The New York herald., 1922-10-22

HERALD
COPYRIGHT, 1929, by THE New YORK HERALD.
Moscow, Oct /.
EOSCOW has changed very
MI much since April. 1890
left it in the red dawn of
stormy day. l return in the mild.
golden evening. 1t was then spring.
but Moscow was shuddering in what
seemed to me the dying commissions of
Illness and premature old age. 1t is
now autumn, but Moscow is throbbing
with what the Bolsheviks declare to
be the spirit of young life. though the
anti-Bolsheviks assure me that is only
a fever which will leave the patient
weaker than be was before.
Let me dwell for a moment on what
Moscow was like in 1920. Its deserted
streets We're choked with half melted
snow mixed with mud. The whole
tramcar system had broken down.
Save for a few fitful lights here and
there the city was plunged in dark
ness at night. Travelling by rail was
free, but one could not get a train TO
travel in The Government had un-
dertaken TO feed its citizens, but in
the towns few of them could get
enough to eat, and I used at first to
go without any food at all till late in
the evening, when a charitably dis
posed person sometimes let me have
his leavings. Houses were public
property. but l had to live for a while
IN deserted railway carriage. Hotels
belonged to the people. but / could not
ptaf a n nf fno
when / got into the Savoy, i found
that only g few rooms in that hostelry
were available and those rooms were
very dirty There We're not more than
half a dozen cabbies plying for hire.
but their horses were hardly fit to
walk, and the cabbies were so decrepit
that they were hardly fit to drive.
There was supposed to be no private
trading. but an illegal business was
done in one of the markets. The Gov
crnment was supposed TO supply the
people with firewood, but it didn't, and
most of the public lived in a half
frozen condition.
Letters could be posted free, but
they were never delivered. and prob
ably never collected. In short, the
whole system of government was
based on the false assumption that at
our present stage of human evolution
private initiative can be dispensed
with and every kind Of business left
10 a dictatorial and omnipotent Cow
ernment.
Streets Are Now Filled
.ao. With Furious Rush of Traffic
The streets are now swarIning not
only with pedestrians, but also with
swift motor cars. numbering drays
laden with grain. horse carriages full
of passengers. heavy lorries carrying
all kind Of goods and noisy motor BIZ
cycles. So great and furious is the
traffic in some streets that Ii Is dan
gerous to cross them. / myself was
nearly slain by a motor bike yester-
day in Theater Square. The air is
full of the rush Of petrol driven We
hicles and of their perpetual hooting
and whistIing.
Two years ago the big shops in the
Kuznetsky, the Tverskaya and the
Petrovka presented an extraordinary
appearance. They were full OF goods,
but were closed and guarded by SOL
diers till those goods could be handed
over to various Government depart
ments. The medical supplies would go
to the Communist Department Of Pub
lie Health. the books would go to the
Peoples Commissariat of Public In
struction. and so on. 1t was an as
tonishing and unparalleled sight. The
ground had been cleared, metaphori-
cally speaking. for the foundations of
a huge Socialist edifice such as the
world had never before seen, and in
that edifice there was to be no private
property at all--booixs, clothes, medi-
cine. machinery, food and everything
else was to belong to the State.
But that metaphorical edifice has
not been built. After a while those
goods were obtainable by ticket Then
there was a notice in the windows
stating that they could be had with
out tickets. and that led to the devel-
opments which we see in the streets
of Moscow to-day. Let me describe
briefly what those developments are.
All the shops are now open and full
Of goods and customers. You can
now buy pretty we'll everything you
like in Moscow from wine 10 clothing
end underclothing. from houses TO
cameras and binoculars, from theater
tickets and railway tickets 10 socks
and horses. Most of the things you
can buy are nasty. but certainly not
cheap, and 1t is a source of constant
amazement 70 me that there are