Arizona republican., 1919-04-20

and narrative form MT. Pooles visit tol the small estate fan old Russian friend, whose home was a rough log cabin in the north of Russia. From there he ranged the neighborhood in company with Tarasov, his friend, talking with peasants in their huts; withs the vagabonds camped at night on the riverside; with the man who kept the village store; with the priest, the doctor and the school teacher, as well as the sawmill owner Their views of the war, the revolution, and American friendship are all of great significance now, for the peasants form nearly 90 per cent of the Russian people.
 It is difficult for us to understand how so many millions of people. living for centuries piled upon centuries, and more recently under what is supposed to have been a civilized ruler, could exist upon the face of the earth in such ignorance as do the peasants, right now, of this big, burly neighbor of ours. Yet, it is soberly a. fact. Patient, sim ple-minded, honest, rugged, hard working people, they seem to have every attribute of splendid citizenship, except the power to act as they think
 
 convictions are as pure as the gospels But their organizations are all segre- gated, far distant, one from the other, and lack coordination. That is, until now, such is the case. Until the lnseat- ing of Nicholas. which brought to these l people the first deep breath of real 1 freedom-only a breath, at that-the 1 great bulk of the people were individ- ! ually endowed with noble purposes, but l collectively they were pOwerless, Little 1 by little, however, they learned that 1 certain ministries had been conceded | to them, such as education and agri- culture. Then, hope blossomed and 1 they sent delegations to Petrograd to | ask for implements, credit and cloth ing.
 But they were impatient. though ac- | tive; restive, though hopeful, and af- fairs moved not fast enough; they do not percieve that evolution is a move ment with mighty slow momentum. And there is danger, right now, of a retrogressive slump, brought about by the fact that the people of the cities seem not to know what is best. Hevo- lution upon revolutions; change of government after change: insecurity of purpose and aim; these have forced the Russian, as an individual, to with draw himself selfishly, intending to solve his local problem, and let the na- ton settle it's own troubles-a danger ous predicament. The soviet, appar- ently, is losing the best friend it might have had, the peasantCy of Russia.
 The immediate consequence, natu- rally, is to deny shipment of food pro- ducts to it's cities, without an equiva- lent exchange Of the necessities for farming and decent living: to start small factories in small villages fo1 the manufacture of simple things: tc seek friendship with the United States with brilliant hope that this country will come to the rescue of the village not the nation.
 MT. Poole paints graphic and won- derful picture of opportunity for this country in Russia He deals. in this book, not with political questions, but with the simple, childlike relations o1 the Russian peasant with his fellows It is healthy, thrilling book to read suggesting all sorts of primary ques- tions of small-town economy and do- nestle affairs that get back to origina principles.