Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1946-10-11

of anguish is dimly audible behind
the iron curtain which stretches from
the Baltic through the Balkans.
This, of course, doesn't prevent
our own little family of loyal Amer
lean "Commies" from screaming
the praises of all within the Soviet's
gates.
have been looking over some
facts concerning two of the great
postwar American problems-hous-
ing and union labor demands-with
an eye on similar conditions in Rus
STA.
Nobody but an optimist with rose
colored glasses and five-year lease
would say that we have no housing
problem in America. But Stain has
one in Russia too. And how, To-
varish! Don't answer me now,
there's plain clothes man behind
the samovar.) I know about that
letter workers wrote to Uncle Joe,
pledging their tireless work and a
promise to ''liquidate all shortcom-
ings" on the housing industry. That
word "liquidate" has an unpleasant
sound. And when Russian papers
are allowed to criticize production,
putting the blame on "local Sow
ets," it means-the situation needs
criticizing!
But what were Russian housing
conditions before the war?
According to a recent Library of
Congress report, communism in
Action" even before the devasta-
ton of western Russia the aver
age floor space in Moscow was only
As square feet per head. But the
privileged (workers with high rec
ords on the speed-up plan) had
much more. Hence, the ordinary
Russian worker had much less. By
way of contrast in Washington, D.
c., under the National Capital Hous-
ing authority, the smallest housing
unit "a one-bedroom apartment)
must allot l65 square feet to the
living room alone, and the total
space must be $50 square feet.
In Russia the usual arrangement
is one family per room in Six
room apartment with common use
of the kitchen and bathroom.
Figure Out Floor
Space Per Person
This was the situation before the
war. Today, in the Ukraine, &C.
cording to an article in Harper's by
John Fischer, who spent some
months in the Ukraine and Byelo
Russia with UNRRA, conditions are
such that the Russian press may
well be allowed to criticize-if that
will do any good.
In Kiev, says Fischer, a person is
supposed to have six square meters
of living space, which is a strip of
floor about ten feet long and six feet
wide. Less than that is available in
Kharkov.
If you want to know how typical
family in the Ukraine lives, Fischer
tells you to imagine you and your
wife and children occupying the
smallest room in your house, with
the clothing, beds, furniture and pos
sessions that are absolutely indis-
pensable. You'll have brick stove
| instead of a radiator or cooking
range, a bathroom with no hot
water shared by several other FAM
lilies - and probably few rela-
| tives to share all that!
Probably you could stand this if
you knew it was temporary. But in
Russia, according to Fischer, be-
cause of the five-year plan for the
expansion of heavy industry (said to
be part of Soviet war preparatory
Russians are going to have bitter
ly hard life as far as consumer
goods and facilities go, for another
10 to Is years.
can't verify Fischer's views, but
I know that authorities agree that
Russia cannot possibly do much to
raise the standard of living of the
less privileged even if she doesn't
continue the present military prep
aration.
And what has Communism done
for the laborer as such?
Under the five-year plan industri-