Hardships in Russia

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 6866, 24 May 1932, Page 9

Hardships in Russia

STARVING PEASANTS. PITIFUL CONDITIONS. Pitiful conditions in what .was once one of the most prosperous provinces of Russia, and where the peasants are now practically starving, are described in a letter received by a resident of Sydney from his Russian parents, who are living in the town of Ternovea, in the Ukraine.

Podolia, the province in which Ternovea is situated, was once ono of the richest parts of the Ukraine, possessing a good climate and splendid black soil. Most of the inhabitants were engaged in mixed farming. Now the people are forced to sell their wheat to the Government agents, and are left with nothing for themselves or for the livestock on their farms. As a result, cattle are dying out, and neighbours arc ready to give their livestock to anyone who is able to feed the animals.

Hoping to eke out a better existence, the people are gradually deserting the town for the cities, while .those left behind are forced to wait for hours in the queues of the Government co-opera-tive stores for the meagre rations, consisting mainly of salted herring, which are doled out in these places. The fortnightly bazaar day, which is the custom in all Russian towns, was still held in Ternovea, the letter stated, but lacked the atmosphere of prosperous activity which characterised it before the revolution. Nowadays the town was merely visited by a Communist agent, who purchased all the commodities brought to the town Dy the peasants, at a low price, fixed by the Soviet. The money received in return for their produce is practically valueless to the peasants, for they can purchase nothing of any use with it. The letter concluded by stating that the people were simmering with discontent, brought about by their own miserable existence, and by the apparent luxury in which the army and Communist officials were living. The only thing which prevented retaliatory action was the peasants’ fear of being arraigned as traitors and shot.