LIFE IN RUSSIA.

Dunstan Times, Issue 2961, 31 March 1919, Page 3

LIFE IN RUSSIA.

AN ENGLISHMAN’S EXPERIENCES Mr ( I). L. Horsburgh, who was trained at the Manchester Co.lege of Technology, was chief engineer oi Messrs Fgcrton’, Hubbard’s textile works at Schlusselburg, near i’elrugrad, from May, 1914. until he escaped recently from Rosin, in the Manchester “Guardian” teds of his experiences in carrying on under the Bolshevik system:— When the first Russian revolution occurred, in February, 1916, wo were ail up; n the bc.-t of terms with the workmen at Schlusselburg. The directors and staff had in the past had the welfare of the employees very much at heart, and had spared no efforts to ensure their comfort and w chare by providing lodgings, wash houses, a creche for the children, and so on. .Many ol our workpeople had been with ns for a great number of years, and not a few of them all their lives. The Bolshevik element in the works was small, and consisted of the younger and wilder men, though they had an excellent leader, earnestly imbued with the justice of his cause, who restrained all tendencies towards excess, and honestly endeavoured to put the Bolshevik theories into practice. He was the president of the works committee, which was formed at the first revolution, and which after the second played an all-important part. When the Bolsheviks cams to power, in

October, 1917, an executive was formed from the works committee, which took upon itself the regulation of all matters, concerning the housing of the workpeople, all contracts for fuel and raw materials, and the settlement of all disputes arising amongst the men themselves or between the men and the administration. The administration was not interfered with in technical matters, and was generally consulted, and at any rate informed, upon all matters seriously affecting the conduct of the works. A school was immediately opened on the works premises for the children of the workpeople, and a competent teacher engaged. A recreation room and club was also started for the benefit of the workpeople, and evening classes arranged for, wherein those who could neither nead nor write might learn to do so, and also get the elements of mathematics and science.

The committee had no desire to quarrel with the executive administration of the works; on the contrary, they realised clearly that without them they were lost. But for the directors they had no love at all—not from any personal malice against them, but on principle. Things went on pretty well for some months—until the regime of discipline and order inaugurated by the president, which we heartily seconded, began to strike the more rowdy element as opposed to that “freedom” by which each man should do as he pleased without reference to anyone else. Finally the president of the Works Committee was deposed, as the result of his interference with the sale of spirit by some sailors who had come in to a dance arranged by the young people of the works. He went to Moscow, where he soon obtained an important post in the Textile department of the central Government.

Granting his premises, this Bolshevil was excellent in every way. But it inter ested me very much to observe that hj( governed by precisely the same method; as the administration had adopted hereto fore. He rigidly upheld and enforced al. the works’ rules, and confirmed the sys tem of fines and dismissal for infringe ments of them. His code of rules was in deed even more severe than the old one. He had literally tried to carry oilt his ideal—namely, the transfer of the management of the works to the workmen, for the benefit of the workmen, with the assistance and co-operation of the technical staff. In doing so he had come imperceptibly to realise that there must be a head of every concern if there is to be order and discipline, and although he tried to make out that the head was the elected of the people—namely, the committee — yet, in fact, by virtue of the fact that he stood head and shoulders above all his fellow men intellectually, he became the sole voice of that committee, and an autocrat no whit less absolute than the exgeneral manager of the works. The second Works Committee which was then elected consisted almost entirely of Mensheviks. - It was well disposed to wards us, and even towards the directors. It was as well for us that it was so, for in time a decree was issued by the local Soviet that no member of a works staff who was unmarried could occupy more than two rooms. We all occupied flats of from six to twelve rooms, and as

we had sent our families home in the previous September we were to all intents and purposes bachelors. We took the bull by the horns and sent our committee an ultimatum, in which we pointed out that we were English working under great difficulties for the benefit of the Russians, and that we had made great sacrifices in order that the works, upon which half the town depended, might continue to work. We informed them that in the event of any steps being taken to requisition our houses we should resign en bloc, and leave them to get along as best they could. The result of this was that the committee backed us up, and, despite the decree of the Soviet, passed a resolution that we were not to be molested in any way. The second Works Committee failed mainly through its inability to control. Disturbances and quarrelling began amongst the rank and file of ihe workmen, who said openly that they were no good. They were forced to resign, and the general feeling in the works was that no committee at all was necessary. But this could not be, as it was contrary to the express orders of the Bolshevik Government, and contrary to their most cherished idea of workmen’s control. So a third committee, came into power about the end of May of this year, and, according to the decree of the central Government, instituted a Control Committee of four members. Things worked very smoothly till the middle of August, because, true to their mandate from the workpeople, the now committee leaned almost completely on the administration. They were absolutely es-

sential, however, because, according to a decree of the central Government, no money could be withdrawn from the National Bank (all private banks were nationalised and named departments of the National Bank) on the account of private firms without the signature of the Works Committee and that of the Control Committee, as well as the signature of the manager. Twice every month a form had to be filled in stating how much money would bo required for the fortnight and for what purposes. If this form was approved by the central organisation in Petrograd” controlling textile works, permission was given to draw a cheque for the amount which could be received from the National Bank. As the state of the country became worse it became increasingly difficult to procure the necessary stocks and materials with which to run the works, and, having obtained them, it was next to impossible to get the men to handle and unload them when they did succeed in finding them. This because there was no bread to be had, and men could not be induced to undertake heavy physical work such as the unloading of wood or peat on a diet of fish and vegetables. Coupled to these difficulties, and on account of them, great agitations were started against the Bolshevists, and the whole country, at the end of July and the beginning of August, was in a ferment against them. They themselves thought their position very critical. It was, indeed, confidently expected that the Czechoslovaks and the English would advance from Vologda and take Petrograd. Schlusselburg was placed under martial law and \

under the administration of a Special Committee of Public Safety, consisting of three men. A stranger arriving in Petragrid jnsi now would not realise at first sight the immensity of the catastrophe which has overwhelmed the capital and the whole of Russia. The buildings have not been damaged by the street fighting which took place during the two revolutions of February, 1917, and October, 1917, because no heavy artillery was used, only machine guns and rifles Glass, of course, suffered severely, and here and there the -plash of a bullet on the massive granite walls of the huge buildings bears witness to the grim tragedy which has been enacted. All the police buildings, it is true, were burnt out, together with all the documents they contained ; but such is the massiveness ol buildings in Petivgrad that the mam structures still stand, and would appear undamaged to a casual observer except for the blackened windows. A visitor would notice that the shops are open, that the trams are still running, that cabs ply for hire, and that motor cars dash through the streets in the peculiarly reckless Russian way. On probing beneath the surface, however, he would soon begin to realise that i kings were not as normal as they seemed In the principal streets there were still, when 1 left on November 1, crowds of people walking aimlessly about the place, as crowds always seem to do in cities. But they were drab, anxious-looking crowds, in

marked contrast to the gay, smartly dressed throngs which used to frequent the Nevsky Prospect and The Lril liantly uniformed officers have g'ven place to the slovenly looking Red Guards, who slouch along in ill-fitting boots and any uniform they have been able to scratch together, bristling with all sorts of weapons. No well-diessed men and women are to be seen; indeed, even if one had the clothes, it would be dangerous to wear them, as they are considered to be the hall mark of the bourgeoisie, against whom the Bolsheviki are so terribly bitter. In place of the smart carriages or sleighs and luxurious motor cars, there are broken-down cabs, with half-starved horses; but nobody rides in them except soldiers, sailors or workmen, for no one else can afford the prices asked for even the shortest journeys. Huge motor lorries, packed full of Red Guards with rifles at the “ready,” tear along the Nevsky at thirty miles an hour, emitting clouds of evil-smelling smoke. Of private cars and taxis there are none; they have all been requisitioned, and those seen on the streets are always occupied by soldiers or sailors, or by members of the Bolshevik Government. In a word, all the principal streets, where once only the privileged classes were allowed to walk, are now given up to the proletariat.

A shopping expedition would probably give the most vivid impression of the vast change which has come over the city. In the old days every imaginable thing from all the markets of the world could be obtained In Petrograd in endless variety. The confectioners’ shops were probably unrivalled in Europe, and the jewellers’ windows displayed all the wonders of Aladdin’s cave. The provision .shops contained every conceivable find ox delicacy nowhere can yo; feed as luxuriously as one used to do in Russia. Now, in place of the pleasant, polite servers, an insolent fellow will snap out that he has not got what you want, whatever it may be. He is probably right in saying that he has not got it, though he never thinks of looking; but the insolence is gratuitous, and results partly from the fact chat he is probably hungry and unhappy, and partly from his belief that his incivility is a proof that he has attained freedom. The confectioners’ shops are empty; there is no hour for cakes, and no sugar for sweets and chocolates. The jewellers are not allowed to sell gold, though diamonds and platinum they may sell. None but workmen and soldiers buy them, however, the prices are so exorbitant. The soldiers, of course, have heaps of money, which they lavish upon their womenfolk, but I tear they not in frequently buy glass for diamonds and very doubtful platinum. At the provision shops you can get nothing except on the cards, for those luxuries which are not rationed' are practically unobtainable. Women can no longer buy silks and satins, for all textile materials are extremely scarce, and can only be bought by order, they have all been nationalised. At every street corner trade is brisk. Apples from 2£ to 6 roubles (5s to 12s) apiece, according to size, find ready buyers amongst all classes. Dried herrings sell for 3-1; roubles (7s) apiece; and, indeed, form the staple diet of most people Pieces of sugar at a ’’ouble (2s) each are offered and eagerly bought, and in June and July one might meet on the Nevsky and principal streets old generals and ladies, bearing the proudest names in Russia, selling their small belongings, or newspapers and matches, in order to procure for themselves the bare necessities of life. The case of the old upper class in Russia is indeed a sad one, especially that of ex-army oliicers and of men who held prominent positions in the State under the Czar. Those who have not been arrested or shot, or who have not succeeded in making their escape to parts of the country not under the influence of the Bolshe-

vies, leaving all they possess behind them, have had their houses conliscated, their belongings looted, and have been forced, in order to get a living, either to sell things in the streets or to beg. Any capital tncy may have they are not allowed to withdraw from the banks. Besides all this, they are only given food cards ol the third and fourth category, which means that for three months dating from August they receive either no bread at all or about one-eight oi a pound per week, with the certain prospect of being altogether without in the winter. They are stopped in the streets and made to work at cleaning out the barracks for the soldiers, or unloading wood, or any other job of a rough and heavy nature, for which they are physically totally unfitted. To such a degree of misery is the city reduced by famine that the animals are mere bags of bones, and every day in every street horses may be seen falling down and dying from sheer exhaustion and starvation. If those dead horses are Jett for a few minutes unwatched, the dogs set upon them to tear the still warm desk horn their bones. The only meat 1 ate for the last two months of my stay in Petrograd was horse flesh, and it cost 9'roubles (18s J a lb. Though the tram service is working, owing to shortage of labour for repair w'ork the cars are dilapidated, and are so crowded that the builer is a recognised and much-coveted place, for it is about the only one from which you can be sure of alighting when you want to. The cars provide a happy hunting ground for the pickpockets, who go through your pockets

with the greatest sangfroid, while you stand helplessly wedged in among the crowd of passengers, with your arms up and your hand clinging to a strap. The fare is fixed at Is 3d for any distance. Sometimes the trams are used for funerals, the colfin on the front platform and the mourners inside. The train service is also in working order in a way, but all the stations are closely guarded, and one can only enter them with a ticket procured beforehand by special permission, after having signed innumerable papers stating the reason for which you wish to travel. When you do get on the trains they are most uncomfortable. All the first class carriages have been taken off, and the seconds stripped of all their upholstery and leather window straps. The trains are crowded like the trams, and in the spring and summer when the army was demobilising the roofs of the carriages were as packed as the inside. At night the streets are entirely deserted by all respectable people, and the

theatres, which are all open, are patronised almost exclusively by the soldiers and workmen. It is but fair to say, however, that on the whole there is order in the streets, and although robbery and murder are of nightly occurrence, as they are in any big city, I should not put it higher than that they are rather more numerous than in normal times. The light, however, is the lime for arrests and search parties, and between the hours of 12 and 5 people lie apprehensively in bed dreading the possible arrival of the Red Guard wiili y ;i warrant for arrest or a search older. Foreigners are not exempt from this treatment, as many Englishmen, against whom latterly the Bolsheviks were particularly rabid, can testify. Some who are now in England have been driven out of Russia by the impossible conditions prevailing, and forced to leave business, property, money, and everything they possessed behind them. The chief difference between the Petrograd of to-day and tire old St. Petersburg is one of atmosphere. The city, tornierly one of the gayest in Europe, is now, as it were, under a deep cloud, which up to the time of my leaving showed no signs of lifting, but, on the contrary seemed as if it might very well crush by its weight what remnant of life and activity is yet left in the city. Poor Russia ! Every lover of the country and its people will wish it a speedy recovery from its present miseries.