davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The New York herald., 1921-12-25
Loot of All Kinds Comes
From Citizens and the State

Government confiscation however, meant
that enormous valuable stores were seized
ard slowed away or put under seal I was
told that due to the ponderous processes OF
the inefficient bureaucracy, even to this
day an inventory of this property has not
been completed. And through the dishon-
esty of officials vast value in confiscated
goods has returned to the channels of com.
mcrce.
No one in Moscow pretends to deny that
this is So Lenine charges it in his
speeches, Communists accept it as part of
their problem" The assertion is even
made that virtually everything now on
sale in the way of merchandise has been
stolen from the State. How extensive this
wholesale flching may be no one can say
not even the Government, which still has
nc record of or successful control over its
possessions.
The new shopkeepers in some few cases
may be former merchants but many H.
censees are novices in the field of com
merce. One of the best restaurants in the
Arbat is operated by former millionaire.
his wife and son. All three wait on the
guests, but do not hesitate TO shake hands
with them first And in calling for a
waiter tne VlSltOr must beware not TO use
"tavarsht" (comrade) as he would to
nearly every one save fallen bourgeois.
He must say plain citizen" If he tries to
leave tip he will find his money brought
back to him.
Near by is another restaurant opened by
the widow of the Cars late Secretary OF
the Navy The wife of one of Kerensky's
Ministers, who was the daughter of one of
Moscow's richest merchants, presides over
the most successful tea room in town. It
cost her about 10000 900 rubles Cless than
s1,000) to pay for her first years license
collect her equipment and arrange her
rooms, sum beyond the reach of even the
previously well to do, but she had energy
and friends and now transacts a lively
business. She also deals in art objects on
commission and many a treasure from
some formerly resplendent house finds its
way into her showcases, to he sold, like so
much in Russia, for fraction of it's real
value.
The New York herald., 1921-12-25
New Free Trade Idea
Not ADOPTED Generally

The new free trade is not yet making so
great difference in the habits acquired
during the Bolshevist regime True, al
ready one small department store is oper
ating, an institution expansive enough to
employ cash girls and parcel wrappers But
9ost of the licensees have gone into bust
ness in furtive spirit, as though afraid
that IL they made too great show of sue
cess and piled up too tempting stock
new decree would be issued one day and
their property be confiscated. Most of the
shops have begun timidly in single room.
The first to open were flower and millinery
stores and hair establishments. The latest
have been food stores de luxe, with win
dows showing such an assemblage of all
the delicacies denied during the last years
that dense crowds throng before them as
long as there is daylight.
The large part of these stocks must
have emerged from hiding, for no import
is yet possible, and all merchandise was
formally If not effectively confiscated after
the October revolution. The hint is broadly
made that before long much more will be
brought out from secret places and the
Moscow shops will regain some of their
earlier opulence. Only recently the police
found five million dollars worth of silks in
barn just outside the city, and it is
natural to assume that other caches have
not been discovered. When it becomes
safe to fill up the shelves goods will not be
wholly lacking from this source.
The New York herald., 1921-12-25

.a1ag|..

perhaps two-tnirds of the fall seeding could
be undertaken, thanks to supply of grain
from other parts, the famine region will
be weaker next year, and Russia as a whole
will be likewise weaker. But that so
much suffering and so great waste of
human life can have so little political
weight is in itself gauge of the extreme
exhaustion of Russia
1t is hard to exaggerate the anxiety felt
in Moscow over the possible use Of the
American relief organization for counter
revolutionary purposes. American activi-
tics in the Murmansk Intervention and
American support of the Kronstadt upris-
ing, and above all the admitted share in
Bela Khun's overthrow by T. T. c. Gregory
of the American Relief Administration
have ranked Americans especially Ameri-
can relief workers, as more suspect for
Moscow than any foreigners, excepting the
French
This reputation was already redeemed
in part by the impression for integrity
made upon Litvinov by Walter Brown who
conducted the negotiations at Riga, and it
subsequently has been completely changed
by the character of the American Relief
Administration men who entered Russia
heard them unequivocally commended by
Bclshevik leaders, and the fears so acutely
felt in the beginning have disappeared
Life in Moscow Is
One Long Motor Scare
Coming back from the famine district to
the comparative comfort of cities, what do
we find? The one persistent impression
Moscow makes is of penury. The swarms
of emaciated people in the streets are
dressed in patches, the houses have not
been painted in a decade. the dirty cobble
pavements are out of repair the sidewalks
are actually perilous with holes. There is
too, teeming Asiatic activity, contributed
to by the incessant stream of carts and
wagons, the many pedestrians mostly carry
ing bundles, the ubiquitous dilapidated
horse cab and the numberless pedlars lin
ing the curb, as many as twenty to block
with trays of pastries, cigarettes, bread and
fruit.
A contemporary point is given the set
ting by the terrifying Soviet automobiles
They plunge down the hill beyond the For
The New York herald., 1921-12-25
As Many May Starve as Fell
On the French Side in the Wa

| asked Kameniev, who is in charge of
official relief, what was to prevent as many
people dying from the famine as fell on the
French side in the war. He moved his
hands in a sudden gesture, as though he
would like to wipe my suggestion out Of
existence, and said it was impossible. But
his preventive measure was foreign loan.
Visiting villages eighty miles from rail-
roads, where supplies can penetrate only
On sleds after the Volga freezes in Novem-
bcr, found no evidence of an organization
in that backward district. / do not know
how food should be distributed over the
vast spaces even if it might be obtained by
the Government. And then I am skeptical
about Russian plans" In those particu-
lar villages the population already had be-
gun to die out, whatever Kalenin was writ
ing in Moscow, and the rest cannot survive
unless rescued. The greater part Of the
famine stricken are like these doomed vii
layers; they lie far from railways, with
Hundreds and hundreds of thousands even
millions must die. And in Moscow, as in
New York, little about it will be remarked.
In some quarters outside Russia it is as
sumed that the famine must breed discon-
tent in the volga itself, so that If an army
invaded Russia bringing food the country
side would rise against the Government.
The peasants are not by any means pro-
Bolshevik. hear that their priests have
taught them that the famine is the punish
ment of God for their suffering the Bolshe-
Wiki to remain in power, though more Of
them, I imagine, may know it is the pun
ishment for barring the bottoms of their
bins. But the Volga is land of death and
disaster, not of rebellion.
An army bringing food might count on
a pitiful welcome, but not on recruits. And
what army is to march over scorched fields,
bearing it's own supplies and food besides
for 100000 people? The volga is asking
for mercy, not revenge.
This generalization holds despite the
smoldering enmity to the government OF
the Kulaki or "ists," who still are numer-
Gus in and about the Samara government.
These are bands Of rich peasants, class
created by special privileges in the way
cf land ownership and endowment be-
slowed in times of Czarist agrarian re-
forms. They remained a cohesive group
after the revolution, seeking to protect
their interests from the poor peasants"
WnOm the BolSneVlkl Dackeu asdlnsI tneu'
For a time their bands terrorized the
Samara district, coming into villages and
killing off the Soviet Mayor, his Communist
comrades and the village school teacher IL
she were a Communist. If punitive ex-
pedition was heard Of, they blew up bridges
and railroad tracks in its advance. Order
was established in Samara only after
large force had been sent down, and the
fact OF the Red Army had been borne home
to the peasant mind both by heavy re-
rrisals and by its appearing in numbers no
longer to be flouted.
No one can pretend that the disaster of
100000 peasants In country even of
Russia's magnitude does not injure the
Government, which cannot adequately bring
relief. The future is influenced by the abil-
ity of the Volga to recover. and though
The New York herald., 1921-12-25

eign Office or race through the busiest
roads with shrill muffler whistles shrek
ing like demons of some dark dreams. No
matter where in Moscow the sound of
motor is heard there is an impulsive scurry
for safety to the sidewalk
The few street car lines. too, run the
automobiles a close second in rush and
danger. They usually are so crowded that
they bulge with passengers so that these
protrude from the back platforms like
things half stuffed into pocket. And in
The New York herald., 1921-12-25

Power Lee Weakened by Prevailing Distress and Death Because
Red Government Can Furnish Only Oneoth of the Grain
Required Feed the SarvngIts Worst Mistake Was Har
boring Hostility Toward Peasants
from the
The New York herald., 1921-12-25

as Kalenin that 200, 100000 pools of grain
are needed to feed the hungry in the famine
area until the next harvest and that the
Government can furnish at best only one
fourth of this. There are plans to borrow
the remainder from foreign creditors.
American relief is limited to the children,
and at the time I left Moscow 1t did not
provide by any means for all those in the
famine area, let alone the Moscow Pc
trograd children, with their 60 per cent.
tuberculosis and their infant mortality of
40 per cent.
Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-10-16

n MERICA'S Wurd, Cuba, that
~ Ioom,ed so IN the Iin,elight
"A ~ last gear because of its cleo
ton struggles and financial up
heauag, is coming fast into pro1ni-
hence again through revival Of
its prosperity. Friendship of the
United States IN practical form,
first extended I'M 1898, is again the
cause. In Cuban-American history
General Enoch II. CroWder, now
demonstrating the islands finances,
bids fair to rank a0tth General
Leonard Wood, aoho cleaned up
HavanG and enforced sanitation
after the a0ar of 1898.
What General CroWder has &C
compished in the fen months that
he has been IN Cuba is told graphi-
cally in the accompanying article.
By GEORGE F. AUTHIER.
WASHINGTON. d. c.. Saturday.
r Attest information from Cuba shows
that the tangled affairs OF the
Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-10-16
Word Borrowing Between Old World and
New Fails to Offset Vast Differences
in Pronunciation

porter or doorman. He never calls an I'M
dertaker funeral director or mortician. or
barber shop tonsorial parlor, or a COM
mon public house a cafe or restaurant or
exchange.
The American fondness for displacing
terms of disparaglng significance with
others measurably less brutal, or thought to
be less brutal, such as ready to wear for
ready made, used or slightly used for second
hand, aisle manager for fioorwalker, loan
office for pawnshop. this weakness does not
afflict him.
To him the teachers In secondary school
do not constitute faculty, but merely a
star. He saves university for educational
institutions of the highest rank and does not
apply 1t Unfortunately to fresh water high
schools. He does not address train con.
ductor (whom he calls guard, by the way
as captain He does not bestow the title Of
honorable upon an endless rabble of Office =
holders, for It's use is restricted by customs
which have the force of law. 1t Is properly
accorded, for example, to the Lords of Ses-
sion, to the younger sons Of earls, to all the
sons and daughters Of barons and viscounts
and to maids Of honor to the Queen. but not
to members Of Parliament and not to the
gentry politics" in general.
Terms That Are Peculiar
To the Wall Street of ENGLAND
But when an Englishman serves as the
secretary or treasurer Of one of the multi
tudinous charitable organizations Of his
country he is very particular to indicate his
volunteer character by writing honorary be-
fore the name Of his Office II he leaves 1t
off 1t is sign that he is hireling.
An Englishman calls a corporation pub
lie company or a limited liability company.
He writes Ltd. after its name instead of Inc.
He calls its president chairman. It's stock
holders are shareholders and hold shares, in
stead of stock. in 1t, Its bonds are deben-
lures. The place wherein such companies
are foated and organized-the Wall Street
Of London--is called City, with capital c.
Bankers and other leaders of it's business are
called City men. The financial editor OF n
newspaper is its City editor. Government
bonds are consols or 'the funds Fromis-
sorry notes are bills. A check >is spelled
cheque. depositor does not draw cheque
on his bank. but on his bankers.
Tariff reform in England does not mean
a movement toward free trade, but one
toward protection. The word government,
meaning the administration, is always
plural, e. g. The Government are consider
ing the advisability,' &c. A roll call in Par
lament is called a division. A member
speaking is said to be up on his legs. When
the House adjourns 1t is said to rise.
member referring to another in the
course of debate does not say 1.-THE gentle
man from Manchester" but "the honorable
gentleman" written Hon. gentleman), or II
he happens to be privy councillor or q
member of the Cabinet, "the right honorable
gentleman" or II he is a member for one Of
the universities. 1.-THE honorable and learned
gentleman"
If the speaker chooses to be intimate or
Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-10-16

facetious he may say my honorable friend"
A candidate for election to Parliament does
not run for membership, but stands for
Parliament" and the electorate is composed
Of electors not voters"
In the United States a pressman is man
who runs printing press. but in England he
Is newspaper reporter, or, as the English
usually say, a journalist. A printing press
is machine An editorial in a newspaper Is
leading article or leader. A newspaper
clipping Is cutting. An editorial paragraph
is leaderette. The room clerk of a hotel
Is the secretary. A real estate agent or dealer
is an estate agent. A bachelor lives in
chambers.
The English maintain most of the old dis
tinctions between physicians and surgeons,
barristers and solicitors. Barristers alone
can address the higher courts and the par
liamentary committees; a solicitor must keep
to office work and courts Of first instance
man with grievance goes first to mis-
solicitor, who then instructs or briefs bar
rister for him. If that barrister in the course
of the trial wants certain evidence removed
from the record he moves that 1t be struck
out, and not stricken out.
Only barristers may become Judges. An
English barrister, like his American brother,
takes retainer when he is engaged But
the rest Of his fee does not wait upon the
termination of the case. He expects to re-
ceive a refresher from time to time.
The common objects and phenomena Of
nature are often differently named in Eng
land and the United States Such American
terms as creek and run for small streams
are practically unknown in England, and the
English moor Is stranger in the United
States. The Englishman Is naturally but lit
tie familiar with bayou. gulch, canon, divide
and bluff. He knows the meaning of sound
10. g. Long Island Sound, Puget Sound, but
always uses channel in place Of 1t.
In the same way the American knows tho
meaning of the English bog, but almost in
variably uses swamp or marsh instead Foot
hill is an Americanism, as is cold snap 30
also are prairie, backwoods, flats and neck,
in the sense Of a peninsula.
The Englishman seldom, If ever, describes
a severe storm as a hurricane, a cyclone q
tornado or blizzard. He does not say that
the temperature is twenty nine degrees or
that the thermometer is at twenty nine de-
grees, but that there are three degrees of
frost He calls Ice water iced water. He
knows nothing of blue grass country. What
we call the mining regions he knows as the
black country.
Nothing better reveals the gap separating
the speech of the two countries than the
Words excluded from the polite vocabulary of
each. Bloody is good example: It has no
evil Significance whatever in the United
States, but In England is regarded as indie
cent. and when Bernard Shaw put II into
the mouth of woman in his play "Pyg-
malion," it made a sensation.
No Englishman Of any dignity ever men
toned his stomach in the presence of a wom-
an; a number of euphemlsms are in common
use, such as Little Mary, to get around the
occasional necessity. But in the United
The New York Herald.
Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-10-16

ceived the support of the Cubans, only
comparatively few irresponsible Cuban
newspapers criticising him.
The story of General Crowder's achieve
ment, however, is only partly told by the
changes in the Government funds. The
background is not there, neither do the
figures suggest the personalities involved
nor the political rivalries engendered.
General Jose Miguel Gomez has passed
to his reward, but he was a large part Of
modern Cuban history and his personality
injected itself into Cuban ar 4irs up to the
Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-10-16

time that death recently closed his stormy
career in the alien atmosphere of New
York.
Long opposed to the ambitions Of former
President Menocal, General Gomez looked
about him for a candidate to defeat his
personal enemy in the campaign of 1915.
He decided that DR.. Zayas was the man to
accomplish this result and backed him in
the election. While DR.. Zayas was the
candidate the Cubans knew the fight was
between Menocal and Gomez.
The result was disappointing to General
Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-10-16

Political Chaos Already Cleared and Rapid Progress Is Being Made
Toward Strengthening Financial Situation That Threatened Island
Republics Future for Many Years-Drac Methods Needed and
Used but Bulk of Population and All Political Factions Rally
Aid of American Officers Reconstruction Plans
Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-10-16


of politics, General Gomez refused to &C
cept the result and started a revolution in
1917, which was put down by this Gov
eminent.
Bitter Personal Hatred
Injected Into Campaign
Men can change sides quickly in Cuba,
and when President Menocal learned that
General Gomez would be candidate for
the Presidency in the election Of last sum.
mer he cast about for the best man to
defeat him. He approached DR.. zayas, who
yielded to his persuasions and became the
Menocal candidate. General Gomez felt
he had been betrayed by zayas, and bitter
personal hatred enlivened the campaign.
When the election was over both candi.
dates claimed the election.
Civil war threatened and 1t was into this
situation that General Crowder was pre-
cipitated. The General was we'll equipped
for the task. He had aided in writing
many of the Cuban laws, and the election
laws under which this particular election
was held had been written solely by him.
He knew the situation, knew the back
ground VI OuDAu history anu KNEW HID
Cubans.
General Crowder dealt with the situa.
ton with firm hand He told the Cubans
frankly that Intervention would neces-
sarily result II revolution occurred. He
insisted the election be made clean, or as
clean as possible. Decisions handed down
by the Supreme Court seated Dr. Zayas,
while General Gomez carried his protests
to Washington, only to find Washington
adamant.
1t was as broken and disappointed man
that General Gomez sought the haven Of all
defeated Latin.Amercan revolutionists in
New York city.
With the political situation cleared of its
wreckage, General Crowder faced the real
task before him. During the war period
Cuba had lived in a livid dream of war
time prosperity. Sugar was king and the
Cubans had II. The price scared to un.
beard Of prices. Even last year 1t was %
cents RETAIL as compared with cents now,
and IL and 16 cents wholesale, as compared
with 3A cents now. Tobacco prices also
went UP and Cuba went mad in this riot
OF newly acquired riches.
Every one spent money, but no one
thought OF saving 1t. Havana was tho
gayest city in the world during the times
when men were struggling in Flanders and
the great world contest touched Cuba only
to enrich 1t. The Government Administra.
ton followed the general habit of extrava.
gance.
Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-10-16
Unprepared for Liquidation,
Many Banks Go Under
Injected Into Campaig

When the liquidation period arrived
Cuba was unprepared. Out of nineteen
banks fourteen went into the hands Of the
receiver under the provisions of the Tor
riente law This law provides for liqui.
dating commission. composed Of three
members, one Of whom is nominated BY
the United States. The deficit of SAC.
100000 which President Zayas inherited,
was only part Of the generalization Of the
Governments finances. Extravagant pub.
lie works had been authorized and the
necessity Of getting money to pay obliga.
tions had been overlooked.
Havana harbor was crowded with YES.
sells, which were unable to load or unload.
and the congestion became more hopeless
with each succeeding day,
General Crowder tackled the harbor stu
alton first. Upon his advice Colonel Manuel
Despaigne, notable Cuban engineer, was
placed in charge of the harbor work. He
organized system Of moving freight from
the docks and warehouses and made 1t
work with the precision of G. H. O. at Chau.
mont. He had ships loading and unload.
ing. and in a little while had the harbor
cleared.
The financial relief resulting from IN.
locking the harbor was immediate.
General Crowder then applied the scalpel
to the Government finances. Expenditures
OF s134,0O0,0oo annually, in the face Of
depleted revenues and a deficit Of s4s,.
100000, spelled certain ruin.
The word went out to cut, and GeneraI
Dawes has not been more ruthless in Wash.
ington than General Crowdsr was in
Havana.
saved $54,ooo,ooo a Year :
BY Cutting Out Bonus Plan
The American General discovered that
by so-called bonus to Government EN-.
ployees the treasury had been tapped for
millions. General Crowder applied his
knife to this item and made an annual sav.
Ing OF S34,000,000. This destroyed much
OF the Executive election machinery. but
General Crowder decided It was uuneces.
sary and the Cubans agreed with him.
Then the pruning knife was applied IN
Government contracts for public improve.
ments. Many of these, 1t was discoverad
had been let to favorites of the Menocai
Administration. They had hoped to con.
tinue to profit under the new Administra.
tion, which Menocal had supported. Thew
found they had no influence with this
keen-eyed little man In khaki. Thus an.
other huge saving was made. II some ona
had private snap he discovered II WAS
destined to destruction. So it went all
along the line.
Naturally there were complaints bu,
the great body of Cuban public onip,or
supported General Crowder's efforts. The
next step is to find revenue-still more
revenue to meet the deficit and provide tho
potential funds for the proposed external
loan. f".
General Crowder will see to that
In the meantime the Cubs are greatly
disturbed over the provisions of the Ford.
ney tariff law, relative to Cuban sugar
They are in Washington protesting against
1t, but that is not General Crowder's bust.
ness.
He has carried the message to Garcia.
Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-10-16

Crowder U. S. A. who
handling the draft and who adding his reputation
by his work in Cuba