New-York tribune., 1919-01-10
Rainbow Wealth

A>GHsLGW FeCtstln
This country has had few more inter-
csung gatherings in recent days than
the convention of "Russian Soviets of
America and Canada" which was held
on Wednesday at q hall in East Fourth
Street. AT this convention it was charged
that an issue OF $4,000, 900 Russian
rsbles (s542, 800 000) had been printed
in New York by the American Bank Note
Company on the order Of Ambassador
Boris BakhmatieR, without the consent
of the Russian government" meaning
thereby the present reign of the pro
letsriat on the throne. The editor of
the Russian journal, The Workman and
tie Peasant in making this charge, as
serted that the recent drop in value of
the Russian rubae in the money markets
Of the world was due to the flooding of
Russia with unauthorized paper money
printed in England and Japan. There
follows this naive addendum:
at was explained that under Soviet
rule Russia prints money as il is re-
CURED for governmental use, and. unlike
other currency svstems, notes are backed
only by the good faith Of the government,
without an intrinsic equivalent in the
treasury. The unauthorized printing and
circulation of Russian notes were de-
scribed 'oure exploitation OF the Rus
sian people
According TO The Ecentag Posts cor
respondent the issue of paper rubles
under the Lenine- Trotzl.y regime, up to
around 50 bijijons The total issue dur
ing the war and up to just before the
fall of the kerensky government had al
ready run to something like is billions,
that at present the aggregate appears
to be something like 80 billions. Thus it
appears that Russia now is the proud
pcssessor OF larger issue Of currency
than all the rest OF the world put to-
cether. And the printing press is still
running merrily.
Unlike other currency systems" these
new Russian rubies come fresh from the
press untrammellcd by any such botAers
IS gold reserve, Or any ether evidences
Of value save the good faith of the
government. Receipts from taxes have
fallen almost 10 a minimum, and the
colossal deficits OF the Soviet regime are
being paid for by the simple expedient
CT printing the money exactly as our
oldtime Creenbacl friends used to wish
to DO in this country Nothing could
mere perfectly Illustrate the eccAomic
IDEAS or theories" nov dominant in
J.
f0othold in Germany and ether coun-
tries. The implicit belief in the omnipo-
tence Of governmental fiat to create
values cut Of nothing IS quite on par
with tie rest Of the communstic delu-
sicn that an abundance Of all the good
things Of this earth can be assured SIM
plT by the destruction Of the "capitais-
tic rule"
The extraordinary way in which the
Russian insanity is duplicating almost
evssy phase of the French Revolut on,
down. to the unlimited issue of oSsiq-
aets, is fairly clear evidence that to
these doctrinaire reformers history has
no lessons and the grim realities Of this
worS-a-day world 10 terrors. The Rus
sian lu5'e cannot now be worth in Rus
sin, ln rs purchasing power. much more
than the old Confederate currency near
tho close Of our Civil War, or, if you
please the French ossignots, just be-
fore the end of the Reign of Terror It
IS an instructive incident in this
strange chapter that the fall in the
Fuoie's value has had more to do with
bringing on starvation in Russia than
inc lack of transportation or the de-
SlFrction Of the commercial machinery
Of the country. This, indeed, was the
cnief cause Of this destruction Accord
'ng to all accounts, crops in Russia
tins year have been unusually good; but
the canny peasants have boarded their
stocks and refused 10 sell them for the
worthless -roney that is backed ONLY
b. the good faith of the government"