Show life in soviet russia lacks utopian promise P by t news geici analyst and commentator service 1616 eye cye washington 1 I 0 1 washington D C As relations between bet the wat western ern world and russia grow rapidly po no better 1 X many reports are 11 V as Y coming in to show that com it i which reached the peak of its prestige t 1 1 with the end of the war Is losing some of its popularity larity in europe the lack of proof provided in the eating of the soviet pudding has had its effects baukhage and many a wall of anguish Is dimly audible behind the iron curtain which stretches from the baltic through th the balkans this of course prevent our own little family of loyal american Com commies from screaming the praises of oil within the soviets k I 1 have been looking over some facts concerning two of the great postwar american problems housing and union labor demands with an eye on similar conditions in russin russia Y nobody but an optimist with rose colored glasses end and a five acar lease would say th that at ye we have ave no year housing problem in america but stalin hag bas one in russia too and how to dont answer me now theres a plain clothes man behind the sa samovar I 1 know shout about that letter workers wrote to uncle joe pleda pledging ng their tireless work and a promise to io liquidate oil nil shortcomings on the housing Indu industry that word liquidate has an unpleasant sound and when russian papers are allowed to criticize production putting the blame on local soviets it means the situation needs but what were russian housing conditions before the war according to a recent library of congress report communism in action even before the alon of western russia we average floor space in moscow was wily only 45 square feet per head but the privileged workers with high records on the speedup speed up plan had much more moio hence the russian worker had much less uy by way of at contrast in washington D C under the national capital housing authority the ho smallest housing unit a one bedroom apartment must allot square feet to the living hying room alone and the total space must be square feet in russia the usual arrangement is one family per room in a six room room apartment with common use of thel kitchen and bathroom y figure out flor space per person this was the situation before tho the war today in the ukraine according toan to an article in Ilar harpers pern by john fischer Fl who spent some months in the ukraine and bycko russia with conditions are such that the russian press may well bet bei allowed to criticize if that will do any good in kiev saya fischer aberson a person Is supposed to have six square meters of living space which Is a strip of floor about ton ten feet long and six feet wide less than that Is available in kharlov Khar kov it isyou you want to know how a typical family in the ukraine lives rl ischer tells you to imagine you and your wife bif and i children occupying the alic smaller ept room in your house with the clothing beds furniture and possessions that are absolutely indispensable pen sable have n q brick stove instead of a radiator ov or cooking range a bathroom with no hot water shared fay by several other families fambles and probably a few rela tives to share all probably you could stand this it you knewitz knew it wax was temporary dut but in russia ac according cordin i g to fischer Fl be cause of the five year plan lor for the expansion of heavy industry sold said to be a part ot of soviet war preparation russians are going mohave to havo a bitterly hard life as for far as con consumer sumei goods and fac facilities go for another 10 to 15 years I 1 fiant cant verify Fl Fi views but I 1 know that authorities agree that russia cannot possibly do much to raise the standard of living of the less privileged even if she continue the present military preparation I 1 and what has communism done lor the laborer as such under the five year plan industry al workers pay is supposed to go up to rubles a month fischer estimates estimate the present rate at between and which he says amounts in terms ot of american purchasing power to about 30 to 35 labor unions under government wing according to communism in action the U S government document I 1 mentioned earlier the russian labor unions started out under trotsky as independent fighting organs of labor but when trotsky was ousted and made his very hasty departure from the utopia he helped found one lop lap ahead of the liquida tors things changed As in the case of nazi germany the union became a limb of the party and no one would say that american unions like the russian variety lla are re not fiat organized to conduct strikes this Is reported by communism in ili action which says that there been a strike in russia since 1021 1921 the document further points po into out that unions in the united states have as their primary purpose the privilege of their members to deal on equal terms with their employers on all matters of mutual interest in the ua USSR SR on the other hand the unions are a part of the apparatus of the employer the government and since the government is supposed to act in ili the interests of all the workers cant complain a against any of its decisions tough sledding I 1 for the ins there seems to be agreement between some of the political leaders of both parties that the votes voters are going to indulge in a good deal of indiscriminate hurting hurling of brickbats brick bats next month anait and it is entirely likely that many an innocent by standing congressman Is going to suffer tor for the sins of his col colleagues ledgues clarence drown brownne no 2 man mail in n the republic republican can national committee admitted to me that he was counting heavily on the throw the rascals out vote in words people are going ng to take out ther I 1 various personal grou grouches clies on the incumbent regardless of record or party aff Illation this view was as reflected on the democratic ulde side by thai experienced politician rRussell of georgia he said ta sume some of us the other day its always like this after a war A bredt molly many people have complaints of one kind or another ats its a natural thing tor for many of them to decide to voto vate against the people who have been in office that line of reasoning when pursued by a good democrat might be wishful thinking it if ho he were costing casting his eyes at the gubernatorial contest in new york state many people take for granted that governor dewey if hewins he wins will try to use reelection re election as a stepping stone toward the presidential nomination in any case the way tho the issues are being played now it if dewey dewa y is reelected elected irwill it will strengthen the arguments the republicans sizing that the next presidential campaign will be safety and solidity versus wild eyed radicalism issues will lie bo joined on this point by the national citizens political action committee CIO twin when the latter makes the following statement at the conference of pro gregs gres lyes in chicago at the end of the month I 1 tho the november elections will de cedo the nations future fut urethe tho independent voters mora will determine deter I 1 ne whether the voice of privilege of hatland hole hate and bigotry will dominate dominac e the congress as they did the old or whether the progressives progress ives who ought fought against great odds in ili the congress will find new allies the republicans are themselves arnow ns new allies by making the claim that they represent true and telling the pro gres that they must either choose the republican brand of lib or support the to so called radicalism of the democrats evidence E to support tile the view that the ins P whether they are demo brats or republicans are going to get the brickbats brick bats from disgruntled voters was contained in a 0 letter lettel recently received by two democrat ins there just arent any diapers an expectant incensed father wrote to lils his and its some ones fault regardless of where and houyou place the blame you represent us in our government which has allowed this national disgrace to come about and arc therefore to a greater or a less degree personally responsible for it |