San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-10-07
National Credit Proves Fail
ure and Leaders Begin
Slow Task Of Rebuilding
a Dependable Money Mar
ket-They Find Expert
ment Costly.
By +. A. MACKENZIE.


ago the Bolshevist government of Rus
STA set out TO destroy money. Ii kept
on for three years and then retired de-
feated. Today its new gold guaran-
teed note. the chervonetZ. which Is
coming into general circulation here,
fetches a higher rate than the Eng
lish pound sterling. Nominally the
chervonetz has value of ten gold
rubles, or 50. One must gasp at the
wonder of it, but Russian currency
is once more quoted in the markets
of the world. not as a doubtful thing
like the mark or the franc, but, as o
respectable. honest token.
Money, We were told in Russia five
years ago, was the root of all evil. Ii
was the entrenched fortress of the par
asite. the opprcssor and the profiteer.
The Bolsheviki had their plans ready
cut and dried for bringing u new
moneyless earthly paradise. They be-
lieved i'll salvation by bookkeeping.
Those persons who picture the first
super Bolshevists as men of fiery as
pect and armed to the teeth are
wrong. They were bearded and some
what elderly, specialized students. They
were system fiends. They were gong
to reduce national life TO system.
A town workman produced SO much.
That was placed TO his credit in the
books OF the state. The countryman
brought his produce. That was placed
to his credit. When you wanted a
countryman's chickens you drew oil
your credit. When he wanted the
table or book or the like that you
produced he drew on his. Quite SIM
pie. Money was unnecessary.
TIE State Claims AL.
The first thing was 10 abolish
money. The official plan. repeated as
late as early in 1921. was "the grad
ual depreciation and as final result
the complete disappearance of money
Within month after the Bolshe-
wiki seized power in November. 1917
all national debts were repudiated. All
private banks were nationaliZed and
banking was declared state monop-
oily. All private credit banks were
| closed or absorbed by the state.
Next people possessing stocks oil
bonds were not allowed TO sell then
and no one was allowed to buy. TIL,
payment of interest or dividends wa:
| prohibited. This at once closed thu
doors of the stock exchanges, whicl
the Bolsheyiki regarded as the mos
characteristic and favoritc institution
of the present classes"
All immovable property, like fac
tories, houses or land, was taken b!
the nation. 4 little later the stat
claimed ownership of everything. Al
individual was allowed TO possess ;
bed. a chair and n share of a table ant
Il samovar. Anything else might b,
taken from him.
One friend of mine lost by seizur,
her store of personal linen. The in
spectors swept away her dainty lin
geric. They hesitated over her poke
handkerchiefs, but finally decided tina
no one save wretched bohrgeosie
could want more than six. That man!
they allowed her to keep.
appropriation for the B0urgeOisie.
People at first were allowed TO draw
a little from their savings in til,
banks, but soon this was stopped. La
ter on they were allowed to draw az
to 10000 rubleS, the equivalent thei
of a few dollars. All jewels wer,
taken.
Some people hid their money.
friend of mine took his life's saving
out of the bank, just before the break
| Up. They amounted to the equivalen'
of $4,000. To get after people like IN,
friend, the state helped to depreciatC
money. Today my friends hoard il
worth about one-fortieth of cent.
BY that time the state had done
what it wished. 1t had accomplished
| ito use its own words) IAN almost
thorough appropriation of the finan
cial resources of the bourgeoisie. The
working man who had laid aside fol-
his old age found his savings gone
| The housewife who skimpcd her fOoC
bills to buy pretty furniture found tn,
furniture hers no longer. The bust
ness man who had saved for twenty
| years to buy home found himselr IN
the same place as the prodigal.
They were ruined. but every one
else was ruined. too, save new race
of profiteers that sprang up auto
| matically.
But the System Did Not Work.
The state next tried to INTRODUCE
the system of exchange that would dd
away with money, after trading had
been once more permitted. l lived fol-
time in village where this ex'
change system prevailed. The farm
Ell was supposed to take his surplus
to the state store TO exchange for man
ufactured goods. But the store could
! not get any manufactured goods, "a
TIE farmers ceased TO bring in their
foodstuffs.
Money certainly deprecated. The
BoIsheyiki succeeded there.t The nor
NAL exchange value of the ruble is 30
cents. BY 1921 you could obtain a.
900 rubles for dollar. Today you
can obtain 300,000.00O. To save ink,
the state has cut six noughts off each
million.
Back 10 Sound Money.
Lenin and his colleagues recognized
their blunder. They still believed in
their plan, only they saw that the
world was not quite ready for it. Hav-
ing seen that the thing would not
work, they called good, Old-fashioned
financial experts into counsel. 10 a
limited extent, private property rights
were restored. Banks were reopened.
cuisines recommended.
National expenditure was cut. Most
of the armies Of state employees were
sent off. A campaign was opened
against public corruption; it still ex-
lists, and firing squad awaits the
man who is found out.
Next the government made a budget
and tried to live up to it. Heavy
taxation was instituted. much of it in
equitable and cruelty heavy. I'VE
are making mistakes" said the Off
Gals. but we are inexperienced. We
shall learn better in time"
All this time the government and