Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-17

question the WISDOM OF q policy which
refuses to import goods for immediate
consumption, but purchases only ma
chinery and raw materials.
Explanation Of Queues.
A Communist justified queues to me
as workers clubs" where people de-
hight 10 exchange the gossip Of the day.
In summer perhaps; but no one could
get mnch enjoyment from waiting in a
mud.
Indeed, one hears nowadays more
grumbles than gossip. In some parts
OF Russia, w4s told, factory workers
refuse to wait for provisions. THEY
VIII not even queue for vodka" said
L. informant; and when a Russian
VIII not queue for vodka, his patience
has been taxed to its limits"
MS patience has been taxed to its
limits. Inc phrase sums I'D the situ-
! alton, and my impression was that the
! hremnn Is we'll aware that 1t can Law
rev IreSh burdens on the people with
out danger. One becomes weary of
Ieaolng the banners of scarlet and gold
telling OF past achievements and future
projects. Those achievements have
certainty been remarkable, and the
plans for the future are inspiring; but
We are told SO too often Repetition is
what we hear 10 times may be true:
put now we long for a new tune
IL Is frequently said outside of Rus
STA that the f1ve-year plan is on the
point OF collapse, that any moment the
SlumPering embers of discomfort NAV
burst into the flames of rebellion. This
exaggerates the situation.
Speed Mania Attacked,
What is threatened is not the plan
Itself but the speeding of which the
fanatics Of the party demand. In
March Stain denounced in the sternest
language the ruthless collectivization
OF agriculture, which In the very first
II months considerably exceeded the
final aims Of the five-year plan. This
victory was won at the expense of
peasant good will, as the Spectacular
trek. Of 10000 Mennonites and the
wholesale slaughter Of cattle wildly
showed.
There is a real danger that the pace
OF industrialization is similarly being
made too hot. Realizing the necessity
OF consolidating peasant good will,
Stain was wise enough to call a halt
to the process of socializing the village.
There Is, however, no indication at the
moment that industrialization will be
slowed. Rather, the administration is
straining every nerve to speed produc-
ton, urging the people to fresh sacri-
fees and fresh efforts.
Ii this pace IS to be maintained.
fresh machinery must at, all costs be
imported. But while the vast natural
resources of the country might be ex-
pecteo to offer strong inducement to
the investor, foreign capital accounts
for less than per cent Of Russia's II, :
dustrial output.
Exports to Raise Funds.
In repudiating the debts of the car
ist government and municipalities, and
In advancing counter-claims for damage
suffered as a result of the allied inter-
vention during the civil war, the Soviet
has created a strong prejudice In the
west against the granting of long-term
credits. Most imports must, therefore,
be paid for on the nail. The Kremlin
mas had to resort to device not un-
familiar in czarist times, of exporting
1oodstuf1s at the expense of the UNDER
nourishment of the population.
Whether this policy will be continued
and developed depends on the harvest
and the docility of the population. Ac-
customed In the years Immediately pre-
ced1ng the inauguration of the plan to
q higher standard of living, people
have not taken kindly tozthe reintro-
duction Of rationing. It has been found
useless 10 explain to Moscow worker
that he waits In a queue that a new
factory may be built in the Ukraine.
Consequently, the administration has
fallen back upon that familiar device
OF despotisms-6acriflcing its servants
TO encourage the rest.
The day I arrived in Moscow every
one was talking of the sudden and
dramatic execution Of 48 well known
Russians for allegedly sabotaging the
fooo supply. There seemed little doubt
that moderate opinion was shocked
No trial was held: the crime Of the
accused was announced with their
death
"You see, we live in an atmosphere
Of shootings," said a Russian to me
Last night they were alive; this morn
ing they are dead"
Push Drive on Foes.
A few days after left Russia Stain.
who had just returned from his vaca-
ton, directed the all-powerful secret
police to redouble its efforts TO crush
academic sabotage" That organiza-
ton obligingly discovered a new anti
Soviet conspiracy on the part of a
group of engineers allegedly supported
by dispossessed Russian manufacturers
abroad to create artificial crises in the
Soviet unions.
There seems little doubt that Russia
will lie under the hand of q new
while was in Moscow that some 500
people were visited nightly by @. p. u.
soldiers, armed with general warrants
to search and, II need be, arrest. These
intrusions usually take place In the
small hours of the morning presuma-
bly, with the idea of thoroughly fright
ening the victims. Yet many of these
I L. l. L.
crime being that they were in some
way connected with officials of the old
regime.
These methods, iniquitous and even
stupid as they must seem to us. doubt
less serve their purpose of distracting
attention and silencing the grumblers.
Before I left Russia there were signs
that they were to be followed by at
tempts to improve admitted evils.
While criticism Of general policy is
never tolerated by the ruling party, the
Soviet journals are almost immoderate
in their exposure of failures to carry
that policy through.
May Relieve Congestion.
1t is, for instance, being realized that
the states. however efficient as pro-
ducer, knows nothing about shopkeep-
ing, and several factories are establish
ing depots from which the worker can
draw a weeks rations with his wages.
The extension of this system, while not
increasing the food available, should go
far to ease the congestion at the CO.
operative stores
Situations change with kaleidoscope
rapidity In a state where production can
be regulated by decision overnight.
Since leaving Russia 1 hear that the
shortage Of commodities In the towns
has been somewhat relieved. Manufac-
tured goods, which were being sent to
the villages to stimulate the production
of grain are now reappearinR in the