The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-04-21
!nPl(lE
AID TO RESTORATION

4
. Washington, April so.--Dfstribt3s
ton of farming implements throuxk
Siberia by the allied governm aptA
would go long way toward restoring
ths normal life of that vast grrvrr@,
of fertile territory. Russian peasant !.
weary OF more than four years -tt.v-n
and revolution, no longer deluda9. lr
the glowing promises of unscruptHp<~5
leaders are yearning for Il ehanef 70
take up their agricultural pursu4ts'and
again live in peace. ~.
SO says Donald Thompson, photo-
Erapher for LesIies Weekly, who MS
just returned from q long stay in s.
IBERIA during which he covered rroI-
sands OF miles and talked with nsssr
of the peasant class. Thorn rsurf.
whose activities since 1914 have carr
ried him to every fighting fronts-wss
here today, arranging to return 10
Europe on a Photographic n1sssro-1
that will keep him abroad for Lso
years.
with few exceptions every rarrne-
TT met In Eiberia, and L spent a. great
deal of time among the peasant glass.
was eager to get away from all the
turmoil and uncertainty and the
haranging of agitators and refurn To
the SOIL said Thompson. Many of
them are trying to get fresh Start IN
this direction under discouraging cor
ditions, All the Implements they
owned before they were modified ior
war in 1914 are now useless. having
been allowed to rust and rot In tn"
fields for four years. ffr.
IF the allies could arrange 10 ~ !
these people have some news~etysfff,-1
meut things would soon settle down in
the farming districts. The Russian
peasant really ought to be haitfsfs be-
cause he is "A good chap at hasJtsaRt
willing to work. They are realty.fitn
so many children They made great
/ soldiers and up to the time their
ranks were shot through with Ger
man propaganda fought as hravely "a
any of the allied soldiers. Their will
/ ingness to fight was remarkable when
/ you consider they never did kuovr
j what they were fighting for. To them
/ it was more of "a holiday than ana
thing else. Yet / have seen them go~
/ ing out to meet the enemy armed
/ with nothing but clubs. On other ur-
! casions when they were short 81
! equipment [ have seen Russian sol
! diers watching n battle until some or
/ their armed comrades fell and lien
rush out and pick up the guns OF the
latter and continue the fight"
Thompson says there is a good sup
! ply of food in Siberia and the STIR
rounding country, a statement which
! will come as "A surprise to those who
| had been led to believe that food vas
| the scarcest thing in every part Of
| Russia. In Fadivostok prices for
! food are about double what they are
| in New York at the prese MT time. hut
n person with money has no difficulty
| in obtaining as wide a variety of foo<is'
| as one can get in most American
! cities Bread of a good quality seemed
to he plentiful in the country uis-
tricts.
The distress and suffering in vi1di-
vostok and other cities in Siberia Ia
among the refugees" said Thompson.
There are thousands OF them and II
1t wasn't for the American Red Cross
1 they would have persisted long ago.
i They are from all parts of Russia and
adjacent countries and include many
nationalities, n fact which has -rcf
made it any easier for the Red Cross.
but the latter organization is hand
ling the situation In its usual efficient
fashion. The affection of these reftl-
gees and that of native Russians for
the American Red Cross is eyideneed
at every opportunity"
Life in Naldivostok In fairly nor
NAL" continued Thompson. 'Restan-
rants do IA big business, especially
those with cabarets the latter pro-
viding the only means of entertain-
ment outside the movie house. None
of the regular theatres are open.
Stores are open but stocks are about
exhausted. This applies especially 10
clothing of every sort. An ordinary
suit of clothes is SO high that even
the persons who pass as wealthy
make no attempt to buy clothing
Shoes are not much more costly thah
they are in America. 3
I'm the villages and sparsely set
tied country districts the scarcity o1
wearing apparel is most noticeable
Men, women and children are dressed
in clothing made from bags and such
household furnishings as can be made
into clothes. In the vicinity of tslc
railroads the passenger cars have been
stripped of their plush seats, the
goods going to make feminine ap-
parel. As the first, second and third
the American and allied soldiers dis
tingush women dressed in this way "a
first, second and third class cit.ze ns' A
Each community is printing is
own money and the people who use II
seem to be entirely satisfied with THIS
arrangement. Thompson has a whcie
stack of this paper money, the tlT-
nominations ranging in size from an
ordinary stamp to sheet OF paper
the size of an election ballot. Thomn~
son agrees with others who have rt-
= Gently returned from Russia thar the
transportation tangle presents one OF
the chief problems of the country. AT
the time he left, February 81, Amoxi-
can engineers were making good
Roadway in solving this problem,