Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-07-01
Wealthy and Middle
Glasses of Russia to
Welcome Intervention
Correspondence Associated Press

Vologda, Russia April 15.-1f the
entente allies will not intervene. let
the Germans come, Is the attitude OF
the formerly wealthy and middle
classes of the people Of Russia Most
Of them here would frankly 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. ac-
cording to Information in the foreign
embassies here.
Now that the peasants and workmen
are having their innings. the property
classes are beginning to feel the pinch
of denial and even Of starvation. eX-
perienced 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 as paying
guest"
This family. once one Of the wealth
lest in the vologda government, owned
thousands of acres Of timber land,
several lumber mills. dozen ships.
two glass factories and more than q
600 acres Of land.
This Is what has happened to those
holdings in the past two MONTHS
The lumber land has been declared
government monopoly and confls-
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.
10 he oJt Z
(soviet) imposed a special tax on the
capitalistic class. The family was
assessed $4,000 rubles.
Prices for foodstuffs, when obtain
able, are enormous even 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 dollar Com
pared with old standards Of prices In
Russia, where living was cheap. the
prices now are almost unbelievable.
White flour can not be bought, ex-
cept by stealth and IN the tiniest quail
tiles. The black -four which all use
now makes the blacklist Of bread. The
poorest peasants formerly ate some
thing similar. The cost OF this -four
formerly was the equivalent of about
25 cents per pood cas- pounds.)
At present in VoloSda, each person
is allowed pounds Of this -four a
month. enough to permit about three
thin slices Of bread per day. But more
is procurable thru irregular channels.
The correspondents host bought a
pood yesterday for one hundred and
fifty rubles: Just three hundred 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 and city (soviet
controlled, but 1t Is quite possible, II
one has enough money, to secure larger
quantities by stealth.
But the soviet has quite an effective
way Of controlling this under handed
trading-the "obusk." "Obusk' Is Rus
sian for search. A dozen or so armed
soldiers and Red Guard swoop down
now and then on the house the cor
respondent occupies and confiscate the
surplus supplies.
When to these difficulties are added
con1scation Of bank accounts of the
wealthy families their plight can be
imagined.