Soviet Legislators Clash Over ‘Private Property’

Soviet legislators clashed today over a proposal to restore private property rights in the Soviet Union, and one Ukrainian lawmaker said such an idea is so radical that it should be put to a national referendum.

“We have to ask the people,” said lawmaker Leonid Sukhov of Kharkov. “The people know better.”

While the 35-article property bill does not go as far as to use the words private property, it does recognize the right for the existence of diverse forms of property and says citizens can own property, including houses and apartments, for private use.

The proposal does not clearly state whether land can be privately owned. State ownership of all land is a fundamental principle of Marxism.

In another departure from orthodox dogma, which forbids individuals to own factories and equipment on a large-scale, the bill says citizens can now own the “means of production” for farming and other labor activities.

The bill would also allow foreigners to enjoy the same rights as Soviet citizens in owning property. Citizens could own stocks and bonds.

Deputy Premier Leonid Abalkin, who is one of the country’s leading radical economists, said it was decided to speak of “individual” rather than “private” property in the bill because society has a “negative attitude” toward the latter term.

After its first reading before the 542-member Supreme Soviet last fall, the bill underwent substantial revisions with at least 10,000 changes written into the lengthy draft, Tass news agency reported.

During the initial debate, conflict arose over who currently owns land and natural resources--the national government or the individual republics. That issue has been skirted in the draft in favor of phrasing that says the land and its resources “belong to people living on a given territory.”

The issue is critical because the legislature in Lithuania has already adopted laws that allow the sale of land to individuals.