The Washington times., 1925-10-09
MOSCOW FACES
DEATH OVER
HOUSING
Soviet Votes SO, 600. 900 to
Aid Improving Con-
ditions in 1926
d Internatleaal Ns,Es seryIee

By lnternat1onat news service
MOSCOW. oct. s.-Housing con-
diticns IN Moscow are growing
worse. Nobody believed It possible,
but statistics Just published show
that BY January, 1925, the average
amount Of dwelling space available
for each inhabitant Of the city VIII
be fifty square feet, as compared
with fifty-five last year and seventy
- sr ~ s. means that each Moscovite
has At his disposal as living room.
bed room, dining room. Kitchen ana
hafh space ten feet long ana
Eve feet wfdeno quarter -.
InSre IS an American bath ROOM
md only q bit bigger than
me conseouences to health are
Immediately apparent Those 20
morals are becoming evident
One example Is the TACT tnAe
divorced couples, IN many cases 81
are forced TO continue to i've To-
s = ST{fe has led the Moscow
8 ssss1 eetafe administration to petit
fioY1 for q law to compel the courts
- bureaus granting divorces 20
derifie which Of the two parties t0
4 divorce has & right to the room
,,,.7syfsS Ibv them. and to compel
: ~ other party to move.
Populate The Parks
MT a,,cl, ! law would only popu-
49, fl,e nar1s. for the victims q
domestic infelicity have literally NO
.: 7sTas =, rooms occupied by two
t.esiiiSs 81 four persons each are
-. ....s1 1ssssge, exceptional here. There
- ~, nrnbahlv not 1000 rooms ~
80. ,sffsv occupied by only one per-
- n has ceased to be 8 matter.
~ Comment. wl1ens Of two men
living together. one narrles anu
hrinrs his wife to live I'M the sans
room. trusting to curtain % T., s
rnre the privacy Of their nClas.
All this might be supp Is. -
temporary condltlon 80. =.
-.sa aTlv relief IN sight, but the.
sr - sovietss building program.
4~voffne every available penny 70
S5e object. looks forward during
49, cn1I3lnr, year only to keeping
neea with the increase IN popular
elg = nron6ees to spend $4,000. 900.
IN building during 1926, and with
this sum hopes to keep maLseLs
F.nYn hecoming worse But whether
~wer fl1is program win be success-
f',s 8 not altogether certain IN
& 49, ~ the experiences OF the
etsfa building Trusts. which. with
01lf execution, ended the 1925 sea-
Ss,r with s loss. Forty-seyen OF
f6eua went bankrupt. causing e
losel Of So ,00O. 900 70 the state. ana
4l1e managers Of fifteen are on
trial FOR corruption. or criIninal
Negligence.
FaiIure Due 10 InexpcFience
Tbere faflure were ascribed for
ti,es .T,1e<f mart to lack Of capital
erd exnerfence. Next year they
nm have more experience, but the
capital IS still lacking.
Arrravating the situation Is the
hidden jump in the birth rate toll
lowing the recovery from the lam
me of 1921. Births now exceed
deaths IN MOSCOW by about $4,000
4 year. This increase is aside from
the constant stream Of persons VINO
pour into Moscow from the prov
jnces, seeking fame and q Soviet
career.
Figures given by the MOSCOW
Real Estate. Administration show
that there have been added 1000
rooms to TIE city's buildings during
the last two years. The natural In.
crease OF population would I'm each.
of these rooms with four persons
a. soon as II was completed.
Since the departure from the
system of pure communism, under
which lodgings were free, but un-
der which they became uninhab-
table through hack of repairs. all
tenants pay rent. scaled in accord
ance to their social classification,
workers paying tn . least, and
'.nepmen.1 or private business men,
the most.