Page - 222 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

222 chapter 5 ants. His views on the fundamental question for Social-Democratic agrarian policywerealsoshapedbyhisparty’s fearofanti-socialistboycott inthecoun- tryside, social discontentment in the cities, and a subsequentweakening of SocialDemocracy.Bauerhimselfreinforcedthisanxietyinnumerousspeeches. TheSocialDemocratsdirectedtheirproposalchieflyatsmallpeasants,agri- cultural andsilviculturalworkers.Theshort-termand long-termobjectivesof theagrarianpolicyweresummarisedintwoparts.Thefirstpartoutlinedefforts tobeachievedundercapitalism,whereas thesecond focusedondefining the developmentofagricultureduringthetransitionalperiodbetweencapitalism andsocialism.Inthefirstpart,increasingproductivityandexpandingthereach of social legislationto thecountryside tookprecedence.Thevital component of the secondpartwas thenationalisationofwoodsand large estates for the benefitofcommunesandfederalstatestoensurethatbroadlayersoftherural populationhadaccesstonaturalgoods.Bothpartsweremouldedbycontribu- tionsbytheco-operativemovement.Afterall, theSocialDemocratshadbeen supporting the co-operativemovement– in their eyes, the thirdpillar of the workers’movement alongside the party and trade unions – from the begin- ning.129 Improvementsintheeconomyandconditionsoflifeinthecountrysidewere thecentreof interestanddeterminedtheplannedcourseofaction: 1. Increasedproductivity– thisdemandwas regardedas themost important programmatic requirement.130 The followingmeasures were to be taken: raisingeducational levels(i.e.expandingandreformingelementaryschools in the countryside, scholarship funds, widening the advice and courses network), raising agricultural standards (developing infrastructure in the countryside, improvingthequalityofsoil throughmeliorationsystemsand aquifers, passing decrees which would oblige peasants to use high qual- ity seedingmaterials andbreeding animals). If the advisorynetworks and systemof regulationsdidnotprovideeffectivemeansof rationalisingagri- culturalproduction, theprogrammeimplied legal statutes thatwouldcon- vert the landof rebelliouspropertyowners into communityproperty. The SocialDemocratshadnodoubt that itwas legitimate to infringe theprop- 129 Leserdiscussesthis inLeser1968,p.380. 130 The reasons for priorities being set thus go back to Bauer’s remark that the peasantry shoulddeclarenotpricingpolicies,butanincreaseinindustrialfarmproductivityitsmain objective;onlythiswouldsecureanexpansionofsalesmarketsfor industrialproduction. Increasing productivity was, according to him, the common interest of peasants and workers.SeeBauer1978b,p.346;compareMattl 1985b,p.222.