The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-05-30

Lenfn and TrotslSy dream of world dominion and they are cunning as well as cruel. They work behind q veil and they would like you to think their ideal is simply theoretical so- cialism brought to a practical con- Clusion.
 I have always been q Socialist but, with the nightmare of this Russian version of it now over mo, I'm afraid of the very thought.
 I heard the first shot fired in the revolution - it killed the Priestaf tChief of Po1ice) in Petrograd- and l had unusual opportunities to study Russia's most terrible ordeal from that time CF'ebruary, 1917) until last month. when I returned to England, after twenty years in Petrograd.
 Russia today is the saddest coun- try on earth.
 The cruel spectre of famine stalks through the land; every one, rich as well as poor, fears the worst; commerce Is being crippled by a creeping paralysis;
 there Is a cancer in the very heart of the country.
 Call 1t Bolshevism - the Russian idea of % cial reform, equality of class. uplifting of the masses and other idealistic goals we hear so much about nowadays-and you can think twice in the future.
 These Red Terrorists---t -tyrranists if you lilSe-are out on the run, not to level things up so much as down and. as the night follows the day. so the death-kuell of civilization sure ly sounds in the trumpet-bcll of Eol- shevism.
 Countries other than Russia must awake to their peril or perish.
 fYt,F rrf4frf H. ly enemy of mankind; 1t is suicidal to ignore it.
 sclfishncss and Greed.
 Like a gigantic octopus it seeks to encompass the world in it's death 1y grip. Its tentacles already reach out to all European lands, and everywhere it is bound to find some fertile ground for Its seeds of sell nshness and greed.
 They are the attributes of human nature.
 Why before I left Russia only four weeks ago. we read almost daily cf the Progress of Bolshevism in the British Isles"
 of course the only papers now pub lished preach the gospel of Lenine and Trotzky.
 And yet. among the thinking classes--- no matter how poor-the true mean ing of Bolshevism, I hope. is being realized. and time will show whether the real Russia will recover, or suc- cumb to the poison that is threaten ing her very life.
 Here. in Great Britain, I find they arc complaining of such things as high prices and profteering.
 When I left Petrograd last month you could not buy many articles of necessary food, no matter what you offered. Bread was 40 roubles a pound and the rouble used toy Me worth 44c. Horsefiesh was eager& bought at 25 roubles, and the butter even fetched as much as 120.
 or course one of the first things tho Revolutionis.s did was to rob the banks. but the enormous sums hand cd to supporters of the movement soon moved almost worthless, and. day2& d night, money hardly worth paper 1t is printed, is being turned out without the slightest re- gard to the future.
 But, then, one of the many dreams of the Bo1shevist is to abolish money; perhaps this is his method.
 Pork at fSO RoubIes Per Pound.
 At the present time 1t is difficult, if not impossible, to determine the purchasing value of a rouble. My wife recently paid 1s0 roubles for a pound of pork. In the olden days that would have meant about s9O.0O. The price of everything Is pro- portionate. Minimum tram fares formerly about three cents are now slxty-six cents. and newspapers sell at forty-four cents.
 Of course. the food prices are greatly enhanced by the systematic thefts of the Red Guards. who think nothing of taking precedence in d po- tatoe queue and ordering what they want with not the slightest intention of paying.
 Then, to make up his loss. plus Nlezitirnate profit, the shopkeeper un- blushingly charges 12 roubles.
 Just before we came away the foof question was rapidly approaching [ crisis.
 All we>~had for a fortnight was a small allowance of oats. which we ground in the cofree-mill or meal rnincer and made into a pasty kind o. porridge.
 MIX was almost unobtainable. but if you waited in the queue Iona enough you might sometimes get 6 pint for ten roubles (s15.o0).
 Mothers with young children fire ot, ntIy would take up their stand fo. the morning milk just after mid. night, ana then there IS iOl tHOllx to go round.
 Babies Die by the Thousand.
 The mortality especially amonG babies is too awful for words. Thous ands die every day, and no relic seems to be forthcoming soon enough to save Russia from herself.
 As a nation she must inevitably dit unless help from outside comes il duo time.
 There is food in abundance in part of the country, of course, but n' means to convey it to the centres most in need.
 Fever. smallpox, and other hideou diseases are rampant.
 Murder. rape, and evil practices O a. nature too nauseous to think of arr commonplace.
 Everything belongs to the State-your house. our furni-
 ture. your OK and yoar asses, and AnTHE ID c