Chapter 41 Decision to Convene the Second Session of the Second Senate Council of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region[1]

(July 5, 1944) The Japanese aggressors were dying, attacking Henan and Hunan, and retreating from the frontal battlefield. The whole country was in danger, and the northwest was in danger.However, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army fought in the enemy's rear battlefield, and the anti-Japanese democratic bases were increasingly consolidated, becoming the center of hope of the people of the whole country.In order to unite all the anti-Japanese forces and prepare for a counter-offensive against the enemy, it was decided to hold the second meeting of the Second Council of the Border Region in November this year[2].

At this conference, the following issues will mainly be discussed: (1) Issues of unity and democracy.The development and consolidation of the anti-Japanese base areas in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region depended on political, economic, and cultural democracy, uniting the people of all walks of life and all parties into one heart.This year's Senate Council should review the existing good and insufficient experience, reflect the opinions of all parties, and give more content to unity and democracy, so that people from all walks of life, men, women, and children, can mobilize together and increase their strength.And we must use the example of the border region to urge the people of the whole country to work together to end all split and anti-democratic phenomena as soon as possible.

(2) Military issues.In the past, there were achievements in the work of supporting the army, optimizing the resistance and organizing the people, but there were still shortcomings.In the future, both of these two items should be strengthened, and Japanese imperialism should be overthrown with the military-civilian integration and the whole people as soldiers.This year the Senate should review such work. (3) The economic and cultural construction of the border area.The legacy of the old society to the border areas is: poverty, ignorance and disease.Over the years, under the leadership of the government, all the people have struggled against poverty. This phenomenon has either been eliminated or alleviated.However, it has not been universal, and because of the need to increase production due to the needs of the Anti-Japanese War and famine preparations, it is necessary to call on the people to generally achieve at least one year's surplus grain for each household within two to three years.In order to change the phenomenon of too many bald hills in the border area, the people should be called on to plant trees, and each household should plant at least one hundred trees within five to ten years.Various industrial products in the border area have increased every year, but they are still not self-sufficient. In particular, cloth, iron and other items must be completely self-sufficient within three years, and not only in large quantities, but also in good quality.In the cause of fighting ignorance, although progress has been made over the years, illiteracy has not yet been eliminated. We must use all effective methods so that men, women and children can recognize at least a thousand characters within a few years.In the cause of fighting diseases, we must make great efforts to overcome the phenomenon of "wealthy people are not prosperous". Within a few years, every township should have at least one doctor, and every district should have at least one pharmacy.In short, the economic, cultural, and health movements that are already flourishing or have begun to develop should be made even greater strides forward.The method: one is public, the other is private.And the main method is civil government assistance, calling on the people to organize various forms of cooperatives.Only by public-private cooperation, public-private balance, and under the principle of voluntariness (no forced apportionment), the overwhelming majority of the people can be organized into economic, cultural, and hygienic cooperative movements can accomplish the above tasks. The Senate should review these tasks in detail this year .

(4) Election issues.Members of the Border District Council are due to be re-elected next year.In order to enable the people to elect their favorite candidates to the Senate, so that these new senators can better reflect the interests of the people and determine the major plans for the war of resistance and national construction, the election regulations and election methods should be discussed in this year's Senate. The above four items are the main issues that must be discussed by the Senate this year. This joint meeting instructs governments at all levels, senators and councils at all levels, anti-Japanese groups, and labor heroes to initiate heated discussions in advance and prepare opinions so that At that time, it will be reflected in the Senate, and it is extremely important to make resolutions that are conducive to strengthening the unity of the war of resistance and the development of various constructions in the border area!

Printed from originals kept at the Central Archives. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] This decision was drafted by Mao Zedong. [2] The Second Council of the Second Session of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region was held from December 4 to 19, 1944.