j kjfUlI OF SOVIETISM BORIS L. BRASOL Mil t* THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM By BORIS L. BRASOL Author of "Socialism Vs. Civilization," "The World at the Crossroads," "Critical Essays," etc. Laseiate ogni e8peranza Dante. Inferno. Awake! Arise! Or be forever fallen. Milton. Paradise Lost. NEW YORK DUFFIELD AND COMPANY 1922 a . • Copyright, 1922, by DUFFIELD AND COMPANY Printed in V. 8. A. i • • ■ • • • • • : : • .: • * CONTENTS £ Ul GO I. The Soviet Machine 3 DC II. Land Problem in Russia 36 ■■J III. The Ruin of Russian Industries .... 61 IV. Trade and Finance 120 CD V. Russia Under the Soviet Heel 148 VI. The All-Russian Famine 213 VII. Soviet Foreign Policy 233 ■x. - 1 1 2788 FOREWORD rpHE tragic fate of Russia has attracted the * attention of civilized mankind. Much has been said and written about the amazing de- gradation of the political, social and economic life of a country which hitherto was justly- considered the biggest reservoir of wealth and economic potentiality. In our day the fact can scarcely be denied that Russia's present suffering was caused by and is the direct re- sult of the incompetent and sinister Communist practice wrought upon her people by a small but unscrupulous and closely organized group of professional agitators or incurable theoreti- cians belonging to the Marxian school. Idle are the attempts to explain the sys- tematic destruction of Russian economics by the much debated 'Allied " blockade," or the drought and other meteorological fluctuations, no matter how unfavorable such may have been. At present the most stubborn Socialist adherents are somewhat ashamed to attribute all the blame for the prevailing conditions in Russia to the events and circumstances which have had but an insignificant and rather re- mote bearing upon the destinies of her people. During a period of five years the Bolsheviki have been given the chance to work out a prac- tical program for putting their theories into effect. Nor was there lack of effort on their vii viii THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM part to "Use the weapons of hell to attain the Communist paradise/' Hell they have at- tained, while paradise is still to be found in the column of articles lost. In the case of Russia, the world is witness- ing the most complete failure of a govern- mental system that has ever been recorded in history. Every department of present Rus- sian life distinctly proves the hopelessness of further attempts to erect a stable economic edi- fice upon the sandy foundations of Marxian principles. On the plains of Russia, Socialism has suffered a defeat so conclusive as to make its recovery impossible. The Soviet leaders themselves have been compelled to admit their failure. Their battle-cry of 1917 : "Proletarians of all countries unite to smash Capitalism/' has been converted into a new motto: "Capitalists of all countries unite to save Communism." Having received but little encouragement from international labor, the Red rulers of Russia are now seeking the support of Inter- national Finance. Those "who got slapped" by the Russian workers and peasants, have suddenly turned their attention to the pocket- book of the Western Banker. For it is not im- possible that short-sighted greed may induce the wealth-owning classes to disastrous endeavors to consolidate the waning power of Commun- ism in Russia. The Genoa and Hague Con- ferences were early manifestations of this new FOREWORD ix policy which may be put in operation on a colossal scale. But whatever course the dealings with the Soviets may assume, it is apparent that the first stage of the Socialist experiment in Rus- sia has been completed and a new phase is rapidly evolving. With International Finance playing an important part in the future devel- opment of Bussia, the whole trend of events must necessarily become the joint function of two factors, Communism and Capitalism, seek- ing to make concessions to each other. Social- ists are hoping that these mutual reverences will result in converting Capitalism into mild Communism, while capitalists expect Commun- ism to assume the form of mild Capitalism. In all probability both groups will fail in their expectations as, from a strictly scientific view- point, Capitalism and Socialism are phenomena mutually excluding each other. However, this volume is not intended to deal with the problematic future. Its object is merely confined to an analysis of the actual " achievements" of Communism, in the light of economic and social policies enforced by the Bolsheviki during the whole period of their amazing misrule. In this sense the volume as it stands is nothing but the balance sheet of Communism, and it is no fault of ours that the account presents a vivid picture of fraudulent bankruptcy. THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM The Balance Sheet of Sovietism w CHAPTER I THE SOVIET MACHINE HAT is Soviet Russia?* The average person having but a vague conception of social and political conditions abroad, may give a somewhat evasive answer, stating that Soviet Russia is a part of the terri- tory of the former Russian Empire, through- out which chaos reigns, and where nothing but instability is stable. To a certain degree such a definition would be accurate for it cannot be denied that the November revolution of 1917 did turn things upside down in Russia. The moment the Bol- sheviki placed themselves in the saddle of gov- ernmental power, they began issuing numerous decrees and regulations, the chief purpose of which was to tear history out of Russia's heart, * The word "Soviet" is derived from the Russian, meaning Coun- cil. In the modern sense it is nsed to describe a form of revolu- tionary organization and is more specifically applied to the organ- ization of the Communist Governments which were set up in dif- ferent countries during the years following the World War. The specific meaning attached to the word "Soviet" dates its origin back to 1905, the time of the first outbreak of the revolutionary movement in Russia, when the extremist leaders in Petrograd and other Russian cities induced the industrial workers and employees to elect their representatives to the Central Council or Soviet, an in- stitution which was designed to control the revolutionary movement. S 4 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM causing the ruin of a social and political order which had stood solid for many centuries in the past. There was a real epidemic of " aboli- tions" of every kind. Everything that went to make up Russian statesmanship, history, economics, and national spirit, was overnight denounced, eliminated, abolished, torn into pieces, or otherwise destroyed, for the sake of erecting "a new social order" along the lines of Karl Marx's doctrine. The feverish haste with which the historical foundations of Russian culture were annihilated by the Reds was bound to result in confusion and general chaos. The vast majority of the people were utterly stupefied at this work of colossal destruction, ostensibly undertaken in their name, on their behalf, and of their own volition. So great was the consternation among the peaceful population that at first nobody seemed to have the courage to protest against the unparalleled violation of the sovereign rights of an independent nation, perpetrated by a clique of irresponsible internationalists and political lunatics. It was not until the early part of 1918 that the people began to revolt against the tyranny suddenly forced upon them. Still it would be a mistake to infer that the Communist misrule during that period was solely confined to destruction, because the very system of terror and oppression, used as a THE SOVIET MACHINE 5 weapon against the nation, necessitated the im- mediate establishment of an elaborate admini- strative apparatus bearing all the typical marks of bureaucratic management. On the other hand, the Communist regime, being a Socialist undertaking, adopted as its first measure the seizure of other people's property, declaring production and distribution the business of the State. Therefore, it became the business of the State to build up a machinery adapted to control all economic functions. This, in turn, required something in the nature of a consti- tution, or some kind of fundamental laws, pro- scribing technical methods and means for gov- erning a country with over 100,000,000 inhabi- tants, and with an area almost four times as large as the United States. The Socialist adherents who stood behind the Communist revolution in Russia were naturally faithful disciples of Karl Marx. It was their great ambition to follow Marx 's political alpha- bet as closely as possible. No wonder, therefore, that the fundamental aims of the so-called Soviet constitution fully coincide with those outlined by Marx over seventy years ago. His first concern was to destroy the " bourgeois society" founded on the principles of private property. As a means thereto, he advocated the "forcible overthrow of all existing social condi- tions/' the establishment of a proletarian dic- tatorship, and "the expropriation of the ex- 6 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM propriators. " He also strongly emphasized that a Communist revolution would necessarily en- tail a merciless war against the wealth-owning classes. On this subject Marx, indeed, used plain language when he concluded his Com- munist Manifesto with the daring threat: "Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution." To make the Communist program more appealing to the masses of the people, Marx sweetened the social panacea thus pre- scribed with the promise that: "In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." Quite in accordance with these cardinal prin- ciples, the immediate purposes for establishing the " Russian Republic of Soviets of Work- ers,' Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies" were thus defined by Lenin and his associates: "The abolition of the exploitation of men by men, the entire abolition of the division of the people into classes, the suppression of exploiters, the establishment of a Socialist society, and the victory of Socialists in all lands, • * • M This statement is embodied in the "Declara- tion of Bights of the Laboring and Exploited People" which forms part of the Soviet con- stitution. THE SOVIET MACHINE 7 In order to draw a comprehensive picture of the present conditions in Russia, giving a precise answer to the question, "What is Soviet Russia?", it is essential to analyze the laws and regulations which form the basis of the Soviet system. In this connection it must be remembered that the " fundamental law" of the Soviet Republic consists of a series of separate statutes or administrative acts which were either first adopted or merely confirmed by the Fifth All-Russian Congress of Soviets on July 10, 1918. The Soviet " constitution" in this shape contains five parts, divided into seventeen chapters, and subdivided into ninety paragraphs. Summarizing its distorted fea- tures, it may be noted that only two specific objects are set forth for the Communists to achieve: First, the organization of a Socialist society in Russia; and, second, a Socialist vic- tory in all lands. While the first aim is confined to Russia proper, the second applies to the world at large, involving all other countries in a revolutionary upheaval, thereby enacting a world drama, the prologue of which was staged on Russian soil. This proves that the Soviet regime is not merely a local matter restricted to Russian do- mains. On the contrary, the Soviet "constitu- tion" itself contains a specific provision en- titling the present rulers of Russia to inter- meddle with political affairs all over the world, 8 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM fostering revolutionary mischief and conduct- ing systematic propaganda undermining legally constituted governments, in lieu of which they are pledged to introduce a standardized social order as decreed by Marx. Having thus defined their general aims, the Soviets further sought to devise a practical plan enabling them to proceed with the actual realization of their schemes. In this respect too the fundamental laws of the Soviet Re- public differentiate between two lines of mea- sures, one of which is calculated to effect the desired social change in Russia, while the other is intended to win foreign countries over to the Socialist program. These two categories of measures are here analyzed separately. Local Measures The sweeping character of the Socialist coup d'etat in Russia is best illustrated by a mere reference to such paragraphs of the Soviet " constitution " as were designed to bring about a radical change in her social structure. On the other hand, the fact that the Communist leaders in their task were blindly following Karl Marx is clearly demonstrated by a com- parison of the Soviet provisions with the revo- lutionary program outlined by Marx in his Communist Manifesto. THE SOVIET MACHINE "DECLARATION OF RIGHTS OF THE LAB- ORING AND EXPLOIT- ED PEOPLE." "Clause 3: 1 ' (a) For the purpose of attaining the socialization of land, all private property in land is abolished, and the entire land is declared to be national property and is to be apportioned among agri- culturists without any com- pensation to the former owners, in the measure of each one's ability to till it." "(b) All forests treas- ures of the earth, and waters of general public utility, all equipment whether animate or inanimate, model farms and agricultural enterprises, are declared to be national property." "(c) As a first step toward complete transfer of ownership to the Soviet Re- public of all factories, mills, mines, railways, and other means of production and transportation, the Soviet law for the control by work- men and the establishment of the Supreme Soviet of THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO OF KARL MARX. Pages 41-42.* "Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public pur- poses." 1 ' Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State." "Extension of factories and instruments of produc- tion owned by the State." •Charles H. Kerr & Company, Chioago. io THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM National Economy is hereby- confirmed, so as to insure the power of the workers over the exploiters. "(e) The transfer of all "Centralization of credit banks to the ownership of in the hands of the State, by the "Workers' and Peasants' means of a national bank Government, as one of the with State capital and an conditions of the liberation exclusive monopoly." of the toiling masses from the yoke of capital, is con- firmed." "(f) Universal obliga- "Equal liability of all to tion to work is introduced labor. Establishment of in- for the purpose of eliminat- dustrial armies, especially ing the parasitic strata of for agriculture." society and organizing the economic life of the coun- try." In other words, the Marxian program is re- flected as in a mirror, in the Soviet " consti- tution, " with the distinction that while Marx is brief and explicit in his statements, the modern Communists resort to demagogic elo- quence. There is only one idea in the Soviet Declaration that has not been directly borrowed from Marx, that is the provision to build up a Socialist army, simultaneously disarming the wealth-owning classes. The provision thereto reads verbatim: "For the purpose of securing the working class in the possession of complete power, and in order THE SOVIET MACHINE n to eliminate all possibility of restoring the power of the exploiters, it is decreed that all workera be armed and that a Socialist Red Army be or- ganized and the propertied class disarmed." These measures logically lead up to the establishment of a proletarian dictatorship which is specifically described in paragraph 9 of the " constitution": "The fundamental problem of the Constitu- tion of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Re- public involves, in view of the present transition period, the establishment of a dictatorship of the urban and rural proletariat and the poorest peas- antry in the form of a powerful all-Russian Soviet authority, for the purpose of abolishing the ex- ploitation of men by men and of introducing So- cialism, in which there will be neither a division into classes nor a state of autocracy." This stipulation leaves no doubt as to the character of Bolshevist rule. It proclaims a principle which is entirely alien to the concep- tion of modern democracy, namely, a deliberate attempt to institute class rule, the rule of a single proletarian class over the rest of the population. Liberals and Soviet sympathizers in this country and elsewhere have devoted spe- cial efforts to prove that the Soviet regime in its actual workings hardly differs from the basic methods of democratic government. Mr. Morris Hillquit has gone so far as to assert that : u In all kindness to our comrades in Russia, 12 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM * * * they do not have a dictatorship of the pro- letariat. The Soviet Government is neither a dic- tatorship nor a rule of the proletariat. That does 1 not make it any less dear to us." On this point, however, Mr. Hillquit differs with "Comrade" Lenin, who, to the great dis- appointment of his parlor Bolshevist friends abroad, explicitly states: "When at war we use military methods. We don't promise amy liberty nor any democracy/'* In the light of paragraph 9 of the Declara- tion, and Lenin's own assertion, it is apparent how hopeless are the endeavors to present the Soviet rule in the form of a "real democracy,' ' with a slight admixture of mild Socialism and a pinkish shade of modern radicalism. The truth must be clearly understood : The Bolshe- viki did set up in Russia a class dictatorship — rather a class tyranny. It is all the more cruel as the total number of industrial workers in Russia did not exceed, even in pre-war times, 5,000,000, or less than 3y 2 per cent, of the total population. Morover, if it is conceivable for an enlightened minority to rule over a majority of highly ignorant people, it is quite insane to entrust the reins of governmental power to a small group of inefficient and illiterate manual * Compare Lenin 's address at the Third Congress of the Com- munist Internationale, as quoted in No. 18 of the "Communist In- ternationale," p. 4504. Moscow, October, 1921. Translated from the Russian. THE SOVIET MACHINE 13 workers, giving them unrestricted authority to use and abuse the entire political and economic apparatus. This, however, is precisely what happened in Eussia. For the American mind, and for those who have been brought up in sympathy with the republican ideal, the term "Soviet Repub- lic" is obviously misleading, for the kind of regime that was established in Russia in con- sequence of the Communist revolution has noth- ing in common with modern conceptions of the republican form of government. The historical tendency of constitutional practice evolved a condition which made it possible for the major- ity of the people to participate either directly or indirectly in the administration of State affairs. The Soviet " constitution," on the con- trary, deliberately prevents vast multitudes of the Russian population from taking any part in political life. For instance, on the strength of Clause 65 of the Bolshevist fundamental law, the following social groups enjoy neither the right to vote nor the right to be voted for: (a) Persons who employ hired labor in order to obtain from it an increase in profits. (b) Persons who have an income without doing any work, such as interest from capital, re- ceipts from property, etc. (c) Private merchants, trade and commercial brokers. (d) Monks and clergy of all denominations. I 4 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM (e) Employees and agents of the former police, as well as members of the former reigning dynasty. (f ) Persons who have in legal form been declared demented or mentally deficient, and also per- sons under guardianship. '(g) Persons who have been deprived by a Soviet of their rights of citizenship because of selfish or dishonorable offenses, for the period fixed by the sentence." Even a superficial analysis of this clause proves that millions of Russian peasants em- ploying hired labor, besides great numbers of those involved in commercial intercourse, must be forced out of political activities of any kind. The class tyranny established in Russia is fur- ther emphasized in the provision of the Soviet 1 i constitution ' ' declaring : i< • * • During the progress of the decisive battle between the proletariat and its exploiters, the exploiters shall not hold a position in any branch of the Soviet Government. The power must belong entirely to the toiling masses and to their plenipotentiary representatives — the Sov- iets of Workers', Soldiers', and Peasants' Depu- ties." (Clause 7.) On the other hand, the same policy is fol- lowed in Clause 14 which pertains to the prin- ciple of the freedom of the press. We quote it verbatim : "For the purpose of securing freedom of ex- THE SOVIET MACHINE 15 pression to the toiling masses, the Russian So- cialist Federal Soviet Republic abolishes all de- pendence of the press upon capital, and turns over to the working people and the poorest peas- antry all technical and material means for the publication of newspapers, pamphlets, books, etc., and guarantees their free circulation throughout the country." This also applies to the right to hold meet- ings and form organizations, societies and vari- ous associations. In every instance these rights are granted "to the working class and poorest peasantry" only. Even regarding education, about which boudoir Bolsheviks have babbled so much, the Soviet " constitution' ' conclusively proves that the acquirement of knowledge is considered the exclusive privilege of the prole- tariat, while all other classes are left to grope in darkness. The text of Clause 17 reads: "For the purpose of guaranteeing to the work- ers real access to knowledge, the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic sets itself the task of furnishing full and general free education to the workers and the poorest peasantry." What the Bolsheviki actually meant by the term "full and general free education," is ex- plained in a resolution adopted by the Eighth Convention of the Russian Communist Labor Party. This document is of great interest, espe- cially in America where Soviet sympathizers 16 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM systematically allude to the so-called "educa- tional achievements " of the Soviet regime. It is, therefore, proper to quote it at length. Re- ferring to the methods to be used for the edu- cation of the poorest peasantry, the resolution contains the following: "For the purpose of educational activities in the villages the following elements must co- operate : 1. Communistic propaganda; 2. General education; 3. Agricultural education. > Now, it may be true that Belgian rule in the Congo, or the British regime in India, or the United States policy in Haiti, do not conform with the sublime standards of statesmanship; but the question is why these and similar digres- sions from the ideal should be a matter of con- cern for the Bolsheviki in Russia? No self-re- specting State can nor will tolerate interference with its internal policies by an outside power. As a general rule, such interference constitutes a casus belli and is liable to cause grave inter- national disturbances. This, however, is the very thing that the Soviets are trying to bring about in order to accelerate the process of world revolution, which they hope will culminate in a Socialist victory throughout all lands. In this sense the Bolshevist foreign policy is a shrewdly preconceived plot against civilization at large. THE SOVIET MACHINE 21 As to the Bolshevist policy for the dismem- berment of the Russian Empire, it had its in- ception in the Soviet constitution itself. Clause 6 proclaims "the full independence of Finland," which had been a Russian province ever since 1809. The same article declares the principle of " self-determination" for Armenia. It is a matter of historical record that the Soviets recognized the " independence" of "Ukrainia" which for centuries had been an organic part of Russia, its capital, Kiev, being justly called "The Mother of Russian cities." In further adherence to this policy, the Bolsheviki engin- eered the disintegration of the Caucasus, set- ting up mushroom republics, such as Georgia and Azerbaijan. Their program of self -disin- tegration was extended as far East as the Transbaikal region, where they established the so-called "Far Eastern Republic," thus split- ting up the basic Russian territory into numer- ous insignificant state communities, deprived of independent economic resources and without any historical foundation. After the inevitable collapse of the Soviet regime, decades, if not centuries, will be re- quired to bring together these dissected terri- tories and once more restore the unity of the Russian Nation. Quite in line with the avowed precepts of Bolshevist foreign policy is also the demand expressed by the Fifth All-Russian Congress 22 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM of Soviets that "The annulment of loans made by the Government of the Czar, by landowners and the bourgeoisie" be firmly upheld, giving new impetus to the "Final victory of the in- ternational workers' revolt against the op- pression of capital." The repudiation of Russia's foreign debt was and still remains one of the main obstacles to the recognition of the Soviet regime by western powers. It is true that this obstacle was clev- erly used by the Soviet leaders in their his- torical controversy with western Europe at the time of the deliberations at Genoa. England and France set forth the motto: "We will recognize you if you will recognize Russia's foreign debt" '; the Soviet answer to this being, "We will recognize Russia's foreign debt if you will recognize us." In a way, this contro- versy is quite groundless for no matter whether the Bolsheviki will or will not agree to pay, the whole bargain has but a theoretical significance. Funds are not available in Eussia to meet for- eign obligations. Moreover, Tchicherin, the Soviet spokesman at the Genoa Conference, im- plied that the recognition of her international obligations is conditioned upon obtaining a huge gold loan from those very countries to which she is now indebted. And then such a loan would mean a new asset for world revolu- tionary propaganda. At this place we merely touch upon this question, but in one of the sub- THE SOVIET MACHINE 23 sequent chapters the Soviet foreign policy will be analyzed at greater length. Such in substance are the principles of the Soviet " constitution" in its two phases, deal- ing both with the internal conditions wrought upon Russia by the Communist regime, and its attitude toward international affairs. Soviet Organization It now becomes important to give a brief sketch of the organization of Soviet institu- tions, since much of the present plight in Russia is directly due to the incompetent manner in which the Bolsheviki sought to solve admini- stration problems. So far as political gen- eralities were concerned, the Soviet leaders could borrow their knowledge from Karl Marx, and this they have done to the utmost. But when it came to actually building up an appa- ratus adapted to govern a country, not only regulating its political activities but also super- vising the whole gamut of economic functions, the Communists most emphatically revealed their inefficiency. According to the Soviet " constitution,' * the supreme power in Bolshevist Russia is vested in "The All-Russian Congress of Soviets" (Clause 25). This institution is composed of representatives of urban Soviets, one represent- ing 25,000 voters, and of provincial delegates 24 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM who are elected to the All-Russian Congress by Provincial Soviet Congresses (one delegate for every 125,000 inhabitants). The All-Russian Congress is convoked by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee at least twice a year. (Clause 26.) The All-Rus- sian Congress of Soviets elects the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, composed of not more than 200 members. Clause 29 provides that the All-Russian Central Executive Com- mittee "is entirely responsible to the All-Rus- sian Congress of Soviets," but the subsequent clause establishes the rule that "In the periods between the convocation of the Congresses, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee is the supreme power of the Republic." There is further an obvious contradiction between Clause 24, vesting the supreme power of the State in the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, and Clause 31 reading: "The All-Russian Central Executive Committee is the supreme legislative, executive, and con- trolling organ of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic/' The analysis of the subsequent article, de- scribing the authority of the All-Russian Cen- tral Executive Committee, shows that as a matter of fact the actual governmental power is entrusted to the All-Russian Central Execu- tive Committee and not to the All-Russian Con- THE SOVIET MACHINE 25 gress of Soviets. Among other rights belonging to the All-Russian Central Executive Commit- tee, this body has the right to appoint the so- called " Council of People's Commissars for the purpose of general management of the affairs of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Repub- lic." (Clause 35.)* The Central Executive Committee also forms departments (People's Commissariats) for the purpose of conducting various governmental branches. To make the confusion complete, the Soviet " constitution" embodies two articles which we also quote verbatim: at 'Clause 37. The Council of People's Commis- sars is entrusted with the general management of the affairs of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic. "Clause 38. For the accomplishment of this task the Council of People's Commissars issues decrees, resolutions, orders, and, in general, takes all steps necessary for the proper and rapid con- duct of governmental affairs." Thus, the poor Soviet citizen is at once con- fronted with three supreme governmental powers : (a) The All-Russian Congress of Soviets. (b) The All-Russian Central Executive Com- mittee. (c) The Council of People's Commissars. * The Council of People 's Commissars ia an institution similar to the Cabinet or Council of Ministers. 26 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM Each one of these institutions issues decrees and resolutions; each one of them is entitled to direct "in a general way" the affairs of the Soviet Utopia; and each one of them is de- pendent upon the other two. Although the All-Russian Congress of Soviets elects the All- Russian Central Executive Committee, never- theless it is the All-Russian Central Executive Committee that convokes into session the All- Russian Congress, each body acting simultane- ously as the chief executive and the chief legis- lative organ of the State. On the other hand, while the central Executive Committee is osten- sibly responsible to the All-Russian Congress, there is no way of determining to which of the several All-Russian Congresses the All-Russian Central Executive Committee is responsible, for there is no logical sequence in the personnel of the All-Russian Congresses. Furthermore, be- cause the term of service of the Central Execu- tive Committee is not specifically defined in the constitution, there might arise a condition which would make the Central Executive Com- mittee responsible to four or five successive All-Russian Congresses. This would mean that the Central Executive Committee is practically responsible to none of them. But the legal muddle does not end here. Both the All-Russian Congress and the Central Executive Committee, besides exercising execu- tive and legislative rights, are also given author- THE SOVIET MACHINE 27 ity to act as the supreme judicial organs of the State. These two bodies combine in a most peculiar manner the three functions of govern- ment : Legislative, executive and judicial. Such an organization of the Central apparatus in- evitably results in a hopeless confusion of all governmental affairs and in the complete im- munity of governmental officials. Next comes the inter-relation between the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars. The Council of People's Commissars is re- sponsible both to the All-Russian Central Ex- ecutive Committee and the Ail-Russian Con- gress of Soviets. All orders "of great political significance" are referred for consideration and final approval to the All-Russian Central Ex- ecutive Committee. However, measures re- quiring immediate action may be decreed di- rectly by the Council of People's Commissars. In point of fact, matters requiring immediate action are usually those bearing "great politi- cal significance." Thus one provision practi- cally nullifies the other, making it impossible to ascertain where the authority of the Council ends and that of the Central Executive Com- mittee begins. Still further conflict is caused by the pro- vision requiring that every People's Commissar be assisted by a Committee of which he is presi- dent, while its members are appointed by the 28 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM Council of People's Commissars. The role of these " assisting" Committees is rather an amusing one, as the People's Commissar "Has the individual right to decide on all questions under the jurisdiction of his Commissariat," his only duty being to report his decision to the members of the Committee. If any of them happen to disagree with the Commissar, they may "without stopping the execution of the decision, complain of it to the executive mem- bers of the Council of People's Commissars or to the All-Russian Central Executive Com- mittee. ' ' The desperately bureaucratic character of the Soviet Central machinery is also demonstrated by the fact that there are as many as seventeen different People's Commissars and People's Commissariats, each one of them having its special Commissariat "Collegium." The fol- lowing are the departments enumerated in the Soviet constitution: (Clause 43.) 1 (a) Foreign Affairs, [b) Army. c) Navy. d) Interior. e) Justice. f) Labor. g) Social "Welfare, h) Education, i) Post and Telegraph, j) National Affairs, k) Finances. THE SOVIET MACHINE 29 (1) Ways of Communication. (m) Agriculture. (n) Commerce and Industry. (0) National Supplies. (p) State Control. (q) Supreme Soviet of National Economy. (r) Public Health." In addition, there is the "All-Russian Ex- traordinary Committee for Combatting Counter- revolution, Profiteering and Sabotage," com- monly known as the "Cheka," which actually rules over the All-Russian Congresses, the All- Russian Central Executive Committee, the Peo- ple's Commissars and Commissariats, and which controls the principal domain of Soviet activity — terror. On the question of jurisdiction of the All- Russian Congress and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Communists became so befuddled that they practically gave up the attempt to draw a line of demarcation between the respective authority of the two institutions. They merely go on enumerating, under one clause, the different matters with which these two organs are entitled to deal: "The All-Russian Congress and the All-Rus- sian Central Executive Committee deal with ques- tions of State, such as: (a) Ratification and amendment of the constitu- tion of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic. 3 o THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM (b) General direction of the entire interior and foreign policy of the Russian Socialist Fed- eral Soviet Republic. (c) Establishing and changing boundaries, also ceding territory belonging to the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic. (d) Establishing boundaries for regional Soviet unions belonging to the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic, also settling dis- putes among them. (h) Foreign relations, declaration of war, and the ratification of peace treaties. (i) Making loans, signing commercial treaties and financial agreements. (k) Approval of the budget of the Russian So- cialist Federal Soviet Republic. ' ' ( Clause 49. ) And so on. However, modifying the above stipulations, Section 51 draws a distinction between the jur- isdiction of the All-Russian Congress and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, giv- ing the former exclusive right to amend the fundamental principles of the Soviet consti- tution and also to ratify peace treaties. The Bolshevist leaders did not confine them- selves to a description of the Central Soviet apparatus. They devoted three chapters to the organization of local Soviets. Without going into its details, it must be noted that the Local Soviet power is roughly divided into two branches, one administered by the Congresses THE SOVIET MACHINE 31 of the Local Soviets and the other acting under the authority of the Local Soviets of Deputies. There are four categories of Congresses of Local Soviets: (a) Regional — formed of representatives of the urban and county Soviets. (One representa- tive for 25,000 inhabitants of the county and one representative for 5,000 voters in the cities.) These Soviets must not exceed 500 members. (b) Provincial — composed of representatives of urban and rural Soviets. (One representa- tive for 10,000 inhabitants from the rural districts and one representative for 2,000 voters in the cities.) The number of mem- bers of this category must not exceed 300. (c) County — these Congresses are composed of representatives of rural Soviets, one delegate for each 1,000 inhabitants but not more than 300 delegates for the entire county. (d) Rural — composed of representatives of all village Soviets belonging to one volost* Every Congress of Soviets (Regional, Pro- vincial, County and Rural) elects its own Ex- ecutive Committee, varying in number from 10 to 25. The structure and authority of the Local Executive Committees are similiar to those of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Aside from these bodies, there are the so- * Smallest Bussian administrative division. 32 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM called Soviets of Deputies, both in the cities and other settlements (towns, villages, hamlets, etc.). The number of deputies in such Soviets varies from three to fifty for each settlement. The term of service of the deputies is three months. Therefore, in practice Soviet citizens are continuously kept busy electing deputies to Soviets of different denominations. This elec- toral epidemic is assuredly not contributing to the stability and efficiency of the Soviet system at large. The very spirit of the Bolshevist constitu- tion relating to organization of the Central and Local Soviet authority is liable to encourage the almost endless multiplication of Soviet insti- tutions which, in turn, gives birth to an almost unlimited number of Soviet bureaucrats. This fact is admitted even by the Soviet leaders them- selves. To give only one instance of the pre- vailing condition we cite No. 282 of the official Bolshevist organ, the Petrograd Pravda for 1920. Therein reference is made to a decree of the Council of People's Commissars, bear- ing the official title, "Regulations for the Sta- bilization and Improvement of the Peasants'" Household." For the purpose of putting it into effect, the Council of People's Commissars decided to establish the following Soviets: 1. In every province and county a "Sowing Soviet" is composed of not more than five members whose duty it is to supervise the THE SOVIET MACHINE 33 sowing in the respective provinces and counties. 2. For discussing the measures proposed by the Sowing Soviets, special "Agricultural Sov- iets'' are instituted, comprising members of the Sowing Soviets, Regional Soviets, Peas- ants' Committees, etc. 3. In order further to expedite the agricultural work, special Rural Soviets are formed. 4. Finally, general supervision of the activities of the three above-named categories of Soviets is vested in the Provincial Soviet which has authority to issue its own special decrees, cancelling those set forth by other Sowing Soviet organizations. This is a typical illustration of the amazing inefficiency of the Communist liberators of man- kind. No wonder that the Bolsheviki them- selves are quite alarmed at the bureaucratic marasmus penetrating the whole Soviet system. So, in the Bolshevist Pravda (No. 105, 1919) the following confession is made: ""World history has never known an example of such endless dawdling, combined with such an enormous number of employees, as we have it in our Soviet institutions." The governmental routine in Soviet Russia is quite irritating. To obtain any kind of infor- mation, or to have anything done through Soviet officials, one has to visit dozens of different de- partments, chanceries, and offices, sometimes located in different parts of the city, without 34 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM even a remote chance of ultimately obtaining the information needed. In Moscow alone, out of the total population not exceeding 900,000, there are 400,000 Soviet employees. One and the same paper, before being issued by this or that Soviet, must have the signatures of scores of Soviet parasites, every one of whom revises the decision of the preceding signer. For- eigners who have been admitted to Soviet Rus- sia have presented long accounts of fabulous disorder reigning in Communist chanceries. An Italian writer, Magrini, once had the mis- fortune to buy a couple of photographs relating to revolutionary events from one of the Soviet photograph institutions. This is what hap- pened: "In order to pay 1200 rubles, this being the price of the photographs, I was compelled to waste two hours visiting three Auditing Departments, which issued six receipts. Three of these receipts were retained by me, while I was instructed to present two copies to different Accounting De- partments; and, finally, the last copy was turned over by me to the cashier."* Because the Soviet constitution fails to prop- erly define the jurisdiction of the various de- partments within the Central apparatus, none of the Soviet bureaucrats seems to know pre- * Compare F. A. Shcherbina : "Laws of Evolution and Bolshe- vism," Belgrade, Ed. 1921. Translated from the Eussian. THE SOVIET MACHINE 35 cisely what their rights and duties are. The sit- uation is all the more trying as the inter-relation between the Central Government and Local Sov- iet organs remains quite obscure. The Soviet constitution contains no provisions whatsoever which would serve as a criterion for a compre- hensive answer as to where the authority of the local institutions ceases and the jurisdiction of the Central Government begins. The result is that chaos and astounding disorganization are the rule throughout the Soviet offices and in all governmental affairs. Truly, Lenin and Bronstein, Apf elbaum and Finkelstein are cunning babblers. Their elo- quence at times is most convincing. They talk their audiences almost to death. But efficient work and practical achievement, elementary knowledge and similar bourgeois " inventions" are not within their realm. They seek to cap- ture the imagination of the people by revolu- tionary phraseology and cascades of demagogic rhetoric. They hypnotize. They mislead. They deride. They poison minds with vain promises and political illusions. They undermine the very foundations of common sense, morality and faith. They talk and talk, achieving nothing but destruction. To use Hegel's expression, they practice the most cruel policy: "From nothing, through nothing, to nothing/ 9 and it is not surprising that such tactics have brought Russia to misery and ruin. CHAPTER II THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA THE land problem in Russia is the keynote to the whole Russian situation. This is explained by the fact that Russia is a typical agricultural country. Even in good old prosperous times, that is, prior to the revolution, Russia 's industrial level was rather low, while not less than 80% of the entire population was engaged in agricultural pursuit. The Russian agricultural output was enormous, reaching, in 1910, a total of $4,100,- 000,000 ; this in spite of the comparatively back- ward technique of land-tilling processes. Not only was Russia a self-supporting country, from the point of view of her food supply, but heavy agricultural export formed the basis of her pros- perous trade balance with foreign countries. Astounding miscomprehension has been dis- played by many foreign authors who undertook to render judgment on the real land conditions in Imperial Russia. The general conception of such critics was largely based upon hearsay accounts of the " terrible oppression" endured by Russian peasants, of the alleged despotic attitude of the former land nobility toward the small farmers, and similar stories. Some So- cialist writers went so far as to assert that the 36 THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA 37 Russian peasants had never been landowners and never could own the land, as the entire agri- cultural area was owned either by the nobility or by the State. Statements of this kind have been systematically disseminated from decade to decade, with the result that public opinion in western countries, and more particularly in America, accepted this as a true picture of the land situation. In point of fact, the whole problem was grossly misrepresented. Yet a clear under- standing of Eussian agragrian relationship is so important that a few statistical data bearing upon the question will not be out of place. On February 19, 1861— that is to say, two years before the abolition of slavery in the United States— over 20,000,000 Eussian peas- ants were liberated from bondage by Emperor Alexander II. The manifesto liberating the peasants was accompanied by an act granting to them 111,628,506 dessiatines,* or 318,257,527 acres of land suitable for tilling. This land was made the property of the peasants. Every- one of the 8,450,782 peasant farms contained an average of 13 dessiatines, or 37.18 acres. Ac- cording to official statistics of 1878, the whole acreage of arable land in European Eussia was 377,020,161 dessiatines, which were distributed in the following way: *A Eussian dessiatine is equal to 2.86 acres. 112788 38 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM Dessiatines State, Church and Municipal In- stitutions 166,317,099 Peasants 121,726,820 Nobility 73,163,744 Other Castes 15.812,498 Now it becomes important to demonstrate the gradual increase in peasant land ownership: 1861 111,628,506 Dessiatines 1878 121,726,820 1905 167,760,289 " 1917 (January 1).... 188,000,000 <« In other words, prior to the revolution, the peasants in European Russia owned, on the basis of private property, almost 50 per cent, of the entire available acreage. Such are the main facts regarding the dis- tribution of lands in Russia. Thus the histori- cal tendency of agrarian relationship assumed the following features: (a) The gradual transference of the agricultural acreage to the peas- ants and small farmers. '(b) The diminishing of lands owned by the nobility. (c) The gradual but systematic in- crease in the small farms and a corresponding decrease in the acre- age of large estates. THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA 39 This complex process obviously stood in con- tradiction to the Marxian theory, which affirms that the small farmers are apt to be " swal- lowed' ' by the wealthy land owners, forcing the former into the ranks of agrarian proletarians. However, in spite of the fallacy of this asser- tion, Socialists of all denominations have con- ducted violent propaganda, urging the peasants to revolt against "the greedy land owner," and to grab his lands, thus escaping the "miserable lot of sinking to the depths of pauperism." Year by year, beginning with the 70 's, vicious propaganda of this nature has been on foot. Innumerable Socialist leaflets have been cir- culated among the Russian peasants, and finally the revolutionists have succeeded in imbuing the minds of the farmers with the deeply rooted belief that the land should belong only to those who till it, and consequently that it was the right of the peasants to take away, by force if necessary, all lands belonging either to the State or the nobility. Instances were frequent when revolutionary agitators, being aware of the unshaken loyalty of the peasants to the Imperial Regime, would approach them with forged manifestos announcing that, although the Czar is willing to cede all the land to the "poor people," he is prevented from so doing by the "tricky nobility." The results of this propaganda first became apparent in 1905, when the long-expected agra- 4 o THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM rian revolt broke out. At that time the Rus- sian Army was engaged in a difficult struggle against Japan. The attention of the Govern- ment was centered on Far Eastern affairs, and the snake of revolutionary intrigue gradually wormed its way to the masses of the people, in- citing them to start a rebellion against their " oppressors." The peasants began to destroy large estates, setting fire to the noblemen's coun- try houses, killing the cattle, wrecking agricul- tural machinery, and murdering the proprie- tors themselves. Revolutionary outbreaks in different cities accompanied the outrages in rural districts, and this considerably hampered the task of the Government in restoring order. The situation remained grave until the end of 1906. However, with the termination of the Japanese War, Stolypin having become Pre- mier, the revolutionary movement was promptly suppressed. To the great disappointment of all Marxian sympathizers, Stolypin suddenly came out with his brilliant project for an all-embrac- ing agrarian reform, the chief aim of which was to accelerate the process of the peaceful ac- cumulation of land in the peasants' hands. The State was given the right to compel the land owners to sell their estates to the Government, which, in turn, resold the lands thus purchased to the peasants, at prices which were from 50 per cent, to 60 per cent, lower than those pre- vailing on the market. Stolypin was the soul THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA 41 and brains of the reform. A man of iron will and boundless devotion to his country, he knew that this measure, if put into practice and made completely effective, would deprive the Social- ists of their last weapon of agitation and in this way save Russia from the horrors of "the great and bloodless revolution. " Stolypin's reform was a constructive blow to the revolu- tionary underground and this could not be for- given by those who were engaged in undermin- ing the greatness of the Russian Empire. The first attempt to murder Stolypin failed. But a few months later he was treacherously assassi- nated by an alien revolutionist in the city of Kiev. With the death of Stolypin, the great work of agrarian reconstruction lost its im- petus. Then came the World War, with all its sufferings and the mechanical displacement of human multitudes. The balance of govern- mental power was lost, and Russia collapsed under the combined pressure of the German General Staff, International Socialism and In- ternational Finance. The beginning of the agricultural disaster dates back to the Socialist regime of Kerensky. 1917 was a repetition of 1905, only on a larger scale. It was an epoch of wholesale destruc- tion, of baseless hopes placed in the "construc- tive genius of the liberated people"; it was the honeymoon of the revolution, when political and social mischief of every description was 42 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM encouraged by the Provisional Government it- self. Private estates were subjected to the most flagrant looting. "Grab the land!" became the resounding battle-cry of trouble-makers from all parts of the world, who hastened to invade Russia. Land owners were driven off their estates, their property seized, their families in- sulted, their art collections destroyed, their houses burned down. The first result of this rapacious policy was an astonishing decrease in the agricultural output in 1917 as compared with preceding years. Instead of 4,627,000,000 poods of grain, yielded in 1916, the total for 1917 fell to 3,866,000,000 poods, showing a de- cline of 771,000,000 poods. Naturally, this im- mediately affected the whole scale of food prices. By June, 1918, the average market price of rye flour was 650 to 800 rubles per pood, as compared with the normal price of four to five rubles. Thus it was during the regime of the Pro- visional Government that private lands were actually seized by the peasants. By the time Lenin and Trotzky had intervened, the whole agrarian problem was practically " settled." The Bolshevist policy relating thereto was but a continuation of the insane tactics resorted to by the "mild Socialists" of the Kerensky creed. The Soviets made a further endeavor to encour- age the complete abolition of private land ownership, substituting for it different kinds of THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA 43 "collective homesteads in agriculture." To this end they passed a series of bills and land de- crees, all of which were ultimately summarized in one legislative act known as the " Funda- mental Law of the Socialization of Land." It went into effect in September, 1918. Inasmuch as this law is the basis of the whole Soviet policy toward the land problem, it is essential to analyze it at some length. It must be borne in mind that in spite of re- peated announcements in the press about the alleged revision of Soviet tactics, the Commun- ist attitude as regards the agrarian solution has scarcely undergone perceptible changes. Confirming earlier provisions of the land de- cree of November 7, 1917, the " Fundamental Law" in Article I proclaims: "All property rights in the land, treasures of the earth, waters, forests, and fundamental natu- ral resources within the boundaries of the Russian Federated Soviet Republic are abolished." Article II further provides: "The land passes over to the use of the entire laboring population without any compensation, open or secret, to the former owners." It is difficult to determine what " entire labor- ing population" means; but other provisions of the Land Law indicate that the term embraces 44 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM " those who till the land by their own labor." At least Article XIII specifically states that: "Personal labor is the general and fundamental source of the right to use the land for agricultural purposes." Naturally, the employment of hired labor in agricultural pursuit is prohibited by the law. It is only in exceptional cases that such form of employment is permitted, provided wages are paid by the State and labor is subject to the general rules of the Workmen's Control. The general tendency of the Land Law is to repress private initiative, depriving those en- gaged in agriculture of every personal incentive to work and increase the productivity of their efforts. In this connection Article XXI is in- dicative of the whole Communist psychology. It reads: "Land is given to those who wish to work it themselves for the benefit of the community and not for personal advantage." Disregarding the basic laws of social science, which demonstrate the fact that economic prog- ress is largely founded upon the motive of per- sonal gain, the Communists have set forth a principle designed to outwit nature herself. Contrary to reason and deeply rooted human instincts, they believe that an economic system THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA 45 can be devised in accordance with bureaucratic regulations, eliminating the personal element from the whole range of human relationship. In order to force this abstract theory upon the people, the Land Law further provides that : "Surplus profits, obtained on account of the natural fertility of the land, or on account of its location near markets, are to be turned over for the benefit of social needs to the organs of the Soviet power." (Article XVII.) In addition, the trade in agricultural machin- ery and in grain, both internal and foreign, is proclaimed the monopoly of the Communist State (Articles XVIII and XIX). This, of course, takes away the last stimulus for thrift and efforts to increase the productivity of labor. It is precisely this provision that led the peas- ants to widespread opposition to the Soviet regime. The farmers flatly refuse to grow more wheat than actually needed for their personal use. Owing to the chaotic condition of Soviet statistics, it is impossible to give the exact fig- ures of the decrease in the acreage under cul- tivation. But it can be asserted that the situa- tion during the whole period of Communist management, in this respect, has been growing from bad to worse. The lands seized from private land owners by the peasants have re- mained untilled. Aside from that, a vast area 46 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM of the peasants' own lands have been aban- doned, resulting in a systematic and alarming decline in crops. As far back as in 1918, in a pamphlet en- titled "Struggle Against Hunger," Trotzky frankly admitted the fact that Russia was starving. He cited many wire dispatches re- ceived by the Soviet Government, from differ- ent parts of the country, in which the food con- ditions in rural districts were described in the darkest terms. Trotzky, however, did not have the courage to explain the real reason for this condition. He sought to shift the responsibility therefore upon the well-to-do peasants, who, he declared, were the " chief enemies" of the labor- ing masses. It has always been the policy of the Soviets, while admitting Russia's economic degradation, to attribute the blame to anyone but themselves. The " Allied Blockade," the " greedy foreign capitalists," the "Czarist agents," the " village sharks and innkeepers" — everything was used in the way of argument to justify the horrible plight of the Russian people under the Soviet regime. What actually happened was that the Soviets found themselves at war with the entire rural population. Communist leaders have often re- ferred to the so-called "selfishness" of the peasants, accusing them of concealing from the State their surplus products. It is true that in many districts the farmers would rather destroy THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA 47 their crops than surrender them to the Socialist Commissars. The cities controlled by the Bol- sheviki declared war against the villages. The villages, in turn, adopted a policy of passive re- sistance to the Soviet demands. The whole situation became so acute that extraordinary measures were needed to pump the grain out of the farmers. The notorious "food crusades" were offered as a solution of the intolerable food crisis in the cities. These crusades were undertaken both by the Central and Local Soviet authorities, assisted by Red Army de- tachments. Very often regular battles would take place between the food crusaders and the farmers, followed by wholesale executions of the "defeated counter-revolutionists." Some- times, in addition, punitive expeditions were dispatched by the Commissars in order to over- come the peasants' opposition. Entire villages were burned down, being destroyed by artillery fire. Fertile regions were devastated by the Red Army, and yet up to the present the Soviets have failed to "conquer" rural Russia. The Bolshevist press contains but few ac- counts of the methods which were and still are being used by the Communists in their strug- gle against the Russian peasants. So, in No. 450 of the "Izvestia" of the Central Executive Committee for 1918 we read: "In Okhansk the punitive detachments are mercilessly punishing the criminals and have exe- 48 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM cuted thirty peasants who participated in the counter-revolutionary outbreak. ' ' In issue No. 25 of the same organ for the year 1919, there is this statement : "The Velij district was in the grasp of a peasants' White Guardist rebellion. The revolt was energetically quelled." An article in No. 27 of the "Izvestia" of the Central Executive Committee for 1918, written by a Communist, Kerjentzev, describes a revolutionary outbreak among the peasants in the Kostroma district. The author briefly remarks : "The data referring to the peasants' revolt pre- sents a dreadful picture as regards the methods of suppressing it." But then the Kostroma methods do not differ in the least from those used in other provincial districts. In No. 71 of the "Northern Commune" for 1918 we find: "Military food detachments invaded the pro- vincial districts with banners displaying the motto : "'We will not let the workmen starve from hunger. Merciless war against those who conceal the grain.' " THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA 49 According to the same paper, during the first three months of ±919, in one provincial dis- trict alone, 255 food crusades were instituted by the Soviets. During the first year of Soviet rule 77,000,000 rubles were levied as fines upon the peasants in consequence of their opposition to the Communist Land Law. Some of the Bolshevist officials themselves finally became convinced that armed oppression alone is incapable of winning the peasants over to the Communist regime. For instance, the official "Economiclieskaya Jisn," commenting on a decision adopted by the Congress of Trade Unions, held at Moscow in March, 1919, points out: "Experience has proven that it is not wise to dispatch armed requisitionary detachments to the rural districts for the results are harmful. The peasants must be approached, not with rifles, but with argument and persuasion. Food detach- ments alone will not help. The policy must un- dergo a radical change. Owing to the present, policy in regions where the population hitherto never knew what hunger was, now we witness the disappearance of food supplies." Lenin, who, by his American admirers, is considered the great prophet of the revolution, addressing on March 23, 1919, the Communist Congress at Moscow, emphatically declared: "It is necessary to win the confidence of the peasants. Up to the present we have been the 5 o THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM pupils of the peasants and not their teachers. There can be nothing more silly than the very idea of violence in the realm of economic relations pertaining to the medium homestead. Here the problem does not consist in the expropriation of the middle-peasantry, but in the necessity of tak- ing into account the peculiar conditions of their life, in the necessity to learn from the peasants the methods of gradually achieving a better order of things and not in 'bossing' them. In this re- spect, comrades, indeed we have sinned quite a good deal." ("Izvestia" of the Central Execu- tive Committee, No. 69, 1919.) Still the conciliatory tone of Lenin's admis- sion in reality meant nothing. It must be re- membered that when Lenin speaks, he usually bears western countries in mind. His declama- tions are calculated to create a favorable im- pression upon loose-minded liberals on both sides of the water. When, amidst his floods of words, a drop of reason is suddenly discovered, radicals urbi et orbi begin to cheer his wisdom, commenting on every dot and comma, and twisting his formulas in ten thousand different ways. A great difference there is, however, be- tween words and deeds. The actual situation in the villages and rural districts in general is vividly described in the "Izvestia" of May 1, 1919. The author of the article, a peasant him- self, sends out an S. O. S. in the vain hope that his voice will be heard in the wilderness of the Communist State : THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA 51 "Help! We are perishing!" — thus reads the article — "At the time when we are starving, do you know what is going on in the villages? Take, for instance, our village, Olkhi. Speculation is rife there, especially with salt, which sells at 40 rubles a pound. What does the militia do? What do the Soviets do? When it is reported to them, they wave their hands and say, 'This is a normal phenomenon.' Not only this, but the militiamen, beginning with the chief and includ- ing some Communists, are all engaged in brewing their own alcohol, which sells for 70 rubles a bottle. Nobody who is in close touch with the militia is afraid to engage in this work. Hunger is ahead of us, but neither the citizens nor the 'authorities' recognize it. The people's judge also drinks, and if one wishes to win a case one only needs to treat him to a drink. We live in terrible filth. There is no soap. People and horses all suffer from skin diseases. Epidemics are inevitable in the summer. If Moscow will pay no attention to us, then we shall perish."* In spite of the complete fiasco of Soviet tactics to bring about, if not peace, then at least a truce, with the Russian peasantry, in spite of Lenin's admissions and Trotzky's con- fessions, the agrarian policy of the Bolsheviki was pursued with remarkable stubbornness. It culminated in the notorious decree of January 27, 1921, which is the prime cause of the ap- palling famine which Russia is living through * Quoted from ' ' Memorandum on Certain Aspects of the Bolshe- vist Movement in Russia." Washington Government Printing Of- fice, 1919, p. 14. 5 2 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM to-day. The main features of this decree can be summed up as follows: (a) Sowing the fields is declared everybody's duty to the State. The various Soviet insti- tutions are given the authority to devise plans for the sowing campaigns. They also decide which particular area must be culti- vated and what kind of grain must be sown. Individual farmers must comply with this program as a matter of duty to the State. (b) The technical methods of tilling the land are also regulated by the Soviets, these regula- tions being compulsory. Mechanical processes are to be applied to the tilling of land and to sowing the fields. (c) The entire crop becomes the property of the State, while the farmer gets only such quan- tities of grain as are rationed to him by the respective Soviet organs. It is doubtful if a law more inefficient than this, and less adapted to the realities of life, could be found in the history of legislation. On its surface it shows marks of hopeless bureaucratic obstinacy and failure to grasp the substance of economic relations. No special men- tal acumen is required to realize that no govern- ment on earth has been or will be powerful enough to regulate the economic activities of every individual citizen, teaching him how best to direct his creative energies, and how to apply his technical ability in solving diverse economic tasks. Even should we, for the sake of argu- THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA 53 ment, admit that there can be a government strong enough to control the countless individual efforts which go to make up the economic life of a nation, nevertheless, bureaucratic manage- ment of this kind would be bound to result in failure because of the inequality of individual faculties. John cannot be made to work equally well, equally efficiently and equally fast as Henry. Besides John and Henry are la- boring in different surroundings and under unequal difficulties. Therefore, the standardi- zation of their work cannot be achieved no mat- ter how efficient a government is, or how de- spotic it chooses to be. Almost immediately after the issuance of the decree of January 27, 1921, Soviet officials be- gan to elaborate their system of compulsory agriculture. On February 8, 1921, mobiliza- tion was ordered of all specialists in agriculture, including the former owners of the estates, their superintendents, and persons who had re- ceived special training in agricultural colleges. Simultaneously, further recommendations were made for abandoning individual forms of land ownership, and inducing the peasants to adopt Communal or Socialistic methods of tilling the land. The proposed system provided for the participation of entire peasants' Communes in plowing the soil, while the crops were to be stored in Communal granaries. Besides these stipulations, the decree regulates the method of 54 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM distribution of grain among the population. All these combined measures resulted in a fur- ther decrease of the area under cultivation, thus preparing the ground for the frightful famine of 1922. The land policy of the Bolsheviki is probably the greatest blunder in the long series of blun- ders committed by them since the time they rose to power. Even from this brief sketch of Soviet measures pertaining to rural Russia, it can be seen that the keynote to Communist legislation is the socialization of land. This cardinal principal was adopted by the Soviets in full conformity with the theories of Karl Marx. Guided by the avowed intention of work- ing out a model Marxian State, the Bolsheviki made an attempt to force upon 100,000,000 Russian peasants an economic system entirely alien to their psychology and to the whole history of Russian agrarian relations. It was easy in times past to move the peasants to loot and grab the estates belonging to the nobility. Appeals to greed and base instincts usually find prompt response when made to the disor- derly and illiterate mob. Nor was it difficult to convince the peasants that if they should seize other peoples' lands, they would increase their own land holdings, thereby getting something for nothing. But when it came to enforce the program of socialization, which necessarily meant the abrogation of all individual titles to THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA 55 the land, the peasants emphatically declined to give up any of their own holdings, denying the authority of the Communist State to extend its control over the free use of their lands, a right which they had enjoyed in the past. Despite the numerous Bolshevist decrees " na- tionalizing" the land "for the benefit of the entire laboring population/' the peasants, as a matter of fact, have never given up their prop- erty rights in the land, responding to Soviet legislation by a series of revolts against the Communist Commissars. In vain were the at- tempts to suppress by " direct action" the coun- ter-revolutionary movement spreading all over the rural districts. Those among the Bolshe- viks who were familiar with the psychology of the people, understood that it was impossible to carry on a successful warfare against multi- tudes of rebellious peasants. Of course, Apf el- baum (Zinoviev), the Red dictator of Petro- grad, did threaten to murder a large portion of the population of Bussia for the sake of putting into effect the Marxian program. It was he who, in 1918, made this infamous statement: "To overcome our enemies we must have our own Socialist militarism. "We must win over to our side 90,000,000 out of 100,000,000 of the popu- lation of Russia under the Soviets. As for the rest, we have nothing to say to them; they must be annihilated."* * Speech made by Apf elbaum, reported in the ' ' Northern Com- mune," September 19, 1918, No. 109. 56 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM The more intelligent Bolsheviks, however, insisted upon less brutal and more subtle mea- sures to be employed in the Soviet campaign against the Russian peasants. They accepted the Machiavellian principle: "Divide et im- pera" ; in other words, a method of sowing arti- ficial dissension among the peasants them- selves. The Soviets have tried to incite the poorer farmers against the well-to-do peasants. For this purpose, they formed, in rural dis- tricts, so-called " Beggars Committees," which were designed to become the nuclei of Commun- ist organizations throughout the agricultural regions. These Committees were put in charge of the distribution of food supplies among the rural population, and they were also given au- thority to supervise the collection of "surplus" food in the villages. This measure, indeed, did help to foster civil strife, causing further confusion among the farmers; but it failed to win the support of the peasantry as a whole to the Soviet regime, as neither the poorer nor the wealthier peasants were persuaded to sur- render their lands to the Communist State. The present situation with regard to the land problem may be summed up as follows: Nominally, all the land has been nationalized. In reality, however, the peasants persistently clin? to their property rights and their legal titles. On the other hand, notwithstanding offi- cial encouragement through legislation of Com- THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA 57 munal or Socialistic methods of cultivation, the land is being tilled according to old customs of individual enterprise. The decree giving the Soviets authority to confiscate the " surplus crops" resulted in an amazing degradation of agriculture as such. It can be asserted that in 1921 the total area under cultivation in Euro- pean and Asiatic Russia, including "Ukrainia" and Turkestan, did not exceed 25,000,000 dessia- tines,* while in Russia proper the gradual re- duction of crop areas roughly assumed the fol- lowing proportions: 1917 222,300,000 Acres 1918 182,780,000 1919 140,790,000 1920 93,860,000 1921 41,990,000 "f In famine-stricken regions the area actually sown in 1921 was only 9,789,897 acres as com- pared with 13,267,270 acres in 1920. J * Compare these data with exhaustive statistical research of Pro- fessor Pestrjetzky in his monography on the present land conditions in Eussia, entitled, "Around the Land," pp. 55 to 65, Berlin, 1922. Published in Kussian. f According to Soviet statistics, the total area under cultivation in 1920 was 25 per cent- less than in 1916. This may be true if the whole territory embracing the former Eussian Empire is taken into consideration. However, confining the analysis to Eussia proper, excluding the Little Eussian Governments, or the so-called Ukrainia, we notice a much greater reduction, which is confirmed by data fur- nished by the Central Soviet Statistical Board, showing the total output in cereals for 1921 amounted to only 32,200,000 tons, which is less than 50 per cent, of the average output for 1910-1914. Compare these data with pamphlet, entitled "How Bolshevism Wrecked Eus- sia," a reprint from the "Morning Post," London, 1922. ^See "Soviet Eussia," No. 1, January, 1922, p. 7. Published in New York City. 58 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM Simultaneously, the food ration throughout the villages decreased in an alarming degree. In the Government of Tula, which is considered a model district from the point of view of yield- ing tax returns, according to Soviet statistics, in November, 1920, 91 per cent, of the popu- lation was living on food substitutes, con- sisting mainly of wood saw-filings and husks mixed with potatoes. The daily ration in that district in November, 1920, was equal to 2,300 calories; while in February, 1921, it was only 1,502 calories. In the Government of Samara, which in former times was one of the wealthiest agricultural regions, the daily ration in calories for November, 1920, was 2,540, while in Feb- ruary, 1921, it had fallen to 1,700 calories. It will be noted that the normal ration for per- sons engaged in manual labor is approxi- mately 6,000 calories per day. Further light is thrown upon the extent of agricultural disintegration by figures showing the extermination of horses in Soviet Russia: 1918 24,000,000 Horses 1919 9,500,000 1920 Figures not available 1921 3,300,000 Horses In 1922 the situation became so critical that in many rural districts plows were drawn by the peasants themselves as all horses had been THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA 59 killed and their flesh used for food. The out- look for 1923 is hopeless. The same picture is true about cattle. Sheep- breeding, which was so extensive in Imperial Russia, has almost ceased under Communist rule, while the number of pigs in 1920 was 80 per cent, less than in 1914. Between 1900 and 1913 the gross output of agricultural products in Eussia increased 33 per cent. The agrarian revolution left Russia almost without agricultural implements, and in 1920 the peasants obtained a number of plows seven times less than in 1913. The number of harrows acquired by them for the same period was ten times less. In 1921 and 1922 the output of agricultural machinery in Soviet Russia was almost nil. Therefore, in 1923 it will be practically impossible to till the land even should grain in sufficient quantities be ob- tainable. While the exact figures regarding the output of agricultural machinery for 1921 and 1922 are lacking, the comparative table on page 60 may give a general idea of the staggering depreciation in the manufacture of such ma- chinery. The number of agricultural machines im- ported from abroad in 1920 was insignificant and the total was below 16,000 machines of every kind. 60 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM 1913 1914 1920 ] [mported from Abroad Manu f actu red Manu f actured in -Russia in Eussia Reaping machines Fanning Machines 200,000 36,000 100,000 15,000 550,000 80,000 38,000 38,000 500 862 167 167 Planting machines Threshing ma 10,000 70,000 1,068 chines operated 13,000 27,000 558* In this connection the official Bolshevist " Economicheskaya Jisn" (No. 92, April 27, 1922) furnishes important data. An article published in this issue, entitled "The Restora- tion of the Manufacture of Agricultural Ma- chinery," reads in part as follows: "The convention dealing with the problem of the manufacture of agricultural machinery which adjourned a few days ago, disclosed the hope- less condition of that branch of industry. Fig- ures made public during the convention by the Department of Agricultural Machinery demon- strate that in the early part of 1922 the number of workers engaged in this industry was only 26 per cent, of the pre-war number. The output * The above figures were taken from the following sources: "Agriculture," issues Nos. 1 and 2, September and October, 1921. Monthly magazine issued in Prague, published in Russian. A. Raketov: "Synopsis of the Economic and Financial Situation in Present Russia According to Official Data," Eeval, 1921. Pub- lished in Eussian. Professor A. Terne: "In the 'Realm, of Lenin." Published in Eussian, Berlin, 1922. THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA 61 varies from 0.1 per cent, to 3 per cent, (planting machines, harrows, threshing machines, fanning machines) to 13.3 per cent, (plows) of the pre- war production. These figures signify a catas- trophe in the manufacturing of Russian agricul- tural machinery and in their supply to the popu- lation. Tins is particularly true if we take into consideration that in pre-war times Russia manu- factured not more than 50 per cent, of her entire need in these implements." Such in brief is the deplorable result of Bol- shevist management in the field of agricultural relationship. It is only natural that the peasants as a class were thrown into opposition to the Socialist regime. The wily promises made by Lenin to the farmers will certainly fail to catch them in the Communist trap. Russian peasants are no fools. They remember well Lenin's speech delivered to the Tenth Communist Congress, when he said, "The interests of the workers and the peasants differ. Only an agreement with the peasants can save the Socialist revolution in Russia until the time when a proletarian revolution will take place in every country.' ' But the farmers also remember that it was upon Lenin's own motion that the same Con- gress adopted a new form of taxation, estab- lishing a tax in hind, the so-called "Prodnalog," a tax levied in the form of taking from the farmer his agricultural products and turning them over to the State. Although Lenin boasted 62 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM that this measure would tend to conciliate the peasants to the Soviets, in reality, however, it drove another wedge between rural and urban Russia. That is the reason why the peasants regard the Communists as a class of privileged parasites, and their urban strongholds as an arena for insane social experiments. Nor is the latest Bolshevik agrarian inven- tion going to solve the land problem. On May 12, 1922 — so it was reported in the general press — the All-Russian Central Executive Com- mittee of Soviets proposed a plan providing life tenure for the peasants engaged in agricul- tural pursuit. On the other hand, however, the principle of State ownership of all land was reiterated and no further changes were sug- gested. In this way the "new" land policy is but another version of old principles. This plan as well as the " Fundamental Decree of the Soviet Government," dated May 22, 1922, which pur- ports to grant limited concessions to property rights, were obviously designed to please Mr. Hughes and thus to drag the United States into a shameful deal with the Soviets. One of the Communist Commissars by the name of Kursky, commenting on the latter decree, was verv frank in stating that: "Soviet officials * * * considered this decree largely meets the condition of Secretary of State Hughes for American trade in Russia." THE LAND PROBLEM IN RUSSIA 63 Nothing can be expected from such " sur- renders" to capitalism. The thing which the peasants want is to own their land, to keep it on the basis of private property, including the right of selling, mortgaging it, and leaving it to their families. In other words, so long as private property in land is not restored in full, the present land chaos will prevail and minor changes and modifications of the " Funda- mental law of socialization of the land" will bring no relief whatsoever to the famine- stricken population, and will prove unable to relieve the general condition of economic de- spair ruling throughout Red Russia. CHAPTER III THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES ATARXIAN principles of socialization ap- •*•■*• plied to Russia have ruined her agricul- tural system and proved equally disastrous to her industries. Marx labored long and hard to show that the suffering of the working class is the direct consequence of social conditions which enable the capitalist to monopolize all means of pro- duction and distribution, leaving to the toilers the sad fate of selling in the open market their only possession, that is, their labor. Accord- ing to his theory, the labor problem cannot be solved without a radical change in the entire structure of modern society, as the result of which all industrial and financial assets would fall under the control and become the property of the working class. Marx anticipated that such a social transformation must necessarily be achieved by force, inevitably upsetting the whole mechanism of economic relationship. The Bolsheviki, having learned by heart the Marxian A-B-C, saw no other means of solving the industrial problem than that decreed by their stepfather. As far as Russia was concerned, the national- ization of her industries could not be justified 64 THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 65 even from the point of view of the Socialistic theory itself. Generally speaking, Capitalism in the western sense of the term was non- existent there. It was only during the last twenty years that modern industrial methods gradually began to be applied to Russian soil. In that country industry was a weakling, nour- ished by the State. A high custom-wall was erected which gave the manufacturers sufficient time to get upon their own feet. The protec- tive policies of the Imperial Government, it is true, proved quite beneficial. The four years preceding the World War marked a deci- sive advance in Russia's industrial prosperity. Thus, during the period between 1910 and 1913, the number of new industrial and commercial corporations, and their paid-up capital, in- creased in the following proportion. Paid Up Capital Number of New in Millions of Year Corporations Rubles 1910 104 119.3 1911 166 185.3 1912 202 233.5 1913 240 403.1* Owing also to the tireless efforts of the Gov- ernment, during the ten years preceding the war, railroad lines and transportation facilities in general were materially enlarged. This, in *See Bussia—Eer Economic Past and Futwe, by Dr. Joseph M. Goldstein, New York, 1919, p. 80. 66 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM turn, had a stimulating influence upon the tempo of economic development as a whole. With all that, the industrial technique continued to be backward, especially if compared with such countries as the United States, England and Germany. Under these conditions, it was idle to speak of the "concentration" of capital, of " industrial magnates" controlling Russian production, of the " monopoly of capital," and similar attributes of capitalistic progress. In Marx's own opinion, however, these phenomena must precede the social decomposition of mod- ern civilization, ultimately substituting for it a Socialistic order. Moreover, orthodox So- cialists, including Marx himself, have always contended that a "successful" social revolution can be accomplished by no other class than the industrial proletariat. In this connection Marx stated as follows: "Along with the constantly diminishing num- ber of the magnates of capital, who usurp and monopolize all advantages of this process of trans- formation, grows the mass of misery, oppression, slavery, degradation, exploitation; but with this too grows the revolt of the working-class, a class always increasing in numbers, and disciplined, united, organized by the very mechanism of the process of capitalist production itself. The mo- nopoly of capital becomes a fetter upon the mode of production, which has sprung up and flourished along with, and under it. Centralization of the means of production and socialization of labor THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 67 at last reach a point where they become incom- patible with their capitalist integument. This integument is burst asunder. The knell of capi- talist private property sounds. The expropriators are expropriated."* It was also Marx who asserted that: "Of all classes that stand face to face with the bourgeoisie to-day, the proletariat alone is a revo- lutionary class. ' ' When Lenin and Trotsky started to advocate a social revolution in Russia, there was no pro- letarian class in the Marxian sense. Russia was and still remains a country of small farm- ers, tenaciously clinging to their property rights, their farms and their individual house- holds. Out of the pre-war population of the Russian Empire — that is to say out of 160,- 000,000— there were less than 5,000,000 indus- trial workers. But out of this number hun- dreds of thousands still kept farms which were cultivated by their relatives. On the other hand, many workers were employed in indus- trial concerns only part of the year, while pur- suing their habitual agricultural occupation during the other part. Therefore, even from the orthodox Marxian point of view, there was no social group or class in Russia capable of undertaking and bringing to a "successful" * Capital by Karl Marx, Vol. I., pp. 836 and 837- Charlea H. Kerr & Company, Chicago, 1919. 68 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM end the destruction of the capitalistic system, erecting on its ruins a model Communist State. Disregarding these fundamental facts, the Bolsheviki, as far back as April, 1917, suddenly broke loose with violent agitation among the workers of Petrograd and Moscow, urging them to join their ranks and promising to put them in immediate control of all factories, plants, mills, railroads and other industrial assets. The Marxian formula: "All wealth is pro- duced by labor. To labor all wealth is due/' was over night accepted by the toiling masses who were unable to grasp its real meaning. Nor is it strange that the " Workers' Control" should have appealed to the proletariat, espe- cially at an epoch when the whole country was being kept in a state of constant unrest, and when the minds of the people were put out of balance by the trend of revolutionary events. It was all the easier to enforce the nationaliza- tion program as hundreds of factories were actually deserted by their owners who fled be- fore the terror instigated by the rebellious workers. In point of fact, already under Ker- ensky's regime, wages extorted by the laborers grew to be so excessive that the operation of the factories became next to impossible. The Soviet constitution does not devise an exhaustive system for the nationalization of in- dustry as is the case with the socialization of land. The general stipulation therefor is con- THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 69 tained in Item (c) of Clause 3 of the "Declara- tion of Rights of the Laboring and Exploited People." It reads verbatim: "As a first step toward complete transfer of ownership to the Soviet Republic of all factories, mills, mines, railways, and other means of pro- duction and transportation, the Soviet law for the control by workmen and the establishment of the Supreme Soviet of National Economy is hereby confirmed, so as to insure the power of the workers over the exploiters." In this Section two distinctly different prin- ciples are set forth: first, nationalization from the point of view of State ownership; and, second, nationalization in the sense of workers' management of industrial concerns. The seizure of industrial plants by the Sov- iets primarily assumed a casual character. The earlier decrees nationalizing such concerns were issued in consequence of the opposition mani- fested by their owners and managers to the Soviet order of December 8, 1917, introducing the "Workers' Control" over production. The first industrial corporation nationalized by the Soviets was the Simsky Mining Com- pany. The decree thereto of December 12, 1917, reads : "In view of the refusal of the Simsky Mining Company to submit to the decree of the Council of 7 o THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM People's Commissars, relating to the Workers' Control the Soviet of People's Commissars hereby resolves to confiscate the entire property of the Simsky Mining Company, of whatever it may consist, declaring it the property of the Russian Republic." The same motive is given in the Soviet de- cree of December 19, 1917, for nationalizing the well-known Bogoslovsky Mining Company. It was not until February 1918 that the pro- gram began to be carried out systematically. In the beginning the tendency was to nation- alize key industries, especially the entire metal- lurgical, textile and mining output. The ear- liest attempt to take over the famous Donetz coal region was made on December 28, 1917, when a regulation was adopted ordering that all mines located in this district be placed under Soviet control, and their output monopolized by the State. On the 22nd of April, 1918, an important measure was introduced by the Soviets nation- alizing foreign trade in all its ramifications. According to this decree, commercial transac- tions with foreign countries were made the ex- clusive prerogative of persons duly authorized by the Bolsheviki. With the exception of spec- ial agents, nobody had the right to carry on trade relations with foreign countries, either in the way of export or import. Gradually, all economic functions, including production, trade THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 71 and distribution, came under Soviet manage- ment. Finally, in December 1920, industrial concerns employing only five workers were de- clared the property of the State. Among the more drastic phases of the social- ization fever was the decree of December 14, 1917. This is the edict on the seizure of pri- vate banks which were monopolized by the State. The preamble to this legislative act ex- presses that the nationalization of banks is ordered "In the interest of the regular organization of the national economy, of the thorough eradication of bank speculation, and the complete emancipa- tion of the workmen, peasants, and the whole la- boring population from the exploitation of bank- ing capital, and with a view to the establishment of a single national bank of the Russian Republic which shall serve the real interests of the people and the poorer classes, * * *." All assets and liabilities of banking institu- tions, in this way, were taken over by the Sov- iets, while all existing private joint-stock banks were merged in the State Bank. Indeed it was a simple matter, by one stroke of the pen, to abolish — on paper at least — the whole Russian banking system; but, with pri- vate banks blown up in the air, the Soviets proved thoroughly incapable of solving the vital problem of credit. The barbarous manner in which the Communist rulers grabbed all 72 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM financial assets is quite typical of their " gov- ernmental" methods. In modern economics, banking is an organic part of the productive system, its prime social function being the financing of industrial and commercial enter- prizes, which constitute the backbone of national existence. Prior to the revolution, Russia's industries were largely dependent upon banking capital, which provided the necessary means for the development of productive resources. The more efforts were made in the field of indus- trial research, the more it became obvious that extensive banking and accessible credit were absolutely indispensable to economic progress. Accordingly, during the ten years preceding the World War, thousands of corporations of " mu- tual credit" were established throughout Rus- sia, rendering prompt and efficient assistance to the creative efforts of the people. Petty trade, which had a far-reaching significance in nation- al economics, was actively supported by these institutions. The nationalization of banks did not entail the abolition of money as a mode of exchange. Money continues to exist in the Communist State. Therefore, all industrial concerns, al- though nationalized, have to have money for the purchase of raw materials, to pay wages, and to carry on their business in general. Leaving aside for the present the question of THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 73 the deflation of the Russian ruble, it is neces- sary to point out the peculiar condition which was the outgrowth of the nationalization of banks. All monies and collateral in the posses- sion of banking corporations, having been de- clared the property of the State, it became the business of the State to finance all such indus- trial and commercial concerns as heretofore had been supported by private banking capital. In other words, its nationalization threw upon the State a tremendous burden which in previous days was divided between thousands of credit institutions and the State itself. The effect was most harmful. In the current Soviet press there are count- less complaints about the inefficiency of the Communist State Bank, its failure to give fi- nancial support to nationalized enterprises, and the irritating routine required to obtain credits for industrial purposes. The Communists took over almost 100 per cent, of Russia's industries but they did not create a financial organization adequate to cope with the daily needs of production. In conse- quence, hundreds of plants and mills remain idle without a remote possibility of resuming operations. Even those factories which are considered by the Soviets as "shock factories'' — that is to say, the operation of which is of paramount importance for the very existence of the Communist State — have often complained 74 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM about the thorough neglect manifested by the "Gosbank" (State Bank) in relation to their financial requirements. Lenin and other Soviet leaders repeatedly insisted upon the utmost importance for the Communist State, in the first place, to organize and efficiently exploit the huge industrial en- terprises, uniting them in productive agencies similar to American trusts. Voluminous liter- ature was produced on this subject, and yet the practical endeavors of the Soviets to establish such trusts have resulted in a complete fiasco, not only in the sense of technical management, but also from a financial point of view. One instance described in the Soviet news- papers, referring to the central organization of Russian textile industries, may give a general idea of the prevailing situation. A Soviet of- ficial who was ordered to inspect the business of this "Centro-Textile" made the following report with regard to its financial transactions: "The Financial Department of the Centro- Textile received up to February 1, 1919, the sum of 3,400,000,000 rubles. No control was estab- lished with regard to the apportionment of this fund. The money has been given away to the fac- tories at their request, and this was made in the form of advance payments against bills of lading. Due to this, instances were frequent where monies were paid to non-existent factories. From Jan- uary 1st up to December 1, 1918, the Central Textile made such advance payments against com- THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 75 modities for the amount of 1,348,619,000 rubles. At the same time, by January 1, 1919, commodi- ties which would serve as collateral for such advance payments were amounting only to 143,- 716,000 rubles, that is eight times less than money paid out in advance. Moreover, the fact of the general inefficiency of the Central Textile must be noted, especially in connection with the pur- chase of wool. Thus, by January (1919) only 129,808 poods were purchased, whereas the annual requirement of wool is calculated at the amount of 3,500,000 poods." 4 '# Similar is the condition in practically every line of industry and commerce. The official Soviet organ Economicheskaya Jisn, in its issue of the 26th of April, 1922, reported that the Petrograd hemp trust, formed in January of that year, was unable to start operations owing to the lack of funds which were to have been supplied by the Gosbank. Information of the same nature is given regarding the Forest and Textile Trusts, and the coal mines in the Don- etz Basin. There is a Eussian proverb: "With seven nurses the child is blind." This can be applied to State ownership and Soviet Administration of key industries and their "shock plants." Numerous Soviet institutions and Communist appointees are supervising, managing, control- ling and auditing their operations. Every Com- * See Prof. Shcherbina, Op. Cit., p. 100. Translated from the Eussian. 7 6 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM missar feels it his right and duty to interfere with their work. The consequence is that these basic branches of production have been ruined, possibly even to a greater degree than the aux- iliary agencies which are less annoyed and com- paratively more free to pursue their own pol- icies. An equally harmful effect upon industrial de- velopment was caused by the Soviet invention known as the " Workers' Control. " The first decree thereto was issued on December 8, 1917. The object of this measure was to eliminate in- dividual management, but primarily the man- agement of those who owned the factories, put- ting production under the control of the indus- trial proletariat. The Bolsheviki were firmly convinced that, after all, this was an easy task to perform, because they maintained that man- ual work alone is the creative force of wealth. They failed to grasp the economic truth that natural resources which furnish the material substance for all mechanical processes, and the brain work of experts organizing industries are just as much the component parts of production as manual labor itself. The destructive phase of the "Worker's Con- trol, namely, the elimination of the legitimate owners, was not difficult to achieve. Most brutal methods were used to compel them to surrender their factories to the Worker's Shop Commit- tees. The technical personnel was subjected to THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 77 both psychical and physical terror. "Down with the bourgeois bloodsuckers!", for a time, was the real order of the day. Thousands of persons who formerly supervised the mills and plants were either incarcerated or murdered in cold blood, while the rest were forced to seek refuge abroad. According to a statement made in 1919 at a meeting of the Moscow Soviet of Workers and Red Armies Deputies, by Mr. Nevsky, former Commissar of the Department of Railways and Communications, "No less Phcm 25 per cent, of the trained engineers em- ployed in the management of railways since the revolution were murdered," while about 50 per cent, of the pre-revolutionary engineering staff had fled "to escape murder." Hence, only 25 per cent, of the entire number of technically skilled railroad employees nominally remained in the ranks of the former personnel. But with regard to these Nevsky explained: "I pass my life in hunting them out of prison because no proper management can go on with- out skilled laborers."* This condition by no means was confined to transport alone. It existed and still prevails in all branches of industry, commerce and State banking. * Mr. Nevsky 's report quoted in the London Morning Post, May 1, 1919, in an article entitled, ' ' Bolshevist Transport Muddle. ' ' 7 8 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM Such was the primitive manner by which the first taming of the "exploiters" was accom- plished by the Soviets. The second, or con- structive, problem relating to the workers' man- agement was something the Bolsheviki were unable to overcome. They started out on the premise that all the delicate functions of pro- duction could be properly organized and con- trolled by the workers themselves, no matter how little technical experience they may have had. The decree on the Workers' Control is cer- tainly one of the most startling exhibits of the "constructive achievements" of Communism. The merits of this legislative act can be best appreciated by examining its more fundamental provisions : "1. In the interests of a well-planned regula- tion of the national economy in all industrial, commercial, banking, agricultural, transport- ing, co-operative, and productive associations and other enterprises engaging hired workers or distributing work outside, Workers' Con- trol shall be introduced over production, pur- chase, sale of products and raw materials, their storage, as well as over the financial part of the enterprise." "2. The Workers' Control is carried out by all the workers of a given enterprise through their elective organizations such as: factory committees, aldermen's boards, etc. These organizations shall include representatives of the employees and the technical personnel." THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 79 "3. In every large town, province, or industrial region, a local Soviet of Workers' Control shall be formed, which, being an organ of the Soviet of Workmen, Soldiers and Peasants Deputies, shall be composed of representa- tives of trade unions, shop and other labor committees, and co-operative societies." According to the subsequent sections, the organs of the Workers' Control are given the right to supervise production, fixing a mini- mum ratio of output, and enabling them to take all necessary measures for determining the cost of production. (Paragraph 6). These organs are also allowed access to all files of the indus- trial enterprises. Their decisions are manda- tory on the owners of the enterprises and may be revoked solely by a resolution of the higher organs of the Workers' Control. (Paragraph 8). The only exemption in favor of the owners is contained in Paragraph 9, reading: "The owner or the administration of the en- terprise shall, within the course of three days, have the right to file a protest before the higher organs of the Workers' Control against any resolution passed by the lower organs of the same Control. ' ' An analysis of this decree discloses two lead>. ing features of labor management as adopted by the Soviets: First: the so-called collegiate system of man- agement as distinguished from and opposed to 80 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM individual management of the owner; second, the outspoken domination of manual labor over technical experts. The former principle is but a natural feature of Communism. Socialism has never fav- ored the creative force of individual effort. On the contrary, it has always sustained the policy *of "mass action." Whenever it comes to actually doing something requiring brains, Marxian followers recommend a parliament with scores of delegates proficient in talking abilities. Any minor measure pertaining for instance to the purchase of spare parts for a drilling lathe, or selecting the nearest ware- house, is vigorously debated by committees and sub-committees before being put into effect. On the other hand, the most complicated indus- trial policies have to be brought before and de- cided upon by large bodies of manual workers who have not the slightest idea as to what man- agement means or how it should be conducted. Besides, the decree establishes an extremely intricate procedure for carrying out the Work- ers' Control through four different groups of Soviets : (a) The Factory Soviet, (b) The City Soviet, (c) The Regional Soviet, and finally, (d) The All-Russian Soviet of Workers' Control. The clumsy make-up of the Central Soviet is THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 81 described in Paragraph 4 which provides that this body shall be composed of representatives of the following institutions: 1. The Ail-Russian Central Executive Com- mittee of the Soviets — 5 members. 2. The All-Russian Central Executive Com- mittee of Peasants' Delegates — 5 members. 3. The All-Russian Soviet of Trade Unions — • 5 members. 4. The All-Russian Center of Co-Operative So- cieties — 2 members. 5. The All-Russian Bureau of Factory Commit- tees^ — 5 members. 6. The All-Russian Union of Engineers and Technicians — 5 members. 7. The All-Russian Union of Agronomists — 2 members. 8. From each All-Russian Labor Union with at least 100,000 members — 1 member. 9. From each Trade Union whose number of members exceeds 100,000 — 2 members. 10. The Petrograd Soviet of Trade Unions — 2 members. Now, all these various Soviets, mutually sub- ordinate to each other, from stage to stage, are compelled to refer their decisions and regula- tions to higher organs of Workers' Control, un- til they ultimately reach the central body, — moving slowly along like a caterpillar tank. It is only here, on the top of the bureaucratic pyramid, that all momentous problems of na- tional production are finally decided upon. 82 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM Had a decree of this kind been inaugurated by the Imperial government, or any of the would- be bourgeois governments, Socialists from the four corners of the earth would have burst into an uproar, accusing the wealth-owning classes of every possible administrative vice. But, be- cause the decree bore the stamp of Lenin, lib- erals and radicals all over the world have de- voted much " study" and " careful research" to the relative merits of this "great" Bolshe- vist discovery. Obviously it is impossible to supervise the whole range of industrial func- tions with a bureaucratic outfit so heavy and so inefficient. Nevertheless, Socialist sponsors in this country and elsewhere prayingly whis- pered, "Oh, give them a chance! Give them only a chance!" And the chance has been given to the Bolsheviki. They have been al- lowed to carry out their program to the fullest extent. Not even a year had passed before Soviet leaders themselves found out that industry was being rapidly brought to a state of complete decay. Much to their surprise, they noticed that the Workers' Control in reality meant wholesale graft, willful neglect, and the high- est degree of incompetency. The simplest questions of management were hopelessly be- fuddled. Urgent problems of organization were dragged along through numerous Soviet chanceries until finally they lost their mo- THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 83 mentous significance. Furthermore, the dif- ferent organs of Workers' Control came in con- flict with the Supreme Board of National Economy, the task of which is to elaborate gen- eral standards for the economic life of the country, serving as a medium between the work of the central and local branches of the All- Russian Soviet of Workers' Control. Finally, the different Soviet agencies, such as the Fuel Board, the Metal Board, the Transport Board, the Central Supplies Committee, etc., acting upon their own authority, interfered all the time with the orders of both the Supreme Board of National Economy and the All-Rus- sian Soviet of Workers' Control, causing ex- treme confusion in every line of Russian in- dustry. In the factories all discipline was abandoned. The I. W. W. slogan, "Strike on the job!" be- came the ruling condition of the work in na- tionalized concerns. The eight-hour day which was decreed at the very outset of the Bol- shevist advent to power proved nothing but a myth. The men worked as long as they chose to stay in the factories, while the whole course of industrial labor was converted into an end- less meeting at which Communist ideas were propagated and the workers incited to take re- venge upon the "blood-thirsty capitalists." But these were no longer in existence. Regulations recommended by Workers' Shop 84 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM Committees were deliberately violated by the workers themselves, and the foremen of olden times were held under suspicion and openly ac- cused of being "bourgeois sympathizers." Un- der these circumstances, naturally, the entire in- dustrial mechanism went to pieces, and the pro- letarian State promptly landed outside the broken trough. The scale of economic disorganization will be understood by a mere comparison of the out- put of different supplies for 1913 or 1914 with that of 1920. After two years of Soviet management, every branch of industry presented practically the same picture of degradation. For instance, the textile mills, in 1914, were equipped with 7,- 285,000 spindles, working on full time, while in 1920 there were only 385,000 spindles work- ing on part time. In 1920 only 125,000 workers were employed by textile manufacturers, which is 75 per cent, less than during normal times. In 1913 Russia had 37 cement plants working at full speed. In 1920 there was only one ce- ment plant, working on part time. In 1913 there were 140 blast furnaces as com- pared with 12 in 1920. In 1914 there were 275 glass plants and 20 china manufacturing plants, with a total of 93,- 000 workers. In 1920 only 67 glass plants and 11 china manufacturing establishments were in operation, employing a total of 32,000 workers. THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 85 TOTAL OUTPUT* 1913 1920 Ores of different kinds 581,000,000 poods 8,000,000 poods Copper ore 69,000,000 " 219,000 Manganese ore ... . 17,377,000 216,000 Chromide ore 1,500,000 " 105,982 (9 months) Salt, Perm region.. 26,000,000 " 2,000,000 Salt, Baskunchak region 41,000,000 " 1,200,000 Salt, Donetz Basin. 39,000,000 " 7,500,000 1914 Smelted cast iron . . 257,000,000 " 6,000,000 " 1913 Oils (vegetable) approximately .. 25,000,000 " 500,000 Paper 24,000,000 " 2,000,000 " 1914 Matches (in thou- sands of boxes) . . 3,808 632 j 1 »> ft >> With regard to precious metals, the figures are as follows: 1914 1920 Gold, Ural region 103 poods 22 lbs. 11 poods 29 lbs " West'n Siberia 97 " 34 " 1 " 39 " " East'n Siberia 1,679 " 34 " 92 " 21 " Total 1,881 " 10 " 106 " Platinum 298 " 20.5 "f * See Pravda, November 14, 1920, and Economicheskaya Jisn, January 1, 1921. f Compare with data furnished by Economicheskaya Jisn, Jan- uary 29, 1921. 86 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM In view of this condition, the number of workers engaged in all branches of industry had been reduced. The Economicheskaya Jisn (No. 242, October 20, 1920), analyzing this phase of the economic situation, produced the following figures relating to the Moscow indus- trial section, which formerly was considered the Russian Manchester: NUMBER OF WORKERS Per Cent, of Region September 1, 1918 June 1, 1920 Decrease Ivanovo-Voznesensk .. 146,300 30,600 79 Vladimir 103,100 21,200 80 Kostroma 17,600 8,100 57 Moscow 368,100 216,400 41 In Petrograd and Moscow the number of manual laborers has decreased as follows: Petrograd, 1917 365,777 1918 144,530 1920 102,000 Moscow, August 1, 1918 147,424 June 1, 1919 105,210 June 1, 1920 *87,363 The British Labor Delegation and the Ger- man Socialist Commission which visited Soviet Russia in 1920 have made an exhaustive sur- vey of the industrial conditions in that coun- try. Both of these delegations devoted much * See The Russian Economist, Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 585, April, 1921. These tables were taken from the official Economicheskaya Jisn, is- sues of October 1, 1920, and October 20, 1920. THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 87 attention to the startling decline in the produc- tivity of labor. Mr. Dittmann, who was at the head of the German Commission, referring to the Kolomna machine plant, stated: "The Russian employees were partly men who had been drafted by force from villages; others were volunteers whose motive was to get the spe- cial food ration given to factory workers. Not one of them showed the slightest interest in his work; quite on the contrary, there was universal disposition to sabotage, which extended even to some of the higher employees."* In January, 1919, the Soviet authorities un- dertook an investigation regarding the number of hours worked by the employees in railroad repair shops. The following was found: Every one of the workmen worked during January Year Hours Per Cent. 1916 254 100. 1917 235 92.5 1918 159 60.0 1919 170 66.9 f Owing to the Workers ' Control, the Mitish- chi machine plant near Moscow, in pre-war times one of the model industrial concerns, be- came utterly crippled. By 1919 the produc- tivity of that plant showed a decrease of 60 per * See Mr. Dittmann 's report published in the Berlin Freikeit, issues of August 31st and September 1st, 1920. fSee Sobolev's, The Present Economio Situation in Soviet Biw- sia, p. 20. Kharbin, 1921. 88 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM cent, as compared with 1916, although the work- ing-day had remained the same, namely, eight hours. The Economicheskaya Jisn, describing the deplorable situation in the textile industry, re- marked that, on the average, the decline in the productivity of work in textile mills amounted to 35 per cent., while in some of the nationalized enterprises it fell below 75 per cent., as com- pared with the pre-revolutionary period. The Bolshevist newspaper Trud, in its issue of April 28, 1919, frankly admitted: "Our misfortune consists in that we do not know how to use such means as are in our posses- sion, namely, labor. The productivity of labor in the textile industry experienced an amazing de- crease. There is no discipline. Due to carelessness and neglect, the machines are in a state of decay and they are incapable of yielding the former amount of efficiency." An interesting account of the manner in which Soviet factories were and still are oper- ated is found in the Moscow Pravda (January 6, 1921). This paper refers specifically to a mill called " Mars" which is engaged in manu- facturing military uniforms: "In the factory Mars, two thousand workmen are engaged. Theft has assumed extraordinary proportions. Those identified as thieves are pun- ished and compelled to perform filthy work for a period of one or two weeks. Those upon whom THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 89 this punishment is inflicted immediately begin to steal again. There is no discipline whatsoever in the factory. Workmen are continuously striking on the job. The quality of the work performed is extremely poor and 70 per cent, of the goods so manufactured are rejected by the inspectors." For the present, these data may be sufficient as they do give a general idea of the extent of industrial disintegration at the close of the initial stage of Soviet misrule. When, after two years' experimentation along the lines of collegiate management, the Soviet leaders became thoroughly convinced that there was nothing to be hoped from the Workers^ Control, they began to ring the alarm bells. Lenin and the other Commissars were forced to admit the disheartening results of their industrial policies; but in their usual hypocritical manner, they sought to excuse their failure by ascribing it to reasons beyond their control, and more particularly to general conditions which turned out to be rather un- favorable for the Soviets. Speaking before the Communist Party in March, 1921, Lenin tried to justify the econ- omic methods of the Bolsheviki by setting forth the following argument: "Our system was dictated to us by military considerations and necessities and not by the needs of the national economy. There was no other outcome in the conditions of unparalleled 9 o THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM confusion in which we found ourselves, when, after the Great War, we had to endure a series of civil wars. Of course, in the methods of ap- plication of our policy, we made a great number of mistakes and exaggerations. As a matter of principle, however, this policy was right in the conditions of war which were wrought upon us." Another Communist, by the name Varga, an- alyzing the proposed " changes" in the econ- omic policies of the Soviets, remarked: "Urgent needs of war, the resistance and the sabotage of the bourgeoisie, compelled the Soviet authorities, contrary to the will of the Commun- ists (?), to resort to nationalization, adopting the well-known system of military communism. The bureaucratic mechanism, once set in motion in a given direction, often digressed from the aims which were originally devised. This sys- tem, the social foundation of which was the mili- tary union of the urban workers and the poorest 6trata of peasantry, was liable to cease the mo- ment the war terminated."* Again we encounter the " sabotage of the bourgeoisie,' ' the "wicked Kolchak," the "in- human blockade," and the whole battery of ac- cessories used in the Communist phraseology. But whatever excuses were offered by the Bol- sheviki, the fact remains undeniable that the Workers' Control, as a concise policy of in- * See No. 18 of the Communist Internationale, Moscow-Petrograd, isaue of October 8, 1921, Varga 's Article "The Turning Point in the Economic Policy of Soviet Russia. " THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 91 dustrial management, does correctly interpret the idea of proletarian dictatorship, giving soap-box leaders of manual labor the upper hand in the economic life of the State. Militant proletarian dictatorship led to the complete elimination of the expert from the fields of industry. Thus the historical struggle between muscles and brains ended in a victory for the former. This, however, was a Pyrrhic victory, for conclusive proof was given that economic progress cannot be achieved without the aid of human intelligence and technical skill. When, finally, the Bolsheviki had discovered this truism, they began to frame "new" econ- omic policies. There was really nothing else to do since, as far back as January, 1920, the situation was described by Rykoff, former President of the Supreme Board of National Economy, as "catastrophic." Here are some of the measures which were proposed for the solution of the industrial crisis : First: The Abolition of the collegiate system of management. Second : Employment of experts in all branches of industry. Third: Improvement in transportation. Fourth : Compulsory labor. Fifth: Militarization of labor. Sixth: A resolute campaign against labor deser- tion. 92 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM This program did not spring into existence fully armed, like Minerva from the head of Jove. On the contrary, it had been evolved after protracted and weary word-duels between the two main factions of Soviet "ideology." One was the militant group of Apfelbaum and Trotzky, advocating bombastic policies and dreaming of world-power conquered by fire and sword; the other was Lenin's party which sought to attain the same aims, using, however, more "diplomatic" methods. The first group refused to argue with anything but an iron fist. Lenin, while believing in the iron fist, pre- ferred to use it in a silk glove. Therein lay the difference. Friction between the two wings of Communism at one time grew so acute that rumors were current that either Trotsky had conceived a plan to depose Lenin, or that Lenin had made up his mind to get rid of Trotzky. Bolshevist press agencies of course always de- nied such rumors, trying to convey the impres- sion that between the two Soviet autocrats there existed a friendship as touching as between Castor and Pollux. As a matter of fact, dis- sension was there. At this point a brief characterization of these two Communist ringleaders is perhaps not out of place. Both Lenin and Trotzky are avowed disciples of Marx. They both have received their revo- lutionary training in the backyard of Euro- THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 93 pean politics. Both have had their own grudges against civilized society, and conse- quently it is not surprising that they should possess embittered mentality. In the depths of the social underground, Lenin and Trotzky learned the whole gamut of unscrupulous methods for fostering political mischief. Rus- sia to them meant nothing. They looked upon that country as an arena where, owing to the darkness of its populace, silly theories and ideas could be more easily propagated than in other European States. Both are too rebellious to be free. They are obsessed with the mania of grandeur. It is their ambition to eventually become Field Marshals of world revolution. But while Lenin, in the past, devoted much time to the study of economic sciences, Trotzky 's mental luggage is as light as down. He knows nothing outside of the Marxian primer, but this he knows by heart. Due, probably to his Semitic origin, Trotzky has a speculative, prac- tical mind, while Lenin is more inclined to theoretical argumentation and dialectics. He likes to be called the "Hamlet of World Revo- lution." At times, Lenin is disposed to politi- cal meditation, while Trotzky adores parading, and the whole ritual of Communist ceremonies. He obviously poses as a Napoleon when he spends his leisure hours reviewing mercenary troops on the plaza before the Moscow Kremlin. Vengeance upon the " bourgeois society" is the 94 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM dominant motive in Trotzky 's psychology. He, therefore, has become the apologist for Red Terror and the tortures of the Cheka. Lenin, on the other hand, is the great master of propa- ganda: he believes more in the gradual under- mining of the foundations of civilization than in high explosive methods. In the Soviet out- fit, Lenin is doing the thinking part, while Trot- zky represents the dynamic element. For Lenin, destruction is what he describes as the "necessary stage" for attaining the Communist millennium. For Trotzky, destruction is an aim in itself, a leading principle, a basic policy. Trotzky envies Lenin and seeks to overshadow his prestige among the Communist devotees both within and outside of Russia. Trotzky is av- aricious and "thrifty," which has enabled him to "save" some 80,000,000 Imperial rubles in gold. These are being kept safe — beyond the reach of his Bolshevist brethren — in one of the South American banks. In this sense Lenin has a "broader character." He wantonly dissipates Russian State funds without giving much thought to the final outcome of the Soviet Dance Macabre. Meanwhile, however, he does enjoy his comfortable little home in the Imperial Palace at Moscow, with a number of senti- mental women giving a touch of artistic charm to the unparalleled horrors of Bolshevism. Amidst the industrial chaos wrought upon Russia, the two heralds of Communism had THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 95 . to come to an understanding because the con- tinued disintegration of Russian economics in- evitably would become, as it actually has be- come, a grave menace to the existence of Soviet rule itself. Abolition of the Collegiate System and the Bourgeois Experts In the controversy over the collegiate and individual management, Lenin took the view that the reconstruction of industry can be suc- cessfully carried out only by the abolition of the Workers' Control and the restoration of the individualistic principle. At the Third All- Russian Congress of Transport Workers, he made it clear that he was in favor of reversing the whole Soviet policy in this respect. He said : "Was it possible in the former times for any- one who considered himself a defender of the bourgeoisie to say that there should not be any individual authority in the administration of the State ? If such a fool should have been found among the bourgeoisie, the other members of his class should 'have laughed at him. They would have said to him: 'What has the question of in- dividual or collegiate management to do with the questions of class?' "* After some hesitation, Trotzky acceded to this viewpoint. * Quoted from Leo Pasvolsky 's book The Economics of Com- mwtism, p. 234, New York, 1921. 96 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM Opposing this opinion, a large group of Com- munists continued to defend with obstinacy the principle of collegiate management, arguing that the restoration of individual control would inevitably bring the bourgeois expert back to the footlights of economic life. This, they main- tained, would, in turn, infringe upon the sov- ereign rights of the victorious proletariat, plac- ing it in a role subordinate to the industrial managers. Tomsky, President of the Execu- tive Committee of the Trade Unions, was the spokesman for the latter group. After pro- tracted deliberations, the Ninth Congress of the Russian Communist Party, in April, 1920, passed a resolution settling the controversy by adopting a sort of middle course. The idea of collegiate management was upheld, but the reservation was made that individual manage- ment should be favored in the executive field. It was, therefore, recommended that in the higher stages of industrial mechanism, collegiate forms of management be preserved, with the understanding, however, that the membership of the managing committees would be reduced. Yet on the crucial point regarding the parti- cipation of experts in organizing industries, the Communists are still groping in darkness, and no uniform policy has been adopted so far. Instances are known where the Bolsheviki have tried to secure the services of bourgeois experts. In this connection Russian engineers, at pres- THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 97 ent residing abroad, have been approached by Soviet agents with a view of inducing them to accept responsible positions in the Communist State. These approaches rarely led to the de- sired results as the Eussians are fully aware that it is impossible to work efficiently under the Soviet regime. Such experts as did accept Bolshevist offers found themselves in a very trying position. Theoretically they were given a free hand in the management of several in- dustrial concerns. Fat salaries were paid to them and they were placed in the first category as far as food rations are concerned. But despite these privileges, a Soviet spy is always watching them and reporting their activities to the Cheka. In this way the managers' decisions are actually governed and over-ruled by highly ignorant Communists and by the All-Russian machine of oppression. So far the new tactics ad- vocated by Lenin have had but little effect upon the general industrial status, mainly because the policy of terror was chiefly directed against the educated classes. The result was that a majority of technically skilled engineers and scientists were either murdered or otherwise in- capacitated. The truth is that Russian experts are practically unavailable. The latest information from Soviet Russia seems to indicate that the Workers' Control is being rapidly replaced by individual man- agement. If Communist statistics are to be 98 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM taken for granted, already by January, 1921, only 17.3 per cent, of all industrial concerns in the Petrograd district had continued to remain under the control of Workers' Boards, while over 86 per cent, had been restored to individual management.* But in this respect the Bolsheviki have gone from one extreme to another. Wherever they have come back to individual methods of man- agement, a policy of bureaucratic centraliza- tion has developed and factories are left to the mercy of illiterate Soviet appointees acting as officials of the Socialistic State. Superinten- dents of this kind certainly are incapable of reinstating industrial work on a business foot- ing. Accordingly, the results of centralized management are no better than those obtained under the Workers' Control. The following extract from an article pub- lished in the Soviet press may serve to corro- borate this assertion: "On November 4th, 1920, at a meeting of the f Special Transport Committee' presided over by Comrade Trotsky, and on November 5th in the Council of Labor and Defence, a report was made by an expedition of the Special Transport Committee, which investigated the conditions of the 'Shock Group' of works in the South. The expedition points to the existence of bureaucratic centralization, which entirely paralyzes the sup- * See Econotnichesltaya Jisn, December 22, 1920. THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 99 • ply of the works and of the railway workshops; the absence of competent boards of management at the works, resulting in a fall of discipline, an increase in the loss of working days, which, for instance, at the Makeeff works has reached for certain workshops as much as 60 per cent.; the abnormal position with the supply of food-stuffs and clothing to the workmen of certain concerns; the failure to adapt the productive capacity of the workshops to the program, put forward in the order No. 1043."* It is evident that the Communists are toss- ing about from one experiment to another with- out being able to find their way out of the eco- nomic labyrinth. As a last resort, they are now seeking to improve the situation by means of placing Russian factories in the hands of for- eign experts. Recently the Soviets started negotiations with German industrial firms, giving them un- limited power to organize the work of recon- struction. So, in May 1922, a German syndi- cate signed an agreement with the Bolsheviki for rebuilding the Kronstadt docks. It is also reported that a German banking group has undertaken to build up a commercial steamship line between Petrograd and Hamburg. In ad- dition, Polish manufacturers, through Mr. Aschkinazi, the representative of Poland in * Economicheskaya Jisn, 256, Nov. 1920. Published in The Rus- sian Economist, Journal of the Eussian Economic Association in London, Vol. I., No. 3, April, 1921, p. 599. ioo THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM the League of Nations, presented a memoran- dum urging the League to approve a scheme which practically means a technical invasion of Russia. The plan, if adopted, will enable Pol- ish experts to organize and supervise various branches of Eussian industry for the commer- cial benefit of Poland. These and similar schemes, however, are nothing but palliatives which are quite in- adequate to solve the Russian industrial cri- sis in its all-embracing scope. Railroad Transport The present aspect of Russia's economic life is all the more deplorable as transportation has been paralyzed by incompetent Soviet man- agement. The railroad problem has a particular sig- nificance in Russia because of her enormous area. The grain region is located 1,000 miles from Petrograd. The Caucasian oil fields are over 2000 miles away from Moscow. The prin- cipal Black Sea ports, as well as Archangel in the North, are thousands of miles removed from both Petrograd and Moscow, while the richest mining district, the Ural Mountains, is located on the border of Asia, and in former times it took three and one-half days to reach Cheliabinsk in an express train. Therefore, Russian economics must largely rely upon a highly developed railroad net, which can be THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 101 compared with blood-carrying veins, nourishing the heart of the organism. It is difficult to portray authentically the present industrial prostration of Russia with- out touching upon the question of transpor- tation. The total length of railroad lines through- out the Empire in 1916 was approximately 78,- 000 versts.* The Versailles Treaty took Po- land, Finland and other border regions away from Russia which reduced the mileage of her railroads to some 55,000 versts. In 1914 there were 20,057 locomotives. In the beginning of 1920 their nominal number in Soviet Russia was 18,612. Out of these, how- ever, 10,560 were classed as disabled and only 7,610 were considered in running order. In 1921 the disabled locomotives constituted 59 per cent, of their total number as compared with 16 per cent, in 1914. Besides, in Feb- ruary 1921, the number of engines idle owing to fuel shortage was over 1000. According to Soviet statistics, the number of locomotives by April 1, 1922, was 19,048; but 12,746 were out of commission and 364 were scheduled for re- pair, which means that the per cent, of dis- abled locomotives increased to 68, or 11 per cent, since the beginning of 1921.f The out- put of new locomotives shows the following: * One verst equals approximately three-quartera of a mile, f See EconomichesTcaya Jisn, No. 92, April, 1922. 102 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM Year Output Year Output 1914 816 1917 396 ; 1915 903 1918 191 1916 599 1919 85* Addressing the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets in April, 1920, Trotzky stated: "We do not produce any new locomotives. The real enemy which we have to face is hunger, mis- ery, darkness and general disintegration. In 1916 there were 16,886 locomotives in working order. In 1918 we had 4,679 ; in 1919 only 2,411." Early in 1920 Rjrkoff, speaking before the Congress of Trade Unions delegates, made this outspoken statement: "Before the war the percentage of disabled locomotives * * * even in most difficult times, did not surpass 15 per cent. To-day the percent- age is 59.9. In consequence, out of every 100 locomotives in Soviet Russia, there are 60 which are out of service and only 40 of which are in working order. The repair of the disabled loco- motives diminishes with extraordinary rapidity. Before the war 8 per cent, were repaired every month. After the October revolution of 1917 this percentage was reduced sometimes to 1 per cent. ; at present we have been able to raise this figure but only to 2 per cent. Under the present con- dition of railroads, the work of repairing cannot keep pace with the destruction of locomotives, * Quoted from Narodnoje Khosiaistvo, semi-monthly organ of the Supreme Soviet of National Economy, Nos. 5-6, 1920, p. 5, Moscow. THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 103 and each month we register a decrease in the num- ber of locomotives at our disposal as compared with the preceding month. This decrease amounts monthly to 200 locomotives."* Professor Lomonossoff, one of the Soviet Commissars in charge of the Transportation Department, estimated the minimum number of locomotives urgently needed in Bussia at 5000. This is probably a correct calculation. But it must not be overlooked that the maxi- mum annual output of all Russian locomotive plants does not exceed 500, and it would, there- fore, require at least ten years to build the lacking number of engines. The repair of locomotives also shows a back- ward tendency: only 467 engines were repaired in January, 1922, as compared with 660 in December 1921, and 701 in January 1921. f The same desperate condition is observed with regard to railroad cars. In 1917 their number was 574,486. By 1921 it was reduced to 454,985, out of which only 350,000 were in working order. On April 1, 1922, out of a total of 392,000 freight cars, 173,000 or 44 per cent were out of commission. J * See pamphlet Economic Russia in 1920 by Gregor Alexinsky, published by the Foreign Affairs News Service, May, 1920, New York City. f See Wirtschaftspolitische Aufbau-Korrespondenz, May 5, 1922. No. 18, published in Munich, Germany. Information quoted therein is based upon data furnished by the EconomichesTcaya Jisn, No. 84, 1922. $ Compare Commerce Reports, published by the U. S. Department of Commerce, issue of June 5, 1922, p. 644. 104 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM The state of the railroad track itself is also undergoing rapid decay. It is estimated that in order to maintain the railroad tracks in serviceable condition, it is necessary every year to replace the rails on a mileage of 3,500 versts. In 1920, however, only 240 versts of new rails were laid. In addition, there was a shortage of some 18,000,000 railroad ties which made the rebuilding of the tracks practically impossible. Out of 38,000 railroad telephone apparatus, 32,500 need fundamental repair. Eussian rail- roads are equipped with 10,000 telephones, but 8,000 or 80 per cent., are out of commission. Finally, in order to restore the railroad tele- graph system to pre-war efficiency, 10,000,000 new poles are required. The financial side of railroad operation un- der the Soviets is just as bad as its technical status. The deficit of Russian railways for the first two months in 1922 amounted to 14,100,- 000,000,000 paper rubles (approximately 94,- 000,000 gold rubles). Added to the arrears in wages and supplies not paid for, the deficit reached the stupendous mark of 15,300,000,000,- 000 Soviet rubles.* In brief, such is the deplorable condition of railroad transport under Soviet management. The Communist authorities have delivered countless speeches on the question of disinte- gration of the railroad traffic. At every Com- * Compare with data in Commerce 'Reports, June 5, 1922, p. 644. THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 105 munist Convention, at every gathering of trade unions and other labor organizations, the sit- uation is rehashed again and again. Lenin and Rykoff are submitting elaborate reports on the subject, inventing new reasons for the present collapse of the railroads. Trotzky many times has shaken his fist in anger at the imag- inary enemy hampering the work of Soviet re- construction. Volumes have been written on this problem, and yet not only has the trans- portation system failed to improve in the least, but from month to month Soviet statisticians record an ever-growing number of losses in the rolling stock and a further disorganization in the railroad service. In the light of these facts, the Commissars themselves admit that unless a radical change and rapid improvement in transport are effected, the fate of the So- cialistic State is doomed. Compulsory Labor and Militarization of Labor The universal obligation to work is one of the cardinal principles proclaimed by the Sov- iet State. From the point of view of the Marxian theory, a Socialistic enterprise is a single economic unit within the limits of the State, having a standard plan of production and distribution guaranteed by universal labor service. Such an organization presupposes an obligatory distribution of human labor through- 106 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM out the different branches of national econ- omics, as agriculture, industry and transporta- tion. But human beings — at least in civilized countries — have become accustomed to look upon their right to freely dispose of their work- ing energy as the most sacred guarantee of liberty and progress. In view of this, for a Socialistic State, it becomes necessary to in- troduce compulsory labor by a series of legis- lative acts, the enforcement of which must be supported by measures of a compulsory char- acter, or in the last analysis, by military force of the proletarian State. Such is the theory of Socialism. In practice, the Commissars have literally applied these abstract premises to every-day intercourse in Russian life. In the "Declaration of Rights of the Labor- ing and Exploited People" the principle of compulsory labor has been proclaimed but in a general way. However, on account of the ag- gravation of the industrial crisis, and because of the obdurate resistance of the citizens to compulsory regulations prescribing the meth- ods and amount of work to be yielded, the Bol- sheviki began to be restive over their ability to put the Marxian theory into effect. Owing to this experience, by the year 1919 they saw fit to elaborate a number of regulations on com- pulsory labor, enacting them in the "Code of Labor Laws of the Russian Socialist Federal THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 107 Soviet Republic/' The opening paragraph is really the keynote to the entire document. It reads : "All citizens of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic, with the exceptions stated in Sec- tion 2 and 3, shall be subject to compulsory labor." Persons exempted from this general rule are those under sixteen and over fifty years of age, as well as those who have become incapacitated by injury or illness. Even students in colleges, according to Paragraph 4, are subject to com- pulsory labor. The enforcement of this law is secured through the Division of Labor Distribution, Trade Unions, and all institutions of the Soviet Republic. The assignment of workers to par- ticular jobs is made through the Division of Labor Distribution, or the so-called "Kom- trud." (Paragraphs 15 and 16.) Although the Soviet Labor Code declares, as a general principle, that employment must be based upon vocation or natural inclination to a particular kind of work, nevertheless, according to Sec- tion 29, an "unemployed person who is offered work outside his vocation shall be obliged to accept it," at least as a temporary occupation. Acceptance of workers for permanent em- ployment is preceded by a period of probation of not more than six days. According to the 108 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM showings of the test, the men are either given a permanent position or rejected with pay- ment for the trial period. In the event of their rejection, the Labor Code establishes an oner- ous procedure for applicants desiring to file ap- peals. These must be filed with the respective trade unions. Paragraph 27: "If the trade union deems the appeal .... justified, it shall enter into negotiations with the establishment or person who has rejected the worker, with the request that the complainant be accepted. ' ' Paragraph 28: "In case of failure of the negotiations .... the matter shall be submitted to the local Depart- ment of Labor whose decision shall be final and subject to no further appeal." Anyone familiar with the bureaucratic rou- tine prevailing in Soviet Russia will readily understand what these provisions actually mean. In practice, instances are frequent where a person assigned by the Komtrud to a certain work is thereupon rejected by one em- ployer after another so that the " productive efforts" of such an applicant are restricted to filing appeals with and lobbying in different Trade "Unions, Soviets and Labor Boards. Among the more odious features of the Labor Law is the right of the State to trans- THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 109 fer the worker not only to another enterprise situated in the same locality, but even to have him sent to other labor districts which may be far removed from the place of his original em- ployment. Human labor is considered the property of the State and human beings are shipped like so many cattle from one part of Russia to another without the slightest regard for their personal comfort and habitual occupations. The Soviet Labor Code is being used as a means of oppression against the unfortunate bourgeoisie, while the privileged Communist class is either exempt from compulsory labor, or else assigned to easy jobs. During the un- ceasing epidemics ravaging the country, the bourgeoisie, on the strength of the regulations of the Labor Code, are being forced to dig graves and bury the dead. During guerrilla periods, under the pretext of the same rules, the bourgeoisie are being compelled to dig trenches for the Red Army. When the Com- munists suddenly decide to establish some kind of a new "front," for instance when they wish to clean up their filthy cities, again it is the bourgeoisie who has to perform the job. It is a cruel and relentless mockery. Eminent phy- sicians and jurists, skilled engineers and scien- tists, refined women and ladies of society are forced to work as grave-diggers and street- sweepers. no THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM Of course, these drafted workers are "strik' ing on their jobs" and sabotaging the Com- munist State. . Compulsory labor, as an avowed policy in Russian economics, was introduced not only in conformity with the Marxian stipulations, but also as a measure to increase productivity. Soviet decrees recommending methods for se- curing labor efficiency were thoroughly ignored both by the workers and the Communist super- intendents themselves. The reason therefor is to be found not so much in the opposition of the masses of the people to the Bolsheviki, as in the fact that their legislation has always refused to deal with actual conditions and social realities. The Communist lawmakers try to squeeze life into the Procrustean bed of abstract theories and dead formulas. Take this rule: "Every worker must, during a normal working day and under normal conditions, perform the standard amount of work fixed for the category and group in which he is enrolled.''* What does "the standard amount of work" mean? What significance have the "Valua- tion Commissions" established to determine the standard output for workers in each trade? They are merely defunct bureaucratic bodies sapping the Soviet treasury. Any consid- * Paragraph 114 of the Soviet Labor Code, THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES ill eration for fixing the standard output must be based upon " normal working conditions," that is, satisfactory conditions of machinery and accessories, timely delivery of materials and tools, a good quality of materials, and similar factors bearing the greatest importance upon the tempo of industrial production. But what is normalcy as applied to Soviet Russia? Every department of life is upset; every in- dustrial agency is broken, and the whole tech- nique of production is brought to a standstill. What then is "the standard output" I And what is the object in putting up this smoke screen of theoretical dissertations on the meth- ods for increasing labor productivity when fac- tories have nothing to keep them running, no raw materials, no fuel, no lubricants, and no food to feed the workers? Much hope has been placed by the Commun- ists in their Labor Code. It was expected that as soon as these cruel regulations were put into effect, the creative faculty of the people would be restored and the citizens of the So- cialist State would quickly resume tlieir peace- ful labors. But, alas! from the point of view of industrial returns, the year 1919 proved even more disappointing than the preceding years. The immediate effect of the reinstitu- tion of slavery was that workers by the thou- sands began to desert the factories, fleeing to rural districts. Even the " shock plants" in H2 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM which food rations were somewhat better than in ordinary enterprises, began to experience an acute shortage of workmen. Labor desertion assumed colossal proportions, especially in the northern and central industrial districts. The pressure brought by the Central Soviet upon the Trade Unions in order to arrest further reduction in the number of industrial workers failed to bring about the desired effect. Futile were also the efforts to increase production by lengthening the labor-day and staging the ri- diculous "Communist Sabbaths."* The notori- ous " eight-hour day" was given up. A Soviet radio dating back to February, 1920, stated: "The toiling masses must understand that it is necessary" to abandon the idea of an eight- hour day in this time of disorganization and hard work. They must work ten and twelve hours a day and realize that they are working for a brighter future." But babbling about "a brighter future" did not help. No one in Russia places any credence in Communist promises. It was then that Trotzky came out with his nefarious project for the "Red Labor Army." In short, it called for a census of the popula- * In order to increase production, Trotzky began to advocate the institution of the so-called "Communist Sabbaths," which means that the members of the Communist Party were urged to voluntarily work on Saturdays and holidays- Much boasting has been on foot about the wonderful spirit which the Communist partisans mani- fested toward the needs of the ' ' Workers ' and Peasants ' State, ' ' but the actual results of the ' ' Communist Sabbaths ' » are negligible. THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 113 lion fitted for work and coincided with military conscription. The local Commissars of the War Department were instructed to act as agents for labor mobilization. At the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets of National Economy, Lenin, on this point, quite in accord with Trotzky's bestial psychol- ogy, tried to justify slavery by stating: "I should like only to point out that during the transition period from civil warfare to new problems, we should throw everything on the front of labor, and concentrate here all forces for a maximum effort, with a merciless determina- tion. Just now we shall not permit any evasion. Throwing out this slogan, we shall justify that we must to the utmost bend all the vital forces of workmen and peasants to this task and demand that they give us all their help. And that, by creating a labor army, by straining all the forces of workmen and peasants, we shall be carrying out our basic task. We shall be able to collect hun- dreds of millions of poods of grain. We have them. But incredible, diabolical efforts are re- quired "* In further elucidation of this program, the Moscow authorities on March 11, 1920, sent out the following radio: "The utilization of military units for labor has both a practical (economic and social) and educational significance. The conditions under which the utilization of labor on a large scale * See Isvestia, issue of January 29, 1920. Translated from the Kussian. 114 THE BAUANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM would be commendable are as follows : Work of a simple nature which can be performed by any Red Army soldier, adoption of a system of stating a clearly defined task, which when not accomplished leads to tJie reduction of the food ration, adop- tion of the premium system, the employment of a great number of Communists in the same work- ing district so that they may set Red Army units a good example (?). The employment of large military units unavoidably leads to a great per- centage of Red Army soldiers unemployed direct- ly in productive labor. For this reason the util- ization of all labor armies, retaining the army system and organization, may only be justified from the point of view of keeping the army in- tact for military purposes." One of the well-known Communists, Khodo- rovsky, in the Moscow Pravda, advocated the militarization of trade unions so that they could be used as agencies for enforcing decrees on militarization of labor. To cite only one in- stance of the general attitude of the workers toward labor conscription, an article published in the Bolshevist Bed Gazette may be referred to. A Communist reporter gives these com- ments on interviews with mobilized workers in Petrograd : "Not all of them speak the truth. Some one spread the rumor that all unskilled laborers would be permitted to return to their villages for agri- cultural work, while the skilled were done for. . . . When asked why they did not report for the first draft, they seemed to hesitate. They in- THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 115 vented all sorts of excuses: one would not have finished building a house; another would plead some family cause. In one way or another it was obvious that had it not been for mobilization, the Petrograd factories would never have even got a glimpse of them."* The Russian workers tried to defend them- selves as well as they could. In many factories when electing Workers ' Shop Committees, they voted down all the Communist candidates. Sometimes they consciously elected anarchists because they knew that these were opposed to everything, no matter what it was. In one of the issues of the Economicheskaya Jisn an incident referring to the elections, at the rail- way shops near Moscow is described: "The workers" — thus runs the account — "were simply frightened at the introduction of compulsory labor and of the threats of labor discipline. The only anarchist in the work shop (whose head is a perfect jumble of ideas and catch-words) explained to his fellow-workers that this is nothing more than the reinstitution of serf- dom. The result was that this anarchist 'with his jumble of ideas' was elected to the Soviet. He will make short work of them,' they said."f But the bitter resentment of the poor Rus- sian proletarians to Bolshevist inquisitionary methods did not modify them in the slightest degree. On the contrary, Trotzky, reiterating *See Krasnaya Gazeta (The Bed Gazette), No. 240, October, 1920. f Quoted in The Biissian Economist. Vol. I., p. 595. n6 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM Karl Marx's stipulation (Communist Mani- festo) went so far as to urge militarization of all agricultural processes, which, if put into effect, would have placed 100,000,000 Russian peasants under the yoke of Red Army Com- missars. On this subject Trotzky came out with a startling explanation: "At present the militarization of labor is all the more needed because we have now come to the mobilization of the peasants as a means of solving the problems requiring mass action. We are mobilizing the peasants and organizing them into labor detachments which very much resemble military detachments. . . . We have in the im- portant branches of our industry more than 1,000,000 workmen on the list; in reality, how- ever, not more than 800,000 are actually en- gaged in work. Now, where are the remainder? They have gone to the villages or other divisions of industry or into speculation. Among the sol- diers this is called desertion in one form or an- other. The methods used to compel soldiers to perform their duty must also be applied in the field of labor. Under the unified system of econ- omy, the masses of workmen shmdd be moved about, ordered and sent from place to place in exactly the same manner as soldiers. This is the foundation of the militarization of labor and without this we shall be unable to speak seriously of any organization of industry on a new basis under the conditions of starvation and disorgan- ization existing to-day."* * Moscow Izvestia, March 21, 1920. Further details on labor con- scription and mobilization of labor may be found in Chapter 8 of Trotzky 'a Book The Defence of Terrorism, London, 1921. THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 117 Such are — to use Lenin's own expression — the "diabolical methods" which have been in- troduced by the Soviet rulers, ostensibly for the purpose of solving the industrial crisis; in reality, however, to enslave the whole nation, tor- turing it in the All-Russian Cheka, in filthy Soviet prisons, and in miserable Red Guard armories. Under the pretext of establishing a dictatorship of the proletariat, the Communists have imposed a horrid dictatorship over the proletariat. Indeed, hell they have attained. But the industrial crisis in all its magnitude continues to be the nightmare of Russian life. It is hardly necessary to go into further de- tails describing the extent and the various phases of the Russian industrial catastrophe. Incidentally it may be noted that all Soviet measures, culminating in the restoration of slavery and militarization of labor, have failed to relieve the tragic situation. Production con- tinues to decrease in ever-growing proportions. Here are a few additional figures bringing the analysis up to date: SOUTH RUSSIAN INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS December, 1921, coal output 7,500,000 poods January, 1922, coal output 4,600,000 December, 1921, cast iron smelted 491,000 January, 1922, cast iron smelted 347,000 December, 1921, smelted in furnaces 896,000 January, 1922, smelted in furnaces 724,000 "* * See Economicheskaya Jisn, No. 82, April 12, 1922. it tt n8 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM As compared with December, 1921, in Janu- ary, 1922, the rolling mills reduced their opera- tions by 52 per cent. In February, 1922, there was a further reduction of 18 per cent. The most significant decrease, however, was regis- tered in smelting cast iron ; of the two furnaces in the South Russian District, the famous Uzov- sky furnace was extinguished, with the result that in February, 1922, only 8,000 poods of cast iron were smelted.* Similar disintegration is observed in textile industries. Here, too, the production of manu- factured goods infallibly grows less: November, 1921 1,518,000 arshinest December, 1921 2,179,000 " January, 1922 1,402,000 " February, 1922 1,000,000 " Everywhere the picture of decay and despair is the same. As a general remark it must be said that wholesale destruction of Russian industries is in no way a casual phenomenon. It is the logi- cal outcome of the nonsensical and brutal poli- cies which have been pursued by the Commun- ists during the entire period of their incredible misrule. • See EccmomichesTcaya Jisn, No. 82, April 12, 1922. t One arshine is equal to 2.3 feet. See EconomichesTcaya Jisn, No. 82, April 12, 1922. THE RUIN OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES 119 Marxism, fallacious as it is in theory, when applied to practice produces dismal conditions. Chaos, Misery and Death are the three monsters — the three symbols of Bolshevism. Shall civilized mankind bow down before these monsters? CHAPTER IV TRADE AND FINANCE TV/TODERN economic life is a complex mech- ■*■"*■ anism, the integral parts of which, such as agriculture, industry, trade and finance, are so closely inter-related that the functioning of one branch is conditional upon the normal and uninterrupted operation of the others. With chaos reigning in Russia's agriculture, and dis- integration prevailing in her industries, it was natural that both trade and finance could not remain on a sound footing. In the preceding brief sketch of the national- ization program the fact was emphasized that trade, in the same way as industry, was placed under Soviet control. Foreign and internal commercial intercourse were monopolized by the Communist State, and no private trade transactions could be carried on no matter whether they were confined to Russia proper or extended to foreign countries. By the end of 1920 tlie nationalization cycle was completed. Distribution of commodities, and trade exchange at large, were entrusted to bureaucratic institutions, while even petty trade was declared a crime against the Soviet Republic and labeled as "speculation." It was due to this policy and not to the "blockade" 120 TRADE AND FINANCE 121 that trade relations between Soviet Eussia and foreign countries have almost ceased. Nothing was exported from Eussia since there was noth- ing to export. The table below shows the rapid decline in shipments to foreign countries : RUSSIAN EXPORTS 1913 23,017,500 tons 1918 29,490 " 1919 20,210 " 1920 10,900 " 1921 209,080 "* In 1921 the Soviets began to modify their trade policies, and commercial relations in sev- eral lines were freed from Soviet tutelage. This explains the puzzling increase of exports in that year. But the improvement did not last long. In January, 1922, the total amount of exports did not exceed 16,600 tons and in February it was again reduced to only 13,300 tons. The stoppage of exports produced a recipro- cal condition regarding imports. According to a report of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Trade, in 1921 the imports were only 916,666 tons, including charity shipments of the American Eelief Administration and kindred organizations. The value of these goods was approximately 248,557,000 gold rubles at pre- * Economicheskaya Jisn, issue of March 7, 1922. 122 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM war prices. In 1910 Russia's foreign trade balance showed the following: Imports 1,084,446,000 gold rubles Exports 1,449,085,900 gold rubles Comparing these figures with the turnover in foreign trade for 1921, we see that it consti- tuted about 10 per cent, of that in 1910, while with regard to weight is was only 2.8 per cent.* The increase in imports from western coun- tries, mainly from England, took place during the first part of 1920, reaching the peak (10,- 000,000 poods) in the month of September. But beginning with October, foreign consign- ments again began to fall off: October, 1921, 7,800,000 poods November, 1921, 6,500,000 December, 1921, 5,200,000 January, 1922, 4,439,000 >» In February, 1922, the volume of imports showed a somewhat livelier tendency owing to larger quantities of food shipped by the Ameri- can Relief Administration. * The total value of goods exported from Soviet Russia in 1921 did not exceed 20,000,000 gold rubles. Compare these figures with data furnished by the Economicheslcaya Jisn, issues February 16th and 18th, and March 18th and 21st, and the Weekly Bulletin of the Supreme Monarchical Council, No. 39, May 1, 1922. Published in Berlin in Russian. TRADE AND FINANCE 123 The significance of these statistics will be made quite clear if it is considered that even in former times Russian economic life had to rely upon commodities imported from abroad. The following table indicates the percentage of imports in proportion to domestic production in pre-war times : Agricultural machinery: (a) Not equipped with steam engines 42 % (h) Complex machinery 72 % (c) Scythes • 1 78 % Coal 25 % Mathematical and astronomical instruments 70 % Medical instruments •.....■ 75 % Electrical instruments 80 % Zinc 65 % Lead , 98 % Cotton-wool 47 % •SUlk , 90 % Nationalization measures, having brought to a standstill Russia's commercial intercourse, with foreign nations had an equally deleterious effect upon the distribution of commodities within the country itself. The Soviets had private stores closed and their merchandise seized by the State. Traditional Russian cus- toms of bartering, such as fairs and bazaars, were prohibited and the exchange of goods was put under the supervision of State officials. * See A. Kaketoff, Op. Cit. p. 70. 124 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM Nominally every citizen of the Soviet Repub- lic had the right to purchase from Soviet stores everything needed for the daily upkeep of his household. It was the prerogative of the State to regulate prices. On the other hand, it was also its duty to supply the different regions with various kinds of goods in sufficient quan- tities. Such was the theory. The practice was entirely different. When the trade mechanism fell into the hands of the State, it was found that the bureau- cratic organization set up by the Soviets was unequal to coping with the task of furnishing the people with the necessary commodities. Un- derproduction, combined with the elimination of imports from abroad, caused an acute shortage of merchandise of every description. The stocks of private merchants which had been confiscated were either sold out or appropriated by Soviet functionaries themselves. No wonder prices of food, fuel and other daily necessities became prohibitive. But even in a Soviet State, and under a Marxian regime, people have to live somehow or other. The mere fact that the Bolsheviki dispensed with private trade could not and did not bar commercial inter- course among private citizens. However, the effect of the Communist program has been two- fold: First, hundreds of thousands of citizens, including the Commissars, have gone into specu- lation, making regular trips to rural districts TRADE AND FINANCE 125 to procure food, linen, and other necessities, which were thereafter resold in the cities at extortionate prices. The Bolsheviki have thus created a new caste of society — the speculators — who, like social parasites, are looting and snatching whatever there is left in the posses- sion of private individuals. Second, the colos- sal wealth which through centuries had accumu- lated in the cities has been gradually smuggled out to rural districts. The reason for this was that in the cities the greatest need was food. Food was available only in the villages. Soviet rubles meant nothing to the peasants. They flatly refused to exchange their products for rubbish currency. But they did sell them for such things as they either needed in their households, or wanted to keep as objects of luxury. In view of this situation, the urban residents were compelled to give up their all, from matches, hammers and nails, to paintings by Raphael, rare musical instruments, priceless libraries, and most precious gems. Like conspirators, the poor Soviet citizens secretly crept to the " thief markets" where they met the speculators. It was there that the bulk of the " business" was carried on. It was there, and not in Soviet stores, that people procured their daily bread. Communist spies and agents of the Cheka, sneaking around these markets, took part in swindling, stealing and smuggling. Meanwhile the things belonging to 126 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM urban residents grew scarcer every day. Many have already sold everything they had and now there is nothing more to sell. Theft is the only solution, the only means of making a live- lihood, and they become thieves in order to save themselves and their families from hunger and death. One of the most pitiful features of the trad- ing practice in Soviet Russia is the large num- ber of children at present engaged in specula- tive activities. Boys and girls between the ages of eight and twelve are flocking around bazaars and railroad stations, waiting for a chance to steal a loaf of bread or a bundle of vegetables. Then they go to a starving " bour- geois" and he pays for the stolen morsels with his last ring or overcoat. The Moscow Izvestia, issue No. 254, for 1920, stated that between the months of February and November of that year 7,000 children en- gaged in speculation and swindling were brought before the Moscow Commission in charge of minor criminals. These children, left to their own care, lead a vagabond life. All of them are morally degenerate. Easy money is all they are after. Venereal diseases are rampant among them. What drags these little ones to the depths of the social inferno ? Sometimes it is the unselfish desire to help their destitute parents who are starving on the Soviet ration; in other instances it is their TRADE AND FINANCE 127 greed, or the sordid instincts of their elder relatives who seek to make a fortune by em- ploying children to do the actual stealing. The ranks of this infantile army of speculators com- prise many who have managed to escape from Soviet asylums and hospitals. The socialistic methods of distribution pro- duced a peculiar type of speculators known in Russia as "hag-carriers" (meshechniki) , mean- ing those who carry in their bags food and other things for sale. In Petrograd and in Moscow these traders are almost unionized, forming numerous detachments, with foremen, treasurers and collectors of their own. Bag- carriers journey to remote rural districts where they "collect their crops." They return to the cities in railroad cars, often occupying places on the platforms and roofs. As a general rule, they are in collusion with Soviet officials who get the lion's share. One of such specu- lators tells the following story of his experi- ence in the smuggling business. "I made trips to Ukrainia where I paid 400 rubles for one pood of potatoes. In Petrograd I charged 500 rubles for one pound* and in addi- tion I insisted upon douma rubles.] I was aware that the buyer was giving up his last clothes in order to purchase my potatoes or my pound of flour. But what could I do? — I was employed * 1 Russian pood is equal to 40 pounds. t Eubles issued by the Provisional Government. They are valued higher than Soviet rubles. 128 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM in the Truck Transportation Department as as- sistant chauffeur. I was fed very poorly. I did not want to go to the Commissar and beg favors from him. Besides I had a grandmother to sup- port. She had nothing to eat. In the meantime I began to bloat from hunger. So I made up my mind to desert the Truck Department. I got up a gang, and once a month we would go to Ukrainia. Really it made no difference in what way we died, whether by starving to death or being mur- dered. In Ukrainia we would buy or exchange for calico, matches and soap, various products and take them back to Petrograd. Now, if one carries these goods as a bag-carrier in a pas- senger car, there is always a chance that he may be caught and his goods confiscated. Therefore, we usually made an agreement with the Train Commissar. We would pay him 20,000 rubles and he would take us, along with our bags, into a freight car. Then this car would be sealed up and from Bakhmach to Petrograd we would be carried with- out being disturbed. There were several such freight cars in one train. The oar records are kept by the Commissar and no one among the superiors ever checked us up. A single trip gave me a monthly return of thousands of rubles, and in addition I had food for myself and my grandmother. On railroad stations speculators of our type outnumbered the general public. Of course everyone of us had an official pass executed in Petrograd by the various Soviets. What did they care? For 100 or 200 rubles they will al- ways affix a seal. Railroad officials are well aware of this procedure, but they keep quiet as all of them receive their 'ration.' They charge just as much as they like because our lives are in their TRADE AND FINANCE 129 hands. Now and then, in order to 'raise the ex- change' they execute someone among the less ex- perienced. The result is: If a Soviet in charge of food supplies (Prodkom) intends to ship bread to Petrograd, no cars are found available, where- as with us it is different. Three of us are permitted to occupy an empty car which is allowed to run to the place of destination without being un- coupled. ' '* True seems the new proverb originated by the Russians: "He who does not speculate shall not eat/' From a sanitary point of view, the bag-car- rying trade turned out to be a misfortune. Owing to the scarcity of bags and the difficulty of laundering them — for practically no soap is to be had — food is being dragged all over Russia in filthy bags which are infested with vermin. This indisputably is one of the con- tributing causes of epidemics and the terrible spread of infectious diseases. Of course, this kind of commercial inter- course could not solve the distribution problem. The ill-feeling harbored against trade restric- tions grew so intense that finally revolts broke out all over the country, culminating in the Kronstadt uprising. Urban workers assidu- ously protested against the idiotic Soviet pol- icy relating to internal trade. The mass of the population was steadfastly opposed to the Cheka * See Professor Shcherbina 's ' ' Laws of Evolution and Bolshe- vism," pp. 78, 79. Belgrade, 1921. Translated from the Eussian. i 3 o THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM prosecution of petty traders. Even the specu- lators enjoyed the sympathy of the majority of the people because everybody knew that without speculation and bag-carrying, no food could be obtained in the cities. Therefore, among the essential points raised by the Kron- stadt rebels was the demand for the abolition of all trade restrictions and the reinstitution of free trade. It was reported that Apfelbaum (Zinoviev), Chairman of the Executive Com- mittee of the Third Internationale ("Komi- tern") and the Red Dictator of Petrograd, was one of the most ardent opponents of this move- ment. But ultimately the Bolsheviki were com- pelled to submit to the unanimous pressure of the people. Beginning with 1921, step by step, conces- sions on the trade issue have been made by Soviet authorities. In the first place, petty trade was nominally freed. Small shops were reopened in many places, and retailers given the right to sell certain categories of goods. On the other hand, simultaneously with the adoption of Lenin's project known as the "Prodnalog,"* the peasants were permitted to trade in their "surplus" grain and this unfor- tunately was bitter irony. In addition, there is a tendency at present to facilitate the pro- cedure required for the opening of commercial concerns. * See Chapter II. TRADE AND FINANCE 131 Nevertheless, general trade conditions in Soviet Russia remain intolerable. The All- Russian Cheka still clings to its aggressive policy towards private commerce, while the Local Soviets deliberately disregard the decrees ordering reinstitution of free trade. In one of the issues of the Economicheshaya Jisn is published an interview with Jacob Hal- perstein, a Communist in charge of a Soviet department store at Moscow. He stated: "We must strive to organize State retail trade, at the same time encouraging individual retail merchants. State stores alone cannot satisfy the requirements even of Moscow, not to speak about the provincial districts It is to be re- gretted, however, that the common view is dif- ferent: Private trade both wholesale and retail is considered a grave sin."* Another Communist, by the name of Eismona, recently admitted that: "Due to the guilt of the local organizations which have been destroying private petty trade in every possible way, and burdening it with unbear- able taxes, it still remains to a large extent, a 'shyster* profession. "f But Moscow Soviet authorities are hardly any better than their provincial colleagues. Professor Terne gives the following account of * See EconvmicJieslcaya Jisn, No. 92, issue of April 27, 1922. flbid, see article, "The Struggle Against the Industrial Crisis." i 3 2 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM the procedure for obtaining a license to open a store: "First of all, the Soviets require that a person desiring to open a trade concern shall produce a certificate from the so-called 'Kvartkhoz' (The Soviet in charge of economic activities in a given block), to the effect that premises therefor are available. This, of course, means that the partic- ular Commissar has to be bribed. After having received such a certificate, the prospective mer- chant must procure another permit to actually oc- cupy the space allotted to him, which, in turn, necessitates another and higher bribe. The next step consists of filling out an application giving exhaustive answers as to the nature of trade, the profession of the applicant prior to the revolution, his attitude toward the Soviet Government, etc. At the prevailing bribing rates, the approval of such an application costs anywhere from 2,000, 000 to 3,000,000 rubles. In addition, there is always a danger that the information thus fur- nished in the application might serve the Cheka, with the result that the daring merchant would finally land in a Soviet prison."* Such was the condition early in 1922. The reinstitution of free trade has become all the more difficult as practically all suitable buildings are requisitioned by the Soviets and used for official purposes. At the same time, space for temporary wooden sheds in open mar- kets is being auctioned off at prohibitive prices. ♦See Prof. A. Terne's In the Realm of Lenin, pp. 256, 257. Berlin, 1922. Published in Russian. TRADE AND FINANCE 133 For instance, in May, 1922, the renting of such space for one year was 46,000,000 rubles.* Furthermore, the decree of July 26, 1921, established a special trade tax levied by the State. The new law divides trading into three classes. The price of a six months' license for the first class is 60,000 rubles; the second, 180,000 rubles; and the third, 600,000 rubles. It is evident that only the privileged class — that is, the Communists, ex-convicts and Soviet officials— can afford to pay such prices and taxes. In view of these conditions, it is not surpris- ing that the prices of commodities have reached a fabulous level. In December, 1918, after twelve months of Communist practice, food was sold in Moscow at these rates: Potatoes 10 rubles per lb. Salt Fish 9 to 10 Bread (in open markets) 18 to 20 Pork 50 Beef 23 Sugar 80 Tea 100 Butter 80 A suit of clothes could be bought for 800 to 900 rubles, and a pair of shoes for 400 rubles.f * See Eussian paper The Last News, issue of May 5, 1922. Pub- lished in Eeval. fSee A Collection of Reports on Bolshevism in Russia, presented to Parliament by command of His Majesty, April, 1919, p. 67. 134 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM These prices were justly considered exorbi- tant at that time. After four and one-half years of Soviet mismanagement, in April, 1922, the market prices were fixed by the Soviets as follows : April 1, 1922 April 14, 1922 Rubles per Rubles per Barley 4,400,000 pood 6,000,000 pood Millet 5,200,000 pood 6,000,000 pood Fish (large cans) . . . 500,000 can 800,000 can Fish (medium cans) 250,000 can 400,000 can Fish (small cans) . . 140,000 can 220,000 can Raisins 10,000,000 pood 14,000,000 pood Refined sugar 16,000,000 pood 17,000,000 pood Raw sugar 9,000,000 pood 10,500,000 pood Honey 10,000,000 pood 16,000,000 pood Preserves 175,000 lb. 250,000 lb. Caramel sugar 275,000 lb. 440,000 lb. Salt 1,400,000 pood 1,600,000 pood Vinegar 3,000,000 pood 3,300,000 pood Soap (good quality) 8,000,000 pood 10,000,000 pood Soap (poor quality) 5,000,000 pood 7,000,000 pood Toilet soap 175,000 cake 225,000 cake Matches 4,000 box 4,500 box Swedish matches . . 4,500 box 5,500 box Tea 1,200,000 lb. 1,500,000 lb. Coffee 140,000 lb. 200,000 lb.* The price folly reigns not only in Petrograd and Moscow but throughout all Russia. Accord- ing to Soviet data, in the city of Rostov-on- * See EconomichesTcaya Jisn, No. 89, issue of April 23, 1922. TRADE AND FINANCE 13S the-Don, the cost of a monthly ration, at 3,600 calories per day, on March 1, 1922, was 10,265,- 000 rubles, whereas on March 15, 1922, it had risen to 16,500,000 rubles, or in two weeks the prices had advanced 60 per cent.* Commenting upon market conditions in Mos- cow, the Economiclieskaya Jisn (No. 91, April 26, 1922) stated: "Prices of all products without exception have advanced considerably. The proportion of in- crease with regard to several products was 40 per cent, (butter), 55 per cent, (buckwheat flour and cabbages), and even 91 per cent. (beef). Calcu- lating the cost of the monthly food ratio at 3,600 calories, which by April 23rd reached the level of 30,269,000 rubles, we notice, as compared with April 15th, when it was only 21,107,000 rubles, an increase of 43 per cent., while for the whole month the advance is 94 per cent. Comparing the prices for the month of October, 1921, when the ratio was 529,000 rubles, we see an incre- ment of more than 57 times." The present trade muddle in Soviet Russia comes as a consequence of the general economic collapse. The fact that the Communist authori- ties were forced to make minor concessions to the Russian people on the question of coramer cial intercourse did not bring the expected re j lief. Sovietism is so insane in its foundations, so corrupt in its workings, that secondary im- * See Economicheskaya Jisn, No. 82, issue of April 12, 1922. 136 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM provements and insignificant changes cannot restore the country to normal conditions. There was a time when liberals, lamenting over Russia's economic plight, argued that it was caused by the Allied blockade and the ego- tistic attitude of capitalism towards the re- sumption of trade relations with the Soviets. Mass meetings were held, radical organizations formed, and newspaper campaigns engineered with the exclusive aim of inducing the western world to start trade with the Soviets. This agitation assumed a virulent form especially in Anglo-Saxon countries. In England where the Labor Party is thoroughly Sovietized, and where Lloyd George manifests a sort of natural proclivity toward the oppressors of the Rus- sian people, a trade agreement with Soviet Rus- sia was signed on March 16, 1921. Bolshevik sympathizers on the Thames antici- pated that the resumption of trade with the Bolsheviki was rather a measure of political self-defense than a constructive economic pol- icy. The gentlemen of Downing Street, short- sighted as they may have been, placed but little faith in Krassin's assurance that Russia pre- sented " wonderful opportunities" for the Eng- lish merchant. The underlying motive for deal- ing with the Soviets was and still remains England's dread of Communist propaganda in British Asiatic Dominions. The Bolsheviki agreed all the more readily to the clause to TRADE AND FINANCE 137 refrain from propaganda as they knew that they would never fulfill their promise. In the fall of 1921 Lord Curzon openly ad- mitted before Parliament that, from a politi- cal standpoint, the Anglo-Saxon Treaty has been shamelessly broken by the Bolsheviki, while in the way of economic advantage, Eng- lish merchants and manufacturers have gained very little. The same applies to other countries which were moved either by greed or political con- siderations to sign commercial treaties with the Moscow Communists. These " scraps of paper" have proved of no help to Russia or to western countries. Some light was shed on the whole problem of trade with Soviet Russia when Mr. Finkel- stein (Litvinoff) advised the members of the Credits Sub-commission of The Hague Con- ference that: "There should he no question of confidence by shippers in the Russian Government, because the shippers should not look to Moscow for the money, but to their own governments."* This certainly must have come as a great disappointment to the political flappers of both continents. All's well that ends tvell! Now, at least, the world knows what the Bolsheviki * See The New York Times, June 28, 1922. article entitled rr Kus- eians at Hague Held to Business.' ' 138 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM mean when they refer to Soviet Russia as the land of " commercial opportunities." Soviet sympathizers have also tried to make it appear that the resumption of trade with the Marxian State would overnight cure the un- employment situation. They knew that what they were telling was nonsense, for Russia had nothing to trade with and any orders placed by the Soviets with western manufacturers would inevitably be fake orders.* "LABOB LEADS IN SENATE FOB SOVIET TBADE. Spokesmen of 3,000,000 Toilers Demand Kussia of Workers Have Same Privilege as Russia of Czars. Besumption of Com- merce Necessary to Believe Unemployment, Leaders say." And still these idealistic creatures agitated, babbled, lobbied and otherwise labored to the utmost of their limited ability to force their respective governments into shameful deals with the usurpers in the Kremlin. It was hoped that this would bring about the first step toward the recognition of the Soviet regime. Much in the same way the notorious Soviet campaign for " concessions" had but a remote connection with trade policies and financial openings. People with common sense did not fail to understand that Washington D. Van- derlip would never receive Kamchatka as a Christmas gift from " comrade' ' Trotzky. Nor * Compare this with the headlines in the New York Call, the official organ of the American Socialist Party, in its issue of January 27, 1921: TRADE AND FINANCE 139 was it difficult to grasp that promises made by Lenin to "Bill Haywood" and his I. W. W. pals to give up the Kouznetzk mines were merely a political move designed to place the "American" beneficiaries under the control of the Third Internationale. Nevertheless, parlor agitation in favor of such and similar "con- cessions" is in full swing. At this point it may be well to recall the statements made by Communist leaders regarding the matter. Milutin, who is among the "foremost" Bol- shevist economists, addressing the Petrograd Soviet in December, 1920, declared: "We have seized the means of production from our own bourgeoisie. At present we are de- termined to seize the means of productions from the foreign bourgeoisie. Because, however, we are unable to nationalize the plants of Vanderlip and Krupp, we must give them concessions and thus take possession of the technique of their; means of production."* Significant is also Lenin's statement made before the Moscow District Conference of the Communist Party on November 23, 1920: "The differences between our enemies have re- cently increased, particularly in connection with the proposed concessions to be granted to a group of American capitalist sharks, headed by a multi- millionaire, who reckons upon grouping around •Quoted from Bulletin No. 1 of the Kussian National Society, issue of February 3, 1921, p. 4, New York City. 1 4 o THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM himself a number of other multi-millionaires. Now, all the communications coming from the Far East bear testimony to the fact that there is dis- satisfaction in Japan regarding this agreement, although the latter has not been signed yet, and is so far only a draft. Nevertheless, Japanese public opinion has been brought to the boiling-point and I have read to-day a communication to the effect that Japan accuses Soviet Russia of planning to embroil Japan with America. We have rightly estimated this imperialist rivalry and we have made up our minds as to the necessity of sys- tematically utilizing this rivalry in order to make their fight against us difficult. " Lenin further explained: "There can be no better proof of the material and moral victory of our Soviet Republic over world capitalism than the fact that the powers which went to war against us on account of our ter- rorism and on account of our new order ( ? ) were compelled, in spite of their own wish, to enter into relations with us, knowing full well that they are thus strengthening us."* But then the reply of the parlor Bolshevik to this outspoken argument of Lenin's is classi- cally simple: "He really doesn't mean it: >> Finance It is next to impossible to speak seriously of the Soviet " financial system" for this is a case where there is no method in madness. * Quoted from The Workers' Challenge. See issue of January 16, 1921, p. 6. TRADE AND FINANCE 141 Imperial Russia bequeathed to Soviet Russia a gold fund amounting to 1,350,000,000 rubles. Communist activities as far as finances are concerned consisted mainly of two things: (a) the dissipation of the gold fund, and (b) un- restricted issuance of paper currency. In both tasks they have succeeded splendidly. After one year of Bolshevist management, the gold fund was reduced to 825,000,000 rubles. By 1919 it amounted to 410,000,000 rubles; by 1920, to 200,000,000 rubles, and by the end of 1921, to only 70,000,000 rubles. There is no way of determining the exact sum of gold left in Russia for no reliable statistics are avail- able. According to the American press, soon after the Genoa Conference, the Bolsheviki ad- mitted that their regime would collapse within six months unless large sums of cash were obtained.* The latest advices from Russia seem to in- dicate that out of the original Imperial fund there is practically no gold left, with the ex- ception of a certain minimum allotted for foreign propaganda. The infamous pillage of the Russian Church was undertaken by the Bolsheviki with the object of increasing their gold reserve and by no means for the purpose of relieving the * See cable from The Hague to The New York Times, issue of June 7, 1922, article entitled, "Bolsheviki Said to Admit Cash Alone Can Save Soviet." 142 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM starving population. This vandalism, accord- ing to The Journal of Commerce, yielded con- siderable booty, amounting to 314,000,000 gold rubles. The correspondent of the paper added : "These are absolutely the last reserves of the Soviet; nothing- else remains with which to make international payments."* This information was not quite correct, for a few days later news came from Petrograd that the Bolsheviki had desecrated the Imperial tombs in the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral. This abominable crime was committed for the purpose of appropriating the jewels which were placed in the sarcophaguses wherein the corpses of the late emperors repose. Russia's gold has been lavishly spent by the Communists for propaganda abroad. Immense sums were also appropriated by them and smug- gled over the border. The time has not yet come to tell a comprehensive story regarding the dissipation of Russian gold reserves. This much, however, can be asserted : Colossal graft has been freely practiced by the Marxian disciples, who, disguised in proletarian over- alls, have managed to make huge fortunes at the expense of the Russian people. Simultaneously with the scattering of the gold fund came the issuance of paper currency * See Journal of Commerce, May 16, 1922. TRADE AND FINANCE 143 in ever-growing quantities. Paper circulation in Eussia increased as follows: January 1, 1917 9,103,000,000 October 23,1917 18,927,000,000 January 1, 1918 25,200,000,000 January 1, 1919 55,000,000,000 January 1, 1920 194,000,000,000 June 1, 1920 455,000,000,000 November 1, 1920 855,000,000,000 January 1, 1921 1,168,000,000,000* The precise quantity of rubbish rubles can- not be calculated. At the time of The Hague Conference, however, some light at least was thrown upon the general chaos prevailing in Soviet treasury matters. The fact, for instance, was made known that for the first four months of 1922 the expenses of the Soviet Republic reached 130,000,000,000,000 paper rubles and 104,000,000,000,000 of new paper was issued. Two hundred and fifty thousand billion new pa- per rubles have been printed during the first six months of 1922. Analyzing these figures, Ed- win L. James, New York Times Special Cor- respondent at The Hague, remarked: "The best comment on the Russian budget is that while the covering letter makes a general claim that only 20 per cent, of the expenses have been met by paper money issue, the actual figures they themselves give, show that the expenditures •Eaketoff, Op. Cit., p. 67. i 4 4 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM in June this year were 130,000,000,000,000 rubles paper with a money issue of 85,000,000,000,000. This represents 53 per cent. The Russian claim of 20 per cent, must be a lie or else the Treasury De- partment shows a default of some 40,000,000,000,- 000 rubles for one month."* As a matter of guesswork, it was estimated that on July 1, 1922, there were approximately 280,000,000,000,000 paper rubles in circulation. In these circumstances, it is idle to speak about a " budget system," or a State balance, as far as Soviet Eussia is concerned. All figures appearing on Soviet balance sheets are quite fictitious since the actual ex- penditures are much larger and the revenues much smaller than originally estimated in the budgets. Attempts to analyze these annual and semi-annual statements are futile for the disbursements, according to the allocations to the various Commissariats, if added up, do not coincide with the grand total. Thus, for the year 1920, the specific allocations give a total of 504,500,000,000 rubles, which, however, is only 48 per cent, of the total disbursements. The question, of course, arises: What has be- come of the remaining 52 per cent ?f Referring to the revenues, it must be borne in mind that such consist almost exclusively * See article ' ' Soviet Budget Staggers Experts, ' ' New York Times, July 5, 1922. f See Economicheskaya Jisn, September 21, 1920. TRADE AND FINANCE 145 of new paper issues. The Soviet printing office is probably the only Soviet factory the output of which has increased tremendously. Things have gone so far that a special Soviet Commission was appointed in 1920 to devise a plan for the acceleration of the output of paper money. Owing to the perturbed conditions of Com- munist finances, Soviet rubles have lost all value on the international exchange. On April 22, 1922, the "Gosbank" (State Bank) fixed the following rates for foreign currency: 1 pound sterling. 4,100,000 rubles (April 21, 3,300,000) 1 American dollar 900,000 " «< 1 < 708,000) 1 Canadian dollar 850,000 " n << 700,000) I French franc . . . 85,000 " it a 60,000) 1 Swedish krona. 245,000 " tt ti 190,000) 1 German mark. . 4,000 " it << *3,000) Low as these quotations are, they do not nearly represent the actual devaluation of Soviet rubles. According to The New York Times of June 13, 1922, 3,300,000 Soviet rubles could then be bought for $1.00. The bankruptcy of the Communist regime has become so obvious that Soviet officials them- selves have admitted it on many occasions. As the last resort to save the situation, they have adopted a new system of swindling the people by marking 100,000,000 ruble bills as " 10,000 •See EconomicTiesTcaya Jisn, No. 89, April 23, 1922. 146 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM rubles." In this way they hope to fool the public, eventually forcing a deflation. Here is what Mr. Walter Duranty relates about this affair: "The authorities hope that when the latter (high denomination bills) are retired the new figures will be adopted as written, which will have the effect of reducing the internal debt 10,000- fold. This is deflation with a vengeance, as if the value of the dollar were suddenly fixed at one- tenth of a mill. Yet such deflation will quite probably be accomplished as the result of the ex- traordinary 'bread loan' which the Soviet Gov- ernment is now floating. As the price of a pood of flour is now around 5,750,000 rubles, the propo- sition might seem to be most advantageous to the public. In reality the whole affair is a gigantic gamble in futures; for if the harvest is good, as is now hoped, the price of flour in December will probably be less than 3,000,000 rubles. In that case the result will be that the Government will kill two birds with one stone — retire the old high- denomination paper and reduce inflation directly to the benefit of its currency."* What Mr. Duranty chooses to call "a gi- gantic gamble" should properly be described as a gigantic swindle. Spectacles of wisdom are not needed to see how completely Marxian disciples have wrecked a great and wealthy country. At pres- *See article "Unique Soviet Plan to Force Deflation," The New York Times, June 13, 1922. TRADE AND FINANCE 147 ent it is only the incurable imbecile of tbe sentimental type who is still hoping for better days to come. In his phraseology, however, there always is a little "but" to be added — namely, his pious desire that the Soviets be given a further chance. This means perhaps that the entire world should yield its cash to "comrade" Lenin, thus making his task "more comfortable and easy." Paraphrasing Heine's remark about the Ger- mans, it may be said to these "Friends of Soviet Russia": K 'People have the right to be stupid, but you, gentlemen, abuse this right." CHAPTER V RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL TN no land have revolutions ever been found * pleasant. Forcible destruction of civil order and political organizations inevitably leads to grave perturbances in the national organism. It is an error to imagine that peoples who have be- come infected with the revolutionary disease recover from it as easily as philosophers and politicians have written books which paved the way for social cataclysms in various countries. Smooth are the theories but rough the events that form the substance of revolutionary up- heavals. Cromwell's epoch in England and 1793 in France have many bloody episodes on their records. The fact that we, in our day, are viewing them from misty historical dis- tances and through the prism of all-pacifying Time, makes them no less abhorrent, for tears shed by mourning nations do leave ineradicable traces in their hearts. When human multi- tudes are dragged through furnaces of suffer- ing and grief, how is tragedy to be eluded I We may not exactly understand it, but we always have the right to presume that behind the veil of Space and Time things have happened that would have made us quiver had we wit- nessed them. 148 RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 149 And yet how insignificant and paltry the deeds of the Convention do appear compared with the boundless despair pervading Russia of the present. The great French Revolution seems like a mere rehearsal, a children's masquerade, in the face of the crushing catastrophe, under the debris of which the Northern Giant lies buried. Only those who have actually lived through the agony of the disaster, through all its mani- fold phases, the shameful wretchedness and vulgar misery of Communism, who, them- selves, have lost their homes, their Motherland, and all they held sacred in their lives, only they who, themselves, have undergone the tor- tures of the Cheka, the base humiliation of cruel serfdom — only they are capable of grasp- ing the full meaning, the hopeless aspect of an existence which is neither life nor death, but a slow process of dying. It is not the object of this volume to render exhaustive account of the intolerable condi- tions prevailing in every-day experience under the Soviet yoke. The most that can be at- tempted is a general sketch of the fundamental features characteristic of the present State. Nor is it possible to focus attention on any individual plight, no matter how deep our sympathy may be for this or that person sub- jected to torment and death. From time to time, civilized humanity is staggered by news 150 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM coming from the depths of that unfortunate country, and then, for a day or two, newspaper columns are filled with dreadful stories depict- ing the inhuman conduct of the Soviet tyrants. Thus it was when the shocking Ekaterinburg crime was revealed to the world, and the details learned about the detestable murder of the martyred Emperor Nicholas II and his whole family, including the young Czarevitch and the Grand Duchesses. The grim background of Russia's agony is Terror which penetrates all the pores and fibres of the nation, keeping it in a state of constant fear and depression. It is true that the first stage of red outrages has passed, when slaughter- ing was openly practiced in squares and market places, and when the corpses of victims were found lying around on street corners. At present, terror is no longer a public demonstra- tion of cynical criminals against the peaceful population. It has assumed an organized and " orderly' ' form. It is less obvious but just as ruthless as in those days of the past. While in 1918, during the bright spring days of Bol- shevism, Red Guard soldiers and drunken Kronstadt sailors, whom, incidentally, Kerensky called "the beauty and pride of the Russian revolution," on their own initiative, were plun- dering, raping and butchering the " liberated people" — now the terroristic procedure is regu- lated by hundreds of decrees and elaborate in- RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 151 structions of the All-Russian Cheka to its agents scattered throughout the country. At present Terror is a closely devised plan, a care- fully laid out system of murder combined with espionage and provocation. As Mrs. Snowden, the liberal British laborite, remarked when she got out of Soviet Russia: "The people are afraid of the police and spies, spies are afraid of one another. All dwell in an atmosphere of suspicion and the Red Terror is a dreadful reality."* What is the Cheka 1 Peters, one of the most sinister types of Bolshevik Jacobins gave the following definition of this slang word: 1 ' The All-Russian Cheka with its local branches must be the organ of the proletarian dictatorship, of the merciless dictatorship of one party.' 't "The Cheka is the sentinel of the revolution," says the Bolshevik paper The Red Sword. Paraphrasing Kerensky's remark about the drunken sailors, Apfelbaum (Zinoviev) de- clared : "The beauty and glory of our party are the Red Army and the Cheka." \ 'Mrs. Philip Snowden, Through Bolshevist Russia, p. 161. Castle & Company, Ltd., London, 1920. fSee the weekly of the Extraordinary Committee, No. 27, 1918. Translation from the Kussian. £ See an important volume entitled ' ' Cheka, ' ' published by the Central Bureau of the Social Revolutionary Party, p. 15, 1922. 1 52 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM In other words, the Cheka is the machine of oppression, a terrible weapon which the Communists wield to keep the Russians in obeisance. A Lettish Bolshevik, by the name of Latzis, who at one time was considered the guiding spirit of the Cheka, gave this instruc- tion to his subordinates: "We do not conduct war against individuals. We exterminate the bourgeoisie as a class. "When investigating, do not take the trouble to gather material and evidence to the effect that the de- fendant by word or deed opposed the Soviets. The first questions which you must propound to him are : To what class does 'he belong ? What is his birth ? How was he brought up ? What is his education, and to what profession does he belong ? These questions shall determine the fate of the de- fendant. Therein lies the meaning and the sub- stance of Red Terror."* But these Lettish Robespierres of the Com- munist State indeed are merely tame sheep in comparison with a Dzerjinsky who is the grand- master of the Cheka. An ex-convict of Polish descent, he rose to power which is even greater than that of Trotzky, because he justly enjoys the reputation of a man with a stony heart. In the whole range of human feelings, mercy is the one which he completely lacks. For him, Red Terror not only is "cold business, " •See the Bolshevist publication Bed Terror October 1, 1918. Translation from the Eussian. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 153 but to a greater extent perhaps, it is poesy in which he finds depraved delight. Like a real connoisseur, he relishes every manifestation of other peoples' suffering, every new form of inquisition. In inventing the most refined methods of torturing the victim, Dzerjin- sky's imagination has no limits. It is prob- ably only his companion, the Jewess Braude of the Moscow Cheka, who can compete with him in these fields. For a psychologist, it must be an instructive sight to watch Dzer- jinsky, with his pale face, with his thin nos- trils always trembling, with his drowsy gaze expressing mortal fatigue, and his constantly weeping eyes, while interrogating the panic- stricken defendant who knows that there is no hope for him who enters the gate of the All- Russian Cheka. Dzerjinsky is a clever actor. He has scrupulously learned all those catty little gestures, those shades of mimicry, some- times conveying the impression that he is ani- mated by condolence or overcome by emotion of sincere sympathy for the victim. There are moments when a mysterious flame may be ob- served in his usually dull eyes, a symptom which leaves no further doubt as to the out- come of the deadly game. The Cheka is located in one of the crowaed quarters of old Moscow. The Bolshaya Loubi- anka Street, where in former times the biggest insurance companies had their offices, has be- i 5 4 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM come a huge prison in which all sections of the Cheka are located. People go far out of their way to avoid passing these places full of horror. The immense building heretofore occupied by the insurance company "Russia" is now the headquarters of the All-Russian Cheka, and it is there that its "inner prison" has been established. At No. 13 on the Loubianka there is a club for Cheka employees who, by the order of Dzerjinsky, are being "educated in aes- thetics." Once a week the best Moscow artists are summoned to deliver lectures at the club, and entertain the distinguished audience with dramatic performances. In the evenings, when Moscow sinks into darkness owing to the lack of fuel, it is only on the Loubianka that electric lights twinkle, warn- ing the citizens that the Cheka is at work and that nothing can be concealed from it even under the mantle of night. Connected with the main building of the Cheka is an annex facing the backyard, where the "Death Ship"* is situated. To the right of the entrance there is a big room with a balustrade extending along the four walls. In the center there is an open space with a spiral stairway leading down to the cellar in which those condemned to die are kept. In one of the stone walls of the "hold" * The ' ' Death Ship " is a part of the Cheka prison where those sentenced to die are eonfiued. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 155 small cells are cut out. These are the so- called "Chambers of departing souls/' Therein the victims are left to live their last hours. Profound silence reigns there for no noise from the outside can reach the under- ground. Here every link with life is severed. In the evenings, after sunset, the death num- bers are called out from upstairs, and the cells, when vacated, are immediately re-occupied by those who are "next" on the Cheka execution list. A man, who by a miracle managed to escape from this sombre tomb, gives the follow- ing simple, yet heart-breaking story, which throws a ray of light in the dark realm of the Communist inferno: "At the end of January, 1921, I was thrown into the ' Ship ' where there were two others await- ing their turn to die. * * * Those who were tried by the 'Troyka'* usually were executed on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Therefore, on "Wednesday, January 26th, they clearly realized that this was their last day. Still they were ap- parently very quiet, and even at dinner they applied to the foreman with the request: 'Pour us some thick stuff! Mind, you are feeding us to-day for the last time.' * * * Around six o'clock, the man on duty appeared, giving in- structions to evacuate all those who had been casually thrown into these cells. Then it became apparent that in a few minutes the remaining ones would be taken out for execution. Our two * The Cheka Council of three who deal with the important of- fenses against Soviet rule. 156 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM single cells were open but there was no chance to converse with the men in the adjoining cells as the jailer closely watched every move of theirs. In spite of this, they succeeded in hastily destroy- ing some pencil notes. However, an hour later the executioner, Pankratov, accompanied by the commandant, Rodionov, came down to the cellar. Persons sentenced to death were called out of their cells and ordered to undress. They took off their overcoats, suits, and even their shirts. They un- dressed very quickly as though they were in a great hurry. Their faces were very pale. Their emotion was so strong that some of them proved unable to stand firmly on their feet, and then they would fall. But once more they would get up. They smoked one cigarette after another and kept deadly still. After that, also without saying a word, promptly, almost running, the six began to mount the spiral stairway. * * * "We were as though paralyzed on the spot. Benumbed, we watched them leave. I was struck by the thought that the same fate was awaiting me. Soon after- ward the guards came in and took the belongings of the victims. The food was immediately divided among them, while some of their clothes were later observed on the executioner, Pankratov. Twenty minutes later a truck passed through the gates of the Moscow Cheka. * * * It was the truck which carried away the dead bodies of the executed, taking them to the Lefort morgue for postmortem examination and burial in a common grave. The judgment against the executed was rendered in default. For six weeks they had been waiting to be executed."* * Cheka, pp. 33 and 34. Translation from the Eussian. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 157 Practically every city of importance has a Cheka of its own. Some of the provincial branches exercise even more cruelty than the central body itself. The infamous activities of the Odessa, Kharkov and Don Chekas are known all over Russia, having assumed legen- dary proportions. The Rev. R. Courlier-Forster, late British Chaplain at Odessa, who in 1919 witnessed a reign of terror, gives this vivid description: "The house in the Catherine Square in which I was first in captivity afterwards became the Bolshevists' House of Torture in which hundreds of victims were done to death. The shrieks of the people being tortured to death or having splin- ters of wood driven under the quick of their nails were so agonizing and appalling that personal friends of my own living more than a hundred yards away in the Vorontsoffsky Pereulok were obliged to fasten their double windows to prevent the cries of anguish penetrating into the house. The horror and fear of the surviving citizens was so great that the Bolshevists kept motor lorries thundering up and down the street to drown the awful screams of agony wrung from their dying victims. "Week by week the newspapers published arti- cles for and against the nationalization of women. In South Russia the proposal did not become a legal measure, but in Odessa bands of Bolshevists seized women and girls and carried them off to the Port, the timber yards, and the Alexandrovsky Park for their own purposes. Women used in this way were found in the morn- 158 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM ings either dead or mad or in a dying condition. Those found still alive were shot. One of the most awful of my own personal experiences of the New Civilization was hearing at night from my bedroom windows the frantic shrieks of women being raped to death in the park opposite. Screams of shrill terror and despair repeated at intervals until they became nothing but hoarse cries of agony like the death calls of a dying animal. This happened not once, or twice, but many times. Never to the day of my death shall I forget the horror of those dreadful shrieks of tortured women, and one's own utter powerlessness to aid the vic- tims or punish the Bolshevist devils in their bestial orgies."* The personnel of the Cheka employees is composed of ex-convicts, sexual degenerates, political crooks and similar elements who go to make up the cream of the Communist Party. Their behavior is outrageous. Dressed in leather coats, with Brownings hanging from their belts, and wearing riding-boots, they can be seen everywhere — in the theatres, at labor meetings, at Communist Clubs, and in various " educational centers." The Cheka pass opens all doors to them. With this badge they have the right to raid private apartments at their discretion. Searches, as a general rule, are accompanied by theft, and things stolen by the Chekists can never be recovered, for there is *Rev. R. Courtier-Forster, "Bolshevism, Reign of Torture at Odessa," reprinted from the London Times, December 3, 1919, pp. 2, 3, and 4. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 159 no institution where complaints can be filed against these parasites of the Communist State. The various Soviets themselves are terrorized by the Cheka. Sometimes a mere anonymous letter, accusing a Soviet official of pro-bourgeois leanings, is sufficient to cause his arrest and have him " tried" on the Loubianka. Nobody feels safe under the Soviet regime because, as adjuncts to the official agents of the Cheka, there are innumerable " volunteer workers" in its employ. Soviet spies are everywhere. Every- body is watched, and Dzerjinsky went so far as to declare that he was quite willing to be shad- owed bv dozens of Chekists. "The Workers ' and Peasants' State" has set up a model dy- namo of espionage with a network of wires running to every section of the country. All those who, as a result of Bolshevism, have become degraded and sunk to the social bottom, thieves and swindlers of former times, crimi- nals guilty of sexual abuses, prostitutes, and de- generate young men who in days passed be- longed to the idle strata of society — they all are now on the staffs of the All-Russian Cheka. Russian counter-revolutionary organizations have collected albums containing pictures of these Communist spies. One glance at their faces, with loose-lipped, drooping mouths, flop- ping ears, weary eyes with not even a spark of will or courage in them, is sufficient to prove 160 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM that these records furnish priceless material for the future criminologist. It is noteworthy that, while general science has been practically abandoned in Soviet Rus- sia, a number of new "scientific disci- plines," hitherto unknown to civilized man- kind, have been invented by the Communist rulers. Special courses pertaining to the prac- tice of espionage and its "theoretical founda- tions" are being given in the Cheka, with spies and executioners in attendance. In the beginning of 1922, on the Loubianka, lectures were given on the following subjects: (a) The general aims of the Extraordinary Com- mittees. (b) The organization of espionage. (c) Methods of investigating counter-revolution- ary "crimes." (d) The organization of espionage on railroads. (e) The methods for struggling with counter- revolutionary activities in the army. (f) Methods for combating speculation. (g) The inter-relation between the different branches of the All-Russian Cheka. (h) The organization of searches and arrests. The new Communist "learning" is rapidly replacing the old bourgeois science of the New- tons, Kants, Lobachevskys, and Darwins. These were found to be no good, at least compared with a Morozov, author of The All-Russian Cheka and the October Revolution, or a Latzis RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 161 enlightening the world with his booklet, Two Years of Struggle on the Internal Front. Trotzky himself, envying the scientific laurels of his Cheka companions, has devoted much of his precious time to writing a volume which bears the reassuring title, The Defence of Ter- rorism. Therein he expatiates at length on the virtues of Terrorism in practice, and explains in what respect Marx would have sanctioned the Communist inquisition had he been alive to-day. Trotzky 's book, as a whole, is a glori- fication of the extreme brutality which has marked the Socialist regime in Russia. His general deduction on the subject is: "The State terror of a revolutionary class can be condemned 'morally' only by a man who, as a principle, rejects (in words) every form of vio- lence whatsoever — consequently, every war and every rising. For this one has to be merely and simply a hypocritical Quaker."* Indeed, Trotzky 's vindication of Terror does not leave much ground for a liberal heart to rejoice. Take this passage, for instance: "The press is a weapon not of an abstract so- ciety, but of two irreconcilable, armed and con- tending sides. We are destroying the press of the counter-revolution, just as we destroyed its fortified positions, its stores, its communications and its intelligence system. Are we depriving * Trotzky 's The Defence of Terrorism, p. 55, London, 1921. 162 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM ourselves of Cadet and Menshevik criticisms of the corruption of the working class? In return we are victoriously destroying the very founda- tions of capitalist corruption."* Or, "Without the Red Terror the Russian Bour- geoisie, together with the world bourgeoisie, would throttle us long before the coming of the revolution in Europe. One must be blind not to see this, or a swindler to deny it. "t In this respect Trotzky is merely reiterating such statements as have become commonplaces in the Bolshevist press. As far back as 1918 the official policy regarding Red Terror was formulated thus: "Only those among the representatives of the bourgeois class who during the period of nine months succeeded in proving their loyalty to the Soviet rule should be spared. All the others are our hostages and we should treat them accord- ingly. Enough of mildness. The interest of the revolution necessitates the physical annihilation of the bourgeoise class. It is time for us to start. "t The important point about this and similar utterances is that the Bolsheviki do mean what they say. According to Latzis's own boast: "In Petrograd alone as many as five hundred • Ibid, p. 58. t Ibid, pp. 60 and 61. %Bed Gazette, editorial article in the issue of August 31, 1918. Translation from the Eussian. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 163 persons were shot as an answer to the shots fired at Lenin and Uritsky."* Nor is it possible to determine the precise number of Soviet victims — of all those who have been murdered either in the cellars of the Cheka or in the course of open banditism car- ried on by Red sailors and other "beauties" of the Communist Regime. The number of mar- tyrs is unknown. Their names oftentimes have not even been recorded by Soviet chanceries. In the spring of 1922, a member of British Parliament put the question to the Cabinet, whether it was true that from the beginning of Bolshevist rule up to July 1, 1921, the Soviets had executed the following number of people belonging to different classes: Clergymen 1,215 Bishops 28 Professors and school teachers 6,775 Physicians and their assistants 8,800 Army and Navy officers 54,650 Soldiers 260,000 Policemen of higher ranks 10,500 Policemen of lower ranks 48,500 Land owners 12,950 Belonging to the intellectual class 355,250 Manual Workers 192,350 Peasants 815,100 Total 1,766,118 • N. Y. Latzis, Popular Synopsis of Two Years' Activity on the Extraordinary Commissions, quoted from Allan J. Carter's article, "The Bolshevist Substitute for a Judicial System,' ' in the Illinois Law Beview, January, 1922. 164 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM The answer was that His Majesty's Govern- ment had no authentic figures. As a matter of fact, the subject is one that precludes astronomic accuracy. The bloody reality of Red Terror stands out as a frightful indictment of Communist rule. The slaughter of the Russian Nation has not ceased; it con- tinues with uninterrupted ferocity. Lenin and Trotzky are butchering their serfs in haste, but systematically. The machine of oppression crushes its opponents without discrimination but also without mercy. A few words should be mentioned about the Bolshevist judicial institutions, such as Revo- lutionary Tribunals and the " People V Courts. Justice in the most elementary sense of the term does not exist in the Marxian State. One of the leading Soviet " jurists" frankly ad- mitted : "The task of Revolutionary Tribunals con- sists in passing judgment swiftly and ruthlessly on the enemies of the proletarian revolution. These courts are one of the arms for the suppres- sion of the exploiters and in this sense they are just as much weapons of proletarian offence and defence as the Red Guard, the Red Army, the Extraordinary Commissions."* Bolshevist judicial practice is as much of a mockery as it is an insult to the conscience *See Soviet Russia, issue of September, 1921, p. 123. Published in New York City. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 165 of the nation. Illiterate judges are turning over their decisions like so many pancakes, leaving the Soviet citizens in a state of per- plexity. At times, court proceedings are con- verted in a real " Comedy of Errors," where the judge fails to grasp the difference between the plaintiff and the defendant, while the liti- gants are puzzled over the distinction between the judge and the witness. The administration of justice in Soviet Rus- sia does not differ from other modes of oppres- sion, the sole purpose of which is to safeguard the proletarian oligarchy. Everything is adapted to this end. This is particularly true about the Red Army, which grew out of the original Red Guard bands and small Commun- ist detachments. The scattered Red Guard units, however, were later brought under uni- form management and centralized command. When Trotzky became War Commissar, he strove to build up a formidable Red force with two objects in mind: First, to use it as a weapon for fostering world revolution; and second, as a deadly tool against the Russian people themselves. At an epoch when all civilized nations are concerned about the problem of limitation of armament, Soviet Russia is feverishly increas- ing her standing army, which justly causes grave anxiety to her neighboring States. While Russian industries are at a standstill, the Soviet 166 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM munition plants are working at full speed. Rifles and machine guns, which are the basic elements of modern military equipment, are being turned out at a rate which exceeds the pre-war output. Beginning with 1919, approxi- mately 1,700,000 rifles were manufactured per year; at present their total supply on hand in arsenals is not less than 19,500,000. Trotzky is continuously agitating in an en- deavor to keep the militaristic spirit alive. His inflammatory speeches always refer to pre- paredness, and ever-increasing armaments are urged. By January, 1922, the standing army of Red Russia was approximately 700,000. In the army ranks, industrial workers represent scarcely more than 15 per cent., the rest being made up of peasants who are unreservedly opposed to the Soviet Regime. Still, espionage in the Red Army is so developed that any attempt to turn bayonets against the oppressors must necessarily encounter great obstacles. Every regiment has a Communist group which attentively watches the mood and behavior both of the officers ' corps and the privates. The least manifestation of disobeyance leads to immediate execution. Soldiers do not dare to form counter-revolutionary organizations be- cause of the fear that Communist spies might get into them. Furthermore, mercenary detach- ments composed of Chinese coolies and Lettish Communists, together with Jewish Interna- RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 167 tional battalions, are there to quell every pos- sible uprising against the Soviets. Special military training is being given to members of the Communist Party. In this connection the "younger set" of Bolsheviks received the fol- lowing instructions from their superiors: 1 ' Every Communist must learn military science ; must learn to handle a rifle, a machine gun, and a trench gun and drive an armored motor truck — in general, learn military science. The Central Committee of the party ordered to create from all Communists in good health regiments for spe- cial service, with regular training in military matters, and to organize Communist women to study sanitation. * * * The young Commun- ist must pay the most serious attention to his studies in these regiments. He must know that the calling of a Communist imposes on him a special obligation to be ready at any moment, on the call of his party, to come to the defence of the Soviet authority against the attacks of its enemies — whether it be an internal counter-revo- lutionary conspiracy or a danger on external fronts. We must say then: 'Young Commun- ists, learn military science ! ' ' '* Those very people who in 1917 persuaded the Russian soldiers to lay down their arms, preaching fraternization, and delivering ser- * Compare Bed Gazette, September 27, 1919, article entitled "The Duty of New Members of the Party," quoted from "Memorandum on the Bolshevist or Communist party in Russia and its Eelations to the Third or Communist International," p. 29. Washington Gov- ernment Printing Office, 1920. 168 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM mons on " eternal peace," are now seeking to convert Russia into an armed camp, and propa- gate the most despicable type of militarism which thoroughly ignores the idea of patriot- ism. To-day the sole aim of Trotzky's prepar- edness is the preservation at all cost of his unscrupulous regime of violence. Things have gone so far that universal military drilling has been decreed not only for men but women as well. Mrs. Kollontay has boasted that begin- ning with June, 1920, all girls between the ages of sixteen and eighteen have been made to drill equally with young men. Those under military age are forced to attend special courses for physical training and preliminary military drill. In Moscow alone, she said, six thousand women were drilling in January, 1922.* Hungry and wretched as they are, the Rus- sian people have no other choice than to sub- mit, at least temporarily, to the will of a shame- ful clique. Harried by the Cheka, menaced by the Red Army, their most sacred beliefs in- sulted and debauched, they have to endure the yoke. But in their hearts the Holy Image of Christ still shines like a ray of hope. The late Alexander Block, the Pierrot of Russian poetry, who in years gone by composed mellifluous sonnets to the " Azure Dame," de- voted his last poem, "The Twelve," to a deeply pathetic portrayal of Russia's present agony. * Compare Soviet Russia, issue of January, 1922, p. 27. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 169 "The Twelve" is a symbol of the Red Army in all its naked ugliness and boundless hooligan- ism. In their march forward they tread over the strangled body of their Motherland, while the starving people lag behind: "So they march in Sover'ign manner, In their rear — a hungry hound, Leading — with the bloody banner, "From the Bullets' touch proteeted, By the Tempest undetected, "In a snow-like gentle pace, In a pearl-like whirl of grace, "With a few white roses crown 'd— Leading — Jesus Christ is found."* Red Terror, in its various ramifications, is the background of the Russian disaster. Not- withstanding its gigantic scale and atrocious nature, Bolshevism has failed to extinguish completely the flame of life. Human beings, labeled as Soviet citizens, still continue, if not to live, then at least to vegetate in a state of incessant apprehension, their psychology hav- ing been reduced to a few primitive longings. Among these the persistent craving to eat is the propelling force which drives them to pur- sue their every-day business, be it theft, or speculation, or forced labor In Soviet factories. * The Twelve by Alexander Block. Author's translation from the Bussian. j ;o THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM From a narrow biological viewpoint, such a pitiful existence might be termed life. Yet in a broader sense the life of man cannot be re- stricted to mere physiological functioning. At the dawn of history, it is true, wild tribes in their mode of living did not differ much from kindred zoological formations. In higher stages of civilization, however, the animal in- stinct gradually became subjugated to a long range of loftier aspirations, which since then have borne a strong influence upon the history of mankind. In the case of Soviet Russia that part of life which lifts man above the ape is non-existent, or else it exists on paper only. Had the workings of Soviet rule been con- fined exclusively to the dissipation of material wealth, the defence of Sovietism might not have been a task so hopeless; but utter degradation has permeated all the manifestations of na- tional being. Constructive thought as a guiding principle, and a basis for intellectual achieve- ment, is killed. Charles R. Crane, former U. S. Minister to China, who recently visited Soviet Russia, thus summarizes his impressions regarding general conditions there: "Russia," he said, "* • * is * • * a vast prison and the people are living under prison conditions * * *. The Terror is present at all times and everywhere. The new bourgeoisie RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 171 and the new aristocracy have stolen an empire right out from under the eyes of the whole world, and not only have reversed all natural processes of evolution, but as regards liberty and progress have pushed Russia back to the darkness in which she lay before the time of Peter the Great. "• Every country has lights and shadows of its own. But Russia dwells in perpetual mid- night. Filthy and diseased, she lies helplessly in her rags of poverty. The mass of wreckage of that which once was Holy Russia impedes the progress of reconstruction everywhere. To fully comprehend this condition, it be- comes necessary to examine some of its out- standing features. Sanitary Conditions Probably one of the most horrible aspects of Russia's tragic plight is the total ruin of her cities. Hitherto flourishing urban communities, including both capitals, Petrograd and Moscow, now resemble dreary cemeteries. The streets which in days past gleamed with smiling crowds and happy life, now are found de- serted. The stores are closed and their show- windows either smashed or boarded up. Here and there, one finds wooden houses partly de- molished; sidewalks and pavements are in a •Compare interview with Charles B. Crane published in the Chi- cago Daily News, issue of October 25, 1921. 1 72 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM state of decay; street traffic has been aban- doned. It is on rare occasions only that a heavy truck laden with a score of Red Guards thun- ders down a deserted boulevard. The rattling noise produced by such a vehicle tends to in- tensify the deadly silence reigning all around. When the Bolsheviki usurped the power, they promptly dissolved all municipal institu- tions. In their place various kinds of Soviets were set up with ignorant Communist politi- cians managing and mismanaging city affairs. A few months later urban life at large was hopelessly wrecked. The crisis was aggravated by the acute shortage of food and fuel. Francis McCullagh who, in 1920, for several weeks, was detained in Moscow, gives a glimpse of his pleasant experiences there: << ( At first I lived in the railway carriage in which. I had come, and I found that other people were living there also. On these people I managed to 'sponge,' more or less successfully, but for some weeks I could not get anything to eat or drink till six o'clock in the evening. What this means I leave the reader to imagine. One can live without food for a long time if one lives quietly in a warm room and drinks plenty of water, but I walked a great deal about Moscow in cold weather and with the streets knee-deep in snow and slush. Later on, when the snow melted, great pools of water made some of the principal thoroughfares almost im- passable. In some places there were stepping- stones, or one could creep along close by the sides RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 173 of the houses where there was a broken margin of dry land about an inch wide ; and it was strange to see long queues of people waiting at such places till they could negotiate these dangerous crossings slowly and in single file. As my own pair of boots was worn out, I soon began to suffer from 'trench foot,' which I had never known when in the trenches. My hair grew long, I ceased to shave, I could not even wash every day; I was only able to clean my boots once during the course of a month; * * *."* This is typical of the conditions prevailing in that country, for everybody is dirty, starving on Marxian rations, and clothes are worn until they hang in tatters. Whatever food abounds, is filthy and rotten. There is a long " bag-car- rying " experience behind every Soviet menu. On this point our English author has this to tell : "At several places near the Kremlin, women sold a sort of rough porridge for one hundred roubles a cup — equivalent to £10 in the old cur- rency — and I used to stand in the street amid a crowd of famished derelicts who looked almost as disreputable as myself, eating out of a wooden porringer, with the aid of a wooden spoon this grateful and comforting food. The porridge was kept in a large wooden bucket like what cattle are fed out of; and, being carefully covered, it was always warm, though there was very little nourishment in it."t * Francis McCullagh, A Prisoner of the Beds, p. 206, New York City, 1922. flbid., pp. 206 and 207. i 7 4 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM Deplorable as the external appearance of Soviet cities is, still worse are the housing conditions which the Russians have to endure. There is a peculiar institution which suppos- edly administers all dwelling-houses; these are the notorious "Beggars' Committees," elec- ted from among the inhabitants themselves. As a general rule, however, a Communist spy always plays the first fiddle in such institutions. Instead of taking proper care of the house, he exerts his energies to protect the "Workers' and Peasants' State." It is he, in fact, who reports to the local Soviet on any "suspicious indivi- dual" residing within the boundaries of his jurisdiction. It is he who leads in searches, which from time to time are decreed by the Cheka. It is finally he who decides upon the policies of the "Beggars' Committees" as a whole. Owing to the incredible incompetency of the Communist officials, and to the general chaos reigning throughout the country, fuel, which is quite indispensable during the long and cold Russian winters, is almost unavailable. Wood- yards, where in previous times firewood was purchased, have been nationalized. In Petro- grad some of the sawmills are engaged exclu- sively in the manufacture of coffins, the output of which is over 30,000 per month. Yet this quantity proves insufficient. Fuel is so scarce that wooden houses are razed to the ground and RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 175 block pavements torn Up and used for heating the apartments. Likewise barges in which timber was carried have been taken to pieces and added to the meagre fuel supply. The municipal transportation system has completely broken down, since all horses were requisitioned for food and other purposes. It, therefore, became impossible to remove the dirt from the streets, and garbage from the houses which are being dumped in vacant lots and city squares. In December 1919, an amusing convention of 1 ' Beggars' Committees" deputies was held in Petrograd. Questions pertaining to the de- plorable condition of the city were discussed. It was pointed out that water pipes in nearly all houses had frozen and burst and apartments had been flooded with sewage. Governmental buildings are in no better state. Professor Zeidler, an eminent Russian surgeon who is in charge of the Red Cross work in Viborg, Finland, some time ago made a lengthy report on sanitary conditions in the Russian capital. Here is what he says : "At No. 11 Chernishoff Street one can visit an institution bearing the pretentious title 'Commit- tee of Sanitary Welfare of the City of Petrograd.' In this building the central heating is out of com- mission, despite every endeavor to put it in order, and notwithstanding all the means and knowledge 176 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM at the disposal of the municipal administration. Only a few rooms are heated with small iron stoves, the pipes of which are stuck out through the windows. In the same institution one can no- tice that water fixtures and toilets are completely out of repair."* Similar is the condition in schools and other educational centers managed by the Bolsheviki. "Generally speaking," says Dr. N. N., one of Professor Zeidler 's informants, "the whole school life has been turned into a continuous caricature. If one attempts to visit a school at nine a. m., it might be observed that owing to the absence of lights, it is possible to walk through the rooms only by groping along. In the classes one can see small shadows grouped around one big shadow; those are the children wrapped up in their winter •clothes and their teacher also bundled up from head to foot to protect herself from the cold, per- forming her pedagogical duties.' >> Much worse, if possible, is the condition in hospitals and other medical institutions. In this connection Professor Zeidler gives heart- breaking details. Referring to one of the ty- phus epidemics in Petrograd, he says: "Without exaggeration, it can be asserted that a majority of the sick with spotted or intermit- tent typhus were taken into the ward covered with lice. They infected the others and spread the * See Prof. Zeidler 's report on Sanitary Conditions in Petrograd. iViborg, 1920. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 177 disease amongst the medical personnel and their assistants. Hospital inventories are in a chaotic state. Patients steal night clothes, bed linen and blankets; the belongings of the patients are like- wise stolen from lockers, while the nurses steal firewood and carry it to their homes. * * * Medical supplies are very scarce, and there is a complete absence of some of the most common and indispensable remedies. Bicarbonate of soda is not available, nor is there any castor oil, pyrami- don, phenacetin, etc., etc. Quinine and camphor oil are given in minimum doses. * * * Opera- tions are performed under the most difficult con- ditions, the temperature in the operating-rooms varying from 3 to 6 degrees R. The patients freeze and the hands of the surgeon freeze too. Almost all operations are followed by complica- tions, such as pneumonia and ulcers. Water pipes have burst and toilets are out of order. * * * Laundries and fumigating plants yield very in- efficient work, partly due to the destruction of the pipes, and partly to the lack of fuel. In the morgues * * * an enormous number of corpses are piled up, and there are no coffins to bury them in. * * * Physicians are overworked and exhausted in the extreme. Every doctor has from one hundred and fifty to two hundred pa- tients to attend. * * * Scientific life has stopped entirely." 'All this relates to Petrograd, but the same conditions are found everywhere. An Amer- ican physician, Dr. Weston B. Estes, who in 1921 was kept an inmate in one of the Soviet prisons at Moscow, and later transferred to a hospital in the same city, says the following: 178 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM "The surgeon in charge of the barracks where I was an inmate, was a very hard-working, able man. The operations were confined largely to patients suffering from hernia, appendicitis and gun-shot wounds. * * * Scarcely ever was a clean operation carried out without infection, ex- cept in isolated cases where the liberal use of bribe money obtained better work from the at- tendants. In connection with the operating room there was only one of the five sterilizers in order when I was there. Consequently the field of work was distinctly limited, especially in view of the fact that the chief surgeon had 1 no assistant. * * * Many men died in the ward. They never received any helpful attention. Never once did I see a laboratory diagnosis attempted. In fact, there was no laboratory. If there was strych- nine in the hospital I never saw it, and I do not believe there was any. * * * The deaths in the ward were harrowing because of the lack of opiates and anodynes, so relief from pain was almost impossible. Men died like sheep, with no more self-consciousness than an animal would have. In fact, animals in America are better treated than men in Soviet Russian hospitals and in prisons."* Life in Petrograd apartment houses has be- come a real torture. Professor Zeidler's re- port reveals the following details: "All the filth from the pipes has risen to the surface, while the tenants in their apartments * Address delivered by Dr. Weston B. Estes before the members of the Associated Physicians of Long Island, "Prison and Hospital Life in Soviet Russia," p. 10, New York City, 1922. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 179 heap up dirt to the last degree. Rubbish and waste water are thrown out anywhere: on stair- cases, in yards, and even through the windows into the streets. None of this is being removed. Dirt accumulates, converting the houses into rubbish piles. In many apartments the temperature is below zero. The inhabitants no longer undress; they keep on their fur coats. * * * They sleep with their clothes on covered up with nu- merous sweaters and scarfs. They do not wash for several months, nor do they change their . underwear; naturally, they become infected with lice. The slightest illness leads to most serious complications. As a result of hunger and cold, in the skin on the hands and feet, especially among elderly men and children, there appear peculiar knots, smaller or larger in size, which have a tendency of being converted into ulcers; these practically cannot be healed." In some of the big apartment houses in both Petrograd and other cities, the tenants throw out their dirt onto the lower floors of the buildings. Gradually these floors become un- inhabitable; then the tenants move to the next floor above, until finally the whole house be- comes a horrible depository of human refuse. Such houses are thereafter abandoned. They stand out as monuments of the dirty Bolshevist rule itself. No wonder that under these circumstances epidemics of all kinds ravage Soviet Russia. In 1920-1921 spotted typhus killed more people than the Chekas did. In 1922 Asiatic cholera broke 180 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM out not only in the famine stricken districts, but also in the Northwestern parts of Russia. The sick were doomed since there was no medi- cal help, especially in rural districts. There has been a staggering decline in the urban population. In pre-war times there were about two million inhabitants in Petrograd. In January, 1921, according to the Bolshevist press itself, its population was 706,800. This was a decrease of 71 per cent. The census of Moscow shows a decrease of 50 per cent, since 1917, notwithstanding the fact that all gov- ernmental institutions were removed from Pet- rograd to Moscow. Odessa which before the war had a population of over one million, at present has not more than 400,000. Equally tragic is the situation in Kiev, Kharkov, Kazan and other principal cities. The average mortality in Petrograd in 1911 was 21.5 per one thousand, while in 1919 it was 74.9. In 1921 conditions had grown still worse. The birth-rate in Petrograd for 1911 was 29.4 per one thousand, dropping to 13 by 1920. According to Professor Shcherbina, who re- fers to six districts: Penza, Tamboff, Orel, Kursk, Chernigoff and Kharkov, out of the total number of newborn in 1920 ninety per cent, died, whilst five per cent, were found to be affected with rachitis. Out of the 1,200 foundlings registered in the Samara nurseries RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 181 in 1920, seventy-two per cent, died of under- nourishment, and twenty-five per cent, of syphilis.* Disregarding all these facts, Semashko, the Bolshevist Commissar of Public Health, hypo- critically stated: "The Workers' and Peasants' State attaches the greatest importance to the physical welfare of the children, realizing that the young Communists are the foundation of future Socialistic Russia; for it is only a generation in fine mental and physical condition that will prove capable of con- solidating the achievements of the great Russian Social Revolution, leading the country to the ful- fillment of its final aim, that is, the establishment of a Communist Regime."! How can such utterances be taken seriously? What value is there in various Communist posters bearing camouflage inscriptions: "Soviet Russia takes care of her children/' Or, "The Socialist State protects the mother and nourishes the child," and so on. Propaganda of this nature does not help. Sanitary conditions remain appall- * Professor Shcherbina, Op. Cit., p. 103. t Communist International No. 9, March, 1920, p. 1330. Published in Petrograd and Moscow. Translation from the Russian. 182 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM ing. It is a state of wholesale putrefaction, it is the rapid decadence of a great nation. Education There has been a big boom in liberal quar- ters about the " educational achievements " of Soviet Russia. Until recentlv, it has been maintained that the conspicuous " revolt against illiteracy/ ' led by no one else than the illiterate Commissars themselves, should be taken seriously. A comparison was always drawn between the "cruel" Czarist regime, when the Government was said to have exerted every effort to suppress education, and the benevolent Soviet rule which is purported to be engaged in enlightening the masses, making science popular and accessible to all. This was a clever way to present the case. Yet the fact was concealed that in pre- war times, particularly during the decade pre- ceding the World War, tremendous progress was made along educational lines. The labors of the Imperial Government, the Zemstvos, and the municipal institutions, combined with private initiative, succeeded in eliminating the disease of illiteracy in urban districts. A great portion of rural Russia had been also covered with a network of primary schools. Long before the Bolshevist coup d'etat, universal edu- cation for the peasants' children had been put RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 183 into effect in the Little Russian districts. An- other fact is usually forgotten or consciously ignored by Soviet sympathizers, namely, that Petrograd alone, in 1914, had twenty-five uni- versities and colleges with a total number of students not less than 30,000 belonging to dif- ferent strata of society. Moscow was the second great educational center, with its world-famous University and the unique Institution of Eastern Languages. The progress of elementary education met with almost insurmountable obstacles in the northern part of the Empire because of its widely scattered population. On the contrary, in the central, southern and western parts of European Russia, there were but few among the younger generation who did not know how to read and write. In another twenty-five years illiteracy in Russia probably would have be- come a condition of the past. After the November revolution of 1917, the Soviets started their educational program with the destruction of all educational institutions on the ground that they were offshoots of the bourgeois state, and consequently serving capi- talistic ends. Education, like everything else, overnight was declared the monopoly of the Communist State. In lieu of the model colleges then in existence, nonsensical institutions in the shape of "Karl Marx Universities" have been estab- 184 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM lished, in which the educational program is limited to Communist propaganda, and inciting class hatred under the cloak of science. The majority of the original pedagogical personnel fled before the monster of Red Ter- ror. Professors who were unable to make their escape are now living through a period of apathy, deprived of all scientific means, such as foreign literature, laboratory instruments, every kind of chemical supplies, and sometimes even paper, pencils and ink. Lunacharsky, who is reputed to be the great educational genius, confessed in an interview with W. MacLane, that public education in the domain of Lenin has a few shortcomings of its own: "We are terribly short of appliances for physi- cal culture and for the ordinary educational work. We can only supply one pen point for every one hundred and fifty children, one pencil for the same number, one exercise book for every two pupils. The situation is really desperate."* Old text-books were, of course, abolished by the Bolsheviki, who decided to found the teach- ing system along entirely new, proletarian principles. Much in the same way that destruction was easy to " achieve" in Russian economics, the annihilation of the firmly established educa- * See Soviet Russia, issue of January 1, 1921, p. 14. Article en- titled, "The Educational Work of Soviet Russia." RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 185 tional methods was found a trifling task. For what wisdom was needed to pile up old manuals and " bourgeois " manuscripts, turning them into a splendid auto-da-fe? The constructive phase, however, proved a task immensely more difficult* To begin with, the whole educational pro- gram had to be laid out on a strictly sectarian Marxian basis. The Soviet Commission which was entrusted with the general school re- form, in its decree of December 8, 1920, stated : "In a society divided into classes there can be no freedom or neutrality in science. The scien- tific, artistic and philosophic thought reflects the psychology of the struggling classes. Russia, hav- ing thrown off the bourgeoisie, is now living through a transition period, during which the struggle against the remnants of the past must continue. This struggle requires the utmost effort on the part of the people. Under these circum- stances the Soviet Government would have com- mitted suicide had it proclaimed freedom of scien- tific teaching and research. The Soviet power during its present phase of material and spiritual development is unable to grant everybody the right to teach anywhere subjects in whatever way one might choose. On the contrary, having pro- claimed the dictatorship of the proletariat in po- litical and economic fields, the Soviet authority must in equal manner frankly declare that this dictatorship also applies to science." The principles as set forth by the Commis- 1 86 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM sion were literally followed out by Lunachar- sky. At present in Soviet Russia there are no private schools, for both teachers and pupils were Sovietized. Whilst nominally on paper there may be more school buildings than in the Russia of the past, still the effect of Communist edu- cational policies is disastrous. School life is utterly vulgarized. Co-educa- tion, which is so ardently advocated by Luna- charsky and Mrs. Kollontay, has ruined disci- pline and undermined morality. Venereal dis- eases are spreading among school children to an alarming extent. Undoubtedly, this is largely due to the fact that Communist women of Kollontay 's type are daily preaching to the young principles of freedom of relationship between the sexes. Special courses "for sexual enlightenment" have been established in Soviet schools. This delicate subject is handled by the Women's Sections of the Communist Party. Mrs. Kollontay, addressing the Third Con- gress of Women's Sections of the Communist Party, made this comment: "The Women's sections in the provinces also must enter into contact with the national edu- cators, in order to push into the foreground the question of proper provision for sexual enlighten- ment in the schools. In addition, a number of conversations and lessons must be introduced, of social, scientific or scientific-hygienic character, RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 187 as to questions of marriage, the family, the history of the forms of the relationship between the sexes, the dependence of these forms, and of sexual mor- ality itself, on purely economic, material causes."* In order to realize the grave danger of this obnoxious project, it must be borne in mind that the pedagogical staff under the Sov- iets has become morally crippled. Many teach- ers have secured their appointments owing ex- clusively to their membership in the Commun- ist Party. This body, however, is composed of social rubbish which has risen to the surface of political life as a result of the general revolu- tionary upheaval. In the hands of these de- graded educators the "sexual enlightenment " of Juvenile Russia has been placed. Furthermore, the old-fashioned type of the experienced teacher has entirely vanished. This has been specifically admitted in the Sov- iet press. Thus the Red Gazette in its issue of December 1, 1920, printed a statement which ought to be learned by heart by all admirers of the Soviet experiment : "There are no teachers. The ranks of the old teachers have surprisingly thinned, whilst there are few new teachers. There is a regular hunt for them. They are enticed from other schools. In one place, dinner without producing a food card is promised; in another, full board is the in- * Soviet Russia, issue of September, 1921, p. 120. Alexandra Kollontay's article entitled "The Fight Against Prostitution." 188 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM ducement. * * * But after awhile, waving all considerations aside, people take the first teacher whom they come across. Thus, an in- structor in French, gives lessons in mathematics; or a teacher in literature — in natural history. The teachers' problem indeed is a grave one. We must confess that the schools have really become like almshouses. They are places for casual and played-out people." Because of the alarming deficiency in the teachers' personnel, many of the high schools have been closed. Lunacharsky, in one of his re- ports to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, revealed the fact that only seven to eight per cent, of all the children who were to attend these schools were actually given the op- portunity to receive educational instruction. What is the fate of the remaining ninety-two per cent.? The slogan " Democratize the School' ' af- fected college life in a most harmful way. It will be recalled that in 1918 Lunacharsky came out with his insensate decree, according to which " every person, regardless of citizenship and sex, who has attained the age of sixteen, shall have the right to enroll as a student in any educational institution, without producing a diploma or certificate of graduation from a high school or any other school." The immediate effect of this measure was that out of the five thousand who matriculated RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 189 in the Moscow University, "the majority were found illiterate in the rudimentary sense of the term."* It can be easily imagined what educational standard must have been maintained to match the intellectual level of such ' ' students. ' ' Would not their proper place have been in a kinder- garten % In their attempt to pollute everything that has the appearance of decency, the Commun- ists have not only ruined the schools, but in an equal manner they have ruined the Russian lan- guage, the precious heritage of Russia's whole history. Referring to its deep and harmonious nature, Turgenev, the great Russian novelist, spoke thus: "In days of doubt, in days of dreary misgiv- ings on my country's fate, thou alone art my stay and hope; 0, mighty, true, free Russian speech! If it were not for thee, how should I not despair, seeing all that is at home ? But who can think that such a tongue is not the gift of a great people?" After five years of Soviet misrule, the Rus- sian language has been partly converted into a filthy jargon of abbreviated words and cut-in- half sentences. People who were born and brought up in Russia, when they pick up a Bolshevist newspaper, have difficulty in de- ciphering the Communist argo which resem- * See Izvestia, No. 15, of the Central Executive Committee for 1919. i 9 o THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM bles thieves' Latin. The dignified rhythm of classical Russian is dead. Now the of- ficial language is a concoction of German, Yid- dish and Latin words, with an admixture of the old Russian. It is a peculiar kind of Esper- anto, through the medium of which a Bill Hay- wood makes himself understood when address- ing a Bela Kuhn, nee Cohen, of Hungary, or a Katayama from Japan. To make the destruc- tion of the Russian tongue complete, the Com- munists introduced a jazz spelling which spelling reform enthusiasts call "Scientific Phonetic Spelling." The result is that the refined beauty of the Russian printed speech has been eliminated. Many words are quite senseless since their " simplified" spelling can have many meanings at one and the same time. To make this point comprehensible to an Eng- lish-speaking reader, it may be of interest to reproduce verbatim a few lines from an article under the caption, "Aunt Julia Says": "That woz a weiz gie. wozn' it? — huu sed 'Foarmativ eksersiez ov fakulti aloan iz the soars ov awl heuman enjoiment. ' That iz whie children hait dishwoshing and skuul and dusting; thai kahn't see a bit ov eus in it; and that iz whie thai will work twies and three timez az hahrd at sumtthing that eksersiezez their injeneuiti and muslz foar it deevlups them." This is the way in which the Soviets are en- lightening the Russian people. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 191 Art What has happened to Russia's art? On this topic, too, insidious propaganda has been on foot ever since Trotzky ascended the Com- munist throne. Of course, it was impossible for his Socialist adherents abroad not to concede that under the Imperial regime Russian thought created a world of art that is immortal. Consequently, it would have been absurd to start out with the premise "denying" the Rus- sian theatre, or denouncing Tolstoy in litera- ure and Tchaikowsky in music. Another fact which had to be admitted was the panic-flight of Russian artists out of Soviet Russia. Only those remained there who were unable to make their escape. For a while, the law of inertia enabled some of them to continue their artistic occupations. Gradually, however, the great aesthetic assets of Russian culture became ex- hausted, while the ugly features of the Marx- ian regime supplied no incentive for further creative efforts. The old masters who were forced to stay there, in the realm of Hunger and Death, slowly used up their impaired ener- gies, and now they drag out a weary existence under a gang which does not discriminate be- tween a pound of nails and a painting of Mur- illo. A hint of what the artists' life in Soviet Russia is like was furnished by H. Gr. Wells who, during his short sojourn in Petrograd, i 9 2 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM met Glazounov, one of the foremost Russian composers : "All musical people in England," says Wells, "know the work of Glazounov; he has conducted concerts in London and is an honorary doctor both of Oxford and Cambridge. I was very deeply touched by my meeting with him. He used to be a very big florid man, but now he is pallid and very much fallen away, so that his clothes hang loosely on him. * * * He told me he still com- posed, but that his stock of music paper was almost exhausted. 'Then there will be no more.' I said there would be much more, and that soon. He doubted it. He spoke of London and Oxford ; I could see that he was consumed by an almost in- tolerable longing for some great city full of life, a city with abundance, with pleasant crowds, a city that would give him still audiences in warm, brightly-lit places."* This is the death agony of a great artist. And how many of these martyrs have passed away! Lord Byron's tribute: "There is a mourner over the humblest grave,* tt cannot be paid to them. Forgotten, they have left this world of sorrow. How many more among them have sunk to the lowest depths of abject pauperism, with the last spark of artistic flame extinguished! The great wreck that ruined Russia could not have left intact the intellectual life of the old order. Nationalized artists and Sovietized art do not * H. G. Wells, Russia in the Shadows, p. 53, New York, 1921. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 193 elevate the people to the snowy heights of har- mony and perfection. Quite the reverse: art itself is dragged down to the level of self -con- ceited mediocrity. Much has been rumored about Shakespear- ian plays being produced in Soviet theatres; still there is an irreconcilable contradiction in this antithesis: There— a Prince Hamlet, a King Lear, a Julius Caesar, all those royal figures of the past, with the majestic greatness of their passions, — and here, the pigmy Soviet rulers of the present, with their petty greed, their little envies of everything that is superb and great. Proletarian audiences made up of Red soldiers and unruly sailors may listen to a performance of Griboyedov's "Woe From Wit," but certainly they do not appreciate the delicate weaving of rhymes where the brilliant French vocabulary intermingles with the Clas- sic Russian, where every sound has its precise meaning, every word its peculiar shade of thought. Formerly there was the most ap- preciative response to all this on the part of the Russian public; but now it is gone. As Captain Francis McCullagh remarked: "Some provincial delegates with whom. I sat during the progress of a delicate artistic operetta, reminded me of cows looking at a railway train."* It is only the refined training of the old Rus- sian actors that still enables them to act before * Op. Cit., p. 218. i 94 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM such audiences and such spectators. Threat- ened by Communist reprisals, they still act, but the very spirit of creation has faded away. No longer does there exist that charming intimacy of olden times, that atmosphere of sympathetic understanding between the achievements on the stage and the vibrating pulses across the foot- lights. The new generation of Soviet artists is tainted with hooliganism. Vulgar is Com- munist reality, and vulgar is their work. They have no use for the sublime masterpieces of the past in which divine inspiration blended with religious zeal. Of what value to them is the whole school of Renaissance with Christ and the Madonna the guiding motives of creation? What ties them to traditions of the old Russian school with its magnificent Byzantine Icono- graphy? What charm is there for a true-bred Communist versifier in the melodies of Push- kin and Fet whose hearts and souls were boundlessly devoted to old Russia, with her beauty and splendor, her palaces and cathe- drals, her fountains and dreamy parks? To- day the most prominent Bolshevist "poet," Serge Yessenin, writes a volume, The Confes- sion of a Hooligan, (Moscow, 1921), in which he says : "I am a robber and a serf, Horse-stealer's blood there is in me." RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 195 In another place: "On purpose I march with my hair uncombed, With a head that resembles a kerosene lamp." There is a still better couplet in which the dig- nified desire is expressed — "To-day I feel awfully eager To spit at the moon through my window." Some of his sonnets are so obscene they are unfit for translation. The destructive spirit of Communism is graphically expressed in the following five lines taken from one of Mayakovsky's "poems": "If you find a White Guardist Pin him to the wall ! Has been Raphael forgotten? The time is ripe for bullets To stick in the museum's walls." Sometimes poetry is used as a means to in- cite class hatred. Then chef d'ceuvres of this kind are produced: "We will not spare the enemies of labor, Make a list of every one of them; We shall exterminate the most dangerous, They have lived long enough in comfort. iq6 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM "All the handmaids of capitalism, We shall take as hostages, "We shall not forgive them, But we shall crush them like dogs, And throw them into the rubbish ditch."* In 1922 the Bolsheviki themselves inadver- tently admitted the absurdity of proletarian "aesthetics" when they closed the Imperial Academy of Arts in Petrograd following an exhibition held there by a group of "Neo- Cubists," "Imaginists," and " Cubo-Impres- sionists." One of the exhibits produced by these insane fanatics represented a board to which a round plate was tied. Below the plate there was a braid of woman's hair hanging. That was all.f Art is dead. Women in Soviet Russia In civilized society for centuries the family has been the firm foundation of civil order. This assertion may be commonplace: neverthe- less it is one of paramount importance. Karl Marx was the first to openly assail the family and advocate its abolition. In his Com- munist Manifesto he puts it in these terms : "Abolition of the family! Even the most radi- cal flare up at this infamous proposal of the Com- *Red Gazette, September 23, 1919, Petrograd. Translation from the Russian. fSee The Last News, Russian daily published in Reval, issue of June 2, 1922, No. 124. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 197 munists. On what foundation is the present fam- ily, the bourgeois family, based? On capital, on private gain. In its completely developed form this family exists only among the bourgeoisie. But this state of things finds its complement in the practical absence of the family among the pro- letarians, and in public prostitution."* Accordingly, one of the first measures adop- ted by the Bolsheviki was the abolition of the bourgeois family. This they have attained by so facilitating the divorce procedure that in practice it has become a matter of mere form- ality, since on the strength of Section 1 of the Divorce Law: "Marriage is annulled by petition of both par- ties or even one of them." The only technicality required by this decree is that the judge shall ascertain whether the peti- tion comes from the party who wishes to be divorced. Section 6 reads: * ' Having convinced himself that the petition for the annulment of the marriage really comes from both parties, or from one of them, the judge per- sonally and singly renders the decision of the an- nulment of the marriage and issues a certificate thereto to the parties * * *." It is also the judge who " personally and singly" determines with which of the parents * Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto, p. 36. 198 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM their minor children shall live, and who of the two shall bear the expense of the maintenance and education of the children. No legal grounds for divorce are required by the decree of December 18, 1917, which es- tablished this classically simple procedure. Of course, if marriage is no longer considered a lasting and mutual obligation between husband and wife, and if divorce is granted as easily as water runs down hill, then family ties are so loosened that marriage ceases to be a basic in- stitution, becoming a farce which can be ended any time at the discretion of either party or both. Such is the legal situation. In addition, the Bolshevist press — and this is the only press that exists in Soviet Russia — has been carrying on virulent propaganda against what is termed the reactionary institution of the bourgeois family. The very conception of domestic life is being daily attacked, while in its place Com- munist modes of living are recommended. In relation thereto the following theses on the feminist movement, urged upon womanhood by the Second Congress of the Third Internation- ale, are to be borne in mind: 1 ' Endeavors must be made to induce the house- wife of the traditional family (the most backward, ugly, and undeveloped form of economic me- diaevalism) to adopt collectivism, thus convert- RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 199 ing her from a serf into a free worker in a large Communal household. "Endeavors must be made to establish model Communal institutions which shall take charge of the domestic problems which hitherto have been the task of the women belonging to the former bourgeois family, and which in every way shall facilitate their maternal duties. "It is necessary to explain to the women that the individual household in its original form bears a backward character and causes superfluous waste of time, labor and money; that capitalism uses individual households as a means of maintaining for the husband a low level of wages, relying upon the free housework of his wife, and in order to keep his wife in a state of mental and political backwardness, excluding her from social life."* The insidious meaning of these pia desideria amounts to the following: 1. The family in its present privacy must be abolished. 2. The touch of loveliness and intimacy that ia conveyed to family life through the care of the wife must be abolished, and mechanical forms of Communal life substituted therefor. 3. The mother must be relieved of the care of her children, and they be entrusted to the care of "model" institutions administrated by special appointees. Mrs. Kollontay puts this in energetic terms when she screams from her pulpit: * See The Communist Internationale, No. 15, pp. 3464-3467, Petro- grad, December 20, 1920. Translation from the Russian. 200 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM "Down with the unproductive labor in do- mestic life, with the exploitation of children in the home!"* The woman's task must be made quite easy. It is a question of Communist chivalry. Now, therefore, Soviet legislators enact a law the first article of which reads: "Artificial interruption of pregnancy is hereby permitted provided it is performed in Soviet hospitals where the minimum of injury is as- sured. ' 'f Everything is allowed and a real bacchanalia inaugurated in the range of sexual relations. That the Communists are actually struggling against the very principle of the family is best demonstrated by Mrs. Kollontay's own state- ment. Addressing the Third Congress of Women's Sections of the Communist Party, she said: "We are ready to renounce all the accustomed forms of life, ready to hail the revolution in every field, and yet we are afraid to touch the family ! Only do not touch the marriage system ! * * * It is necessary to declare the truth outright: The old form of the family is passing away. The Communist society has no use for it * * *."$ * Mrs. Kollontay 's address is published in full in Soviet Russia, issues of August and September, 1921. f See Izvestia of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, No. 259, November 18, 1920. ■%. Mrs. Kollantay 's address published in Soviet Russia, issue of September, 1921, p. 121. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 201 In the concluding paragraph of her speech she reiterated the same thought by saying: "Comrades! Our task is to destroy the roots that nourish prostitution. Our task is to wage relentless warfare on the vestiges of individual- ism, which has hitherto been the moral basis of marriage. Our task is to revolutionize thought in the field of marriage relations and to clear the way for a new, healthy, conjugal morality that shall correspond with the interests of the work- ers' commonwealth. * * * Comrades! In the place of the family which is passing away, the family of the past, there is already arising, solidi- fying, and spreading, the new family — the great workers' family of the victorious world prole- tariat. ' '* According to Soviet usage, a bombastic pas- sage of this kind is followed by singing the anthem of the Third Internationale. One mon- strous project after another is being handed out as liberally as Soviet rubles. In this sense Lenin's proposition to electrify Russia is just as prodigious as Kollontay's plan to national- ize family life at large. However, putting aside Kollontay's revolu- tionary phraseology, the following must be ob- served : In Soviet Russia private property has been done away with; the last layers of bourgeois •Mrs. Kollontay's address published in Soviet Bussia, issue of September, 1921, p. 121. 202 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM strata have been torn out; Communism, in its most extreme manifestations, is flourishing. But what about prostitution which, according to Marx — the Great Mogul of Socialism — is the reverse side of the bourgeois family medal? Has it been eliminated? — Were one to quote data furnished by opponents to the Soviet regime, volumes could be produced on this sub- ject ; it would be possible to prove that in Marxia prostitution is freely practiced, having become the prevailing form of relations between the sexes. But even the Communist writers are quite outspoken on the question. Mrs. Kollon- tay narrates as follows: "We know that prostitution is an evil; we even understand that now, in this extremely difficult transition period, prostitution is assuming large and intolerably extensive proportions, but we sim- ply wave it aside, we are silent on this phenome- non, partly through a remnant of hypocrisy that is still with us as the heritage of the bourgeois view of life, partly through inability to properly grasp and become conscious of the damage which a widely developed prostitution is inflicting upon the working society."* Perhaps it is only the wicked remnants of the bourgeoisie who are engaged in this pro- fession? — Alas! Even that is denied by Mrs. Kollontay : * Mrs. Kollontay 's address, Soviet Russia, August, 1921, p. 42. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 203 "Prostitution," she says, "is practiced by the Soviet office employees, in order to obtain, by the sale of their caresses, boots that go up to the knee; prostitution is resorted to by mothers of families, working women, peasant women, who are out after flour for their children and sell their bodies to the manager of the rations division in order to obtain from him a full bag of the precious flour. Sometimes the girls in the offices associate with their male superiors not for manifestly material gain, for rations, shoes, etc., but in the hope of ad- vancement in office. And there is an additional form of prostitution' — 'careerist prostitution' — which is also based in the last analysis, however, on material calculations."* In truth, the author immediately admits : "The freedom of relations between the sexes does not contradict the ideology of Communism. The interests of the commonwealth of the workers are not in any way disturbed by the fact that mar- riage is of a short or prolonged duration, whether its basis is love, passion, or even a transitory physical attraction. ' '* Nevertheless, the fact that prostitution is assuming colossal proportion in Soviet Russia seems to worry Mrs. Kollontay. In her fear, however, moral considerations play no part whatsoever, for she makes the startling asser- tion: "From the standpoint of the worker's collec- tive, a woman is to be condemned, not for selling * Mrs. Kollontay 's address, Soviet Russia, September, 1921, p. 119. 204 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM her body, but for the fact that, just like a legally married idle woman, she does no useful work for the collective."* She argues further: "How are we to consider the professional pros- titute from the standpoint of the interests of national economy ? Only as a deserter from work. In this sense we may mercilessly condemn pros- titution. ' 'f Communist ideology is fully expressed in these quotations from Karl Marx, "The Com- munist Internationale" and Mrs. Kollontay, "The Little Grandmother of Communism." The passages referred to are useful, for there are many women, worthy women too, who, without any idea of what Communism is or what it stands for, merely because they are emotional, wish to put themselves "on record" as being "certainly in sympathy with the Sov- iet form of government." Bolshevism and Christianity Quoting Karl Marx, the Bolsheviki inscribed on the wall of one of the Moscow churches: "Religion is the opium of the people." * Ibid, p. 46. flbid, p. 45. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 205 From the early days of their reign, the Com- munists have manifested a distinctly hostile attitude towards the Christian Church in gen- eral, and the Russian Church in particular; in addition, they have treated the clergy, and es- pecially Russian priests, with the utmost cruelty. Soviet tactics as regards the Church are twofold: First, direct aggression; and second, the gradual undermining through propaganda of all religious devotion. From the dawn of their history, the Ortho- dox Church has exercised a steady and benevo- lent influence on the life of the Russian people. Religion has always been a guiding principle. During the two and a half centuries under the Mongol yoke, the monasteries stood on watch over the educational work, and it was in them that all historical records were kept. In the seventeenth century, after the last Czar of the Rurik Dynasty had passed away, when the country was brought to a state of civil war, it was the Church that saved the unity of the nation. In the popular mind the Church has always been associated with the conception of the State itself, the two forming a harmonious ideal of divine authority and civil order. The names of such historical figures as Saints Serge Radonejsky, Theodosy Pechersky, Nil Sorsky and Patriarch Hermogen are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Not only have these 206 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM men attained moral perfection in private life, but also they have shown deep wisdom and con- structive statesmanship at the most crucial mo- ments of Russia's history. Through centuries the Russian prikhod (parish), with priests and villagers united by bonds of friendship and the spirit of mutual assistance, served as a solid foundation for State existence and every-day intercourse among the parishioners themselves. When the Marxian roughnecks arrived on the field, they hurriedly began the destruction of this simple, and yet firmly founded organ- ization. In December, 1917, they came out with their decree separating the State from the Church. All properties of existing Churches and religious societies were nationalized. These institutions were deprived of the right to act as juridical persons or to own any property whatsoever. Buildings, and sacred vessels could be given for the free use of the congrega- tions only by special decision of the Local or Central Soviet. The teaching of religious doc- trines in State and public schools was for- bidden. The provisions of this decree have been vig- orously carried out by the Bolsheviki who never miss an opportunity to subject the members of the Christian clergy to humiliation. When, on the strength of the Soviet Labor Code, the bourgeoisie was drafted and as- signed to forced labor, priests were always RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 207 made to perform the most degrading jobs. Disregarding a tradition sanctioned by cen- turies, the Soviets have compelled ecclesiastics to serve as privates in the Red Army. Lawless Red Guards, acting under the in- structions of the Commissars, raided the Churches during the time when divine service was held. Priests were dragged from the altars, and the altars desecrated, while those attending the service were locked up in jails and tortured by the Cheka. When the dreadful famine came the Bolshe- viki used it as a pretext for robbing the Church of its treasures. The whole world was shocked when the decree ordering their requisition was made known. In many cities the priests and parishioners showed organized opposition to the new barbarism inflicted upon the people. Tikhon, Patriarch of All-Russia, who for a long time was kept as a prisoner de facto in the Moscow Kremlin, faithful to his religious duties, not only refused to sanction the outrage- ous Communist order, but forcibly protested against it. In consequence of this, the Soviets charged him with high treason. His fate still remains doubtful, notwithstanding unanimous protests made by the Christian Church in both America and Europe. Patriarch Tikhon, a venerable man of sev- enty, with his vital force weakened by age and privation, is the only person in Russia who dares 208 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM to openly oppose the diabolical rule of Trotzky. It was he who in 1918 excommunicated the Bolsheviki as a body, and it was upon his in- structions that the canon of anathema was read in all Churches. While under arrest, the Pat- riarch issued a declaration which had a large circulation all over Russia. Vehemently accus- ing the Eed rulers of heinous crimes, he stated therein : "It is not enough that you have stained the hands of the Eussian people with the blood of their brethren. You have instigated the people to open, shameless robbery. You have befogged their consciences and stifled their conviction of sin; but under whatever name you may disguise an evil deed, murder, violence and robbery will always remain crimes and deeds of evil that clamor to Heaven for vengeance. Yea, we are living through a dreadful time under your dom- ination, and it will be long before it fades from the hearts of the nation, where it has dimmed the image of God and impressed that of the beast." Had the Russian Cardinal Mercier the right to accuse the Soviets of all these crimes f The answer is given by the Reverend R. Courtier- Forster who thus pictures the horrors of the persecution of Christians in Odessa: "It was the martyrdom of the two Metropoli- tans and the assassination of so many Bishops and the killing of hundreds of various Christian min- isters of religion, regardless of denomination or RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 209 school of thought, that proved the undoing of the Scourge. Russian Orthodox clergy, Protestant Lutheran pastors, Roman Catholic priests, were tortured and done to death with the same light- hearted indiscrimination in the name of tolera- tion and Freedom. Then it was that the Scourge, seeing the last remnants of Liberty ground under the heel of a tyranny more brutal in its methods than a mediaeval torture chamber, published an- other full-page cartoon representing Moses des- cending from the Burning Mount, bringing in his arms the Tables of Ten Commandments to Humanity, and being stoned to death by a mob of workmen's and soldiers' delegates. "The following Sunday afternoon I was pass- ing through the Town Gardens when I saw a group of Bolshevist soldiers insulting an Ikon of the Thorn-crowned Face of Christ. The owner of the Ikon was spitting in the pictured Face, while the others were standing around watching with loud guffaws of laughter. Presently they tore the sacred picture into fragments, danced on it, and trampled and stamped the pieces into the mud."* Shall we forget Archbishop Andronik who was buried alive? Or Vassili, Archbishop of Chernigov, who had come to Moscow to inquire about the fate of the former, and who was cut down and killed with his two companions ? Or Bishop Feofan, who, after unspeakable tor- tures, was dipped several times into the river through a hole in the ice, and finally drowned * See Rev. E. Courtier-Forster, reprint from the London Times, December 3, 1919, p. 4. 210 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM in the Kama? Shall we forget the latest atro- cities committed by the Bolsheviki in Petro- grad when Metropolitan Banjamin and over ten other High Dignitaries of the Russian Church were sentenced to death for interfering with the seizure of Church treasures?* Shall we forget, the long list of other martyrs who have been murdered in cold blood for no other crime than worshipping Christ? Was Patriarch Tikhon justified in accusing the Bolsheviki of all these abominations? Can it not be said in their defence that all this is being perpetrated by them because ' ' They know not what they do"? Perhaps this may be so in the case of a rebellious sailor in whose per- verted mind the conception of sanctity has been artificially destroyed. But what justification is there when Communist poets engage them- selves in the defamation of Christ? Or when these paid " minstrels" and writers compose, under the orders of the People's Commissars themselves sacrilegious prayers designed to un- dermine those precious feelings that uplift the human soul to spiritual heights, where this realm of tears and grief ends and the kingdom of peace and infinite love begins. Read: 1. "In the name of Father — Socialism, and the Son — Communism, and the Holy Ghost — * See Associated Press dispatch of July 6, 1922. RUSSIA UNDER THE SOVIET HEEL 211 Marxism, — proletarians of all countries unite." 2. "Mother of God, Holy Virgin — the Commune, — blessed be thou, mother of equality and fraternity, Lord — Labor, be with thee. Blessed be thou as the wife of the proletariat of the whole world, and blessed be the fruit of thy motherhood — the Internationale." 3. "The Holy Trinity — Socialism, Communism and Marxism — kill the tyrants. Lord — Labor, purge us from the sins of capitalism. God — proletariat, forgive the crimes of the tyrants, exploiters and parasites, and chain them to the lathes in the factories and to the plows on the soil."* Next comes Soviet poetry on the same sub- ject. The two excerpts given below are taken from the Bolshevist monthly magazine Yav, issue of October, 1920, p. 7) : "Stability, Stability! We drag thee in the whirl, We thrash holiness with the whip, We torture the weak body of Christ, We torture it in the Cheha." ****** "Now then, do pardon us sinners! Save us as thou didst the robber on Golgotha. We wildly spill thy holy blood, As we spill water from the washbowl." And this: "Go to the devil! Splendid is our obscene dance * This blasphemous prayer was reproduced in the Russian daily paper The New Russian Life, issue of April 8, 1921, No. 79. Trans- lated from the Russian. 212 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM On the porch of the Church. Christ is again on the Cross, while we have taken Barabbas for a walk down the Tverskoi Boulevard."* Mr. Hillquit, however, asserts that the Sov- iets represent "The best spirit of the Socialist movement at this time." Is this to be taken as a compliment or an insult to Socialism? * The Tverskoi Boulevard is one of the main streets in Moscow. CHAPTER VI THE ALL-RUSSIAN FAMINE Know'st thou the land where all with plenty breathes? * * * Count Alexis Tolstoi So now prosperity begins to mellow And drops into the rotten mouth of death. Richard III., Shakespeare Victor Hugo in one of his Parliamentary speeches in the French Chamber made this re- mark: "When men forget God, God, by earthquakes, reminds them of His existence." The Russian famine is a world-debated topic. Everybody is alive to the fact that Russia is starving. It is also known that the scale of the disaster is colossal, embracing all parts of the former Empire. Therefore, an exposition here of this situation can be confined to a brief sum- mary of its main features and the general out- look for 1923. A few lines, however, may be devoted to the cause of the famine. The Soviet press, through all its foreign agencies, has been conducting a strenuous campaign, the object of which was to convince Western public opinion that the acute shortage of food came as a consequence 213 214 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM of the drought. In the spring and summer of 1921, it is true, both the absolute and relative humidity was unusually low in the Volga basin, which to a certain degree tends to explain the scarcity of crops in that sector. But in other parts of the country meteorological conditions were more or less normal, compared with the average for the preceding ten years. Still the harvest everywhere, especially in the most fer- tile regions, like Little Russia, was extremely poor. For this reason, agricultural districts, outside of the region directly damaged by the drought, were unable to come to the relief of the hunger-bitten population in the Volga Provinces. Mr. Nansen, the League of Nations Commis- sioner for relief in South Russia, an extreme radical himself, referring to the causes of the All-Russian famine, said: ( Dr. Francis Rollins, formerly connected with the American Relief Administration, in an in- terview with the correspondent of Bigasche Rundschau, said this: "I am leaving Russia for good, since I cannot stand the horrors which I have been witnessing for the last months. It is beyond human endur- ance from day to day, to look at the corpses of those who have died from starvation, half-eaten up dead bodies, sometimes only heaps of bones, indicating that once a corpse lay there which was devoured by other sufferers who desired to drag out their existence for a few days. Aside from hunger victims, thousands are affected with differ- ent kinds of epidemics; typhus, measles, dysen- tery and tuberculosis; recently cholera has been added, with a 60 per cent, mortality."* In some of the starving areas cannibalism is menacing those who have managed to keep up * See The Last News, issue of May 5, 1922, p. 2, article entitled, ' ' Representative of the 'ARA' on the situation in Soviet Russia." Published in Reval. Translation from the Russian. 226 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM their physical constitution. For instance, in the Kazan Province, hungry Tartars lie in ambush along the roads, waiting to lasso the people as they pass by. The dreadful feature about this habit is that those who have become accustomed to eat human flesh do not seem to care for any other kind of food. Commissars in Moscow are daily receiving inquiries from the local Soviets as to what reprisals should be taken against the troglodytes of the twen- tieth century. On many occasions physicians and nurses refuse to visit remote villages since there is always danger that the starving peas- ants might attack and devour them. A ghastly episode of anthropohagy is de- scribed in a letter sent from Moscow on May 18, 1922. It reads verbatim: "A small tradesman with great difficulty suc- ceeded in collecting a little supply of flour, groats, sugar and tea, and went to see his brother who was living in a village in the Samara Province. When he arrived at the last railroad station, he met several peasants with whom he was acquainted. He asked them: 'How is my brother?' They an- swered : 'Well, he's all right, but you better not go to see him.' Defying this advice, the tradesman proceeded to his native village. There he met his brother who accepted the food with indifference. Soon he began to feel his flesh and remarked: " 'You certainly are fat!' 91 'But where are the children?' " 'They are in the cellar.' " 'And your wife?' THE ALL-RUSSIAN FAMINE 227 " 'She's there too.' "After a while the wife came up and the first thing she did was to take hold of the visitor, press- ing him all over; then she also dropped the re- mark: 'How stout you are!' In the meantime a group of over ten peasants had gathered out- side, gazing through the windows. They all came to take a look at the newcomer. " 'If you wish to see the children, step down cellar.' " 'I would rather have you bring them up here.' ' ' ' They are living there, so you better descend first and I will follow you.' "The tradesman instinctively felt that some- thing dreadful would happen. Finally he per- suaded the host to open the trap door and show him the way down. The moment, however, the host did this, the tradesman slammed the door shut and fled from the house. Outside the peo- ple immediately attacked him, and it was obvious that they had been watching him. Fortunately these men were as weak as flies ; it was sufficient to touch one, and he would fall over. In this way the tradesman was able to make his escape and he hurried back to the railroad station."* Additional information on the same subject was given by Mr. William Shafroth, son of former Governor Shafroth of Colorado, who in June, 1922, arrived in London after a year's work with the American Relief Administration. In an interview with the Associated Press he gave the following shocking story: * This letter was published in the weekly organ of the Supremo Russian Monarchical Council, No. 44, June 5, 1922, p. 3. 228 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM "The desperate people," he said, "are eating human beings, diseased horses, dogs and cats. Cemeteries are being dug up and long-buried bodies snatched as food. In their hunger-mad- ness, the people are stealing bodies from morgues and hospitals to eat. * * * A Russian mem- ber of the A. R. A., who died of typhus, was dis- interred at night and eaten by the crazed inhabi- tants. I know one instance," said Mr. Shafroth, "where a distracted mother of five children killed the youngest in order to appease the pangs of the rest of the flock; but the oldest boy cried bitterly when he saw his mother sever his little brother's head and place the body into a pot. He refused to eat the flesh. The famine in Russia is unequalled even by the dreadful famines of India, China or any other in history. In some districts the people, made insane by hunger, have gone secretly at night to the warehouses where hundreds of dead bodies were stored because graves could not be found for them and have car- ried off these cadavers and used them for food. Ten butcher shops in Samara were closed by the authorities because it was learned that they were selling human flesh. The melting snow has dis- closed thousands of bodies strewn over the fields and along roadways. It was impossible to bury all these, so they were placed in warehouses like logs of kindling wood."* In brief, such was the situation in July, 1922. What is the outlook for 1923? It is gloomv *See Associated Press cable dispatch as published in the New York press, June 9, 1922. THE ALL-RUSSIAN FAMINE 229 in the extreme. First of all, the "Bread Loan," which was so much heralded in the Soviet press, failed completely. The scheme was to sell State Certificates at a nominal price of 380 rubles, which would entitle the bearer to receive one pood of rye flour between Decem- ber, 1, 1922, and January 31, 1923. The "Prod- nalog," according to the terms of the loan, can be paid by surrendering bread certificates equiv- alent in sum to the amount of tax levied. The Moscow quota was fixed at 10,000,000 poods of rye. The subscription in that city gave a return of only several hundreds of poods. Throughout the entire country the response of the population to the Bread Loan campaign was quite insignificant. Secondly, in the spring of 1922, many parts of South Russia and the Volga basin were infested with swarms of locusts, and the new crops destroyed. Further- more, the area under cultivation is still falling off, and in some of the wealthiest Caucasian districts it is only 25 per cent, as compared with that of 1921. Finally, the crops in the Volga region for 1922 were hardly any better than in 1921. Seeds delivered to the starving peas- ants by the American Relief Administration were eaten up long before the time for sowing came. Such was the condition in the Samara Province. Throughout Little Russia weather conditions were very unfavorable during the spring and summer of 1922, and it is believed 2 3 o THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM that only on the right shore of the Dniper will there be something to collect, while on the left shore corn has. not come up at all. In the Don Valley the land under cultivation for 1922 did not exceed 30 per cent, of the pre- war acreage. Some places near Odessa were left unsown by the peasants. The spring was unusually cold and dry in northeastern parts of Russia, for example in the Ufa Prov- ince. Owing to this, the seed froze in the ground. Approximately 40 per cent, of all land in the Petrograd District was damaged by frosts. The Commissariat for Food and Sup- ply estimated that land tilled in 1922, for all of Russia, did not exceed 27 per cent, of the pre-war acreage. Accordingly, the famine is far from having been brought under control. Quite the reverse; there is every reason to be- lieve that by February, 1923, the scale of the disaster will overshadow the horrors of 1921 and 1922. At the time of The Hague Conference, the Bolshevist Delegation more than once made the assertion that there will be a good harvest in 1922. Finkelstein went further when he re- sorted to an obvious bluff, explaining that in 1923 Russia will become again a self-supporting country. There was a purpose in this lie : The Communists needed cash and there was nothing they would not use as an argument to obtain it. At present, however, it is not easy to dupe THE ALL-RUSSIAN FAMINE 231 Western Europe with Communist propaganda. Some of the British statesmen themselves begin to awake to the fact that the Soviets are swindling capitalist countries, using the famine as a pretext. The Soviets are fast becoming impudent. Encouraged by silly little courtesies extended to them— be it by Lloyd George or the King of Italy— they are openly ridiculing European politicians. They do not longer take the trouble to mask their activities. In this connection Mr. Chamberlain's statement in the House of Commons, made in February, 1922, revealed a very piquant situation. Reporting his speech, the Gazette de Lauzanne, spoke thus: "The Soviets have just bought in London, on Moorgate Street, some real estate for use as their headquarters, at a cost of 250,000 pounds (12,- 500,000 francs). The exceedingly luxurious equipment for this house involved a disbursement of 100,000 pounds (5,000,000 francs). This 'Soviet Palace' is occupied by Mr. Krassin who is surrounded by a whole army of stenographers and dactylographs to whom he pays salaries of 350 to 400 francs per week. The sum of 17,- 500,000 francs which Eussia expended for her palace in London is precisely the sum which Russia demands from England to give relief to the starving people."* *See Gazette de Lauzanne, No. 70, March 12, 1922. The figures in parenthesis are furnished by the Swiss paper from which the quotation is taken. 2Z2 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM Communist graft has become a living legend. The Soviet rulers encompass themselves with all the comforts of life at the very moment when Russians everywhere are undergoing in- describable hardships. There is indeed a strik- ing contrast between Soviet luxury on the Thames and humiliating misery on the Volga. The people on this side of the water are unable to grasp the full meaning of the Russian tragedy, the extent of despair driving creatures that once were men to cannibalism and other atrocities. One must personally live through the abomination of Sovietism to understand that years will pass before the bestial instincts aroused by Marxian practice can be overcome. As long as Trotzky remains planted on the Communist throne in Russia, there is no hope for that country. Mr. Hoover's splendid work is incapable of solving the Herculean task of regenerating a great nation reduced, through Socialism, to a state of savageness and cave-like existence. CHAPTER VII SOVIET FOREIGN POLICY O OLSHEVISM is not a local Russian matter, nor is it a Russian affair at all. Only in so far as Marxism has been particularly used for the destruction of Russia can it be associated with that country. At this point, however, con- nection between the two ends. Bolshevism is decidedly anti-Russian. Not only is the personnel of the Soviet bureaucracy made up of the international canaille, with a slight admixture of native Russians, but Com- munist policies are diametrically opposed to everything the Russian people have stood for during one thousand years of their history. In this sense Bolshevism is a direct negation of Russian nationalism. From a scientific view- point, to speak of Russian Bolshevism is just as erroneous as to refer to American Confucian- ism or Chinese Calvinism. The official expose of Bolshevism and its aims was made by Bukharin in a pamphlet, "Program of the Communists/' issued in 1918. The opening paragraph of one of its chapters reads : «(i The program of the Communist Party is a program not only of liberating the proletariat of 233 234 THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM one country; it is the program for the liberation of the world proletariat since such is the program of the international revolution. ' ' The author further goes on to explain : "The better we are organized, the stronger the armed detachments of workmen and peasants, the more powerful the dictatorship of the proletariat in Russia, the more quickly will the international revolution come. * * * Sooner or later we will have the International Republic of Soviets." Apfelbaum, the President of the Executive Committee of the Third Internationale, closing his first May appeal in 1920, thus formulated the same idea: "Amidst storms, blood and tears, hunger and endless suffering, a new world is being born, a bright world of Communism; of the universal brotherhood of the toilers. "In 1918 the great Communist Internationale was born. In 1920 the great International Soviet Republic will be born." Again, Lenin speaking before the Second Congress of the Third International (July 19th to August 7th, 1920) expressed this basic principle by stating : £85 MAY 1 4 1985 Form I,-' 1 t, '41(2491) UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES LIBRARY 3 1158 00982 3930 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 728 963 If I ml