Page:Yevgeni Alekseyevich Preobrazhensky - Third Anniversary of the Russian October Revolution (1921).djvu/20

 20 dition to every 1000 versts of railroad; by the 1st November, 1918, the number was 281; by 1st December, 1918, the number was 88; by 1st July, 1920, the number rose to 130. The work of the engine repairs is also improving. According to the plan drawn up by the Commissariat of Ways and Communications, 4,000 damaged engines were to be repaired by January, 1921. According to returns from 27 railways, 745 repairs were done during August; whereas, according to the programme, they were not supposed to do more than 640. Thus the work of repairs is progressing more favourably than expected. Apart from this there are more trains running in every direction than half a year ago. The trains run faster and there is certainly more order on the railways than before. True, we are very far yet from the time when every worker and peasant will be in a position to go without any hindrance by train where-ever he pleases, but we are nevertheless on the right road, and the first most difficult steps have already been taken in this direction.

The water transport, which is of great importance to Russia, is equally improving in spite of the terrible deterioration of our fleet on the Volga and the Kama. Since the beginning of the war and the Revolution about a third of our river fleet passed out of service, partly because there were no proper repairs, and partly because the deteriorated boats were not replaced by the new ones. About a third was burnt or sunk by the Czecho-Slovaks, the Cossacks, and Kolchak. The Soviet Government had to be satisfied with a third of the number of boats which Russia had