RUSSIA

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 74, 9 March 1933, Page 9

RUSSIA

APPALLING PICTURE. GIVEN BY MELBOURNE MAN. Sydney, March 3. Mr A. G. Stephenson, a Melbourne architect, who returned yesterday by the Mariposa from a world tour, said that conditions in Soviet Russia were deplorable.

There was no God in Russia to-day, he said. The rulers recognised only the “God of Work.” It was their proud boast that there was no unemployment in Russia, but from his observations he formed the opinion that it was questionable whether 50 per cent, of the work done was of a reproductive nature.

Mr Stephenson said he had had the advantage of seeing Moscow from many angles. He had not been attached to a party; but had travelled alone. The Soviet Government owned a large fleet of motor cars, which were used to convey organised parties of visitors to scenes selected bv the Government, and thus most visitors did not see Mos. cow in its true setting. He had travelled on foot, in trams, and in motor cars. The city was in the process of rebuilding. All pavements were badly broken, and there was not one road upon which he could walk with comfort. The trams were crowded, and he had to struggle every time he wanted to board one. Many things, said Mr Stephenson, appeared slovenly and dirty. The people appeared more or less content, ed, but that was probably because they could not make themselves understood to visitors. Their staple food was black bread, and occasionally they had a “treat” with bread and cucumber. He saw thousands of people sitting on the roadsides munching black bread'. The women worked on buildings and roads just as the men did. The children were placed in community miseries for the day while both parents went to work.

Mr Stephenson said he thought it would be many years before anything at all of the Soviet plan showed to advantage. At present tests were being made to ascertain the minimum amount of food upon which a person could live. The once beautiful homes of the aristocracy had been allowed to fall into a shocking condition. They now housed workers, and were in a deplorable state of ruin. There was no home life in Russia. The disregard for religious traditions was terrible. Beau, tiful cathedrals and churches had been desecrated and ruined. Once magnificent specimens of architectural beauty, some of the cathedrals were now used as markets and stores.

Mr Stephenson had a commission from the Commonwealth Government to study hospital methods abroad, and he said he was astonished to find that the Soviet Government had legalised certain operations on women. Seventeen clinics, each with 500 beds, had been established in Moscow alone, and there were at least 20,000 such operations each month. A board bad been set up to determine whether applications for admission to the clinics should be granted, but from his investigations it appeared that a plea that the child was not wanted was sufficient ground for a successful application.