Evening star., 1923-12-26
COMMUNIST TAX
S|BER|A'S BURDEN
Best Grains Communicated
by Government Officials.
Is Charge.
Correspondence Of The Star and tho cbica 90
Daily News

Correspondence OF The Star and the Chiea 70
Daily News.
HARB1N, Manchuria, November Is
Few mornings ago 1 stumbled
half-asleep, out of the Chita I
train at Manchouli station-it was
i" oclock-and made my way to a
little frontier hotel near by Az !
entered bedroom there l opened
my eyes and gasped. There was fur
niture without chips or stains, chairs
with all four legs and backs that did
not collopse, real blinds to the win
dows. fresh, clean colored walls and
an inviting bed, with blankets and
spring mattress, spotless white
sheets and a snowy pillow.
To most people. I suppose, this lit
tie bedroom in Chinese hotel on
the Manchurian border would have
seemed nothing extraordinary To
me it was like stepping into a new
world. For 1 had come from west
"rn Siberia, where fresh paint, clean
white linen and whole furniture are
largely memories.
For many weeks l had been trav-
Ling between the Urals and Lake
Balkal and from Tomsk to the Mon
eolian border. Nine days. very de-
lightful days, l spent on river
steamers. still the most agreeable
means of travelling in Siberia. Part
of the route was traversed in coun-
try carts, across scarcely visible
tracks with sturdy horses. jingling
bells and friendly isvastchik. Many
thousand VerStS were covered by rail,
not merely on the fine through eX-
rress trains, with their sleeping cars.
dining saloons and electric light, but
"n creeping branch line trains, with
double berthed wooden benches. food
bought from peasants. and darkness
or illumination from ones own
Seventy Girls; One Doll.
Two characteristic incidents may
serve TO show the main impression
which the journey has left on my
mind. In a children's home in Tomsk
] noticed that one little girl, carry
ing a tiny rag doll. wds the envy of
non revealed that hers was the only
doll in that orphanage. containing
seventy or eighty girls.
| went to the open-air market. the
main shopping center of the city. to
lind few more dolls. On my way
back to the home, my driver. when
we We're passing through quiet
street, half turned his head and
asked if was not foreigner. I ad-
mitted it.
do foreisq nations know what
these people are doing TO u.s." he
asked, in a low voice. BY these peo-
pie" he meant the communist govern
ment. They are stripping us of
everything. I had two cabs. They
took one away. They turn US out of
our houses. and put their own people
in These folk would spoil any
thing. Evidently they have never
been in decent houses before. They
break our walls and the doors. smash
the stairs, break the windows. and
make everything filthy. Then, when
the house is no longer fit to live in,
they move to a fresh place, and do
the same thing there. Most that we
earn goes for taxes Next week I
have to give so many days Of labor,
with my horse, or pay substitute"
He went on to tell me Of the un-
, happy plight of others; of a former
great merchant, stripped of every
thing. and now struggling to make
both ends meet as a cabby; of Prof.
Shumilin. one of the great lights of
the university, who. tired of hunger.
also tried to earn an extra penny by