Weekly Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1919-1920, 1919-11-05
Y. NJ. c. A. MAN
TELLS TKRlLLSOF
LIFE IN RUSSIA
Mir. Rand Was Awarded
Russian Cross for C0ur-
age Under Fire

/ Speaking before an informal gath
crinr Of local men at the Liblal;
Building in Newport "Wednesday eve
| ing, Ernest l.. Rand, Y.M. c. y. sec
| rotary, who Wa; awarded the Russian
! Cros:; of st. George for his coolne.;'
and courage under fire i'll the Pen
c%a sector of Russia, described v2lt
clearly the condition.; existing i!
Russia today. He related hi, Own
personal knowledge of the political
rs well u the economic situation it
the land where the Bo!shcviks no"
have the upper hand i'll ruling the a.
fairs Of the nation.
"Thnre is no country in the wcrlt
today" declared Mr. Rand "tlia! l.
holding the attention of the pcor!e
a. Russia is. Russia needs help am,
needs it badly and it is up 10 the rest
Of the wcrld to give il to her.
Mr.. Rand described his "trip with
the rest Of the Y. NJ. G. A. mrn into
Russia and mentioned tho names Ct
the large cities they visited. After
leaving Moscow, be- said, they Wc,.t
into the interior OF Russia to iAvcst-
gate the conditions OF the people
there and carry to them the message
Of America that she would help Rus
sin in every way possible to get ou
Of her present difficulties. They
were taken prisoners by the Red
army and held for several weeks
when they were released. Following
their release, he sid, they went int"
Sweden and then taking roun,,
about routc reached ArcEangci.
Mr.. Rand rccited his observations
of conditions in Arch&ngcl three OF
four months before the allies got into
that territory, 1t was not in one
town only that he saw the terrible SIT
uation but in ali OF them. lie stated
his belief that it was not military in
tervcntion, either, that brcugAt
about hose conditions.
There are five groups in Rus
STA today Mr.. Rand declared
First there is the workingMan, the
soldiers and sailors. Radical leaders
with various schemes, some practical
and some Missionary turned the heads
Of this group ard caused 4 lot OF
trouble.
Second was the communist party,
who had been deprived of their
lands, while the church waxed rich
and the Gar held millions of acres c.
valuable lands. The favorites re-
ccivcl large share of the soil while
the poor man or the commone, was
allowed only a small strip Thcs"
men were firm believers in COM
munism; that everyone should has:
IN equal share; that cvcrythin
should be common. The pcaaan,
is very fair and hospitubte. lie he
licves that if everything is only diviG-
cd things would be much more pleas
art and better for everybody. TIL
agitators in Russia told these i@nol
ant commoncrs to do as they told
them to do and they would have .2v
erything in common; that they wculd
divide everything d. they wanted.
"Eieht here it might be said tina,
there is altogether TOO much Bo!snc
vism in America. A good example o.
this may be found in I'ittsburg where
the great HtcclaJl'ikc is in progress.
Boishevi&m in thi; country NUT BE-
wiped out; it must not be alloNcd to
spread as it is doing IT the present
time.
''lhc Third class in Russia totay j.
the modified men.
"Thc fourth and fifth classes coz
sist Of thugs, muldcGcis, criminals;
and hired assassinsA They arc the
Red Guards and the Chinese whlcn
Leon TIotzky hired from Mar chu
ria. The Red Guard arc "Tro.%i;y' =;
Darliag,."
"Hus>ja has always been u land Of
trcachcry and suspicion. 1T is Il Dis
satisfied and suspicious people. One
live PEI cent OF the people in Russia
arc in the Bolshcvik class, but this
sinai! number rules the majority in
that country. Character never dies
and the love Of the Russian people
canlot die. | am not pessimistic but
rather optimistic about the future
of Russia. The people of that ma
ton are looking to America to help
them and | certainly nope That SOME
thing will be done and done quick
ly to aid her.
at is very evident that the Ger
mans are attempting TO get Il foot
hold in Russia through the Paljic
provinces. Germany has got game
yet to play along the Baltic provinc-
cs and it will be necessary to watch
her closely.
at is my sincere hope that Am
erica will bear her full share Of the
burden and help Russia. Unless
is done through thc Red
Cross and intervention of some sort |
Russia will be lost"
Byron f. Clark, state secretary for
Vermont Y. NJ. c. A. who served IN
France as "Y" secretary and made
himself extremely popular with the
boys at the front, discussed the com
ng convention Of the Y. NJ. c. A.
n Detroit, Mich, which will .e held
rom Nov 10 ~ NV % /