Rent Reduction and Production Are Two Important Matters for the Defence of the Liberated Areas
#PUBLICATION NOTE
This edition of Rent Reduction and Production Are Two Important Matters for the Defence of the Liberated Areas 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: Rent Reduction and Production Are Two Important Matters for the Defence of the Liberated Areas, in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Vol. 4, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1965.
#INTRODUCTION NOTE
This is an inner-Party directive drafted by Comrade Mao Zedong for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Yan'an, Shaanxi, China on the 7th of November, 1945. It was first published in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 4, in 1960.
#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!
#RENT REDUCTION AND PRODUCTION ARE TWO IMPORTANT MATTERS FOR THE DEFENCE OF THE LIBERATED AREAS
#DIRECTIVE OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA
#Mao Zedong
#7th of November, 1945
#★
#1
The Nationalist Party of China, aided by the United States, is mobilizing all its forces to attack our Liberated Areas. Countrywide civil war is already a fact. Our Party's present task is to mobilize all forces, take the stand of self-defence, smash the attacks of the Nationalist Party, defend the Liberated Areas, and strive for the realization of peace. To achieve this aim, the following have become very urgent tasks. See to it that, in the Liberated Areas, the peasants generally get the benefits of rent reduction and that the workers and other working people benefit by appropriate wage increases and improved conditions; at the same time, see to it that the landlords can still make a living and that the industrial and commercial capitalists can still make profits. Unfold a large-scale production drive next year, increase the output of food and daily necessities, improve the people's livelihood, provide relief for victims of famine and for refugees, and meet the needs of the army. Only when the two important matters of rent reduction and production are well handled can we overcome our difficulties, support the war, and win victory.
#2
As the scale of the war is now very large, many leading comrades are in command at the front and cannot divert their attention to rent reduction and production. Hence there must be division of labour. Those leading comrades who remain in the rear areas, in addition to doing a great deal of work in direct support of the front, must not miss the opportune time for organizing these two important tasks of rent reduction and production. In the next few months of the winter and spring, they must launch large-scale rent reduction movements and carry out rent reduction universally in all the Liberated Areas, and particularly in the vast new Liberated Areas, so as to awaken the revolutionary fervour of the great majority of the peasant masses. Meanwhile, they must see to it that there is a new development of agricultural and industrial production in all the Liberated Areas in 1946. Do not neglect rent reduction and production because of the new large-scale war; on the contrary, it is precisely in order to defeat the Nationalist offensive that rent reduction and production must be stepped up.
#3
Rent reduction must be the result of mass struggle, not a favour bestowed by the government. On this depends the success or failure of rent reduction. In the struggle for rent reduction, excesses can hardly be avoided; as long as it is really a conscious struggle of the broad masses, any excesses that have occurred can be corrected afterward. Only then can we persuade the masses and enable them to understand that it is in the interest of the peasants and the people as a whole to allow the landlords to make a living so that they will not help the Nationalist Party. Our Party's present policy is still to reduce rents, not to confiscate land. During and following rent reduction, we must help the great majority of the peasants to organize themselves into peasant associations.
#4
The key to victory in the production drive is to organize the vast majority of the producers into mutual-aid production groups. An indispensable measure is to provide government credits for agriculture and industry. It is also very important to do farm work in the right season and reduce loss of worktime. At present, we must mobilize civilian human resources to support the war; on the other hand, we must so far as possible not miss any season for farming; hence we should study methods of adjustments. Army units, government bodies, and schools should continue to take part in production to an appropriate extent, provided it does not interfere with the war, with work, and with study. Only thus can they better their livelihood and lighten the burden on the people.
#5
We already hold some big and many middle cities. It has become an important task for our Party to take control of the economy of these cities and to develop their industry, commerce, and finance. For this purpose, it is very necessary to use all the qualified persons available and persuade Party members to cooperate with them and learn technique and methods of management from them.
#6
Tell all Party members to stand firmly together with the people, to have concern for their economic difficulties, and to regard the carrying out of the two important tasks of rent reduction and production as the key to helping the people overcome their difficulties; by so doing, we shall win the heartfelt support of the people and be able to defeat attacks by any reactionaries. Everything must still be considered from the standpoint of a long-term effort, human and material resources must be used sparingly, everything must be planned on a long-term basis; thus, we will be sure to win victory.