Communism -- Soviet Union; Soviet Union -- Economic conditions -- 1917-1945; Soviet Union -- Politics and government -- 1917-1936
Soviet Russia is not unanimously Bolshevist, any more than the United
States has ever been unanimously Democratic or Republican, or
Prohibitionist. The speculators are not Bolshevist, nor are the
irreconcilable bourgeoisie, nor the Monarchists, nor the Cadets nor the
Menshevists, nor the Social Revolutionists and Anarchists. Nevertheless
Russia stands overwhelmingly in support of the Soviet Government, just
as the United States stands overwhelmingly in support of Congress and
the Constitution. There are many who are opposed to Soviet rule in its
present form, and this opposition is not confined to the old bourgeoisie
and the anarchists. It prevails to a certain extent—variously
estimated—among the peasants. But it is an opposition which ceases at
the military frontier of the nation. I found many critics of Soviet rule
within Soviet Russia, but they insisted that whatever changes are to be
made in the government must be made without foreign interference. At
present their first interest is the defence of Russian soil and the
Russian state against foreign assault and foreign interference.
The peasant opposition is mainly due to the deficiencies in
transportation and the shortage of manufactured articles. They blame
this on the government, much as other peoples lay their troubles to “the
government.” The peasants are reluctant to give up their grain for paper
money which is of no value to them unless it will buy shoes and cloth
and salt and tools,—and of these necessities there are not enough to go
round. While the blockade continued the government was striving
vigorously to overcome the shortage of manufactured articles brought
about by the blockade, knowing that this alone would satisfy the
peasants. They claimed to have made encouraging progress, especially in
the production of agricultural machinery, of which they were trying to
have the largest possible supply ready by spring.
Whatever the state of mind of the peasants, they are certainly better
off materially than the city workers. In all the villages I visited I
found the peasants faring much better than were the Commissars in
Moscow. They had plentiful supplies of good rye bread on their tables,
with butter and eggs and milk,—almost unknown luxuries in the cities.
Their cattle looked well fed and well cared for. It was harvest time and
the farmers were gathering in their crops. They told me that the season
had been exceptionally bountiful.
I learned after my return to America that there had been a great deal of
agitation among the upholders of the old Russian order in this country
last summer and early fall over the pogroms which were said to have been
carried on by the Bolsheviki. I found nothing but cooperation and
sympathy and understanding between the Russians and the Jews. There was
no discrimination whatsoever, as far as I could see. Jews and Russians
share alike in the councils of the Soviet Government and in the
factories and workshops.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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