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Show PROBLEMS FACING STRICKEN WORLD Shall Chaos or Reconstruction in Europe Follow the Great World War? SOVIETS' MISUSE OF POWER Conditions in Russia Under That Form of Government Not of a Sort to Commend Themselves to Thinking Men. Article XXVII. By FRANK COMERFORD. Soviet government has beeu a costly experiment, Russia Is almost succumbing suc-cumbing to the treatment; notwithstanding notwith-standing the "Red" army Is meeting with success on the field, back of the array conditions in Russia are growing grow-ing from bad to worse. The soviet leaders are drunk with power and they have conducted themselves as drunken men generally do. Reckless waste, intolerant in-tolerant ottieiousness, greed for spoils, ure the record they have made. The political machine Is the same plundering plunder-ing graft organization under communism com-munism in Russia that It Is under democracy in other countries. The soviet government is a political machine, ma-chine, and communism has not changed its character or its methods. It has simply given It larger opportunities oppor-tunities for spoils. Greater security In Its corruption. The "Socialdeniocratln" prints some Interesting extracts from the bolshevik budget for 11)1!). According to this newspaper, the revenue for the first half of 1019 amounted to 20.350.000,000 rubles, and the expenditures. to 50.703.W0.0O0 rubles, ru-bles, so that the deficit for the first six months of 1010 of soviet Russia amounted to the enormous sum of over 30,000,000,000 rubles. The acquisition of foodstuffs: and necessaries of life has cost a deficit of five billion rubles, and the railways four and a half billion bil-lion rubles; thus a half year of bolshevik bol-shevik rule cost more than the total otitlav on the whole war. Money Expended Recklessly. The report rt the bolshevik, Nenien-sky, Nenien-sky, on the audit of the central soviet commission in charge of all textile factories, fac-tories, appeared in the "Sovietskaya Ekonomicheskaya Zhizn" of February 25, 1019: "The finance credit division of the central soviet commission received re-ceived up to February 1, 1010, 3,400.-000,000 3,400.-000,000 Rubles. There was no control of the expenditure of moneys. Money was advanced to factories immediately upon demand and there were cases when money was forwarded to factories fac-tories which did not exist. From July 1 to December 31, 1918, the central soviet commission advanced on account ac-count of products, to be received, 1,34S.619,000 rubles. The value of the goods securing these advances received re-ceived up to January 1, 1919, was only 143.716,000 rubles. The negligent way of doing business may be particularly observed from the way the central soviet so-viet commission purchased supplies of raw wool. Up to January 1, 1919, only 129.S03 poods of wool was acquired, whereas the annual requirement is figured fig-ured at 3,500,000 poods. "The tremendous staff of officials (about 6.000 persons) employed by the commission are in the majority of oases doing nothing useful. It appears that there were on the payroll of this Institution 125 persons who actually were not In the sendee at alL but who were receiving salaries. There were cases where the same persons received salaries twice for the same period. The efficiency of the officials Is negligible negligi-ble to a striking degree." Such soviet institutions, Nemensky says at the end of his report, are a beautiful example of deadening bureaucracy bu-reaucracy and must be liquidated. It would seem that the idealists in charge of the communist program in Russia are experts in "graft-ring" methods. Payroll padding is among their accomplishments. An Innocent bystander might suspect some of these soviet officials of having a leaning towanl private property, particularly when It is in easy reach. Their Own Condemnation. Probably it Is fair to the bolsheviks to state their case in their own words. The bulletin of the central executive committee of the Soviets, No. 15, 1919, announces: "We have created extraordinary ex-traordinary commissaries and extraordinary extraor-dinary commissions without number. All o these are, to a lesser or greater degree, only mischief-makers. "The toiling population see In the squandering of money right and left by the commissaries and in their Indecent In-decent loudness and profanity during their trips through the district, the ?omplete absence of party discipline." People's Commissar Lunaeharsky, according to the "Severnayna Com-I Com-I muna" of March 23, 1919. declared: I "The upper .stratum of the soviet rule , Is becoming detached from the masses, j and the blunders of the communist workers are becoming more and more frequent. These latter, according to statements by 'workmen, treat the masses In a high-handed manner and ore very generous witli threats and 1 repressions." 1 The soviet machine has bad Its "run I In" with the workers. The factory I committees have been bulldozed. The j Soviets have been bruial In their treat-I treat-I uent of the proletariat, j Ttu) utruggle between the Soviets and ths committer of factory workers Is an ordinary occurrence," according to the bolshevik newspaper "Ekon omleheskaya Zhlzn" of April. 1919. Workers Denied Right to Strike. The Soviets have the whip band In their controversy with the workers; they are the government and the "Red" army racks their decrees. There is a final court of settlement for all div agreements between the soviet and the workers. It Is the "wall" and the tiring squad. The right of strike Is denied the workers. Many of those who have dared to strike have paid for It with their lives. The worker are without recourse when commanded by the soviet. Whether or not they were the slaves of the machines before be-fore communism came. It Is certain that they are now the slaves of I lie Soviets. Kven as slaves of the machines ma-chines and the capitalists who owned the machines, they had the right to strike for their rights. The Soviets deprived de-prived them of this right. The bolshevik Sosnovsky. reporting on the condition In the Tver province, in the "Izvestla" of the provincial soviet so-viet March 9, 1019, wrote: "The local communist soviet workers behaved themselves, with rare exceptions, in a disgusting manner. Misuse of power is going on constantly." The conduct of the soviet commissaries commis-saries Is a general scandal In Ilnssia. Their conduct Is described In No. 12. January IS. 1019. of the "I.evestin" of the provincial Soviets: "The commissaries commis-saries were going through the Tzar-Itzln Tzar-Itzln county In sumptuous carriages, driven by throe mid oflen bv six |
