Evening journal., 1918-02-07
OUTLOOK IN RUSSIA
FAST GROWS WORSE
Thousands of Released
Prisoners, Mostly German;
Increase Menace
SOLDIERS SEIZE
MANY TRAINS

any immediate change. according Q,
adyires from a number Of authenti'
sources The economic situation o
TIE former empire is especially critical
In addition, the released prisoners O
war constitute an ever increasing
menace The prisoners. largely Ger
mans. are being liberated by the thous
snds Most of them at once star
for petragrad There are said to b.
10000 in the capital
NJ Shllapnikon, the COMMISSIONS
Of Labor, told a correspondent in petro
grad today that The causes Of Russiai
plight are universal. adding "Ioi
probably know them as well as ] do
and there is no need to enlarge upor
them.
We are goins through the transition
period from war Ga peace continued
the Commissioner Of Labor "This is
most diflcult period in better organized
countries. and is particularly di1lcul
IN Russia. The difficulty is aggravated
by the fact that neither the Emperor
nor kerensky's government regulated
the Industries.
There was unevcnness Of production
even In the branch Of Industry max.
ing munitions Of war. there being toe
much produced OF some articles and toe
little OF others. The first measure
we are taking is 20 cut down the manu-
fscturs Of other than necessary things
and TO produce useful articles. those we
need most, such 1s locomotives cars
and automobiles. Thousands II loco
motives are badly in need Of repair. but
there are no shops for that work. as
they ell have been turned into mluni-
uon factories. These are being turn
ed back 70 their original purpose"
Asked 70 what extent unemployment
prevailed in Russia the Commissioner
of Labor replied
OF course unemployment is consid-
erablei but il IS dialcult to give the
number Of unemployed The army de-
mobilization Is increasing their num-
Der, but only temporarily. as most OF
The soldiers are returning TO the vii
lagos, where they will take up the
lands.
In a worse plight are the unemploy-
ed among the educated, tens Of thou
sands Of them, mostly officials. bank
clerks and others who consider them
selves above the working class and do
not like physical labor. The Ministry
Of Industry, for instance, employed
1900 officials. while at present It has
only 900 employed and the work is
better done.
ITO solve the unemployment prob.
lew we are organizing public works
such as sanitation work, building con
struction, woodcuttlng, peat digging
etc"
As 90 the hours Of work and pa,
Of leborers the Labor Commissioners
gave these figures:
'The working period is eight hours
for physical lsborers and six hours
for those engaged IN office work. The
laborers are paid by the hours and
the ONCE workers receive their pay
monthly. The average wage 40 III,
Putloff factory THE big munition
works in Petrograd is 1 ruble &C
kopecs an hour 10 employs isOO
persons, the force having been reduced
from $1,000 because Of lack Of fuel.
as well as from the partial stoppage
Of the production Of munitions. Most
Of the factories which closed In De-
cember because Of the fuel shortage
are resumlng work
With regard 10 the effect Of the
naturalization Of the factories upon
production. NJ Slinpnikoff said,
The effect Is most beneficial. 70 in
creases production. For instance. We
nationalized all the Ural factories and
the conference Of representatives now
meetine in Petrograd reports that the
productivity Of labor there has al
ready increased up to 200 per cent.
There Is 9 physiological reason for
This. The workmen realize that they
are working for themselves and for
their country. and that they are not
being exploited for private gain. That
Is a great stimulus
we do not. however. mean 10 na-
tonsli7e all the industries right now
We only wish 20 regulate them and
make impossible such things as the
capitalists did in seizine millions Of
Yards OF cloth while the people wen,
naked We shall not connscato fac
tories. and we shall even let owners
use their own initiative 90 long az
they do not oppose our control snc
operate ia harmony with our general
indusirial policies"
The search Tor food conducted by the
Bolshevik authorities in petrograd dis
closed nearly 10000 pounds Of butter
which had been boarded BY spectators
The authorities also found $50 carloads
OF matches, 10000 gallons OF kerosene
and large quantities Of meat. potatoes
peas. fats and soaps. One speculator hac
5000 pairs Of childrens SHOES.
The prices OF foodstuns in petrosrac
have fallen temporarily. but owing Il
the failure of TRANSPORTATION higher
prices are expected
NJ Nevsh, the new Minister Of Com.
mnnications, addressing the food con.
gress. gave a black picture Of the1slt-
uaton and threatened TO resign unles.
trains were given machine guns anc
armed guards to protect them agains
soldiers, who. he said, were running
unrestrained. attacking, robbing and
killing The Minister said passenger
trafllc must be eliminated indefinitely
Separation OF the Church.
The separation OF State and church
by the Bolshcvik government is ex-
planned in a long statement sent abroad
by the Bolshevlk Official news agency
From this it IS apparent that al eccle-
siastical property has been declared "a
belong to the people and is TO be used
for the common veal
The Bolshevik Commissioners OF Pub
iic Charity, who have been given con-
troll OF church possessions. announce
that il IS their opinion that this prop
erty should be used solely for the al
deviation Of the lot Of the classes suf-
fering most from exploitation by capi-