RUSSIA AS SHE IS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 112, 14 May 1935, Page 9

RUSSIA AS SHE IS.

THE SIGHTS OF MOSCOW

BUILDING AND TRANSPORT

PROBLEMS

SOVIET'S COLOSSAL TASK. (By J. A. HAN AX.) (VI.) In previous articles there has been stated what may be regarded by some as evidence of improved conditions in Russia, but I want to emphasise that very little has been said in regard to country conditions. Russia is eo vast that it must bo obvious that few people are qualified to express an opinion on this point. The sparse information I obtained relative to the country districts was indicative that conditions were not so satisfactory as in the cities. It seemed fairly cleat 1 to me that although some advance had been made in the cities, Russia had a long way to go, and. that if she possessed four or five times the number of apartment houses she lms built it would still be doubtful if all the industrial workers were housed according to our standards. It may be pertinent here to mention the following points (of course, only hearsay information). Moscow in 1917 had a "population of 1,250,000, now it has 3,500,000. To-day every Russian must have a passport for the following purposes: — 1. For identification. 2. To enforce the rule that no worker niav change his employment without permission. ;{. To prevent the continuation of the tremendous influx from the country to the cities.

If this is correct —and I think it ie— It is fairly obvious that conditions in the country are less attractive than in the cities. State Capitalism. What I have stated, however, is sufficient to make the reader realise that many of the idealistic doctrines of Karl Marx and Lenin have been found impracticable, and that at the most they have State Capitalism in Russia. The piecework and differential wage systems in the factories are relevant in this connection. But I want to emphasise that all I saw indicated that Russia had every incentive to better the conditions for her own people and concern herself less with the outside world. Hence, having frequently heard from Russians that Russia did not want war and desired more cordial relations with other nations, I feel inclined to regard these protestations as genuine. But to continue the second day's tight-seeing at Moscow. A general tour of the city showed many parks and public squares and a great number of art galleries and museums. While driving along the banks of the Moscova River I noticed considerable numbers of children skating on the ice. We were taken to the Moscow commercial aerodrome. Before arriving at the entrance we passed a large number of hangars, all fairly close together. They must have extended along a front of about one mile. Large numbers of aeroplanes out of their hangars, were visible. Most had the engines covered, others had the wines running, and the noise was terrific. The control tower had evidently been recently built, and if my memory serves me right, it had several large searchlights. About six inches or more of frozen snow covered the aerodrome. I noticed in particular one huge fiveen fined aeroplane. I may be exaggerating butl obtained the impression that the Southern Cross might well be drawn under one of its wings. In looking at it I felt the same as I did when very young, on seeing a giraffe for the first I understood from the guide that the aeroplane was a Soviet-built 32-passenger Ant.

Interest in Art. Another place visited on the second day was an art gallery. I think it was named the Tretiakov Gallery. A large queue of people, mainly young, were waiting to get in. Inside were tremendous numbers of visitors. . The -first picture I saw was an ikon of the Virgin Mary, said to have been painted about 1150 AD. The guide who conducted Bie through the gallery was evidently a great student of art, and knowing little about the subject, I frequently failed to understand and appreciate the points she made. The art gallery, she said, reflected the historical development of Russian art flown to the present time. Some of the futuristic paintings were quite unintelligible to me, but the young Russians seemed to take a great interest in them. One painting in particular has left a lasting impression on my mind. When I stood about five yards away, it looked like a portrayal of a London pea soup fog. As I stepped back it gradually cleared, and eventually it depicted a large number of hpreemen in the act of moving along a beautiful volley. It was the work of one of the most famous ot Russian painters. . Here and thero in the central part ot the city I noticed huge mounds of earth in open spaces where buildings had apparently been pulled down. I Wfl,B told that this wa? in connection with the new tube railway being erected in Moscow. These huge mounds did not five me tlic impression of efficiency, but it may well be tlint tho earth was frozen so hard that shifting them Would be a matter of some difficulty. There is little doubt that the transport problem in Moscow is very serious. I Here seemed to be a very extensive tramway system throughout tho city, but I noticed that the trams were always packed, find whenever I saw a "Untber ot people waiting at the train stops, there were always aomo who were unable to get on. The number of motor cars to he seen was small compared with other cities. I might go so far as to say that one would *ee more private motor ears in a main street in a big New Zealand city than in any particular street I saw in Moucow. The vast majority of the cars were Fords, made, I understand in the Soviet. Probably the factories are owned by the Soviet operating under license from the parent company. There wore to be seen, however, iarge numbers of Ford motor trucks, which ahvnys seemed to be packed with *oM!ers or stores.

Conversations With Tourists. When F returned to the hotel I had wome interesting eqnveratttone with Bome tourists. One. who stated that ha was an American business man, had (to lio said) beftll amazed to see A huge building with a wooden framework arrangement (it the top, from whence numbers of voung people were dropping down into "the street by means of parachutes. He had also visited the Toid factory at Moscow, nntt said tliftt the factory worked coutinubuely and tinned out ouo motor truck every 10 minutes!

Another tourist was from Vienna, and said he was a conductor of an orchestra in that city, and he had come to Moscow to see the opera. He said that the opera he had seen the night before was the equal of anything he had seen in Berlin, Paris or in the Scala Theatre at Milan. I will here make a diversion to state that the Moscow Opera House was a magnificent building, and appeared to me to be bigger than the ones in Paris, Berlin or Milan. The Scala Theatre is wonderful inside, but not very pretentious from the outside. I have heard it said that the Soviet built this beautiful Moscow building, but I believe this to be incorrect, and that it was erected in Czarist times.

Another tourist whom I met at the hotel was a German, who had made a special trip to Moscow for the purpose of divorcing his wife. (He was bitterly disappointed to find out that the divorce would probably not bo recognised in Germany.) I asked him what bethought of Hitler. Blowing his nose with great gusto ho snorted, "Himmcl!" and left l!._s rest to my imagination. After dinner I went for a stroll, and I walked for a considerable distance and obtained the impression that the proportion of new buildings in relation to the old seemed less than in Leningrad. The surface of some of the less important thoroughfares appeared to be rough. Some streets were reasonably well lit, but in the majority of cases it was otherwise.

I saw two churches. They were beautiful buildings, and offered a marked contrast to the drab surroundings. The windows in /jhe main wore boarded up (evidently the glass had been broken) and the churches, an a whole, were in a bad state of repair. The porch of one seemed to be occupied by a bootmaker. Though many fair-minded people migiit be appreciative of the endeavours of the Soviet to further the welfare of its people, the attitude of the authorities towards religion may well warrant the condemnation of the average New Zealander. I shall refer again to religion in Russia in a future article.

After seeing something of Leningrad and Moscow, I began to appreciate the magnitude of the great attempt to modernise and industrialise the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Nevertheless, though that vast country lias had tremendous handicaps to overcome, widespread illiteracy, the dead weight of an astonishingly primitive peasantry, racial differences within the Union, and, to some extent, the hostility of other nations, the Russians can justifiably claim that some progress has been made.