Page - 223 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

the ‘thirdway’ to socialism 223 erty rights of farmers if these rights stood in contradiction to the interests of the community.However, theydidnot forget thedamagedone inRus- sia and tried to prevent the danger of creating a command economy by passingtheresponsibilityforlandlordexpropriationtothechamberofagri- culture. 2. Improvingthesituationofthesmallholders–inthispartoftheprogramme, regulationstoabolishtheexploitationofagriculturebycommercialcapital werebroughttothefore.Adecreethatobligedfarmerstoformagricultural marketingco-operatives,whichweretoco-operatewithurbanconsumerco- operativesaccordingtoplan,wasconsideredthemostimportantbill.Aside from this proposal, the programmeaimed to introduce a statemonopoly onagricultural products in order toprotect the interest of peasants, price regulations by the state, and tariffs policies to protect the domesticmar- ket. These changeswere toguaranteedomestic sales andprotectpeasants fromthecompetitionoftheemploymentmarket.Furthermeasurestosup- portsmallholdersincludedgrantingfavourablecredits,settingupstatecon- trolledagriculturalbanks,expandingleaseholderprotection,andlaunching aninsurancesystemagainst theeffectsofnaturaldisasters. 3. Eliminating rural poverty – this point in the programmedeserves special attention: it demanded that the living conditions of agricultural and silvi- culturalworkers be raised to the level of the industrialworking class. The existingsocialwelfaresystem–industrialsafetyregulations,therighttopaid holidays,healthinsuranceandpensions,wageagreements,arbitrationcom- mittees, industrial tribunals andofficial representation in the chamber of labour–wastobeextendedtoincludethesegroups. It isdifficult toascertain fromallof thesedemands, irrespectiveofhowjusti- fiedandundeniablyprogressive, justhowthey served toconduct specifically socialistpolicies in thecountryside.131Thesecondpartof theprogrammedid notmeetthiscriterioneither:evenif itsdemandsstressedtheeconomicbene- fitsarisingfromconglomeratingallestateswithinamunicipality,theywerenot necessarilyheadinginthedirectionofsocialisation.Rather,theyrepresenteda clusteroflegislationsenforcedtopreventthecontaminationofcapitalisminto rural relations. 131 Bauerhimselfadmittedasmuchwhenhewrote: ‘thereisnoargumentbetweentheSocial Democratsandbourgeoispartiesabout thenecessityofall theseregulations.Quite true, but the parties differ in the extent towhich they dare to promote the development of agriculturebyintroducingbinding,compulsoryregulations’–Bauer1976i,p.294.