The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-05-12
Moscow Correspondence
BY WILLIAM r. kRUSE
lSnaeial 70 The Daily Workarl

ONE Of the many evil heritages taken
~ over from czarist Russias past is
that Of the vast army of street waits
and strays, picking up some sort of
living by begging or general knavery;
and constituting a sort of sixth estate
that numbered many thousands. The
period of famine and civil war natur-
ally swelled the number of young
sters who had neither families nor
homes to go to, and the Soviet gov
eminent has had no easy time in crap
| pling with this problem. A capitalist
government would make short shrift
of these young victims of an evil past,
the police would be modified for a
roundup of Migrants prison SEN
fences would follow "for having no
visible means of support" and under
forced contract prison labor the I'M
fortunate misffts would be held by
state violence In either wage slavery
or peonage, depending upon whether
the community was industrial or
agricultural in basis.
FrlenuS OF me Cnllofen."
MOT so in the Soviet Union. 1t was
~ clearly recognised that this was a
social, not police problem, and that
the remedy, if any could be found,
would have to be educational rather
than punitive So the schools set out
to conquer this problem, aided ener-
getically by a voluntary mass organ
ization, Friends of the Children"
number many thousands of earnest
workers who were interested in this
problem. Branches of this society
were established in most of the enter
prises in the towns, and by personal
contact slowly and patiently built up.
one after another of the wild young
vagabonds was reclaimed for useful
participation in the rising new world
of labor.
Wherever possible the youngsters
were found work as apprentices, and
where they had any relatives, how
ever distant, who were willing to take.
them in this was arranged, otherwise
| free voluntary lodgings, under a wide
degree of self-administration, were
provided In view of their past free
roaming existence there was neither
room nor desire for coercion-this
would have Immediately defeated the
very purpose of this extremely del
icate work. Instead, by gradually in
creasing responsibilities, both indiv-
idual and collective, tho sands of
these former half-wild waits were
transformed into the most active and
useful type of industrial worker.
A Moscow School Workshop.
TN Moscow visited recently a
4 school workshop in which as Of
these youngsters were being taught
the trade of shoe-making It had
originally been organized by the
gubernia governments children's com
mission, but IN order to remove from
II the last vestige OF punitive char
acter II Is now being administered as
an organ of MONO, the Moscow de-
partment of public schools.
These boys actually work as shoe
making artisans, they make real shoes
mo vocational guidance" of the dill
ettante sort practiced in the American
public schools. And the shoes are
used some go into the regular distri-
button channels. others to the many
Echildren's homes and schools. Nor do
they do any cleanup drudgery they
make shoes, other workers tidy up.
Boys between IA and 16 work four
hours day, between 16 and rs six
hours, between IS and 20 the regular
eight hours. Their wages amount to-
IL roubIss per month, of whfch 8,