Evening star., 1919-04-29


ceives about two-tenths kilogram OF
cottonseed oil In happy" months he
may obtain handful of sugar
Insane From Hunger.
On this ration man would starvc on
his feet in "A very few weeks. II is the
| Illegal traffic in foodstuffs that makes IL
| possible to live. The Russian Rural Co
i operative Association does wonders in
| helping to obtain food. but even at
best. thousands are going insane from
! hunger in the cities.
] am often asked why Russia staryes
L myself put the question TO "A member
of a powerful Russian commission.
1T is because soviet Russia is cut
! off from the great corn fields of Ukraine.
Siberia and the other farming districts,
| he said.
! Yet one hears that the soviet has con
Quered thousands OF square miles OF
crops. But the crops are OF no use
| without transportation. | have been
! told that, out of 1000 locomotives CON
are useless through inability to repair
J them.
| The workmen are so weak from un-
dernourishment that they cannot per
| form a real days work. ! talked with
| an engine driver who assured me that
| because of lack of food. il now required
| five men to help him lift machine part
which formerly he had been able To
| handle alone.
Reasoning in Circle.
Therefore. Petrograd starves because
she cannot repair the means Of trans
portation, and she cannot repair the
transportation because she starves. 1t
is the dog running after his own tail
| / asked one of the Petrograd commits
sioners il it would not be better to al
| low few Of the people to get along OH
a little less food for a time and make
greater allowances to the workmen en-
gagged on railroads. thereby providing
more food for all the people after
short period
! Impossible" he said emphatically.
| THAT would be crime against the SO
cialistic principles Of the soviet"
This transportation dilemma is a true
picture of the lack of practical eXecu-
tive ability which characterizes the
workmen's leadership in the soviet
country.
In the appointment of member to
| a government position. one of the first
! questions asked as to his qualifications
is: How many years imprisonment
or exile in Siberia have you undergone"
His administrative ability is sec
] ondary.
| Leaders Are Dreamers.
| MOSI VI lUc teducIS vi pOiSflCNlsHi ii
Russia are men who have lived imprac-
| tical lives in foreign countries. nurs-
ing their ideals but not acquiring that
experience necessary to the business OF
| government There are no trained la
Dor leaders to look to, as the Russian
| labor bodies are not more than two
years old All the political leaders OF
the old regime have been driven out.
He who holds that the great class OF
l N ~ hiatt
der the soviet than they were after
the first revolution is either blind or q
deliberate liar. They could not be worse
off than they are today and live.
Rolshevism accomplished the negative
purpose of tearing down every political
structure which existed in Russia. They
are now confronted by the positive task.
| in which they have so far utterly failed.
| Of building up a structure to take ITS
place
ciple that every member of the law
m akfng body should also be subor-
dinate employe of the administrative
branch Of the government.
Weak Point of Bolshevism.
I believe that this lack Of admins
trative ability in governmental posi-
tions will prove the downfall Of boil
| III.
has the war to blame. this lack or
capacity can be excused. but wnen
there is no longer a war ana inter-
national competition begins the gov
! ernment will not be able to excuse
itself
| There is, however, an active cam.
paign of education in progress ana
experienced and technical men have
been forced into service to train
those who are in government posi-
tions. Every effort Is being made to
organize a public school system.
A start has been made at the very
bottom. and the children's A B
| book is the most important volume
| in the red army. But there are very
few children in the schools. They are
taking care of the younger children
standing in line to get rations. In
Petrograd. at least, the children In
! school receive food. No distinction Is
made between poor children and those
| of former capitalists.
The only activity in which the boil
| shevists seem to have been successful
is in the organization of the army.
! All classes are conscripted except
! trained trade workers.
| The official name for the army is the
farmers and workmens red army.
The discipline is now very good. The
! great task ahead of 1t is to train
| 100 900 officers by spring. The period
, OF training TOT Officers Is eisHt HhoutHS
| for those who cannot read. and four
months for those who can read.
| The old regulations in vogue under
the czar have been almost wholly
adopted. The custom Of saluting is
I! established in the military schools and
! is expected to be adopted at the front
very soon.
Watches Replace Medals.
Trotsky travels all over the realm
as a full-fledged general. holds re-
views and inspections. and distributes
watches for bravery instead of orders
and crosses. With each award. he
| bestows a kiss upon the cheek, just as
did the czar Whenever his train
stops he addresses the soldiers and
whoever else will listen.
| Russia is about to become a social
istic military power. and indeed must
already be counted as such. 1t is
wrong to imagine that any such thing
as an ideal socialistic structure has
been erected, and this the leaders
| from Lenin down will acknowledge.
| According to them, they are now in
transitory stage developing into COM
muniSm.
Admits Shooting Opponents.
The newspapers have been full of
| red terror" Peters, member of the
Petrograd military tribunal. declared
feelinsly that he had had only two
three thousand of the counter revolu-
tionists shot. Even though Peters
considers this modest number, there
are no less than 500 similar tribunals
i'm the soviet country, and no one of
them has been inactive.
4 l.