Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-22

w in Russian" asked DR.. Mcf'ahre,
who has been reading the latest Wash.
ington dispatches about the theory of
certain men that America should
join with japan and China in send.
ing an army to reconstitute the east.
ern battle line.
That is more than I can tell" said
I. II do not think any one knows.
And | do not think there are half o
dozen persons in America who have
conditions in Russia"
what about the various persons
who have told the story of the revc
luton in books?' Owen wanted to
know.
"They have described what hap
pened during the crisis and they have
ditions which led up to the dethrone4
ment of the Gar. But so far as Civ.
ing us an adequate understanding of
Russia they have failed. I think
try that has been published in Amer
lea since the revolution. Many of
them are worth while. But they are
all disappointing
What is the matter with them"
said Doctor McFabre.
The chief fault of those written by
A a
Russia by American standards. very
mucs, as our New England 'anti.im-
perialists' judged the Filipinos at the
time of the Spanish War. They are
! have just finished reading three of
the latest books about Russia each
of which is interesting and valuable
in Il different way, but they all have
American professor of sociology. an.
other by French journalist who lived
in Petrograd for sixteen years and the
third is by Russian princess. One
would think that with this wide range
of nationality and background the
three volumes would give one a pretty
accurate understanding Of the Rus
slams Eut the authors do not agree
on all their facts and when they Go
agree on facts they differ on tile con.
illusions which they draw. So you
see the person who seeks understand
ing OF the subject is pretty hard put
to it.
The book by the Russian bears
the name Count Paul Vassili' on the
title page, with the announcement
that he is the author of Behind the
Veil at the Russian Court. a book
published few months before the
present war broke out. The present
book is called >'Confcssions of the
Czarina.' OF course. they arc not
really confessions. The book tells of the
Petrograd gossip about the Czarina
her quarrels with her husband, her
friendship for Colonel Orloff, her SYM
pathy with Germany and the like. The
rise of Rasputu is told with some
detail and the scandals connected with
him are related. The book is "A vol
ume of court gossip"
who is Count vassili?' asked
Owen.
81 was coming to that" said I. HE
Is not a count at all. The publisher
OF new book by Princess Catherine
Radziwil has recently announced that
the princess is the count and that she
assumed the pen name in order to
prevent embarrassment. If not perse-
cution. She has had an adventurous
career. Her father was Count Dym-
ski one of the great landed proprie-
tors of Galicia. Her first husband was
Prince William Radziwiil who was
major on the reserve list of the Prus.
sian army and the chamberlain of the
Russian Car. Her life at court gave
her opportunities to know what was
happening and to hear the gossip
about those things which she did not
know. She retailed much of this gos'
sip in her book about the Russian
court, and she has put down much
more in her book about the Czarina.
1t is really not an attempt to inter
pret Russia to the outside world, but
to entertain. Much If not all that 1t
contains has probably basis of
truth. but it gives one-sided pic
ture.
"The French journalists book is
called The Last of the Romanoffs.
Its author is Charles Rivet. Petroglad
correspondent of lie Temps. 1t con-
tains an account of the revolution,
brief history, of the Russian political
parties and a resume of the events
leading up to the fall of Nicholas. And
II criticizes the French severely for
their failure to understand what had
been taking place in Russia in recent
years. The book is really an arraign'
ment of the old regime rather than
study and Interpretation of it, Rivet's
story OF the revolution is admirably
told and the book as whole, in
tended to enlighten the French on GER
tain phases of Russia Of which they
had been ignorant, doubtless serves
its purpose very well.'
"Now, what sort or book do you
suppose the sociologist has produced,
Doctor" I asked.
TT certainly ought to- be very diff
ferent from that by the Russian prin-
cess or the Paris Journalist" said he