MOSCOW AS IT IS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 77, 26 December 1918, Page 6

MOSCOW AS IT IS

* PICTURE OF SOVIET MISRULE

AN ENGLISHWOMAN'S EXPERIENCES [The following account of life in Moscow under Bolshevist rule is by an Englishwoman who has been serving for over three years with tho Eussinn-M Cross at the front, and who lias recently returned to Eng-

"StoH" (Halt!) A hand clutched my arm arid pulled me behind an iron railing into a small courtyard. "Don't be frightened," the voice continued, "you are sale hcie!" . ... "What is the matter?" I inquired hastily of the little sheep-skinned dvornik (yardman) at my side. / "It's only the Bed Guards, he reassured me. Scarcely were tho words spoken when a volley resounded startlingly near. "I'oiimali,"'shouted tiomo distant voice, "we ve caught liini!" I moved towards the railing; some 000 yards up the street several armed figures could Ik seen bending over something lying 011 tho ground. One of them, happening to catc'ii sight of us, waved his rifle threateningly. "Get away, or well shoot!" Wo got. away accordingly. "That's the second they've had this evening in this street," the dvornik informed me as lie conducted me through a backyard route to another street, ' and they say there are still two more (op& caught." \ , . , , o„ "Tire second what?-which two more? I was entirely in the dark. "Two more thieves." "Oil!" suddenly enlightened, the lied. Guards are shooting down, thieves ? "Yes," lie chuckled, "and these thieves are Eed Guards loo!" ' . Curious! The Hed Guards trying to establish order, The same old story, "Set a thiof to catch a tlned Such was my welcome to Moscow Biter an absence of four months. Evidently the town had little improved since those dark days of the Civil War 111 Octobei, 1017 .ll'er inhabitants certainly had quieted dowu-and I was surprised lo hud them so passive, so indifferent to famine and the fratricidal warfare around them. February was drawing to a close, spring was at hand, and still the Bolshevists' power was at its height. J lie intelligent classes were suffering indescribably. A kind of stupor lay on them, they bowed the head and submitted. Daily came the "decrees" from the Soviet, commanding, demanding, threatening; all were read through submissively, meeklj. "House yourselves," some would say, "if we uui'st die", let us die fighting. "What/can one do against 50? would come the answer. , "Yes," warned another, "endurance and patience only are necessary. > Soon the eyes of the peoplo must be opened. _ So their waited, their patience tried to the utmost, their nerves strained to breaking point. Banks were m the hands of the Keel Guards, all pensions withheld, all investments and 'percentage papers pronounced invalid. .Land proprietors were driven from their country houses pillaged awl burned, the spoil divided among the soldiers, and the land taken over by the peasants. Many noblemen's families were obliged to leave at a moment's notice, thankful to escape with their liven, and seek refuge in the towns. Here they would find a lodging as best tliey could, accepting any work, however humble, to tnnble them to continue their existence.

Degradation of the "Bourgeoise." A labour bureau was opened 111 Moscow, and in this way work was found for the most needy. In the streets it was 110 uncommon sight sight to see gentlewomen in dilapidated attire selling newspapers. One, a professors daughter, whoso husband had been killed by tho Bolsheviki in the Crimea while etill in. hospital, made a five-mile walk every morning braving the inclemency , of the winter weather, in order to deliver newspapers, and in this way gain sufficient to kc-ep herself and her children alive. Not long ago this bureau was shut down by the Uolshev'iki; "the hour hau come to starve the bourgeoisie" they decided. Even the leading newspapers were suppressed, and their offices and large 6tores of papers confiscated. Officers, dressed as civilians, wore to lie seen pasting posters on walls. In a house adjoining ours, the duties of house-porter were fulfilled by an old general; for this work he received- 85 roubles (nominally i 8) monthly, and a small room urider the staircase. 111. the fame house a young officer had accepted the post of,stoker, receiving -40 roubles monthly and a daily dinner. Many officers received quite largo salaries for guarding the houses of the "intelligMsia" against the Red Guards. . Such was the misery of the intelligent classes that they, in the.depths of despair, would sometimes refer, to the German MJ7 vasiou as their only chance of salvation. Often would they reproach mo, "Why do not the Allies help us in our need ?" "Have we then fallen so low that they must reject us altogether?" and again, "How can England look on so calmly when the existence of our country is at stake?" They were indeed difficult questions, nor could I answer them. One woman, military through and through, the .wife of a prominent general in the RuSso-Japan-ese War, and meflher-in-law of a general whose name all- Russia has had on its lips, maddened by. some fresh out-\ rage for her fellows, bowed her head liefore the ikon of Christ, and crossing herself, repeated: "Grant, God, Oh! grant, God, that the Germans may come quickly to deliver us from our countrymen." "Nor can the disgrace be greater than now," she added bitterly. Even under the shelter of one's own roof the feeling of safety was never wholly present. After dusk it was dangerous to venture in the streets; not only was one liable to be searched by .the soldiers prowling 1 about for prey, and have one's purse stolen, but overcoats, especially the "slmba" (fur coat), were stripped off tlieir owners without the slightest ceremony. A girl friend of mine had a singular but disagreeable adventure. The soldiers requisitioned her fur coat, her high snow boots, and her dress, then calling an "izvoztchik," put her into (he ea.b, telling the man to drive her home quickly in order that she should not catch cold! Licensed Footpads, 1 Night and day the houses of the'tour-1 geoisie" (according to tho version of a Red Guard a "bourgeois" was any one who possessed clean hands and n white collar) were never proof against the Bolshevists' so-called "obiesk".(search). Under the pretext of tho confiscation of firearms many flats were completely ransacked, all valuables seized, and in case of resistance. 011 tho pnrt of the owners the soldiers wei;e at liberty to respond with their recognised "sanio-sud" (selfjudgment). One Russian laughingly said that, 011 linking in the morning, it was always a pleasant surprise to find lie had "not been knifed during the night. Stolen goods might actually be seen being hawked around the streets for sale in broad daylight. . A market place in Moscow in those days would have put a Chinese bazaar in the shndo, and . the commercial talents of the soldiers filled .all with wonder. At a wave of the hand a soldier could sell you a herring, one rouble, a pai.r of goloshes, 30 roubles, and a Maxim gun, 75 roubles. At the stations the. belongings of the passengers to travel were examined and all firearms and eatables confiscated. The latter, no sooner in 'the hands of the Red Gards, were put up for auction, and a few rotijilc.s, added I to a certain amount of bold strategy, often enabled the traveller to robuy his I goods. ' The daily ration of bread for each person was one-eighth of a pound; sometimes two potatoes were given instead. Austrian and German prisoners were at large. Many a party was to be_ seen sauntering about the streets. Nobody paid any attention to them, and they o,r»e ami we"t at their will. Then ono day came the news (if tho fierinan invasion, followed by liPilin and Trotsky's incomprehensible call: "Comrades! To i'-rms for the honour of vonr country"—ar.d swiftly 011 this Hie signing of the peace treaty'at Brest-Tiilovsk. The horror and shame experienced by the intelligent mind knew 110 bounds. "Now," it realised, "are we disgraced for ever in the world's history." Dccriptive of the situation was a conversation I overheard some days liit'-r in a tramwayear. in which, a standing place could be obtained only by violent pushing or a veritablo hand-to-hand light;..

"Order! Oil! for order," eigrlicd an old man of the moujik type. "Wo shall soon have order," rejoined some ono cynically—"the Germans aro coming, they will bring order with them!" A silence followed, then came the same voice again. "They may be here in a week, look to it that you buy all the (lowers you can to welcome them! The flower shops will soon bo doing a fine trade!" A middle-aged woman of refined features suddenly turned her head, and hitter lines were playing about her mouth. "Yes," she 6aid, "when the Germans nmio wo shall buy flowers, but they will be to lay 011 tl"> irnve of a mighty Empire that hi\s fallen!"