The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-06-14


Socialist Republics issued a decree by
which silver coin was inaugurated, for
the first time since 1914, to be ac-
copied on par with the gold currency
On March 9, 1924, the government
added a decree on the redemption of the
sovznak, or the soviet paper ruble, put
ting a firm price at $4,000 rubles of
the issue of 1923 for one gold ruble
to be accepted by all, at that price,
until the tenth of April and by the
government banks up until the 10th
of May, then to be withdrawn alto
gether from circulation.
These two DEGREES have made an
end to the worthless steadily falling
sovznak, and have the Socialist Re
publics put on basis of firm stabil-
lied currency. The soviet ruble itself,
steadily on the decline, became by the
last decree until its final withdrawal
a firm currency, its worth being
stabilized by the decree, and accepted
by the population with great desire as
small change, in which Russia, even
after the issuance of the silver and
copper currency, is yet in great need.
The decree on the silver coin tells
that there are going to be five de-
nominations of it; namely, in 10, Is,
20, so copeks and one ruble, while
the copper coin will be 1, 8, 5 copeks.
The silver coin of one and one-half
ruble denomination must contain
ninety per cent silver and ten copper,
the rest half and half. The decree tells
that it has been decided to mint and
let in circulation up until the first of
January, 1925, silver coins to the
amount of one hundred million gold
rubles, and prohibits the acceptance
of any of the silver and copper coins
of the old tsarist designs excepting
the state banks who are to accept
them only for the amount of sterling
silver in them. The decree, besides,
prohibits any and all institutions to
issue surrogates in any form.
The monetary reform under the cir
cumstances the Soviet government
finds itself, with no credits in the out
side world, still boycotted by many
great powers, still threatened on all
sides, hardly emerged from the most
painful hunger and with industry less
than a third of what it was before the
war, was an undertaking of ire
mendous dimensions and demanded
serious change in the whole financial
and economic life of the land. But
it was put thru, and hard cash is
ringing now as of yore in the pockets
of the soviet citizen, and his ruble now
is as real as it was never before, in
fact, more real than all the favorite
foreign currencies that the diverse
"black bourses" in the big Russian
cities were dealing in until the publ
cations of the DEGREES. The Russian
citizen refuses now to buy any foreign
money on the markets and the 'black
spectators" have closed their street
bourses. The most favorite of the
foreign currencies, the American dol
lar, fell inside of two days on the
"black bourses" of Moscow, Lenin-
grad, Kieff, etc, from 2.6O chervony
rubles to 1893, and it is still on the
decline, so that the dollars now sent
by relatives to Russia do not look at
all as big as before. A total end was
also made to the speculation in tsarist
gold and silver coin, because in the
first place, the dealing in them is pro-
hibited by decree and in the second
place, the peasants who have boarded
them, have quickly decided to get rid
Of them, now that they have soviet
real money" and while they have
been getting only month before as
much as 1.20 chervony ruble for the
tsarist silver ruble, they are glad to
sell them now at S. chervony copeks
and the same holds true as to the
gold tsarist coin.
The new monetary reform, while
tremendous in scope and daring, was