Page:Samuel Gompers - Out of Their Own Mouths (1921).djvu/245

 Rh sia at the present time would result merely in further increasing the misery of the Russian people.

The issue of January 1, 1921 of "Economic Life," an official organ of the so-called Soviet Government, reports that the production of lumber amounted to seventy million cubic feet in 1920, as compared with four hundred million cubic feet in 1912. The production of lumber is, therefore, less than one-fifth of the pre-war level, even though the lumber industry is in far better circumstances than other important Russian industries. This same situation is further illustrated by the following article appearing in the "Economic Life" of February 6, 1921:

"By December 20 the following supplies were gathered:

"The Government of Ekaterinburg, which occupies a high place in furnishing food supplies, for several reasons has proven to be very weak in furnishing raw materials.

"During the past week the results of the work have become still smaller, reaching zero in some places, in spite of the extreme energy and intensity of the work."

Note is taken of the statement that if restriction on trade with Russia were removed, many mills, shops and factories in this country, which are now closed, would resume operations, and unemployment would thereby be diminished. Even before the war, trade with Russia, including both exports and imports, constituted only one and three-tenths per cent of the total trade of the United States. In view of the fact that the purchasing