STORMY PETROGRAD

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 45, 21 February 1918, Page 8

STORMY PETROGRAD

AN AMERICANS EXPERIENCES RUSSIA'S RESURGENCE Mr. G. Hutchinson, at present in Wellington, has given an interesting accoimt to The Post of his- recent experiences in Petrograd. He had arrived there on business for his firm, the Bucyrus Company, of South Milwaukee, and his business was in connection with large contracts for the supply of steam shovel and other plant made by the firm to tho order of the Imperial Russian Government; also, on account of an English company, a mammoth gold dredge' for work in the Lena, Kiver Country, Siberia—a plant costing £100,000 in America and- costing probably twice as much as that to get it to itfi destination. Mr. Hutchinson's visit to Petrograd was then of a'purely business character, but ho had no sooner arrived than he found the whole empire aflame with revolution : v "But it was too late—at any rate I'd come too far—to turn back," he went on. "Besides, we out in the West were rather used to troublts of the sort, but of late years we've been so quiet in our country that I kind of welcomed- a little excitement. We had- it^-my wife and I. Being Easter when we arrived and a close holiday we could get no warm food (except tea) for three days. But that was nothing to what we experienced later in the hotels. There, if they had eggs, they'd be out of coffee, and if they had 1 coffee, they might have no bread. So that drove us to living in a flat, and my wife went to market the same as tho rest of the people. She went to Finland once for a piece of beef. The journey was only' about one and a-half hours from Petrograd. That beef weighed 2 kiloe, say 51b. It cost the English equivalent of £3. So we were never able to obtain enough food. That was then. Now? well, Russia is not like our country and yours. Where we and you have sources of food- supply quite close to the aitjea and the. produce is run in every day to the markets, they have large, areas of virgin land. The railwaymen, too, ever hoHfing meetings and settling the affairs of the country, of course affected the transport of foodstuffs to big centres from the country. .The railways were quite disorganised. Semi-starvation was the natural result." STREET SCENES. "Hearing machine guns at work on the Newsky Prospekt," Mr. Hutchinson said, "I lost no time in seeking the nearest corner. Guns were firing all round us. I was arrested, for I was at one time in the thick of it. Some lad of twenty put a .revolver to my head. He could not speak English. I then had no Russian - but a few handy words that did not quite' fit the situation. ■But I heard someone shout, 'Stop,!' in English. I was then liberated. "The extermination of the police and the setting up of the Provisional Government was followed by a brief period of order. There were no police : the public were on their honour. The demonstrations were well conducted and orderly. Later, when Lenin 6ame to the fore, there were collisions. The chaos followed. 1 "The Russians are naturally a kindly and courteous people. They are also honest, so that I think you'll find in time to come, when the country settles down, that Russia's financial obligations to other countries will be met. It may take a long time; because, I think, the country is passing through a breaking- ] up stage at present. But there will, I am sure, be national cohesion. Tho Russians will then pay what they owe,, notwithstanding recent legislation repudiating the foreign- debts. AN IRRESPONSIBLE BUNCH. "The people now in control are an irresponsible bunch. There's no question about that: But Russia is a wonderfully rich country (if properly worked), and a vast. It is all a matter of time. "Between Russia and Mexico there are many points of similarity. In the latter country they never seem happy without a revolution; but they'll settle down, and someltuie or some party strong enough to rule and gather, up the now divided elements will insist upon the development of the country's resources. Remember, the RussTans are not an educated people, a« the British people are. Therefore they are suspicious. When they are told by those in authority that they must obtain Kelp from their neighbours to develop {heir own country, and understand that those neighboure do not want the country—only to help—then you'll see Russia rise a strong and progressive nation. ' If we think the trend of the world is {ow_ards i betterment, then out' of this breaking>up in Russia good , will come. The ferment bred of generations on generations of misrule is now working out. They are, not now going in the right, direction, because they, don't know the way, so they have to go right throngn with the breaking up business ero they find' it, and before they start building up again. : "They understand that ac the labouring man produces everything, and has to "do all the fighting, so he ought to nave a say in the way the country ehcufrt be governed. They feel in Russia that they are now coming into their own. CONFIDENCE AND CREDIT. "But they must realise,-as^ every other country ha 6to realise and never forget, that any country is established oh confidence, and confidence only, and next, credit. Confidence and credit, but first confidence in themselves, one another, and tho confidence of other countries. And the Russians will realise this truth. There was confidence in the Empire on the part of other countries doing business, end as a consequence Russia could then obtain credit. "But prior to the revolution trading was a losing proposition for the Government and Russian people. Take a locomotive costing 50,000 dollars, delivered in Russia. That would be entered in the books at 150,000, dollars. That was the kind of thing that brought about the revolution." "Squeeze?" "Sure! Russia is now in the position of a newcomer to a district. She has first to obtain the confidence of ■ the! world and the credit will follow—and the help and co-operation in developing their extremely rich and higlily favoured country. That will come, notwithstanding the complexities and perplexities of the moment. Why, when I left Petrograd the American Railway Commission, headed by Mr. Stephens, was in tiie city, and consisted of. some twenty specialists, whose task' it was to reorganise the railways. The Russian people, as soon as this present confusion is at all end, will, I believe, be quite ready to reorganise their railways and their country generally. Russia and Mexico are on the same route, but it is only a question of time when they will have realised that order and peice must be restored, and they will put someone at their head who will be strong enough to achieve that end."