RUSSIA'S RUIN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIV, Issue LIV, 16 June 1920, Page 7

RUSSIA'S RUIN

“WORKERS ARE SERFS” Reuters Agency has received an important statement.-'- eiiui.rniting from a high ,Soviet- official inti-' rnately ,-connected with pconomic administration in Rpssiauas to the present condition and future prospects of that country (says the Daily Telegraph). He states that the- process ofdestruction continues in ail -branch

es of industry and labour. The general loss of productive power is due to the following _ main causes :—All stimulus to individual «work* has been re moved ; no wage- covers the cost of -Giving ; ■chronic under-feeding and disease .;; .-absence'. 0f... personal safety ; the appointment of-, unqualified persons to f responsible. administrative posts; thepractice of conscious and . unconscious sabotage by . the . whole population , as against the 'Soviet Govemiiieat; immobilisation for purposes of productive work of throe and; aindf' million men engaged on .military. operations ; and. .finally, -continual change in Government, .and laws. ; • idustvial workers, he dad area, are reduced' to the; position of serfs -and arc subject ■ td" what is tantamount to prison discipline in tne factories, to leave which. is punishable as desertion. Many ivnikmeu, nevertheless, desert, ami as fuel, lubricants, spare parts and raw materials arc lacking, tire output of the works cannot conceivably exceed' 10 per cent, of the pre-revolution out put, notwithstanding tile more optimistic official Soviet figures.’ In many cases it is almost impossible even to keep factories going, as workmen freely exchange pieces of machinery, etc., for food. The transport; situation, he describes as equally desperate, despite tire efforts of the Government. Only 5 per cent, of the locomotives sent to the workshops get repaired, and on an average to repair one engine seven other engines have to be taken clown. Ad steel or or ferro-alloys are available ; brakes, lighting, and heating apparatus are ail damaged. The process of destruction is so rapid that probably before the end of 1920 railway traffic will, in the opinion of technical experts, have to cease altogether. This opinion is not, of course, published in the press. The opinion is ventured that in the -most favourable conditions railway traffic can not be normal before 1928; that is, assuming a partial resumption of the metallurgical industry in 1927 and extensive foreign help. Some members of the Soviet Government share, but conceal this view. Engineers are less . optimistic owing to tire .'widespread destruction of rolling stock, shops, plant, etc., and consider the investment of 3,000,000,000 roubles gold necessary for a partial re-establishment of traffic.

The so-called “Workmen's Army’' •has proved useless for rebuilding railways. River transport is down to 3 per cent. ; waterway, harbours, etc. are all let clown, and require gold roubles to ; ■ restore them. . i\ r o ships are building. Horse transport has practically disappeared, lif Moscow, for instance, the number of Horses has decreased since 1914 from 126,000 to 8000.’ There is hopeless decay in other branches of industry. At the end. of 1919 there was one blast-furnace, and not a single nolling-mill working in the whole country ;, yet the Soviet officials talk of a trust of works to compete with the Unitled States of America. The Ural industrial district is ruined ; the Petrograd industrial district has actually s ceased to’ exist, - and that of . Moscow practically. The out,pnt even of military. factories is billy 10 per ceni. of the pre-revo-lution output* Business is conducted on .. the following lines : Orders are only accepted if approved by the .'-Administration, the management, and the workmen; no guarantee is ’given as to the time of delivery; the buyer must supply the materials, and goods are manufactured at his risk. The country is still living on its previous stocks, which will be exhausted hi three of- foul- months. There is no fuel, as only oneeighteenth of the quantities estimated as the irreducible minimum was prepared.- The state of agriculture is lamentable. There are practically no horses and no mechanical transport; only 50 percent. of the pre-war area is under cultivation,, and seeds and plants are, insufficient even for that. Them are no manures.