Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1916-10-27
WORK IN RUSSIA
FOR EVERY ONE
WHO WANTS It.
And Wages Are So High That
They Nearly Offset the Ire
mendouS Increase in Cost
of Necessities,
tAssocIatod Pres. Correspondence,

ASSOCIATED Press Correspondence
Stockholm, oct. S.-Therc is much
inevitable hardship in Russia, pres
, cnt or threatening scarcity Of many
essential things and a very general
and unpleasant lack OF organization
hu-~s here ts-stl50 - OF .r side to .Ahe
picture. Everybody who wants work
can get It, and wages are so high that
the tremendous increase in the cost Of
living has been nearly offset by them.
Mushroom fortunes are growing up
over night and the demand for lux
uries is so great that it can with diff
ficulty be met.
This ~ the report made to a cor
respondent Of the Associated Press by
one of the best known members Of
the American colony in Moscow, who
now after seevn years residence there
Is returning to America. His actvi-
ties during that period kept him in
touch with most parts OF the great
| empire, and he declared that condi-
tons in Moscow are typical of what
I IS TO Ire found elsewhere so far as
| prosperity Is concerned, but rather
| worse in the matters Of housing and
! transportation
e HOUSES Scarce IN Moscow.
Moscow had roundly 100000 in
| habitants before the war. This num-
! Der, he believed, had been increased
! about 80 per cent making the popula-
| ton 100000 one Of the immedi-
! ate results has been such a scarcity
! Of rentable houses that 1t Is not at all
unusual to find advertisers offering
bonuses up TO 500 rublcs for anyone
finding them a suitable dwelling
place There are certain restrictions
against increasing rents to tenants al
ready in occupancy but these restriC-
tons do not apply to new renters, and
naturally such persons have TO pay
high prices when they do succeed in
finding "A house.
The number Of cabs has been re-
duced to a fraction of the -bellum
number, and considerable number
of street cars has also been with |
drawn from service. Cab prices have |
increased to point where many per- |
sons formerly addicted to the cab |
habit have given it up, but without |
finding an adequate substitute, the |
street cars being continually jammed |
TO suffocation. So there is nothing |
to do but walk, and Moscow is a city |
of imposing distances.
Fuel Problem serious.
The one really serious problem |
which the city faces this winter, ac-
cording to the informant, is the ques-
ton of fuel and light-wood coal and |
petroleum. Wood, which cost from
eight to ten ruhlcs before the war
now costs as much as fifty, and the
supply is most inadequate. To he
sure, there is wood enough in the en-
pire. but transportation facilities are
lacking Indeed, one Of the most un-
favorable things In Russia today is,
declared the American, the extreme
disOrganization, or perhaps better
woeful lack of organization of trans
portatton Of all kinds. coal and pc
troleum are both dear and scarce, and
the outlook is not for any immediate
betterment.
There is great scarcity Of lard and
other fats, and the meat supply is
plainly becoming rapidly less. The
informant declared that not only have |
the herds of cattle and swine been !
unduly reduced by excessive slaugh ]
ter. but that great numbers also per {
ishod last winter either from cold or !
hunger. due to insufficient care. OF ,
foodstuffs Of other sorts, however,
there is no lack, and there can be no
question Of anybody going hungry eX-
ccpt the unfortunate Germans and
Austriuns yet in the empire, who find /
great difficulty i'm getting work, and !
whose numbers are so great and their ]
colonies scattered over such vast eN- =
panscs OF territory that it has been
impossible to prevent all distress, even
with the best efforts of the American .
diplomatic and consular offices, who J
have undertaken the distribution of 4
the German and Austrian relief funds, c
He declared that talk Of a possible p
revolution in Russia was preposter- a
Gus.
Russians Never So Prosperous. +,
"The Russian people" he said, :.
never were SO prosperous as they !,
now are. all the way from the labor
nr up to the highest classes The /
greatest furrier i'm the city told me d
that he had never done such a bust o
ness as i'm the last few months new
appear daily in the 1
streets. and the lahorer Is eating more
md wearing better clothes than he
ever did.
''There is a great longing for peace
among the cNll population but the ;
soldiers were never SO we'll fed we'll @
,lothed and happv in their lives They /
IRE now sure that they are winning T.
md NOTHING can stop them ana they n
are well armed i'm striking contrast /.
~ th, firet u,,ptbs Of t,n NOR when