So far Zinoviev. I have myself heard of numerous such cases in Russia from different people, but if I refer to Peter Kropotkin, Emma Goldman or Spiridonova, or other pronounced anti-centralists who have gathered together much material, it would probably appear to some that these tales are colored. But it cannot very well be received in that manner when it comes from the mouth of the arch centralists. What happened to the peasants of Ussolje, also happened to innumerable other peasants about wood, and also to the Petrograd workers, and so it will always go and must go as long as the system of centralism rules in all economic organizations. It is not only a few shortcomings, so, Zinoviev ivouM have\ you believe, bu\t it is the principle of political centralism on which the blame falls. I can further illustrate this through a personal experience: A female friend of mine in Moscow asked me to procure some antiquarian books for her. After a long search I happened to see the books in a soviet book store, and I stepped in and wanted to buy them. But there my troubles began. Yes, I could buy the books but had first to obtain permission from the book central, "Centropitschatsch." I took the address and went forth. But the place was at the other end of Moscow. Upon arriving there (one has to walk, for the population cannot ride in autos like foreign delegates) I found it closed. The next day I went again, but I was told that It was no longer there but in a different location. Finally finding the Book Central, I first came to a lady who sat at a desk. She ordered me to fill out a slip and sent me to the next office. There another blank had to be filled out with the names of the books that I wanted, and with this blank I was further sent into a different room. There it was registered, and I was sent back to the second room with the order blank. Now the order blank was signed, and now I could go to the book store and get the three antiquarian books. But now I saw a German book in the store, which I would have liked to buy for myself, I was told that it was necessary for me to again get an order blank from the central. By this time I had enough of this and let the book lie where it was. In order to buy a couple of antiquarian books, one needs, consequently, two days. No wonder if life gets clogged and dissatisfaction over it grows. But these are not merely some shortcomings of the organization, but the whole system is wrong.
That bureaucracy, the intimate friend of centralism, prospers under such conditions is clear without further argument. And there are twice as many bureaucrats in Moscow as there are workers. According to a Rosta poster — one often finds these stuck up on the walls in Russia — the following are the population figures given for 1919-1920 :
400,000 children under 16 years, 250,000 housewives, 105,000 workers organized in unions, 233,000 soviet employees and officials, 312,000 persons of the bourgeois element.
Total 1,300,000 inhabitants in Moscow.
Although it is compulsory for all workers in Russia to belong to the union, there are no more workers in Moscow than those here mentioned. There are, consequently, only 105,000 workers, but 233,000 soviet employees. But the remaining 312,000 parasitic elements also "work" together with the soviet officials, that is, they are engaged in some sort of smuggle trade. Naturally, not very much of productive work can be accomplished in this manner, and as a matter of course it reacts on the food stuffs and provision situation of the country.
The Life of the Workers in the Cities