The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is in corporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1925 RUSSIAN CONDITIONS.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 November 1925, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is in corporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1925 RUSSIAN CONDITIONS.

Aluon nonsense has heen written, says a vistor to Russia, about C'z.arist and Ilol.shcvist Russia. The former lias teen reviled and the latter glorified. A residence- ol live years in Russia, a glimpse of that land during the last days of Kerensky’s Provisional Govorument, and five months’ experience in in the early days of Renin’s rule, may he taken as justifying the writer in claiming to survey and speak of the Russian scene with a certain familiarity. In truth, pre-war Russia was rather a pleasant land to dwell in, provided one left polities severely alone. The Russians of those days were a kindly, hospitable folk, eollectivelv more likable and interesting than any other Western people. For one thing they were not immersed in money-grubbing: eommericnlism had not laid its soul-destroying hand upon them. life had almost a primitive spaciousness, and sociability was the outstanding feature of the daily round. The great cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow wore amongst the finest in the ; world, their emporiums were stocked with the best, of the world’s goods, and their dramatic and operatic spectacles were unequalled elsewhere. An enigma that apparently defies solution is that while, to my belief, the Russians are one of the finest peoples in the world, they have generally had the worst Governments in history. To outward view Russia, was unaffected by the French Revolution, and other liberalising movements, but. although a rigorous autocracy held sway there well into the present century, it was unthinkable that the advance in the political principles of other western nations would not. in some wav lie reflected in Russia’s political life. There grew up in Russia a strong revolutionarv movement, which has practically become traditional in the national life. Founded amidst such poitieal conditions it was hut natural that, the Labour movement in Russia should also have a distinctly revolutionary character. Beyond stating that the Cznrdom was not so had as it has sometimes heen painted, the writer makes no attempt to defend a detestable system. The constitutional government conceded, under pressure of revolution, in 1905, was a sham; the

bureaucracy acting for tlio autocracy retained the real power. The freedom of meeting, of the Press, and of .speech "ere kept within strict limits. Infringement, meant punishment ny tine, imprisonment, exile, and in the more flagrant eases death. The Government was repressive of ail liberal aspirations, but, as stated above, provided polities were left well alone, the Russian could live his life fairly fully, and achieve the average amount of happiness. The pictures of almost unending gloom drawn in Russian novels were true in so far as they related to a very limited section, the intelligentsia. who constituted, perhaps, five per rent of the population. This section naturally took life very seriously, and was thus more likely to come into conflict with the Government. Outside the intelligentsia another ten per cent, of the people were fairly well educated ; they had reached our high-school standard. Fifteen per cent, more had attended the State and Church schools, and might be described as literates, but the remaining TO per cent, of the Russians were totally illiterate. It was this mass of illiterates which constituted the severest indictment against the Czarist svstom. Apologists for the t'zardom, such as Mr Stephen Graham. have seen something almost worthy of admiration in illiteracy. The uneducated did not waste time readand speculating about life, they lived it. wrote Mr Graham. Such delenees of primitivism, fortunately, find few admirers to-day. No country is jiafe unless its citizens have the Godlike gift of reason, fortified by sound education, and as we have seen in Busda, autocracy was overthrown largely because scheming demagogues were able to plav unon the untutored passions and prejudices of an almost illiterate people. Russia is ail agricultural country; the bulk of her people are tillers of the soil or forest workers. W lion a-ar broke out only three to four po r cent, of the population was employed in factories and mines, and. as was natural, manufacturing was largely eoni lined to the cities. Most of the workj men had a very delinite connection j with the land, and numbers of them j downed tools at the approach of the harvest, and returned to their vil- ! logos to assist io the reaping. A rather | sporadic and nomadic labour supply 1 "as one of the dilheidliex mnnufaoiui- : ors had to contend "ilh- Factories i were often of a size which would bo i considered remarkable in the i\e-t. 1 In Petrograd and .Moscow Ihoro were establishments employing lo.01)0 to do.ooo workmen and women. Tn some , eases the workers acre housed within (be factory grounds, and they did their marketing at cu-iq ora live stores. II is persistently claimed by the Russian Communists that they have founded a vast co-operative system. As a matter of fait they practically destroyed an excellent and real co-operative system of some 20.0110 societies, which in pre-war days carried out a vast trade. Wages were low, but food was comparatively cheap. Semi-nomadic workers were not likely to he very good workmen, so high wages wore nop to be expected. Trades unions as we know them were non-existent. Tlio onlv means workers bad nt ameliorating their conditions were by systems of insurance against sickness and accident. Tiiov worked long hours, but. as an English trade unionist. Air Keeling, who knew them "ell. lias observed, they were not bard driven in general, t hough there " ere eases of flagrant exploitation in the more remote districts, where the authorities "ere more indulgent to breaches of the industrial laws. In the factories there were frequent intorvals for ten-drinking, the Russia! equivalent of the Australian “.smoko." Then* Was no eight-hour day. and lie right to strike, lint strikes "'ere frequent. and at times they were suppressed bv loive. The herding together of the workmen presented excellent op port unilies for propaganda, and I lie emissaries of the Snrinlist Revoliifioii- ! ary party nod •<*li.-i ■ \tnoii i organisation- tilled a most fruitful field, of which llic harvest of misery has not vet been fully reaped.