Page:John Rickman - An Eye-witness from Russia.djvu/7

 such as the Boy Scout movement. Under the stricter days of the old régime the Boy Scout movement was not permitted in Russia, but latterly was allowed a certain amount of liberty under police supervision. Under the Bolsheviks, however, it flourished, and troops were formed in many of the cities and department towns.

We had few industries in our district, and the few we had were nearly all taken over by the Soviet. A lumber factory, previously run by the Ministry of Forestry with the help of the Zemstvo, was now run by the Soviet of the department, which controlled the same geographical area as the Zemstvo. The wages paid in this factory to the workmen were 300 roubles per month, and the organisation was such that the factory ran full time and could not extend itself, owing to the food shortage in the immediate neighbourhood and to the absence of empty houses near by which prevented an influx of workmen. A large flour mill fitted with the latest machinery was taken over by the Soviet, and, under great difficulties owing to shortage of paraffin and small parts needed for repairs, was able not only to pay its way and its workmen, but also to be a rich source of revenue to the community.

The forests were controlled, so far as they were controlled at all, by the Soviet, who employed the forestry experts who had been brought into the district by the old régime. The forestry schools were full, the Soviet realising the great value of expert advice in any matter that pertained to industry or agriculture.

Perhaps in no department of administration did the Bolsheviks realise the need for humouring their workmen more than in the control of the railways. Under the old régime it was a notorious fact that local abuses could never be remedied, suggestions for the improvement of the service received practically no attention at headquarters, and without permission given in writing from headquarters no variation in routine was permitted. There had accumulated through the years in the minds of all the railway workers little ideas which they individually would like to have seen tried, and in the minds both of the workers and of the public there was an impression that the central control from Moscow or Petrograd should be loosened. Soon after the Bolsheviks came into power they showed their wisdom and their courage by favour-