The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-08-13
How Russia Helps Herself

So today, instead Of appeals going
thru the United States for gifts, there
is, for instance, a representative Of
the German Colonist Bank, selling
stock. This bank was organized in
1922 in the German Commune, with
all the large co-operatives and the
State Grain Trust as stockholders,
and thousands Of peasants also hold
ling shares of stock. For two years it
has been doing good work in rebuild
ing the agriculture Of this region, and
in working out the problem Of the
best type Of agricultural bank for So
Wet Russia. It's capital is guaranteed
by the German Volga Republic, a
most energetic little state with a
thrifty population. And all the money
| it gets will go into food for the hun
CRY, secured on cattle and payable af-
ter the next harvest.
OF course there will be millions
who are too poor to give the necessary
security, and who must be fed by
government relief, but the methods
used thru this bank illustrates the
general way in which Russia is hand
ling this years great drought. Not
foreign appeals, and not even state
charity, except where unavoidable,
but as far as possible, self-support and
credit.
When the drought was first per-
ceived, bread prices began to sky-rock-
ct thruout the stricken region and
horses and cattle were thrown on the
market for song. But a swift
opening of the cooperative and state
owned warehouses Gained the popu-
lations; bread prices tumbled again
to normal, and prices of cattle and
horses began again to climb. The
fact that government aid is promised,
and that cattle are an asset on which
one may borrow, has added to the
stability But good horses may still
be bought for $35, whereas a year
ago they were around $3.50 and even
5000.
1t is not entirely drought which
causes famine on the Volga; it is
partly the very primitive methods of
agriculture. In nearly all the chill
drens' colonies l visited. or heard Of,
the harvest, while poor, was still no
ticeably better than among the peas
ants.
Youth Is More Efficient.
The John Reed Colony at Cherum-
shan established only last September,
has already raised enough food for its
own support, even during this year of
drought and with painfully primitive
methods.
l talked with the children about it,
They had begun with only fifteen
boys, who repaired houses and made
beds for the others; month by month
they added to their number, until
there were fifty boys and girls at the
time of the spring planting. And now
there were seventy-five boys and girls,
with enough harvest for all of them.
| Yet the peasants with only four or
five in their families, have not enough
to eat they told me.
"How do you do so much BETTER"
asked. "By better methods of agri-
culture?"
mo" they answered. "Next year
or sometime we will have better me-
thods. But this year we had to make
our own ploughs in our own carpen-
ter and blacksmith shop; our methods
could be no better than the peasants. 4"
Plough instead of Church.
Then how. I'VE worked
hharder," they answered. During the
Easter holidays and the many holt
days after Easter, when the peasants
were going to church and getting
drunk, we were ploughing. We plant
ed first of anyone in the district
And the day after our seed was in the
ground, there came the best rain of
the spring. Now the peasants are all
saying: God loves work."
This is the propaganda that the
children colonies are carrying now to
the peasant Some day soon we hope
it will be better propaganda, not
merely more work, but of easier me-
thods. For these children's colonies
are one of the most hopeful things in
Russia. They are full of the real
communal spirit, at least in many OF
them that / know. II given enough
technical aid, if they are not suffo-
Gated under the vast numbers OF
homeless children, (Saratov Govern.
ment reports 10000 still uncared for)