The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-10-07
''NEPMAN'' GIVES
HIS VIE WIS ON
SOVIET RUSSIA
But the Comeback Near
" Knocks Him Cold

Before a select audience of
Chicago professional and bust
ness men, organized into the
Homo Sapien Club" Boris
MichaeIis, formerly associated
with the Ford agency in Mos
sow, spoke on the theme: rus
STA AS Saw It,"
From his talk it would appear
that the sun never shone in the
two years he spent in the Work
ers' Republic.
Likes "cood" Business.
The speaker deplored the tendency
of travellers to look at things thru the
spectacles of their own interests. He
declared himself as impartial as a
Photographic plate. AS a business
man he had been very we'll treated
he read his credentials from the
highest Russian authorities, explained
that his friendship with L. A. X. Mar
tens, former Soviet representative in
the United States, had opened the
doors in Russia to some excellent bus
mess, of which he had taken full adj
vantage.
He arrived in Russia during the first
terrible period of famine in 1921, and
in exchange for promise to feed the
starving asbestos miners his company
was given an enormous asbestos con.
cession in the Urals. The grain with
which the feeding was done was bot
in this country by his company for
the Russian government, and was
paid for in rich cargoes of furs and
bristles, brot back to America and sold
here. And so thankful were the So
Wet officials for this business-like
famine relief that they offered the
benefactor any concession he might
want. The agency for Ford products
was chosen as representing the one
manufactured article of which Russia
was in greatest need, and also nc
doubt, the one that she could least
readily economically duplicate.
Not Easy with Bride Takers.
But despite this good business the
speaker said he was depressed by the
lack of "idealism" in Russia. The PEG
pie there were too Cruel" Two non
Communist specialists in the "V'n
story" the foreign trade department
who had been most obliging to him
and his company were executed fol-
bride taking. The evidence showed
he said, that the wife of one of them
was spending more on clothes in one
week than her husband earned in q
month.
Another instance of cruelty
There had been much grating among
the local renting agents tf the Com
munal Housing Commission so one
day a clean sweep was made,-all
suspected grafters were jailed and
their victims invited to give evidence
against them. Only three months
later were the innocent released. The
speaker was particularly solicitious
about his own renting agent. He
knew that this man would not take
graft because he had offered him
some-$25 for a safe worth 5000
This man did not need graft, he had
been a rich man but had not run
away at the outbreak of the revolu
tion. He had been sensible enuf to
put his wealth into gold and diamonds
which he hid in a hole in the wall
and his job as janitor was just t
cover up the source of his wealth
This man was so we'll off that he had
a supply of coffee when none was tc
be had in all Moscow, and the speaker
explained how pleasant it was to visi
this janitor and partake of his hospi
tality. And one morning he came fol-
coffee and found the Cheka on the job
he even had to give an account o.
himself, but the American passport
did the trick and he did not tell then
about the coffee either.
Grafters Quick to Go.
Yet the speaker had not been SLOW
to remove would-be grafters by /;
timely appeal to the dreadful Cheks
whenever that graft interfered will
his business interests. A train of sup
plies was being sent to his Ural con
cession, and was being held up ell
route on the claim that a certain
bridge was not strong enough to per
NIT the cars to pass over. A specia
train was put at his disposal so tina
he could see personally what was t.