The Seller Is Always Right

Abstract

This chapter examines Torgsin's employees. The quality of staff was Torgsin's big problem. The government had to choose between political loyalty and professional qualifications. These two somehow did not go together: as a rule, a faithful party member had neither education nor experience in commerce, while an educated professional usually belonged to the “former exploiters” of tsarist Russia. Torgsin's leaders found a compromise solution to the dilemma. The administrative apparatus consisted of party members with some elementary education who served as political commissars in Soviet trade. Representing a minority of Torgsin's staff, they held power. Specialists, sales clerks, and cashiers, as a rule, had education and experience but were not party members. All the Torgsin chairmen were professional revolutionaries with considerable party experience.