Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1918-05-30
B0LsHEvIK BUSINESS
(By William l.. Chenery)

(By William l.. Chepery)
Some glimpse of democracy can be
had from nearly every place occupied
by man. What is seen, however, de-
ponds on the observer. No where is
this more spectscularly true at this
moment than in Russia. A manu-
facturer from Moscow, an English
man, was passing through Chicago.
He left his establishment a few weeks
ago. The Germans were coming too
close for comfort. But during the
last few months and years he has
learned something of the way men
stumble toward self-government.
twenty-five hundred operators were
employed in his factory. A little
while ago he and his associates de-.
cided that the factory should be shut
down. To operate it under the exist
ing disorderly conditions was un-
profitable. The workmen were In
formed of this decision.
"You cannot shut down; we must
have work." was the workers re-
Spouse.
"But we are losing money by run
ming the plant" said the manufsc-
turer."
"We would lose money if you clos
ed it," replied the workers. 1--WE
must eat. How else can we get money
for food? IT you close the factory we
will open it,"
The factory was kept open.
Under any other rule than that Of
the B%olshevik the owners of this es.
Enlistment would have closed 1t at
once. Common commercial prudence
would have demanded it. Sound
business management rightly insisted
upon retrenchment.
OF course the workmen were cor
rect in saying that they must have
jobs in order to live. But under
ordinary circumstances their neces-
stiles are disregarded. Often the
workman must be turned loose If the
concern is to avoid bankruptcy.
Still it is possible to understand
the point of view of the Russian cot
ton mill operators. They thought
first of themselves. Are there no
presidents for such a sin?
| asked the Moscow manufacturer
how he first felt the effects Of the Boil
sheyik rule.
ey," was his u~nhesitating answer.
| asked him how much. his en-
ployes bad been getting. He said
that a quarter a day would be the
American equivalent of the pre-war
wages of the apprentice boys-the
lowest paid.
1.-The new get $4.75 or nineteen
times that sum-" he added, not with
out bitterness.
Russian money, however, ia worth
only from one.6fth to one.tenth Of
it's pre.war value. The real wage In
crease of the apprentices is accord
ingly equal only to q sum between
50 cents and a dollar a day. Possibly
this is not an e%xtravagant advance.
The truly bad experiences of this
gentleman from Russia arose from
the ignorance of some of the Boil
sheviki in command. A peasant
scarcely able to sign his W name
was thus in charge of the financial
ad oinistration Of Moscow. He d.
rected all the banks.
The public school teachers and
other civil servants were, moreover,
striking. They refused to work for
the Bolsheviki because untutored Of
ficials were placed " them. Thus
q school porter was put in charge of
education. A similar rule prevailed
elsewhere.
Of course the old regime is respon-
sible for the general lack of educa-
tion. The Bolsheviki probably had
made the most Of their advantages.
They we're denied training and en-
l%ightenment by an absolute ruler who
hoped thus to keep them in subiec-
ton.
The second complaint. that peas
ants were governing their intellectual
betters, is also significant. The trav-
eler thought it terrible that, for
example, Russian general should
be acting as a night Waterman in q
large building in Moscow. The recol-
lection that q colonel and two leu
tenants cleaned the snow in frontsof
his residence last winter also gave
him pain.