Mangeans & Rubles

Over 100 U. S. vaudeville performers have been booked by Gomez, the Soviet State entertainment trust, to cavort, tapdance, tumble and blow rubber razzberries in Russia this summer. Last week the U. S. State Department called attention to the plight in Moscow of "The Mangean Four Troupe," a hardy U. S. team who have barnstormed around Europe for some two years under the management of shrewd, brassy Hazel Mangean.

"We thought our contract called for the equivalent in rubles of $3,900 a month for acting in Russia." snapping-eyed Miss Mangean told Moscow correspondents. "Actually what they pay us seems to be worth about $121 a month, or less than $1 a day for each of us!

[ was led to believe the ruble was worth more than 85-c- and that, although we could not take rubles out of Russia, we could buy raw furs, jewels and things like that and take them out. Well. I find the ruble is worth about 3-c- and that even if we did buy furs and jewels it would be illegal to take them out! I want every other American performer who is coming to Russia--16 acts in all, I understand-- to get this ruble business straight before they leave New York."

Years ago most European performers learned about rubles and today play Russia only when they can get no other engagement or want to enjoy for a few weeks the ovations always given by Soviet audiences to any singer, actor, musician or clown from "outside."

Under Soviet law the ruble is a coin with an "official gold value" for which nobody can get gold. Big difference today between the Roosevelt dollar and the Stalin ruble--a vast difference--lies in the fact that the Dictator rigidly sets the price of rubles for foreigners, whereas the President merely uses his stabilization fund to keep exchange fluctuation in bounds. Stalin has any Russian caught exporting or importing rubles shot, and rubles are confiscated from tourists at the Russian frontier. Result: Russians mistrust the ruble so much that in Russia it is "worth about 3-c-."

The Soviet Government, having a monopoly of rubles in foreign countries, prices them currently at about 87-c- each, finds few foreigners anxious to buy. Paradoxically the Soviet Government ten-year gold ruble 7's, sold only to foreigners, have proved better investments thus far than U. S. Treasury bonds. Certain U. S. citizens intuitive enough to realize that Franklin Delano Roosevelt would take the dollar off gold, bought Soviet 1,000 gold ruble bonds in Manhattan for 514 Hoover dollars each which they can now sell for 884 Roosevelt dollars. Such transactions the Soviet Government has facilitated, thus far, as the best possible propaganda.

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