Evening star., 1933-12-31
BY WALTER DURANTY.

w AL AhN
M OSCOW-JoSeph Stain, gen.
"A 4: :.:::5 s;: s: 5;;:,;. 8 y; 7; p: 6 II :: I
kremlin Office for an hours
interview. l began by asking him would
Joseph Stain send a message to the
American peopIe? He replied:
No President Kalinin has already
done that and I 90 not want to tres
pass on his prerogati'es. Naturally; l
am pleased b. the resumption OF rela-
tons. which is an act Of paramount M
poltance politically. because mn
proves the chances CT main aiming
r,arp. economically. because it enables
rur two countries to get together and
discuss questions between them without
racard to eXtraneOus CCnelderatlons.
F nalIv. il opars the way to mutual CO.
operation ,,r+
Cutwardly NJ. Stain has changed III
tie since I talked with him three years
500 There IS. perhaps more gray IN
his hair and mustaChe. and his lace
mqr be a trihe thinner but his ngu!e'
in khaki tunic button-d up to the
chin. khaki breeches and back boots
he wore no decorations or tabs on ms
unifOrm-iS erect and strong and his
kandshakc firm.
But he seems to have melloWed, ana
if ere may say so. ne seems more human
During the previous interview 1 was
rqrt!cu'.rly struck BY the low toneleSS-
rr-s &C N. StGlI-'S S VOice-as II he leIt
the need Of conserving every atom OF
energy for his gigantic task Now ne
Shows more animation ahd less restraint
Similarity to Lenin.
He reminded me greatly Of Lenin,
whom I never met personally, aItHough
l heard him speak several tunes Ihere
is the same trick Of using co!oqulaI,,
honelv phrases the same flashes OF
hUnor; the same quick, cutting gesture
Ct the right hand to stress point
Like Lenin, too. NJ. Stain has way OF
rpvertirg t. ali earlier subject TO explain
and drive it hCmc.
do not for a moment suggest 1t Is
a deliberate imitation. but 1 believe
St7lin has so trained himself to ask
what Lenin would have done IN given
i,rcture and to think along Lenn
lines that unconsciOusly he has ADOPTED
many OF Ienir'S maHnerlsms. 1 asked
NJ. Stain his opinion about American
Soviet trade and he replied
What Foreign CCmmlSSar LltVlnof
said in London still holds good. We
are the greatest demand market ana
are ready to order-and pay for-large
Quantities Of goods. But We require
satisfactory conditions OF credlt, ano'
what is more, We must have the aSsur-
ance that we can pay.
1t is impossible for US to import
unless we can export. because We will
not ulace orders unless We know We
fCr yy-1G
Every one has been surprised that We
are paving. that We DO pay and that
we can pav. l know it is not customary
to pav debts nowadays, but We do 1t.
Other nations 'renig on their debts,
Eur the Union of Soviet Socialist Re
publicS does not renig.' They thought
we could not pay. that We had nothing
TO nav with. but We showed them and
they had to admit it
Gold Sources Developed.
asked about Soviet gold produc-
ton NJ. Stain said:
We have many sources of gold sup
plv and they are being developed faSt.
Already cur production is nearly oouple
that of czarist times-mOre than -OO,-
O.OO0 rubles In the last two years,
especially. We have improved methOdS
of investigating new gold reserves and
have found vast supplies. But our m
dustrv is yOuug-nOt only IN goId, out
in iron. steel and copper.
All of our metallurgy is young and
our industry is not yet able properly
to help gold production. Our tempo
is fast. but our volume is still too small.
We could Quadruple gold production IN
short order if we had more dredges
and machines. We advance rapidly,
but not nearly so rapidly as we wish
Then. like Lenin might have done, M.
Stain came back to his previous point:
our more rapid development OF
foreign trade depends on conditions
and the amount of credit. We nave
never failed to meet our obligations
We might have claimed a moratorium
like the rest of them but we DID not
because we did not want to break con-
fidence. And confidence, as every one
knows. is the basis Of credit.
What 1 mean is that the volume OF
our trade with America for the time
being must be measured by the degree
of confidence America puts in us-and
this by the volume of credit
To Pay Debts Next Year.
asked what was the total of Soviet
Stain said:
Not much more than 450,OOO,OO
r,lbles now-we have paid of lot IN
the rast two wears TWO years ago it
vas 1900 100000 ru0!eS. but We nave
paid it off. and we reckon we can who'll
" clean up the present obligations Dy
the end of next year or early IN 1850
as they fall due"
I INTERRUPTED to say:
AL right. let us admit there is no
longer any doubt about Soviet wiling
ness to pay. But what about SOVIET
capacity to pay?'
NJ. Stain caught me right up, rep,y-
ing:
To-day there is no difference between
the two, because we will not take on
obligations that we are not sure we can
meet. Look at cur economic relations
with Germany.
Germany has declared a moratorium
on a large part CT her foreign debt, ana
we richt have used Gernlany's prece-
dent to DO the same to Germany But
we didn't. Today we are no longer SO
dependent as we we're before upon Ger
man industry-We can make our own
equipment"
And what do you think of American"
I asked. adding: Il hear you had long
talk with Ambassador Bullitt the other
night What do you think of him? Do
you still think, es you told me three
years ago. that our depression Is not the
last crisis CT capitalism"
Liked Bullitt Every Much"
NJ. Stain smiled and said:
Il and my comrades liked Ambassador
Bullitt very much. I had never met
him before, but had heard great deal