Evening journal., 1919-02-12

o+ohidtV On onCc uttOi cu tiC Wich biat
10 the Socialists should be given a
country where they could work and
handle affairs and show what they
would attain by The accomplishment OF
their Ideals. II seems as n Providence
has desisned Russia for this trial.
The result : thai there exist more
tyranny. cruelty. bribery and misery
under the new free" government than
aTi5'=- any 0issai5T a government Russia has
known
A small group OF people has purpose
ly with the Utmost refinement and
With staggering perseverance, wiped
but Russ.ss wealth. her prosperity and
her future. Whatever was in Russil
has been thrown down and crushed. or
"investgated" so thoroughly that
nothing remains.
Petrograd is empty; the few people
outdoors wander about like spectres,
" III pale faces and hoilows round their
eyes and mouths from hunger The
horses drop In front OF the carriages
from mere exhaustion. The dogs In
The streets are bony shivenlng orea-
tures.
! have had Russians come 10 me and
swoon in my arms from hunger and
misery. They had heard that ghe Meth
e-lands Ambassador would perhaps. be
able 10 help them Every institute OF
public charity and common assistance
has been wrecked and ruined. The In
ternationai Ssafarers Home at petro-
grad. even. has not escaped The old
captain and his wife who managed the
home for years have been put out
Without means OF existence. All their
protests have been OF no consequence
Commerce. Industry. banking and min
Ing have stopped entirely The banks
have been -plundered and all the money
values and shares have been taken in
10 custody. The records OF notes and
drafts have been scattered 10 the four
winds. With connscated goods. the
Bolshevik Try to create a barter with
foreizn countries. ~
The Only Hone
A total humiliation OF the present
system Is the only possible saving OF
Russia. The country. with the greater
part OF rs inhab itants. has been thrown
into the deepest misery and despond-
ency There are no fodstuffs any more.
less. as in most cases one cannot get
anything on them. Railway traffic has
almost stopped and. accordingly the
Import OF food. Only on the big lines
some trafflc Is maintained. but the
trains creep along from one station -
another and after one hours ride they
stop for one hour and a half No or
ssnlzed schedule is kept. The ca
risges have been entirely plundered, the
brassNVork the curtains, racks and
coverinzs OF the seas have gone Trav-
elling has been made almost impossi-
bic by an unheard-of passport tyranny.
To buy a railroad ticket one needs
special permit on the road from Pc
.frograd to Moscow your baggage Is ex-
amned three times. Thus the lnhab'-
fsnts are imprisoned IN the cities. left
10 despotlsm. hunger and a want OF
most needful articles.
II is impossible TO escape from the
country. as the frontiers are hermetic-
ally closed 10 those who have not
sufficient means TO bribe The front er /
guards. The population seems 10 lack 1
all energy 10 rise AGAINST lbs oppressOrs.
All the energy OF the peonle has been
Systematically crushed There is no
police. no safety service, no iurispru-
aenoe. In their place came terrorism
ard despoilsm. Never under the old
regime were there so many impris-
onments. so many execiit ons in masses
as we see now daily. Many a time
have seen a crowd OF weeping wom-
en- in front of ihe prisons. looking for
their husbands. brothers and sons. TAX
en- from them without trial and whose
whereabouts they did not know. Heart
rend'ng tales have heard from these
women.
The Four Classes.
The "freedom" system Of the Boil |
shevik has destroyed and ruined exery-
thing: ~ has erected nothing. All |
that the Bolshevkl can do is 10 display
fine words IN the newspapers and AT
lectures. but the simple truth Is that
the people are given TO hunger and
misery as they have never been before
in any country on ihe globe Nothing
is LEFT even for the p-ole.arlat Snug
el'd goods are all one can get for ex-
orb tant p~ices The clandestine trade
with provisions Is 'ndescrlbable. One
pound of butter costs s25 10 s35: one
rornd of meat sii 10 $40 81: bread.
$50 a round which Is. for all that. 4
moist and uneatable straw paste or
course. these are the prices OF snug
Cling. but the fact that they are paid
shows how far famine has gone.
The stribution" had divided the
people into four classes. The largest
'lass (who gets most includes the
elite" OF the laboring ,element--those
Who do heavy labor and the outcasis
u The community, among whom are
mixed released criminals and such ele- |