Methods of Struggle Against the «Five Evils» in Industrial and Commercial Units
#PUBLICATION NOTE
This edition of Methods of Struggle Against the «Five Evils» in Industrial and Commercial Units 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: On the Struggle Against the «Three Evils» and the «Five Evils», in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Vol. 5, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1977.
#INTRODUCTION NOTE
This is an inner-Party directive drafted by Comrade Mao Zedong for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the 5th of March, 1952. It was first published in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 5, in 1977.
#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!
#METHODS OF STRUGGLE AGAINST THE «FIVE EVILS» IN INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL UNITS
#DIRECTIVE OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA
#Mao Zedong
#5th of March, 1952
#★
#1
In the Movement Against the «Five Evils», the fundamental principles in dealing with industrial and commercial units are: leniency for past offences and severity for new ones (for instance, payment of taxes that have been evaded is generally retroactive only to 1951); leniency toward the many and severity toward the few; leniency toward those owning up to their crimes and severity toward those refusing to do so; leniency for industry and severity for commerce; and leniency for commerce in general and severity for commercial speculation. The Party committees at all levels are asked to adhere to these principles in the Movement Against the «Five Evils».
#2
For the purpose of the Movement Against the «Five Evils», private industrial and commercial units should be classified into five categories: the law-abiding, the fundamentally law-abiding, those that partly abide by the law and partly break it, those that break the law on a serious scale, and those that completely violate the law. As far as the big cities are concerned, the first three categories make up about 95% and the last two about 5%. The percentages for different big cities are roughly the same, with only small variations. As for middle cities, the percentages differ considerably from these figures.
#3
These five categories apply to the capitalists and the non-capitalist independent handicraftspeople and family merchants, but not to the street vendors. In big cities, the street vendors may be left alone for the time being, but the independent handicraftspeople and family merchants had better be dealt with. In middle cities, it would be better to deal with both the independent handicraftspeople and merchants and the street vendors in this movement. In our big and middle cities, there are large numbers of independent handicraftspeople and merchants who do not employ workers or shop assistants (though some have apprentices). Many of them are law-abiding, many others fundamentally abide by the law, but partly break it (that is, they have minor offences to account for, such as small-scale tax evasion), and a small number partly abide by the law and partly break it and have evaded taxes on a larger scale. In the current Movement Against the «Five Evils», we must deal with a considerable number of small capitalists and pass judgment on them, and as far as possible do likewise with the independent handicraftspeople and merchants, who roughly equal the small capitalists in number. This will be to the advantage of the current movement and to economic construction in the days ahead. The small capitalists as well as the independent handicraftspeople and merchants are generally innocent of serious offences, and it is not difficult to pass judgment on them. In so acting, we shall win support from the masses. However, if a few cities think it convenient to pass judgment first on industrial and commercial units other than the independent handicraftspeople and merchants and defer judgment on the latter, that is in order, too.
#4
In view of the actual situation in the cities, we have decided to reclassify industrial and commercial units into five categories instead of four as in the past, that is, those in the law-abiding category are to be reclassified into law-abiding and fundamentally law-abiding, while the other three categories remain unchanged. Out of the 50'000 industrial and commercial units in Beijing (including the independent handicraftspeople and merchants, but not the street vendors), the law-abiding ones make up about 10%, the fundamentally law-abiding ones about 60%, those that partly abide by the law and partly break it about 25%, those that break the law on a serious scale about 4%, and those that completely violate the law about 1%. To distinguish between the strictly law-abiding ones and the fundamentally law-abiding ones with minor offences and, furthermore, to treat the fundamentally law-abiding units guilty of small-scale tax evasion differently from those guilty on a larger scale may prove to have important educational value.
#5
In some big and middle cities, the city Party committees launched the Movement Against the «Five Evils» in a hurry, when they were not at all acquainted with the situation with respect to the different categories of industrial and commercial units and were not clear about the tactics of differential treatment, and when the work teams (or investigation groups) sent by the trade unions and the government had been organized and trained in a very slipshod way. As a result, some confusion has arisen. It is hoped that the city Party committees concerned will pay attention to this situation and see to its correction without delay. Moreover, the investigation of industrial and commercial units which break the law must be made under the strict control of the city Party committee and the city government. No other organization is allowed to send out people to investigate on its own, much less to haul capitalists into its office for interrogation. Whether in the Movement Against the «Three Evils» or in the Movement Against the «Five Evils», the use of torture to extort confessions is forbidden, and strict precautions must be taken to prevent suicides. Where suicides have occurred, measures for preventing their further occurrence should be worked out immediately to ensure that both movements will develop soundly and on the right track and that complete victory will be won.
#6
The Movement Against the «Three Evils» and the Movement Against the «Five Evils» are not to be launched at present in counties, districts, and townships. Further notice will be given by the Central Committee as to when and how to carry them out. In the few instances where the Movement Against the «Five Evils» has been launched at county seats and the Movement Against the «Three Evils» in districts, in both cases experimentally, strict control must be exercised and spring farming and other economic activities must not be hampered. The Movement Against the «Five Evils» should not begin in all the middle cities at the same time, but should be staggered and strictly controlled.