been said to me in Stockholm by an Englishman who was both one and the other; namely, that, being isolated from European finance, the Soviet Government of Russia was bound to come to an end on economic and financial grounds alone. He said: "That would certainly be so, if ris- ing prices, rising wages, were to mean indefinitely increased demands on the printing machines for paper money. But, while we are at present forced to print more and more money, another process is at work which, in the long run, will bring this state of things to an end. Just as in our dealings with other countries we exchange goods instead of paying in money, so within our own frontiers money is ceasing to be the sole medium of ex- change. Gradually the workmen are coming to receive more and more in other forms than money. Houses, for example, lighting and heating are only a beginning. These things being state mo- nopolies, the task of supplying the workman's needs without the use of money is comparatively easy. The chief difficulty is, of course, food sup- plies, which depend on our ability to keep up an exchange of goods with the villages. If we can -133- |