Evening star., 1933-01-19

trlcity and machinery are striking. In
addition. the Soviet has created vast
state farms. All of this, however, has
been achieved at tremendous human
sacrifice. According to some observers.
the Russian people have never before
been SO badly of for food and clothing.
According to moderate observers. the
people are worse fed than they were
when the flve-year plan was launched
ana are facing this year their most Sc
we're food shortage"
Just as the great new plants are
rendered partly valueless by the fact
tnat there are so few trained men in
Russia to operate them" states the
youngstown Vindicator, so the life Of
the people under communism presents
q confused mixture of good and bad"
setting forth the democratic idea that
government Is for the people. not the
people for government" the Cleveland
News says: Food is scarce; the people
are living under restrictive, almost
primitive, conditions. Their lot is un-
haPpy-how unhappy the world can
only guess On the other hand. un-
doubted progress has been made in in
disqualification. Russia under the old
order w>S naticn CT peasants. 1t has
been made into a nation of manufac-
turers. 1t has produced machinery,
achieved some remarkable feats of en-
gneering. BY the simple expedient Of
putting everyone to work it has en-
tirely overcome unemployment, whether
its workers are decently fed or not
While the material achievements Of
the four and quarter years have not
been up to schedule" remarks the New
York Herald Tribune they have been
remarkable. But this is not so inter-
est1ng as the facts that this progress
has put a heavy strain on MARKHAM
now forcing q further retreat from
system of agricultural tithing is being
re-introduced to coax the peasants back
to willing productivity. What every
one really wants to know is whether
these various retreats from Marxism
are temporary and strategic only. or
whether such material advances as
have been and may still be made in
volve an abandonment for ell time of
the fundamental red doctrine" The
Salt Lake Deseret News asserts that
neither agriculture nor industry at
tanned its objective"
Taking up one of the Stain excuses,
the Boise Idaho Statesman AYERS that
"one cannot blame other nations for
their refusal to enter into guarantee
pacts with the Soviet Union" and as
to national defense the Chicago Daily
News declares. There is some validity
in that explanation. but the Bolshevik
regime has yet to prove that, with Its
dearly bought equipment. it can pro-
duce commodities of good quality at
reasonable prices" The Buffalo Eve
ming News argues: There was never a
time when Soviet Russia could have
felt more free to disband the Red army
and to save its cost than at present,
If menaces from outside were the rea-
son for maintaining it." The Louis
vile Courier journal concludes: Rus
sia and Japan may not be necessary to
each other; they even may be recipro-
cally obnoxious; but esch has served
the other admirably as a scapegost.
Stain explains the percentage of lag
In the five-year plan by the unwilling
ness Of neighboring countries to con-
clude non-aggression pacts' and the
consequent necessity Of converting
number Of factories to the heeds Of
national defense. A government
spokesman at Toxic attributes the
huge military appropriation in the cur
rent Japanese budget to the informa-
ton that Russia had shifted its in
dustrtalization toward preparation tor
war"