Page:The Russian Review Volume 1.djvu/197

Rh line for their turn to purchase sugar, butter and flour. And yet Moscow is the greatest railroad center in Russia. It is clear, therefore, that railroad transportation is not solely responsible. A part of the blame should be placed upon the conditions existing at the sources of supply.

There is one other noteworthy phase of the matter. Petrograd had all along received most of its supplies of grain, both for municipal consumption and for export, by water, and not by rail. Why is it, then, that during the present year even the supplies needed for municipal consumption did not arrive? Late crops and early frosts have occurred in previous years. Why did not Petrograd ever before experience shortage of flour, oats, and wheat?

It might be said, of course, that, as matters stand, the blame should be thrown on the cupidity of the sellers. Without denying the presence of this cause, it seems to us that this would be much too simple a cause of all causes. In the long run, the question of prices, as well as of supply and demand, is settled, not by the seller's cupidity, but by the normal desire of gain and the normal fear of loss. Therefore, if we admit that the large dealers in grain did not send to Petrograd and Moscow sufficient quantities of food products, we must come to the conclusion that the system of fixation, requisition, and punishment, like a two-edge instrument has directed its sharper edge against the consumer, and not the seller. The truth of this conclusion is borne out by the fact that Petrograd is threatened by wood famine. At a recent meeting of the Petrograd Municipal Council it was reported that the supply of wood for the current winter has been much smaller than usual, despite the fact that the demand has increased considerably, due to the fact that many manufacturing concerns now use wood instead of coal. Yet, in the districts which usually supply Petrograd with wood, fewer trees have been cut down than formerly. Thus, the wood dealers, obviously taking into account the administrative measures, diminished their productive activities.

Now, increase in the cost of living must be regarded as inevitable. The country is passsingpassing [sic] through an acute economic and financial crisis. The amount of paper money in circulation is three times the normal. And, while its market value has not fluctuated within the country itself, the purchasing power of paper money has decreased considerably. Therefore, the condition in which people with "fixed incomes," (who constitute the