18 PHENOMENA, ATOMS, AND MOLECULES 



by which he exceeds his quota. The pay of the workers is represented only 

 in a small part by the money they receive. The main part of the compen- 

 sation consists of permission to buy rationed goods at low pre-war prices. 

 Surplus money can be used only in markets or stores selling unrationed 

 goods at prices that range from 20 to 100 times pre-war prices. Nearly 

 everything that is essential is rationed (food, clothing, housing, cigarettes, 

 etc.). Thus, their policy of paying a man according to his services to the 

 state takes the form of giving greatly different amounts of rationed goods 

 to men in different positions or having different skills. This seems to be 

 thought of in Russia as a legitimate and desirable practice. Imagine, how- 

 ever, in this country what the public reaction would be if a bill were intro- 

 duced into the Senate during war time giving six more times red ration 

 points to the president of a company than to one of his lower paid employ- 

 ees. We must remember, however, that in Russia if there are to be 

 incentives, they must come from the government. The government has 

 deliberately chosen to adopt an incentive system which is at least as effec- 

 tive and as logical as that which we have inherited from our capitalist 

 system before it was restrained by government control. 



Among the directors of the scientific institutes in the Russian Academy 

 of Sciences I found striking evidence of this incentive system. Automobiles 

 with chauffeurs, who could be called upon at 3 a.m., were supplied at 

 government expense to such men. One director told me that although he 

 already has a summer home provided for him, the government has recently 

 offered to build him another summer home in the mountains. 



The incentives offered to scientists in Russia do not consist wholly of 

 their compensation in money or in ration points. Just before the anniver- 

 sary meeting of the Academy, 13 Russian scientists were awarded the 

 much coveted order "Hero of Socialist Labor," the highest honor bestowed 

 by the Soviet Government to a civiHan. A total of 1400 orders ofjesser 

 degree were also distributed. In this and other ways the social prestige 

 of outstanding scientists is increased. 



The Russian government does not believe in weakening its incentive 

 system by high taxes. There are no surtaxes as such, but excess purchasing 

 power, while there are war time scarcities of consumer goods, is absorbed 

 by the very high prices charged for unrationed goods at the government 

 operated "commercial stores," which constitute a kind of official black 

 market. 



I found that the work of the institutes of the Academy in Russia even 

 in war time was very largely of a type that we would call fundamental 

 science. The developments in applied science are generally done in special 

 laboratories outside of the Academy. 



The Russian government attaches a far greater importance to culture 



