Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-07-01
A A|| " X! OF
INTERVENTION
WILL BE HELP
This is the Attitude Taken
by Middle and Wealthy
Glasses in Russia.

Vologda, Russia, April 15.-(Cor-
r~espondence of The Associated Press.3
-If the entente allies will no inter-
vene. let the Germans come, is the
attitude of the formerly walthy n
middle classes of the people of RUS
STA. Most of them here would frank
ly welcome foreign intervention.
This feeling, has been the greatest
obstacle in any attempt to bring the
Russian internal political revolution
out of the whirlpool Of disorder, &C
cording to information in the foreign
embassies here.
Now that the peasants and work
men are having their innings, the
property classes are beginning to feel
the pinch Of denial and even of
starvation, experienced by the poorer
classes in Russia for centuries. This
is illustrated by the experience Of the
Bourgeois family in whose home
The Associated Press correspondent
lives az paying guest"
This family, once n OF he
wealthiest in the Vologda govern
ment, owned thousands of acres Of
timber land, several lumber mills, q
dozen ships, two .glass factories and
more than 1000 acres of land.
This Is what has happened to those
holdings in the past two months:
The lumber lane has been declared
a government monopoly and conf1s-
Gated; likewise the shipping. The
glass factories and lumber mills have
been taken over and are operated by
the workmen. The peasants have
taken the land.
A few days ago the city government
(soviet) imposed especial tax on the
capitalistic class. The family was as
sessed $4,000 rubles.
Prices for foodstufs, when obtain
able, are enormous ven when figured
at the present rate of international
exchange-which these Russians
don't get, because their money is old
money, invested or made when the
exchange was two rubles to the dol
lar. Compared with old standards of
prices in Russia. where living was
cheap, the prices now are almost Un-
White -four cannot be bought, ex-
cept by stealth and in h tiniest
qualities. The black -four which all
use now makes the blacklist Of bread.
The poorest peasants formerly ate
something similar. The cost of this
flour formerly was the equivalent Of
about rs cents per pood (36 pounds.)
At present in Vologda, each person
Is allowed S pounds Of this flour a
iAAo1llA, lOu5lA " PCliiiI apouI
thin slices Of bread per day. But
more is %procurable through irregular
channels. The correspondents host
bought a pood yesterday for one hum
dred and, fifty rublcs: just three hum
dred times the old price.
There is nothing else quite as bad as
this. but. with meat, butter and all
other foodstuffs the prices are from
ten to fifty times the old amount.
Everything is by card; that is, pur-
chases are limited II city (soviet)
controlled, but it is quite possible, if
n has enough money, to secure
larger quantities by stealth.
But the Soviet has quite an effective
way of controlling this undermined
tradtng-the "obusk." "Obusk' is
Russian for search. A dozen or SO
armed soldiers and Red Guard swoop
down now and then on the house the
correspondent occupies and coniiscatc
the surplus supplies
When to these difficulties. are added
co%nflscation Of bank accounts Of the
/, wealthy families their plight can be
: imagined.