Saturday, Mar. 10, 1923

Grain

The Bolsheviki continue to export grain. Four million bushels await shipment on the Black Sea; another 1,200,000 bushels at Petrograd. Tho struggle between the peasants and the government has brought about the lamentable policy of exporting wheat while the people starve.

The peasants, having known years in which they did not have enough grain to sow their fields in the spring, want to hoard whatever grain they can. The Bolsheviki, having failed to get this grain by persuasion, are reported to be trying to starve the people out. The Reds argue that the country is in need of credits, and that if the peasants yielded their grain the same amounts as at present could be shipped with less disastrous results to the country. This is a typical Soviet attitude. Meanwhile, the world waits to learn how the Russian government will spend what credits it is now obtaining at the price of starvation.