were now rationed like human beings, and all got
a small allowance of oats. There were crowds
of people about, but the numbers of closed shops
were very depressing. I did not then know that
this was due to the nationalization of trade and a
sort of general stock-taking, the object of which
was to prevent profiteering in manufactured goods,
etc., of which there were not enough to go round.
Before I left many shops were being reopened as
national concerns, like our own National Kitchens.
Thus, one would see over a shop the inscription,
"The 5th Boot Store of the Moscow Soviet" or
"The 3rd Clothing Store of the Moscow Soviet"
or "The 11th Book Shop." It had been found
that speculators bought, for example, half a dozen
overcoats, and sold them to the highest bidders,
thus giving the rich an advantage over the poor.
Now if a man needs a new suit he has to go in his
rags to his House Committee, and satisfy them
that he really needs a new suit for himself. He is
then given the right to buy a suit. In this way
an attempt is made to prevent speculation and
to ensure a more or less equitable distribution of
the inadequate stocks. My greatest surprise was

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