VIET. BXPSRIVS a» from 'The Guardian’. The Soviot Governent is is exporimenting with one of the controversial economic propowals made last year by Dr. Leibermann of Kharkov Univorsity. One of his proposals, simed at giving greater freedom to individual entorprises, was to give plant directors the right to make their ow manpower arrangements. Tho far-reaching proposals, which included the = introduction of the profit motivo, were not endorsed by Mr. Khruschov, but Mr. F, Maniola, the Seviet Deputy Minister of Finance, revealad in 'Isvestia' that "the Govarnment has granted to cartain plant managers and dirsctors of building and other organisations tha right te 1.4 xine the structure and establishment of their administration," He said that at the present time almost 300, Se pice eh “have tho right to fic: the sige of their administrative sstablishment."
Dr. Leibermann's propozals, publishsd in 'Pravda' last Saptamber, = wero aimed, among othsr things, at elininating administrative ever-staffing, woich is ons of ths most pernicious problems of the Toviat economy. Hoe suggested, in assence, that wagas in ontarprises be paid in accordance with the parcentags of profit made by tha plant in relation to ita onpital assets, Insisting on the need to abolish ‘petty supervision of enterprises from the contre", he also proposed that datailed planning from above should reach only as far as the region, and that below that laveal factory diractors should bo able to make th-ir cwm arrangements: on investment, wagsa and tho sige of the labour forca, AMERICA'S POORss.+-cceeeseeee+ based on an "icononiat' report.
Almost one third of Amorican* families arse poor= by Amorican standards. Various yard-—sticke h-ve been proposed for measuring poverty. The Bureau of Labour Statistics has suggested drawing tha poverty line at $4,000 a year for a family of four, and $2,000 for an individual living alone. This places about 50 million Americans among the poor, which include 11 million children ¢ 8 million peoples aged 65 and over or approximately half of all imerica's “senior citizens", and 12 million Negroes(who account for about i of tha statistical poor), Naturally tha three catesories overlap. The rost aro bolioved to be Puerto Ricans and other mlarites, poor whites in Amorica's vast, backward rural aroas, minors and textils workers “ho havo leng been unemployed.
The poor live in the one fifth of imerican housing that is officially sub-standard. Their crime-p2te, in tho overcrowled sluns,is said to be increasing at an abnormal pace, Many of tham ara so illiterato that they cannot read newspaper advertisomonts of jobs. They exporienca both mental and physical ill-health quite cut of proportion to their numbers. ind there is a growing suspicion that the 11 million of them under 18 may be permanently disabled by lack of aducation and opportunity.
Meanwhile the American middle-class is vast and growing: almost % of all families have annual incomes thet ranges between $6,000 and $15,0003 whilo 4million families have incomes from $15,000 up.
The middle-class succoodsin oscaping from tha poor by fleeing from the cities to the suburbs, and by finding private schools for their children, in preferences to the tax-supported onss where they would have to mix with the impoverishsd whites and racial minorities.
Heving brokét off contact with the poor, tho niddle-class find: it diffi ult to boliov tist they really o#i:t.