Evening Star Newspaper, April 10, 1921, Page 59

FICTION Part4—6P MAGAZINE SECTION @:}]R %umlzry %taf, . FEATURES WASHINGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 10, 1921 BY E. A. MACMILLAN. HE was told, her hands were gnarled and her face was wrin- kied almost beyond belief. Long locks escaped from beneath the shaw! with which her head was covered and stragwied down to half veil the rheumy eyes which were intently fixed on a basket of eggs at her feet. Taking a handful of silver from my pocket, T asked her the price. “Chicken feed.” was the answer. It was astounding. Was this old peasant woman in a Siberian village Faoting American slang to descride | the money I offered? No, she meant exactly what she said. For money she had no use, not even the gold sov- ereign with which I sought to tempt her, but she did want food for her chickens. For miles on every side stretched fields which once had been golden with ripening grain. but which had for the last three harvests been barren because the red commissioners had commandeered all the farmers’ grain, even to their seed That is Russia. Wealth in natural resources lies everywhere, but under the bolshevist blight even the forces of nature stagnate. The Almighty has ruled: No seed time, no harvest. And dreamers may not dream or talk His law away. My old peasant woman might not, probably did not, know of any of Lenin's theories, but she did know that if her hens were to lay tomorrow they must be fed today. Gold was of no value to her, for it would not buy anything she wanted. With me she was safe in her refusal | among the people and enjoyed im- munity from prosecution. ‘Wages also were fixed and economic conditions the to the one-hundredth 1t was still ruble soon fell part of its gold value, treated officially at par. a whole month’s wages to buy a bottle of milk. The people were living on | sour black bread and a thin soup made : from horse flesh. * k kX HE soviet government has had charge of Russia’s destiny for al- most three and a half years, and the net rest# is the colossal ruin and chaos t9a¢ exist today. It is stagger- ing an' Wabelievable. I cannot hope to convé® the full impression of the frightful conditions that have been caused by this little group of fanatics with Lenin at their head, who, by their own admissions, are conducting a vast experiment—an experiment in the lab- oratory of history where these insane alchemists hope to discover ‘the elixir of ideal government. This experiment has been in progress since 1917, and is now at the stage when a self-support- ing country has been ruined and when hundreds are being shot daily to main- tain the experiment at its full inten- sity. The first thing the bolshevists did | was to nationalize Russian resources. This included everything of value, even to brains. They found it im- possible, however, to convince the peasants that they must altruistically work the land for the good of the to dispose of the eggs for anything!state. but grain, but if she had declined to give of them to a bolshevist com- missioner in exckange for his worth- less paper money they would have been confiscated and she would have been shot, in all probability, for at- tempting to profiteer. This condition gave opportunity to any one irvested with a little authority, and t:%s au- thority need consist of nothing more than a red cockade and a rifle, to speculate in foods, fuel, clothing; in & word, all the necessities of life. It is impossible to modify human nature by legislative enactment or death penalties. * % ¥ % REFORE the arrival of the reds in Krasnoyarsk the speculators “and ordinary business people had ac¥ici- pated events to the extent of exckamg- ing all their money for necessary pro- vistons, which they immediately con- cealed. The red commissars brought with them bales of their own paper momey which had been obtained in European Russia for almost nothing. The old law of supply and demand commenced to work in both directiors. Food supplies were limited and mondy ‘was unlimited, at least for the newdy arrived bolshevists, whereas the ordli- nary citizens of the town had no money at all and were forced to sell their commodities at a very low price. It was a common sight to see people in the baraar trying to sell such valu- ables as jewelry, carpets, laces, silks and other possessions for almost noth- ing in order to buy food at a rapidly advancing price. ‘The profiteering reds, many of wham ‘were commissars, immediately bought up all available supplies, and the prite quickly rose as money commenced to | circulate and food became scarcer. ‘When the game was worked to the Itmit, the prices went go high that the people were starving. The next step was to legislate fixed prices to be paid the peasants for their produce. The maximum prices were so ridiculously low that the peasants refused to bring anything to market, 5o the next turn in the inexorable wheel of tyranny ciassed all food supplies as contraband. In fact, any plece of property that took the fancy of the administration was deciared contraband. It was a legalized system of robbery. An fMeit trade in food naturally sprang up and the profiteers cam- menced to unload their supplies at an enormous price. For example, tea cost at first tem rubles per pound and great quantities were gent to Moscow by the commissar. It was sold there for over a thousand rubles per pound. The red officials then cammenced to buy contraband foreign money with thetr profite. This they were able to | diminishing value. do-through their agents, who circulated SCENE DURING ONE OF THE FIRST DEMONSTRATIONS UNDE There was formerly a great deal of foreign capital invested in Russian mines and industries. This, of course, was confiscated, and at first the own- ers and managers were forced to work in their own factories to assist state production. Later the workers de- cided that they could manage the in- dustries as well as the former execu- tives. The sweeper took his turn with the oiler as general superintendent. This state of affairs continued, with the inevitable result that production was stagnated. When actual money gave out they tried to continue with the soviet paper money with its ever- Everything came to & standstill, simply because the economic center of gravity had been so distorted that incentive was killed. The work was taken from the people who could do it and given to the peo- ple who could not do it. The mines closed down, and later the factories. When the sources of raw material were ruined it was but a step to the closing of the manufactories. The sublime idiocy of the whole Lenin scheme for the exchange of commodities is exemplified by an inct- dent which came under my own eyes. An aoquaintance had been imprisoned for three weeks at Irkutsk for play- ing cards, and when he was released it was discovered by the commissioner of the prison that he had a valuable gold watch which had escaped the eyes of the guards. The commissioner promptly pocketed it and gave my friend an order empowering him to take the first good watch he saw. ‘Whether he ever used his license as highwayman I do not know. The incidents are simple, that developed | were staggering. Although the soviet | It required | but the| A. MACMILLAN Recently Returned From Two Years Spent in Traveling | #4+ Through Russia and Siberia, Says the Inevitable Crash Is Nearing Rapidly. i Red Theory of Government as It Touches the Commercial Life of a Nation—The 1 psychology of Lenin's Plan to Reduce All Mankind to a Common Level and to Abolish Money as a Unit of Exchange. R BOLSHEVIK RULE TN RUSSIA. IN MOSCOW. . PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN NEAR THE KREMLIN | symptomatic manifestations of lep- rosy are, in themselves, simple, too; and, while I do not exalt myself as {2 dlagnostician of national ills, T do | maintain the facts I have cited show | Russia, under the bolshevist rule, to be on the verge of a run of fever. Russia today is living as a govern- ment which does not subsist on food, | but a nerve stimulant. Even If Lenin were willing to modi- {fy his plan for the elimination of money as a medium of exchange, it Is doubtful if commodities at hand could be moved to the points where they are needed. Less than 40 per cent of the locomotives which were in opera- tion before the soviet government went into power will run and not 2 per cent of those which break down are repaired. At the rate of 200 a month locomotives are literally scrapped. The effect of this state of affairs is shown by the fact that 8,000,- 000 poods {a pood is thirty-six pounds) of cotton stored in Turkestan is moving toward the factories in Moscow at the rate of two trainloads month'y. These figures and those which I shall subse- quently quote on transportation are from the report of M. Rykoff, submitted by him to the Congress of National Economic Councils in Moscow, January 22-25, 1920. While it is virtually im- possible for a foreigner to come by any figures or exact data on economic conditions under the soviet rule, I am convinced, by the evidence of my own oyes, that those of M. Rykoff are cer- tainly not exaggerated, and my judg- ment tells me he, a bolshevist, will not make the case against Lenin any worse than it is. * % % % A FRANK tFough possibly -uninten- tional admission of the faflure of the bolshevist theory is contained in M. Rykoff's report when he sayi “The council of people’s commis- sioners has decided to call up indi- vidual workers and working parties for the repair of rolling stock. The locomotives and wagons (cars) re- | paired by them will be utilized for the supply of provisions to the fac- tories and workshops engaged on re- \pairs.” The capitalistic urge of person- al aggrandizement seems to have en- tered the soviet scheme of things. Continuing his report, M. Rykoff has this to say regarding trade relations with other countries: “The assumption that the lifting of the blockade and the conclusion of peace will alleviate the crisis in raw material is the greatest of errors. On the contrary, the lifting of the block- ade and the conclusion of peace, if | ever this should occur, will increase the demand for raw materials, for they are the sole products Russia can exchange with Europe. * ok ok ok RANTIC efforts are put forth to quicken the dying pulse of indus- try. All kinds of inducements are offered to former operators to re- | turn to positions that require skill. Unfortunately, the soviet government has nothing to give. A friend of mine owned a meat- packing plant, which naturally be- came the property of the reds in the nationallzing scheme. First a com- mittee of his employes entered his house and took four of his six din- ing-room chairs, together with two of the three carpets. 4 Obviously, the former owner could not have his heart in his work when he saw his business, the efforts of years and thousands in money mis- managed by the soviet government. Things went from bad to worse umtil the whole plant, together with a ranch of 50,000 cattle, was completely dissipated. The last I saw of him he was trying to escape through Man- cburia with his life. When I say that industry is dead in Russia I think the exception that proves the rule might be fugnished by the thousands of German prison- | ers who still exist in Siberia. Almost all the manufactured articles I saw in Siberla were made by these prison- ers, and under great handicap also. They had great difficulty in obtaining raw material and had first to manu- tcture thelr equipment. Among many articles of their manu- facture, I bought tooth -powder made by German prisoners. It was quite serviciable, Tt was done up tn = cardboard box which they also made. The box was decorated and printed THE FORMER CZAR OF RUSSL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN A SHORT TIME BEFORE THE RU FAMILY WERE ARRESTED BY RE A AND HIS SON. THE CZAREVITCH. R AND HIS ENTIRE ROYAL D SOLDIERS. THE FAMILY WAS ASSASSINATED A FEW WEEKS LATER. (Copyright, Underwood & Underwood.) by type and printers’ ink in colors, whjch also had been made by these | same prisoners. To their credit, I say they adapted themselves to their | unfortunate conditions in a manner that might furnish an object lesson to their Russian captors. The soviet government has made it illegal to buy or sell. Any one who breaks this law has committed a very serious crime indeed. He is a “specu- lant.” and many hundreds of people | have been shot in Russia for this of- fense. . It is likewise illegal to play cards, for in so doing one might be- come ambitious to acquire the prop- erty of his neighbor and become thereby a “speculant.” Thousands are in prison for card playing. * *x % % | T is with difficulty I convey a clear in Russia. The depression of Russia‘s paper money only differs in degree from the conditions that eventuated in other European countries during the great war. In England the gold sovereigns soon disappeared from cir- culation, and it was necessary to greatly increase the paper issues. It was made illegal to export gold, and fator there was a premium on gold over paper among exchange brokers despite the fact that legally a paper pound was worth as much as a gold sovereign Bolshevists declared all gold and silver money to be the property of the idea of the present maney situation | | state. They printed ruble notes as fast ‘as paper, ink and machinery could produce them. The notes of 108 rubles and under cost more to pro- | duce than their face value. They alsa printed notes of the denominations of 500 rubles, 1.000 rubles, 5,000, and lat- terly it takes notes of the denomina- | tion of 10,000 rubles to be effective. 1 have frequently been asked about | the possibilities of trade with Russia, and 1 would unhesitatingly reply tha the immediate possibilities are nil. In the first place, the soviet government would insist that trading be done with them as a government, thue forcing the foreign trade to recognizke them as the legitimate agents of Russia and as the rightful owner of the commodities that they might have to offer in exchange. . The fourth and last of the series of articles on “Razed Russia” will have to do with the personality of the leaders; Lenin’s dream and its fulfill- ment, and the possible effects on the world. 1 will endeavor to show that Germany hovers ever in the back- ground. ready to swoop on this land of limitless materials in natural re- sources and in the manpower which will place in her hands a club heavy enough to bring the whole world to her fent. This is a menace which cannot be lizhtly considered. por can it be dismissed with the “Why. that ie unthinkable,” which was on many lips hefore the world war broke and the Hun showed himself in his true light 1 Lardner’s Weekly_Letter ‘ O the editor: Every once and a wile a military expert comes try had of been prepared for war before we got into it, why the lenth of the war would of been short- ened by a yr. at lease and maybe sooner. Along the same lines students of finance and etc. is always giveing their opinion that we wouldnt of had so many bank failures and loss of money and etc. if people had of had their eyes open and got ready for what was bound to happen after the war. Well friends I guess they's no ques- tion about the value of preparedness whether it's in war or money matters or what not and nobody can doubt the truth of the old sore, “4 warned is 4 armed,” and the same thing applys to helth like everything else. So for that reason I am going to run the risk of being wrote down as a kill joy and tell my readers what the experts on helth is saying around here, namely that the coming summer of 1921 will see a record crop of epidemics and sickness in some parts of the U. S.| and Canada and the sooner the public wakes up and looks the facts in the face, why it won't be near as bad as if it come like a surprise. E .4 suppose my readers will laugh at this prophesy and ask have I went crazy and where do I get that stuff and etc. Well friends I am not crazy and I wished I was at liberty to tell you where I got a hold of this in- formation, but sufficient to say that the writer is not one of the kind that make predictions without koowing where they speak of and I would cer- tainly be a fine bum to know what 1 know and not tell my readers and admires so as they can get ready for the biggest carnival of disease this country has seen since the hoof and mouth escapade. * kX ¥ THE last named was a novelty when the cows first sprang it and the comeing epldemic will also introduce 1 or 2 allments that hasn't never been heand of before which makes them all the harder to fight. Luckly the lead- ing doctors is of the opinion that very few of them will be fatal. But they will take a long time to cure unlest they are tended to in time and for that reason I am going to give a list of a few of them and symptoms of same and the treatments which the doctors has worked out. German measles—This is a new dis- ease under a old name. The patient breaks ont with a threat in place of a rusi The gen. symptoms is a dry throat and & parch tongue which water don’t seem to do no good wile grape juice, birch beer and etc. makes them even sicker./ In advance stages the tongue hangs out. Remedy—Aro- matic spts. of malt. Dose—1 seidel after every pretsel Chronic drought — Symptoms — The tongue hangs out and they’s a sensa-. tion of dryness in the throat which water don’t seem to do no good. Rem~ edy—Six per cent solution of darley, 1 stein after every pretsel. Oasis of the liver—Svmptoms—The tongue haugs out and the very word , e out and says that if this coun- | water brings on nausea. Remedy— | Sweet spts. of hops, and eat plenty of liverworst. Falling arches — Symptoms — The | tongue hangs out and the patient | don’t like to dance. Remedy—Sweet spts. of wurzburger to be drunk in & setting posture. | Chronic baldness — Symptoms — The | tongue and the nall both hang out. Remedy—Sweet spts. of pilsener. Chronic baldness—Symptons— The tongue hangs out and the patient can't use a comb. Remedy—Shampoo with the foam and take balance in- ternally. These is a few of the expected ai ments together with remedys foj same but patients is advised to gel their prescription filled at a reliable druggist and not try no home made | remedys which I know of a case right | here on Long Island where an experi~ ment of this kind not only pretty | near killed the patient but the rest of the family. * x x % THE head of the house had been suffering a long wile with | chronic drought and falling arches and beer was prescribed, and the Mrs. got a hold of a recipe some place and made a doz. bottles only she has lived all her life on the theory that 2 qts. makes a gallon so she didn't only put in 1 as much water as the recipe called for so one day wile the medis ced in the pantry getting why we all set down tq seasoned. supper and next thing you know they was a series of terrible explosions and glass flied in every direotion and the walls looked like they’d been out all nigh* in a storm and I finely snucke up on | “e only bottle that hadn went blgyg and opened it up an Tacted M5, da ‘ever Since then when ¥ taste quifine I think its ice cream. -~ So don't try to cure yourself with no home brew because in a little wile the drug stores will be all set to' take care of you and I notice that some of them in N. Y. oity has all ready changed their names from “Riverside Pharmacy” and etc to “Jack’s Place,” and where thev use to hang out a big shaveing mug they have stuck up a stein. 3 And I hear that a N. Y. physici has broke ground right hers on Loni Island for a hopstital for beer cases only and its right acrost the ot trom a druggist with a capacity X bbls. a day. The hopstital will »§ named the Palmer House after tha best atty. gon. we ever had and the nurses will all wear white aprons and the internes will visit the different wards everv midnight and undress all the patients that seems to of bee absent minded when they went to A daily suds bath will be part of the treatmunt So much for treatmunt and etc. but they's another old saying that 1 of, of prevention is worth a pt. of cure 80 1 might say to those of my read ers that wants to avoid these diss eases, don't take no exercise ai don’t eat nothing saity. Personly am begginning to feel kind of siak myself and 1 am afraid the oM trom- ble iz comeing back. wutnl.' say a man must take the the sweet w Mts and pervonly prefer the er. ‘RING W.'LARDNER. Great Neck, Ayrd & .— | - i