Could Lithuania Go It Alone?

Like the other two Baltic republics, Lithuania has already been given control of its own economy. Its demands for political independence, however, mean different things to different demanders. If the Baltic state were ever to declare its complete independence from the U.S.S.R., that freedom would carry a price.

To begin with, while people are allowed personal possessions, there is no such thing as private property in the Soviet Union. Thus most of Lithuania's factories, buildings, highways, trains, communication systems -- pretty much everything except the kitchen sink -- belong to the Soviet state. While some property might revert to the republic,...