Show life in soviet russia lacks utopian promise by news analyst and commentator service 1816 1616 eye street NW washington 0 C washington D CAs C As relations ti ons between the western world and R russia grow rap idly no better many rep reports orts are com coming ng in to sho show W that communism which rea reached bed the peak of its prestige with the end of the war is losing some of its larity in europea europe the in lack ck of 0 pra proof provided in the eating of the soviet z pudding has had it its effects ma baukhage and many ny a wail of ang anguish u ish Is dimly audible behind the iron curtain which stretches from the B baltic a itic through the balkans this s ot of course prevent our own little family of loyal american commies from screaming the praises ot of all within the soviets gates I 1 have been looking over some facts concerning two of the great postwar american problems housing and union labor demands with aleye on similar conditions in russin russia nobody but an optimist with rose colored glasses and a five year lease would say that we have no housing problem in america but stalin has one in russia too and how dont answer me now theres a plain clothes man behind behind the samovar I 1 know about that letter workers wrote to uncle joe pledging their tireless work and a promise to liquidate all shortcomings on the housing industry that word liquidate has an unpleasant sound and when russian papers are allowed to criticize production putting the blame on local 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 degasta tion of western russia the average floor space in moscow was only 45 square feet per head but the privileged workers with high rec on the speedup speed up plan hid had much more hence the ordinary russian worker had much less by way ut of contrast in washington D C under the national capital housing authority the smallest housing unit a une one bedroom apartment must allot square feet to the living room alone and the total space m must st be square feet in russia the usual arrangement is one family per room in a six r room am ap apartment rement with common use of the kitchen and bathroom figure out floor space per person this was the situation before the war today in the ukraine according to an article in harpers by john fischer who spent some months in the ukraine and ayelo russia with conditions are such that the russian press may well be allowed to criticize if that will do any good in kiev says fischer a person is supposed to have six square meters of living space which is a strip of floor about ten feet long and six feet wide less than that is available in kharlov Khar kov if you want vant to know how a typical family in the ukraine lives fischer tells you to imagine you and your wife and children occupying the smallest room in in your house with the clothing beds furniture and possessions that are absolutely indis pen sable have a brick stove instead of a radiator or cooking range a bathroom with no hot water shared by several other families and probably a few relatives to share all thail probably you could stand this if you knew it was temporary but in russia according to fischer be cause of the five year plan for the expansion of heavy industry said to be a part of soviet war preparation russians are going to have a bitterly hard life as far as consumer goods and facilities go for another 10 to 15 years I 1 cant verily verify 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 it if she continue the present military prep oration and what has communism done lor for the laborer as such under the five year ear plan industry indus indu str trl at al workers pay Is supposed to go up to BOO rubles a month fischer estimates the present rate at between and 35 0 which he says amounts amount s in terms ot of A american m purchasing power to a bout 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 i labor unions started out under trotsky as independent fighting organs ol of labor but when trotsky was ousted and made bis very hasty departure from the utopia he helped found one lap ahead of the liquids 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 are not organized to conduct strikes this is reported by communism in action which says that there been a strike in russia since 1921 the document further points 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 U USSR S S R on the other hand the he t unions are a part of the apparatus of the employer the government and since the government ts is supposed to act in the interests of all the workers cant complain against any of its decisions tough sledding for the ins there seems to be agreement between some of the political leaders of both parties that the voters are going to indulge in a good deal of indiscriminate hurling of brickbats brick bats next month and it Is entirely likely that many an innocent by standing congressman is going to suffer tor for the sins of his colleagues clarence brown no 2 man in the republican national committee admitted to me that he was counting heavily on the throw the rascals out vote in other words people are going to take out their various personal onal grouches on the incumbent regardless of record or party affiliation this view was vas reflected on the democh democratic abic side by that experienced politician senator russell of 0 georgia tie he said to some of us the other day its always like this after a war A great many people have complaints of one kind or another its a natural thing tor for many of them to decide to vote against the people who have been in office that line of reasoning when pursued by i a good democrat might be wishful thinking if he were casting his eyes at the gubernatorial contest in new york state many people take tor for granted that governor dewey if he wins will try to use reelection re election as a stepping stone toward the presidential nomination in any case the way the issues are being played now it if dewey is reelected it will strengthen the arguments the republicans are emphasizing that the next presidential campaign will be safety and solidity versus wild eyed radicalism issues will be joined on this point by the national citizens political action committee CIO twin when hen the latter makes the following statement at the conference of pro gres in chicago at the end of the month the november Novem bei elections will decide the nations future the independent voters will determine whether the voice of privilege of hate and an bigotry will dominate the congress as they did the old or whether the progressives progress ives who fought against great odds in the congress will find new allies the republicans cans are offering themselves as new allies by making the claim that they represent true liberalism and telling the pro gres that they must either choose the republican brand of liberalism eral ism or support the so called radicalism of the democrats evidence to support the view that the ins whether they are democrats or republicans are going to get the brickbats brick bats from disgruntled voters was contained in a letter recently received by two democrat ins there just arent any diapers an expectant incensed father wrote to his congressman arid nd its some ones fault Regard regardless les 11 f where and how you place the blame you rep resent us in our government which has allowed this national disgrace to come about and are therefore to a greater or a less degree personally responsible for it BARBS by baukhage A Xen kentucky tucky physician received a tribute from his townsfolk the other day for delivering babies in 47 years and not a wrong address in a pram load an 84 year old mountaineer whose 31 year old wife had a nine pound baby wants the government to in creese crease his old ade age pension not with those young ideas terminal leaves end just like the ones that grow on trees A short circuit which tied up the telegraph line in lombard mont was caused by a big elsh lodged on the cross arm of a telegraph pole probably dropped by a fish hawk which realize there were some currents even a aih nt swim against |