The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-11-21
THROWS
PRQF|T.EERS
IN JAIL
Economic Council Hats Price
Boosting BY Arresting
Spectators

MOSCOW. Nov. IL. Nepmen''
in Russia are trembling in their
boots today. IN an order forecast
ing mass arrests and a revival Of
severely repressive measures Dzher.
5inslxi. head Of the TcheIxa, or &C.
r. u, and chairman Of the Su-
preme Economic Council. has just
declared new war on. spectators,
whose activities during the present
time Of goods shortage, have driven
retail prices up BY leaps and
bounds. and threatened the stability
8 fthe Soviet trading structure.
Dzherjinsld orders the 20. F..
u" to work, and Russians know
what such an order means.
The order Is accompanied by the
announcement that managers Of six
important government institutions
in the Ukraine have been indicted
Tor speculation. In other words,
the governments own trading
organs, supposed to be the chief
stronghoIds Of socialist practise,
have succumbed to the bourgeois
temptation OF profiteering.
Strain on Supplies
Dzerjinslxi's proclamation Is the
most serious step yet taken by
the government to meet the situa-
ton which Kamenev, chairman OF
the council OF laborand defense,
predicted would result when the
new harvest came In and gave the
peasants more money than there
were commodities to buy. With
the increased demand came "a strain
on the sources OF supply which the
government was unable to increase
materially even by introduction Of
piece-worlx IN the factories, offers
OF bonuses and other Capitalist
methods OF speeding up.
The first measure adopted by the
government which was to reduce
the amount OF goods government
trusts were allowed to deliver to
private traders, only succeeded In
driving into bankruptcy about 20
per cent Of the private stores. It
did not reduce the quantity Of
goods sold by private merchants.
for the other 80 per cent managed
by hook or crook, mostly by crook,
to get the goods which were sup
posed to go to government stores.
They get the goods by devious
methods. The little fellows buy
from the government and co-opera-
tive retailers, employing twelve or
fifteen women to stand In line with
the crowds which besiege the nom
private shops. They then resell
the goods at higher prices than the
L.
to definite price level, and must
ration their sales, only limited
quantity being allowed to each pur-
chaser.
Bride Agents
But the big fellows, the real
''Nepmen," stock their shops more
cleverIy. They bride purchasing
agents of government or co-opera-
tive stores to divert a portion OF
their purchases to them.
IL q purchasing agent of a gov
eminent retail shop needs to buy
100000 rubles worth of textiles,
he orders instead, 100000 roubIes
worth, delivers 100000 roubles
worth to his own store, and sells
the other 100000 roubles worth to
a private trader for 10000 roubles.
The purchasing agents pays the
government trust the 100000 rou-
bles, on time and in good order,
pocketing the extra $4,000.
Meanwhile the private retailer
resells his stock for at least $780,
900 roubles. Careless methods Of
bookkeeping, and failure to trace
sales to the ultimate consumer,
make the transaction hard to find,
especially since nobody has actually
lost any immediate money.
During the last three months in
Moscow alone government in
spectors discovered that $50 car
loads Of textiles values at 81 600, 900
had been thus diverted from gov
eminent to private retailers. And
this was mere fraction of the
actual business done in this fashion.
Such transactions are the founda-
ton f0r most Of the larger private
fortunes being accumulated under
the new economic policy. TT is not
unusual to meet a 'Nepman" who
will confidentially reveal his profits
equalled several hundred thousand
dollars during the last year. They
unanimously testify, however, that
it is impossible to stay in business,
much less make money, without in
dulging in wholesale bribery and
tax lodging.