Evening star. [volume], March 25, 1928, Page 18, Image 18

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
18
COMMUNISTS MAINTAIN SWAY
THROUGH TERROR, WRITER FINDS
People Fear to Express Differing Views.
Press Follows Writings of Moscow Offi
cial Papers —Ruling Party Takes Best.
Tin* i« th** seventh of ten
urtMr* hjr Mr Preiser. famous no\eiisi
V*v»i *«iJhm of An A men,- an TrweJjr.
Jus whuh he sets forth what aiH*eai to
Niim ihe food ami ha.l features of Soviet
V-nte in Rt.ssi* He returned recently
Nifter 11 wetilis of observation in that
Vornitn. The Star presents ibis series
Vv the conviction that there is deer pnb-
Oic mtereeS in tw Hnseian situation...
.w;!bou; in any aat nteitifyinf tteeif
\:ih she «*» nmm expressed by the
Nnter, '
n BY THFODORE DBEISER.
vThe immense super-trust I referred
tb previously is administered by a
oar tv for a class and for promoting the
an idea The phrase, the Dic
tatorship of the Proletariat," is itself a
misnomer t _
“There is dictatorship of the Com
tflumst party in the interests of the
pfotetariat. This party consists of less
Uaan 1,000.000 members who rule the
rast of Russia. They insist now that
if* is the workers who rule them, but
is a pleasant theory only,
CThe government directed by this
Gtenmunist party employes labor just
a> might a capitalist trust. It seeks not ;
ofl'v efficiency, but mental loyalty and
cjrforav.tv. and unless it gets it there
i*. trouble. Let any one show disloyalty j
nt any wav and they lose their jobs.
Ifcu only that, but if they talk they
n»y gc to jail
♦And so all over Russia you find a
kind of terror of the Communists anti
vsJvaT they may do in case you do not
dc or talk or even think as they do.
Communists Get Best.
Speaking German as I do. and find
fcfc here and there a Russian or for
eign-born citiaen who could speak a
little English. I was not infrequently
approached, and especially when it be
rime rumored that I was an outlander S
of' some influence, by derks or pro-]
men or petty traders or even *
mill Office holders who whispered tnwt
aH was not as well with Russia as the i
OamcQunists would have the world be- j
li^e
4»nces of everything were outrage
<HKlv high, salaries could not compare
with what things cost, and there was
never enough of anything, neither food ;
nor entertainment, nor what you would.
Tfce Communists said there was. but
vrfav shouldn't they? They had the
good jobs, provided themselves cars to
rifle around in and first-class com part
m?nts in trains anti hotels wherever
thFv went. And they all wore good
clothes—-did I notice that?
?T hat's why they insisted that every-
Usng was all right. But watch the
eognmon man. the man out of a job or
working at some little trade not con
nected with the big industries which
the government was fostering, or a man
who was a little over 40, and see how
h^did.
Was he happy or well dressed or well
piid? The government did not care
mpeh about him because he *was not
Sag enough to be taught and to be
e all that they wanted him to be
tagigh: and to believe. And I must say
thflt in part, anyhow, my own observa- :
ttons confirmed some of this, not all.
Fear to Complain.
But, ha. ha’ so many whispered.
Ts*re was misery enough. The iarm
etf were not getting enough for what
they raised to buy them boots or over
coats or clothes—hadn't I noticed that? j
And true enough, I had noticed endless
p^br-looking clothes, most wretched
clothing in some parts of Russia But
if Jon* said a word, if one didn't ring ;
just their song—Kish—and here one s
speaker drew his index finger across his
throat indicating an economic if not <
•dually a physical decapitation
And another man. a barber in Stalin, •
put his finger to his lips as a man came ;
in. and afterward whispered, "a G P.
Ur But not in uniform. And always j
spring around the city. Still another, i
a jnusiclan playing hi a restaurant in j
Rostov, a seaport cm the Don River, in- j
■hied that the police and the Commu- i
niats were too officious and superior and
evan brutal at tunes.
*Tbey talk about how terrible things -
under the Cat, but I lived under
the Car. and the soldiers and officials |
weren’t any worse then than they are j
war. Then you couldn’t say a word I
•gkinst the Omr. now you can’t say a'
wqyd against them.*
*r i mj personal conclusion after al- }
meet three months of observation was
that this was true
Gag on Press.
And one of the things that helped
me to this conclusion was not only the i
situation in the theater, which I have'
described but the situation in connec- i
tfem with the press, and indeed any :
fo©n of news distribution. For while
in.every city and town in Russia are
one or more papers, suffered to reflect
the news and conditions and changes of
the region in which they appear, never
theless they do not really do so by
a of means.
For in Moscow are two daily papers,■
the Pravda and the Invest!*, both
organs of the Communist party, and
wdprse yet, of the reigning officials of
th< same who in their turn inspire the ;
executives of the government and their
decision and programs and it is these 1
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two papers which are the exemplars for
j every other paper in Russia outside and
j inside Moscow.
What they say, and not only that
but the very way in which they say it.
is repeated, yet as original news or
opinion, of course. And by all of these
1 other little papers throughout the em
pire. So true is this that in Tifiis or
Tashkent or Chita or Perm, wherever
! you chance to be. you will read, and
that from one to three days after these
two Moscow papers have printed them,
t facts or policies or government decla
rations or indeed anything that reflects
the mood or decision of the leaders.
And never with any deviation or any
original comment, not a trace.
I i took a particular interest in this
declaration of freedom for the press
and followed it up with many personal
1 inquiries and examinations. That is,
I would have the same paper, quite
often the same items, read to me by
two different assistants at different
times and when they were not together, j
Moscow Shapes News.
And at no time did I find any news
or criticism or opinion of any kind
that was not safely held within the
j sines, and based on the opinions pre
i viously expressed in one or other of
these papers. And always with that
! intellectual slant directed by the cen
tral group ui Moscow.
For. as I said, the government wall
not tolerate any unfavorable criticism,
not so much of itself as of communism,
j Communism can do no wrong. Worse,
in order to control mentally and di
rect all thought and conclusions in
Russia, and to bias the same in favor
of communism, no news either from
within or without Russia may appear
which does not tend to glorify the
i principles of Marx and Lenin, and by
f the same token to belittle all other i
j theories or principles w hich in any
| way conflict.
j Thus all news from outside Russia
j must be either neutral and harmless,
having no facets of any kind which by
anv chance could be looked'upon as
a possible reflection upon communistic
ideals and their workings within the
: borders of Russia, or the news must be
l of such facts or theories as tend to
glorify the principles of communism
or by a reverse process tend to re
flect unfavorably upon any other theory
of government and its workings
Thus all news from anywhere on
earth- must show that all other gov
ernments are really oppressive mechan
isms in the hands of capitalists, and
so constantly being used to betray and
enslave labor; or that labor itself is
oppressed, restless, and constantly
seeking to free itself from the shackles
of capitalism, yet with the heel of
capitalism upon its neck.
Admit No Wrong.
Every little strike or labor decision,
favorable or unfavorable, or any slump
or rise in prices unfavorable to the
mass, or any fact in connection with
the extravagance or the waste of the
i rich anywhere, will be played up as
jof the greatest significance in every
Russian paper at the same time that
j any fact in connection with the in
dustrial or social improvement of the
workers in Russia will be set forth at
length and with the greatest enthu
siasm and applause.
But never anywhere a single com
ment that anything is wrong; no com
plaint of a lack or error unless the
same chances to be generally known
i by hearsay and is in process of being
j remedied, when, of course, it will be
the remedial process that will be em
< phasixed lb tell the truth, after the
first week or ten days I found myself
'either irritated or bored by this per
j sistent harping on the bright com
jmunistic scene.
i From one point of view it was seem
! ingly so puerile and petty, and from
I another so offensively biased or dis
honest, that I found myself questioning
i at times whether any considerable por
tion of the Russian population could
! really be accepting ail this as a true
picture of what was going on either
; in Russia or not. It did not seem
I quite possible.
And yet when I recalled the paper :
' of any cult or ten anywhere, tlxe’r j
; studied misinterpretations and too j
I often downright lies, and the unin
formed nature of their readers, espe
cially In Russia, I could not keep from
concluding that to a great extent it I
must be effective, one of the boldest
and yet quickest and safest ways of
j twtetiqg a public to your way of think
; me that could be devised.
No arbitrary dogmastic or religion- !
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Lieut. Col. Luanga A mat a and Maj.
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Langley Field, Va„ at the term opening
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