CONDITIONS IN RUSSIA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23687, 20 December 1938, Page 8

CONDITIONS IN RUSSIA

XO THE EDITOtI Sir,—Your correspondent of December 17, who professes to write on conditions in Russia, gives some alarming quotations from old Russian newspapers. These newspapers, be it observed, are too remote, both in time and in space; to be immediately procurable, and even if they could be procured people in this country could not read the Russian language. Hence the alleged quotations can neither be verified nor refuted by direct evidence. But a little calculation would show that if the "facts" were correct the workers could not possibly buy enough food and clothing to keep themselves alive, and the Russian population would be in process of rapid extermination by cold and hunger, It is common knowledge, however, that the Russian population is increasing faster than that of any other country in the world. But even if Russia had never overthrown capitalism, even if Russia and Lenin had never existed, and if Marx had never existed, the time must some time have arrived when the welfare of humanity would demand that capitalism must be replaced by another system. For the present system is daily becoming more incapable of distributing the wealth produced to the people who actually produce that wealth. So it is natural to conclude that " homo sapiens" will eventually insist on living and working under a system better adapted to the present stage of science and industry.—l am, etc., H. Gow. Balclutha, December 17. TO THE EDITOR Sir, —Evidently your Cardrona correspondent " Let Facts Speak for Themselves " is one of those people who are prepared to accept the word of any disgruntled, capitalistic " grab-all ' concerning conditions in present-day Russia. Published in the 1937 Official Handbook on the Soviet trade unions is the result of the investigations of the Central Statistical Board of the U.S.S.R., which found that the amount of products consumed per capita (excluding agricultural workers) increased from 1932 to 1936 as follows: 1936 in Percentage of 1932 (in fixe?! prices)

In no other country in the world has there been such a rapid increase in food consumption within a period of four years. A striking fact is the great increase in the consumption of products with high food values. The enormous increase in the wage fund—from 8,200,000,000 roubles in 1928 to 71,600,000,000 roubles in 1936, an increase of almost 800 per cent.—throws some light on the reason for the greatly increased consumption of products Your Cardrona correspondent attempts to belittle the great solicitude which is manifested for children in the U.S.S.R. In 1933, the social insurance budget allocated 13,000,000 roubles for cultural services for children; in 1936. the amount allocated was 92,000,000 roubles, while the amount allocated for 1937 was 208,100,000 roubles Whereas befor the Revolution in 1914-15, only 7,801,000 children attended the elementary and secondary schools in Russia; by 1927-28 this number had grown in the U.S.S.R. to 11,300,000, in 1932-33 to 21,800,000, in 1935-36 to 27,418.000. and in 1937 to 30,033,000. It would seem that, unlike the officials of Tsarist times, the Soviet leaders have at least sufficient interest in their young people to see that they are enabled to learn to read and write. The Tsarist Government spent ten times as much for the maintenance of prisons, the police, churches, and the House of Romanoff as it did for public education. In 1913, only 137,000,000 roubles were allotted for education. In the U.S.S.R. in 1937 the amount allotted for public education was 18,270.000,000 roubles. All social services in the U.S.S.R. have increased in the same magnificent proportions.— l am, etc., Vox Pop.

Bread and other bakery products 218.2 Potatoes , 107.2 Fruit , 194.9 Meat and lard , .. .. 187.8 Butter 266.6 191.2 142.8