Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1917-05-29

nv Noshiso JOURNAL srsoIAL IsAssp wiasi
No;rugrad, May 28 (via London.
May 20, f:05 p. mI-The Industrial
crlsls In Russia is 80 acute that ac-
cording to recent utterance of the
only a miracle can save the country
from economic ruin. The demands
of the workmen were so enormous. he
declared, that II seemed impossible
to keep the industrial wheels going
for any great length Of time.
The socialist ministers at a recent
ministerial council said that the only
possibility they saw of settling the
difficulties was to bring the war to
a close
No Agreements Likely.
Neither coalition cabinet nor the
newly appointed commission to regu-
late the difficulties between capital
and labor has yet found way. to set.
tie the industrial crisis. Tho con-
mission is composed Of the ministers
| Of finance, trade and industry and
labor, but since there Is q Wide d.
vergence OF views between the min
/ istor, of finance iand tho neJs aoc4alsst
| min ster oI iait2', II SCENE prebahls
| that this commission will be con-
fronted with the same difficulty that
attended previous efforts at recon-
clliation.
An investigation Of the factory con-
ditions in Petrograd leads to the
alarming, but inevitable conclusion.
that unless the government soon finds
means of adjusting the present diff.
ficulties most of the Industrial enter
prises working for national defense
will be compelled to close within a
few months
The outstanding features Of the
labor situation are as follows:
Factories Must Close.
An investigation shows that virtuai-
| ly the same difficulties prevail In all
the big factories In Petrograd and
| apparently authenticated reports from
| the Moscow, Donets and Ural dis
tricts indicate general disorganiza-
tions. In many of the factories the
demands by the workmen for in
creased wages are actually greater
than the entire profits OF the facto-
ries under the best conditions of pro-
! duction. The workmen, through their
| committees, are virtually in command
of the factories and all business has
| to be submitted to them for approval.
Wages In a majority Of the factories
have already been increased from 100
to Is 0per cent. But there has yet
| been no offset by an advance In prices
of the output.
Demand Back Pay.
In one of the works In Petrograd
the workmen recently demanded the
immediate payment of 100000 ru-
bles--normally $500, ,000--to cover
an increase Of Is kopecs an hour for
each workman. since the beginning
of the war. The directors Of the or
ganization communicated with the
government and asked to be placed
under voluntary arrest as protection
against the threats Of the workmen,
which, as usual, accompanied the de-
| mand. The directors were for two
days housed in the ministry Of justice.
The government finally informed the
considered and with the demand pf
he workmen held temporarily In
abeyance the directors returned to the
| factory.
Forty Per Cent Decrease.
An eight-hour day has become ct
tective in al factories According to
the estimate Of leading mAnufac-
turer the output Of these factories
has suffered an average decrease OF
forty per cent since the revolution.
He said that all these concerns were
confronted with an immediate short-
age of raw materials and with bank.
ruptcy.
Not only have the prices Of prod-
ucts not met the advance In wages.
but payment has been SO slow that
industry Is in urgent need of work.
ing capital The dealers find II diff
ficult to borrow money as the banks
naturally are not eager to extend
credit to factories which are In con-
troll Of temporary workmen's com.
mittees As result. some Of the fac
tories which are In control Of temp
orary workmen's committees. As a
result, some of the factories, accord.
ing to this information. will be coma
PEELED to close within month.
Dare Not CIose Plants.
An ironical feature Of the difficul-