ABSTRACT
T HE use ofstocks already sorely depleted and the ruth-less reduction of consumption already stringentlynarrowed by war requirements were not the only " reserves" upon which Russia at this time could draw. Perhaps of equal importance were the potentialities of the new forms of organisation which N E P had introduced or made possible. The revival of the market, the dissolution of Glavkism and its replacement by administrative decentralisation afforded considerable prospect of banishing some of the disorder of " war communism " and preparing the way for a more efficient utilisation of the resources which were already at the disposal of the State. There was a hope of lightening the burden on central economic organs and setting them free for calmer thought and more efficient planning of the tasks before them. There was hope that the process of unshackling industry would lessen the delays and the circumlocution, awaken the initiative of subordinate organs and give to the whole system a greater flexibility. There was hope that the restored free trading in grain and the abolition of the wartime restrictions on labour, together with the new role of the trade unions, might have the added psychological advantage of reviving confidence among the tmlsses of the village and the town.
