PEASANTS OPENS IN ALGERIA
PARIS, Oct, 26 -- The three-day National Congress of Peasants which opened yesterday in the Majestic theater in Algiers is a most important . gathering. It brings together representatives of the class that fought imperialist France to a standstill in a seven=and~half year of unprece= dented violence and terror, that then pressed forward to take the land abandoned by the French colons, and did so in a way that led to sweeping nationalizations and the establishment of a socialist sector of the economy.
They meet after some six months of setting up and attempting to operate Management Committees and Workers Councils of a highly democratic character. And they meet in the face of the threat of armed rebellion in the Kabylie and an attack by the reactionary Moroccan monarchy that could escalate into war, What they say and decide in this Congress can settle a good many questions in Algeria,
The first session was impressive even to the hardened cynical repor= ters of the capitalist press. Here is what the correspondent of the Paris daily Le Monde writes [October 27]:
"astonishing spectacle: three thousand peasants, the dark hue under the white turban, a face that is the image of” thetr bane, weathered, hollowed and molded by erosion, baked by the sun, furrowed with wrinkles, Three thousand real peasants, seated in this room to hear technical reports, statistics. .. ;
"Tt is not sure that they will understand everything, but to see them speaks volumes, They are here, they _are called, "Messieurs les congres~ sistes" ["Gentlemen of the Congress], their opinions are sought, They have in their hands a small red folder with very serious things inside, . Here is the genuine revolution, Why be astonished then if every time the name of Ben Bella is mentioned they applaud? After which they formulate such criticisms that an observer who has not been warned would classify them among the most unconditional of the opposition,
"They are not sparing in their criticisms, Badly paid, badly provisioned, without supplies or seeds, they have come to say that they cannot continue like this.
"Those of Tizi-Ouzou ask that the land be divided, those of Sétif want guns to shoot jackals, those of Zeralda fire a hot broadside at officials who want to impose on them in a bureaucratic way. The commissioners of the agrarian reform, they say, must come from the people and know the land. In Batna they want the chairmen of the committees to be men of mature age, A delegate of Tébessa brought up the case of his region where the fields are sown with mines. Suggestions rain down. No one is spared.
"But the criticisms are not made in the manner of the servant of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard who considered all occasions appropriate for saying that just the same things were better before the abolition of serf-
whew ~ 5 dom, The Algerian peasants are not content, they complain, but they want to go forward." a
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The Algiers daily Le Peuple published [October 25] some brief remarks ' by a number of delegates who were interviewed at the Maison du Peuple as they waited to be assigned lodgings, These give a good indication of the. difficult problems Algeria faces: Haouhach Atéssa (24), chairman of a Management Committee at d'Bl-Affroun: |
"T wish this Congress full success. Certainly everything is going good in our sector. However, we are bothered by the lack of supplies. On this subject we have to indicate that some agricultural mechanics who got 745 francs [$1.54] a day like us found this amount insufficient and refused to continue to work with us. They left for private jobs. The mechanic who worked with us nevertheless got 2,000 francs [$4.12] ea day. He wanted more and he left,". Salem Djelloul (27), chairman of a Management Committee at Ameur Smafn:
"Tt11l tell you first of all, 'Long live socialism and long live Ben Bella! I will add, 'Wetll break the aggression of Hassan II and all the enemies of Algerian socialism the way we break clods,*
“We regret that it's only the cities that have doctors and there. aren't any at all in the countryside where we are," Benzahri Rabah (36):
"We are happy over the advent of socialism and we are determined to do everything to realize this aim, We are determined to work with.the same intensity we showed in liberating the national territory from the claws of colonialism, We will defeat Hassan II the way we defeated the foreign oppressor," a Ali Rahmani Mohamed (22):
“We wish full success to our Congress and we reaffirm our total support to the socialist policy of Brother Ben Bella, We must, however, indi-~ cate the lack of mechanics in our farms. We have to say in addition that we were obliged to call on private transport to deliver our products," Dagani Safd (40):
"Our Management Committee is doing very well. We hope that this year things will go even better due to the fact that there will be no delay in the delivery of seeds. We must tell you that we lack a pharmacy. We have to make a very long trip to get medicine," Amari.Ben Yahia (28) of Safda:
"In the frame of socialism, we only ask to be able to work, However, we need material aid, especially in regard to parts which we can't get.
"We also lack silos to store our grain in.
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"Since seeds haven't yet-been delivered to us, we suggest that ‘seed co-operatives be created, It's necessary, too, that aia stores: should be set Up a little everywhere and not just in the capital. Nohammedt Ali (43) ):
“Our only hop; is the Management Committees, that is, socialism, . ‘Thus everyone will have his part, Thus will equality be genuinely established ‘among all the children of the Algerian people.
hye: have to indicat te in our Management Committee the tnauttiotingy ‘ot “supplies,
“We hope that there will be ‘no delay in the delivery of sesds. .. [Balance - illegible. ]
- El-Kou, « « [pant of name i1Legibie] US): anna or tame
We: lack ‘fert* ‘Lizer to get petier success with our Crops. We are more decided than ever to work," OO
e Bouafir 0 EL He Hadj (27) 0 of Morad:
‘ive need understanding and wisdom. We can do things above our strength, but we must be remunerated, We. would also. like to have accounts drawn up on the management of our. farms. gene US.
"The peasant must have an annual vacation Like the functionary,: We would also like a bonus for output, In addition, men should be placed, an the kasmas and responsible posts who understand the peasants, ° Derbal Abdelkader (22) of the Had jout domain:
"We lack supplies and houses, We likewise want a school because our children aren't being taught,"
APPEAL FOR ATD TO ALGERTA™
ee _ ALGIERS, Oct, 17 -- The National Office of the Committce for Buropean Ne ongovernment Aid for