Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

er the Soviet system in Russia; how inexpensive; and how small one’s wants are. He referred broadly to the insignificant compensation— not salary—set as remuneration for his job; broadly also, with an air of behold! to the reasonably fair condition of his own person. Having just arrived in the country, I did not ask how many different positions he held at the same time, each providing its monthly food portion (Payok) and wage. Nor did I ask about the size of credit ac- counts that can continue indefinitely at Government stores without settlement. Volodin was a Russian Jew who had been deported from the United States. Having a good command of English, he was very useful in dealing with the English speaking relief organizations. He took me directly to the Foreign Office for assign- ment to some Guest House. There were no hotels in Russia at that time. Moscow had, in place of hotels, several Guest Houses conducted by the Government, where strangers coming to the city would be given lodg- ing; in the first years, free of charge. Later the price rose to the level of London or New York hotels. The most important one was the palatial residence, formerly belonging to a wealthy “sugar king,” situated on the banks of the Moscow river directly opposite the Kremlin. In this magnificent house were generally placed the distinguished guests. Another, the Luxe, more cen- trally located on the Tverskaya street, was occupied by residents connected with the government and _ suitable transient guests. The third Guest House had once been the Savoy Hotel. It was one of the newest and in the days of its splendor had been considered one of the finest hotels in the city. Nearby was the Foreign Office, the UNSEALING THE CLOSED DOOR 31 Kremlin, and the headquarters of the Tchrezvitchainyi Kommissia—usually abbreviated to Tcheka—the Secret Service with unlimited powers. The Foreign Office directed me to go to the Savoy Guest House for lodging, but when they realized that there might be language difficulties, one of the English- speaking clerks of the Office very kindly accompanied me to the Guest House and personally located the room that was to be my home for a time. In the general deteriora- tion of the Savoy was included also the elevator which was not now usable. How get the baggage up to the fifth floor? There were no porters or other employees at the Guest House to perform such menial service. In the sudden elevation of the worker to a position of collective dictatorship he discovered that it seemed ignoble and hu- miliating for him to do service for another person. Each does his own work. The traveler should have no piece of baggage larger than he himself can carry up five flights of stairs. But by 1921 quite a number of foreigners had come to the Savoy, among them women as well as men, who did not have the physical strength to carry their baggage, and so it came about that there was a gradual falling aw