THE MONEY MEN OF SOVIET RUSSIA

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 76, 31 March 1945, Page 8

THE MONEY MEN OF SOVIET RUSSIA

By RALPH HEWINS

THERE are rrullionaires in Moscow ■*■ to-day—yes, despite the fact that Russia is a Communist State. The old, loose-thinking theory that Communism means "No wealth" has gone by the board. Actually, "You must be poor" never was a Marxist rule, and it is. not a Stalinist one to^day. The Marxist and Stalinist rule is: "Thou shalt not be a capitalist."

And by. a capitalist is meant someone who lives by speculation or a person who lives by employing other people. You may in the U.S.S.R. own ten houses if you like—for your own use and the use of your own family —but you cannot own even one house and live by letting it and living on the rent it brings in. The Russian millionaires are still Proletarians — for authors, actors, singers are ranked as Proletarians, even though they make money on the Hollywood scale. People in Communist Russia are allowed to have large amounts of money for their private use. Surprisingly enough, many people do. Even before the Russo-German war there were 30 rouble millionaires in Moscow alone. There-were also rouble multi-millionaires. After three and a half years of war Russians are earning more than ever. But riches are not so noticeable, as it is bad Soviet manners to flaunt wealth in wartime. Also, there is not much luxury left, to buy, and, anyway, the purchasing power of. the rouble has depreciated.'' ■ Probably the richest Soviet citizen now is Alexei Tolstoi, grandson of the great novelist, Count Leo Tolstoi. Alexei is now 63 and has been writing since 1909. He emigrated to America during the Revolution of 1917 and earned his living ! as an author and Hollywood script writer, but he was allowed to return to Russia in 1932. He became world-famous through his historical work "Peter the Great," which was also filmed. For the film rights alone he received 3,000,000 roubles from the Soviet Government, which is about normal for such a manurcript in the West r le also earned large sums from hii books, which sold by the million. Furthermore, he received the Stalin Prize, which is the Soviet. Nobel Prize for Literature and . is worth 200.000 roubles. Another millionaire author is Mihail Sholokhov, who has sold over 10,000,000 copies of his books, notably "Quiet Flows ihe Don: , * As any Western author might, Sh6lokh<>-T

earns royalties on each copy sold, in addition to which he.also received the Stalin 200,000 roubles prize. Unlike Alexei Tolstoi, who has grown portly and comfortable and to love the good things .Of life, Sholokhoy is very unobtrusive and lives quietly near his village birthplace, Vechenskaya, on the Don. He has remained a lean, reserved, sturdy peasant, like his forbears. He has bought War Bonds with the bulk of his millions. -•■■••

Film Producers s Two other prominent Bolshevist millionaires are Sergei Eisenstein and Sevelod Pudovkin, both film producers; also the brothers Vassiliev, from Leningrad, who are, film directors. .. . ... Both brothers like to do themselves as well as any Hollywood magnate. Their parties are famous from the Gulf of Finland to the Black Sea, and nobody accuses them of being "class traitors" or of any other such outmoded nonsense. . • ■ Then we. have those superb tenors Koslovski and Ldeshey, in Moscow, and Nikolai Konstantinovich Petchkovski in Leningrad/and the baritones Pirogoy, the "new Chaliapin," and fat comrade Reisen. All five are millionaires, "but several of their fellow "Meritorious Artists of the Republic" and "People's Artists of the Republic" are very rich, too: They are regarded as the cream of Soviet high society. There are Russian opera singers who earn 2000 roubles for each performance, and it is said that. the. Moscow idol Koslovski received 12,000 roubles for one appearance—which is Hollywood standard. Munition Builders One need not, however be an author, a film magnate, or. an artist to earn big money in Russia to-day. Aeroplane builders like MajorrGeneral of Aviation, S. V. Ilusschin, and Laveschin, and the famous inventor, V. A. Degtyarev, who is a "Hero of Socialist Labour" and the originator of the "Stalin Hawk" rocket gun and the Red Army's celebrated machinepistol, have each received the Stalin Prize twice. Iluschin actually had 600,000 roubles in State grants, including his prize money. He and his fellow heroes also each have a minimum of 5000 roubles a month as salary, besides a percentage payment reckoned on the output of their products. Other well-known rich Tovariches (crmrades) in Russia are the chiefs of the heavy industries, but they are not seen much in Moscow these davs. They are busy day and night in Siberia, Central Asia or the Far East,: or repairing the Donbas.

Before 1934 industrial commercial leaders did not get much out of life and were merely chairmen of allpowerful factory committees. But since Stalin introduced "individual direction" and decreed that directors should be answerable to the Government, they have profited in proportion as they have speeded up produc : tion —besides getting their ordinary monthly salary. Many industrialists have also received a Stalin Prize.

What does a Soviet Croesus do with his money. .. : Answer; He has a villa outside the city, a town flat near his office, a country datcha. He has one or more cars with a chauffeur, men servants, and domestic staff. He feeds and drinks well and entertains his friends. He travels" and, even in wartime, snatches brief holidays. His womenfolk have furs and jewels. " There is bear and wolf shooting, wildfowling, swimming and other pastinies, besides the operas, theatre, ballet and books for the Soviet moneyed elite. ' . This full life was just-getting into its swing when the German invasion broke loose-—and-the full life will return. Rich and poor, Soviet citizens are looking forward to those days again and even now are beginning to think they may be just round the corner. In Moscow, as in the Crimea, the Caucasian Riviera, and Central Asian resorts like Taschent or Bokhara, servants are considered one form of labour from Which one cannot, earn money, and. therefore one can have as many as one likes for one's comfort so far as one can afford. Russians—odd as it may sound to Goebbels' victims—are very human

and realistic and enjoy a full and well-organisea private life as much as anybody. Austerity Going A friend of mine who has visited the Black Sea Soviet health resorts four times tells me the widespread damage is still largely unrepaired, but that attractive places are still to be found along the incomparable Caucasian coast between Tuapse and B.itum. That is where rich Soviet citizens like best to snatch a holiday and spend their money. Gargyand Sochi are the Soviet Miamis or Monte Carlos to-day as for decades past. The smartest guests are usually actors and actresses from Moscow or Leningrad, but prominent Government officials and magnates from Siberia are often in evidence, too. All tendencies in upper Soviet society to-day appear, from what one hears via : the Leningrad route, to be towards a down on austerity and a renaissance. Of good living such as swept ■.France during the Napoleonic Empire arid afterwards. Russians have toiled and bled. Now they are getting all set politically, economically, psychologically to enjoy the fruits of their labours, their sufferings—and their. victories. The Russians I meet are fast losing their shyness and are preparing to show the world what a fine life the richest and largest country in:. the world can stage. ■ A white tie and a bottle of "bubbly" are to-day considered no symbols of shame in the Kremlin, as innumerable foreign envoys can testify, and what the Kremlin thinks, to-day all Russians think tomorr,ow. —London Daily Mail.