Bolshevist Industry at a Low Ebb More captured Bolshevist documents lately received in Washington, which' confirm out of the mouths of Soviet leaders themselves the definite reports which had reached the Allies from independent sources as to the collapse of the Soviet industrial and economic systems, hayd been published Washington.
The documents include reports on economic conditions—inside Soviet Russia, made before a recent session of the Congress of Delegates from Councils of National Economy, trade unions and the Moscow Soviet, by Leon Trotzky, the Bolshevist Minister of War; A. Rykov, Chairman of the Supreme Council of National Economy in the Soviet Govern. ment, and by M. Tomski, Chairman of the Central Council of Trade Unions.
The reports all deal with the steady decline of industrial produetivity in Soviet Russia since the rise of Bolshevist power, and on the phenomenon of a labour shortage in industry when the demand for labour is at a low mark, These coparts were among the official Soviets documents, not intended for - the outside world, which have just reached Washington from Helsingfors, where they came into the possession of Gregory Alexinsky, a former Moderate Socialist member of the Russian Duma.
Trotzky in his report states that the 1,000,000 workers given by Rykov as employed in Bolshevist nationalized industry is an exagferated figure. He Says there are only 850,000 workers, The lack of skilled labour is stated to be so acute that even establishments engaged in producing supplies and equipment for the Red Army have at times experienced the greatest difficulties in obtaining sufficient skilled workmen to enable operation to continue. Rykov characterizes the skilled labour shortage during the present industrial depression as one of the most dangerous phenomena of Russian economic life. It has attained such proportions, he says, that "we are unable to utilize certain establishments even though they are provided with raw material, only because of the lack of skilled labour."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.