords, however, are not subject to confiscation. Encroachment on any enterprise run by the national bourgeoisie is strictly prohibited.

#3

Forbid peasant organizations to enter the city to seize landlords and settle scores with them. Landlords whose land is in the villages but who live in the city should be dealt with by the democratic municipal government according to law. Upon the request of the village peasant organizations, those who have committed the most heinous crimes may be sent back to the villages to be dealt with.

#4

On entering the city, do not lightly advance slogans of raising wages and reducing working hours. In wartime, it is good enough if production can continue and existing working hours and original wage levels can be maintained. Whether or not suitable reductions in working hours and increases in wages are to be made later will depend on economic conditions, that is, on whether the enterprises thrive.

#5

Do not be in a hurry to organize the people of the city to struggle for democratic reforms and improvements in livelihood. These matters can be properly handled in the light of local conditions only when the municipal administration is in good working order, public feeling has become calm, careful surveys have been made, a clear idea of the situation has been gained, and appropriate measures have been worked out.

#6

In the big cities, food and fuel are now the central problems; they must be handled in a planned way. Once a city comes under our administration, the problem of the livelihood of the urban poor must be solved step by step and in a planned way. Do not raise the slogan: «Open the granaries to relieve the poor.» Do not foster among them the psychology of depending on the government for relief.

#7

Members of the Nationalist Party of China and its «Three People's Principles» Youth League must be properly screened and registered.

#8

Plan everything on a long-term basis. It is strictly forbidden to destroy any means of production, whether publicly or privately owned, and to waste consumer goods. Extravagant eating and drinking are forbidden, and attention should be paid to thrift and economy.

#9

Appoint as secretaries of the Party's municipal committee and as mayor and deputy mayors only persons who have a grasp of policy and are capable. They should train all their personnel and explain urban policies and tactics to them. Now that the city belongs to the people, everything should proceed in the spirit that the people themselves are responsible for managing the city. It would be entirely wrong to apply our policies and tactics for cities under Nationalist administration to a city under the people's own administration.