The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-09-12
Latvia at Work
To Create Capital

SsSsSAO - VNOKA
To Greats Capital
Riga, Latvia, Sept. Silt is three
years since the Paris Peace Confer
ence brought its Youngest child, the
Latvian Republican into the world
Like most Of its other progeny, Lat
via is doing well, but is finding life a
difficult and rigorous one. 1t knows
1T has long and tortuous road to
travel to gain its full stature of state
hood and join the grown-up members
of the family OF nations. The people
have been immensely heartened by
the United States recent recognition
Of the Republic.
Latvia, which is about the size Of
West Virginia and has a smaller pop
ulation than the city Of Philadelphia,
is handicapped by its terrible losses
of life and property during the war
and by lack of capital. On the other
hand, like all new states, it is unfet-
tered by precedent and by the claims
of vested interests, and its huma n
raw material is excellent. Long be-
fore the war the Latvians, who
through centuries Of history were sue
cessiyely under Swedes, Germans and
Russians, had proved their efficiency
as workers. Their chemical, textile
and nnetallurgical industrieksand their
Baltic trade were highly remunera-
tive. They paid all their own gov
erflmental expenses, and contribute
large annual surplus to the Russian
treasury.
The manner in which the Latvian
volunteer army composed Of farmers
and peasants and led by students of
the Riga Polytechnic Schools, drove
out first the Germans, then the Boil
sheviki, and finally the Junker forces
Of Won der Goltz and Bermondt,
shows that the Latvians are also eff
6cient as fighters. In this little state
there Is virtually no illiteracy, and
all the people speak three languages
Latvian, Russian and German.
The Latvian government is hard at
work building Utopia on the bleak
shores Of the Baltic. One Of it's first
measures was to found university In
its capital city Of Riga; one of Its
latest has been to reform its currency
and to stop the issue Of paper money.
The value Of the Latvian ruble, as
measured in dollars, is slowly creep
ing up. Exports and imports are now
very nearly balanced. BY dint of
heavy. taxation and wise finance it has
been found possible to. combine in
Creased expenditure on education,
housing and public health with gen.
eral retrenchment. 81
Ian Chakste, president Of the Con-
stituent Assembly Of Latvia, has ex-
planned his country's outlook to the
correspondent;
"The Western, nations" said he,
'tknow little about Latvia. They do
not believe in the stability of our
/ government, and they hesitate to lend
us money. They even call. us Bolshe-
Wiki. / assure you that 30 per cent
Of Latvians hate Bolshevism. Rus
sian propagandists are, of course, ac-
tive here, but they make no Roadway.
We have shot good many of them
for spreading their pernicious doc
trines. M
sour agrarian policy--the seques-
tration Of large estates and the ere
alton of small holdings-was harshly
criticized, and has no doubt done
much to give US bad character The
western nations did not understand
the situation. Our people were SUI
premely dissatisfied, and rightly 80.
They had been ground down; they had
nothing. It. was critical moment.
The Bolsheviki were ready TO prom
ise anything. We considered it essen
tial to create without delay content
ed community, hard-working, thrifty
and deaf to political agitators. We,
therefore, gave the people the land,
and they at once settled down to work
upon it.
"Trade is improving, but not rapid
~. Hundreds of our factories are
still closed, for we haven't the money
To qfelsquip them. Agricultnre IL re-
vivink. The League Of Baltic States
Y sAAGiug steady progress. The four
st46lp paA1tlUns bordering on Russia---
I1tSis, Esthonia, Finland and Lithu.