New-York tribune., 1922-04-09

I'm Of Russia. Fuel is scarce and Of
incredible condition Of collapse. The
= only thing that keeps the railroads
going is the patience Of the railway
workers.
We are in the city Of Shebesh, on
! the boundary line between Soviet Rus
sla and Latvia. Hundreds Of cars Of
valuable products are held up for days
on account of the lack Of locomotives
TO carry them on. Everything that
goes in and out of Russia must be
transshlpped, except materials under
international protection, such as relief
supplies. Neither Soviet Russia nor
the countries djoinng-PoIand, Lat
via, Esthonia-wil trust the other to
return cars or locomotives. While
there are working agreements, there are
more honored in the breach than in
the observance. The international
train from Moscow to Riga, which runs
Up for twenty-four hours because the
Let's go on with the one available ell
gine. Under conditions such as this
trade stagnates and life dies.
We ere in Samara, in the Nolge Val
ley. in winter. We wish to go 200
miles north or south 20 Simbirsk or
Kazan, on the same river. We are
/ forced to make the entire trip back
to Moscow and return, a journey of
miles away. Eastern Russia is fairly
we'll supplied with cast and west lines.
For north and south traffic it depends
upon the Folga and further east on
the White River. I have seen men
stagger in, exhausted from tenday
trip on the little jcrk-watcr lines that
| tap the main lines and end in the
wilderness. In the entire period they
may have covered fifty miles.
Transportation Weakest
Link in Soviet Chain
Of all the institutions III Russia
[ transportation was cpun 20 the finest
| thread. Ard transportation was the
first thing to collapse.
The Soviet government knew that
transportation was the weakest link in
their chain; Che heroic measures they
have taken and are taking to keep
transportation going testify to that
! fact. The railroads are the only ac-
Sivities in Russia which are still large
| ly under the control OF their former
! tors in their OWN domain, accepting
, neither advice nor instructions from
! any one. There is every evidence that
if the railroads are functioning it is
/ because they are managed by railroad
! men, that these men are running the
i railroads in their own manner and
! that government orders are to them az
so many scraps of paper. On its SIDE
the government dare not put on the
| Co ho
scrt their posts the anarchy which the
| government fears even more than coun-
! ter-revolution will be upon the country.
/ As long as transportation continues
the government has some hope. When
transportation ceases hope is done. In
a final desperate effort to keep trans
portation functioning the government
! has called to its aid the most efficient
/ organizations in Russia, the Extraordl-
I nary Commission known as the Cheka
| Between the Cheka and the railway
men some semblance of operation is
maintained.
Under what disadvantages the rail-
roads are running. by what narrow
margin they continue to operate at all,
the world has heard. The breakdown
| of Russian transportation does not re-
fer to transportation as such, but goes
| back to the assassination OF Russian
| industry The great highways OF the
| great trans Russian lines are so vel!
laid that they are still in fair condi-
! tion after seven years of cruel wear
| 1t was in the machine shops and repair
shops that the collapse first appeared.
Some Of this work was done outside
| Of Russia. With the coming of war
and revolution the repair shops were
deserted.
The Pathetic Graveyards
OF the Locomotives
All the way from Petrograd to the
eastern mountains ! passed dozens OF
locomotive graveyards, in each of them
from 100 to 500 locomotives. There is
something pathetic in these grave
yards. There the engines stand, covered
with snow, their machinery going to
rust, some parts dismsntled and used
| in other locomotives. If only they
| could be put to work again they would
mean much for Russia.
From the latest available figures it
appears that 10000 out of $4,000 loco
motives in Russia are out Of order. Out
O. something more than 100000 cars
100000 are out Of working order. Re-
| pairs are going on only at the rate OF
| 20 per cent.
Next to the lack of motive power,
! the disappearance Of wood is the most
serious handicap to transportation.
! The wood supplies of Russia need to
! be carefully conserved. The wood for
boiler use should be dried for some
months. Again the industrial collapse