The New York herald., 1920-12-05


devoted to him.
had lived in Ekaterinburg previously
to the occasion of Trotzky's visit first In
1918 when the Czechs were there, and again
In 1919 when Kochaks troops and bat
tali0n of the Hampshire Regiment occupied
1t. On both these occasions 1t had been a
very busy place, the railway station being
blocked with staff trains most Of which
might be briefly described as bordels am bu-
ldnts; the station platform, a local Picca-
dilly in more senses than one, being always
crowded with officers and ladies' the streets
filled with soldiers, horses, cabs and the
speeding motor-cars Of great Generals;
the shops and eating houses full of food;
the market place crowded with farmers
carts. In fact it was, like any other army
base a town of good cheer. overcrowding.
khaki, hustle" horses and sim Boisterous,
imperfect with streaks Of religion and bursts
of philanthropy, 1t was, with all it's faults,
human.
Trotzky Transforms Ekaterinburg
Into Fantastic Propaganda Centre
The Ekaternburg that met my eyes on
this visit completely changed. Trying
to describe that change to myself in one
word 1 meant to say "Bolshevsm" but
found myself saying "Puritanism." For be-
tween the two :ht re are the most astonish-
ing resemblances, perhaps because extremes
meet, perhaps because the one is as pre-
Christian as the other is post-Christian. I
know that 1t ought not to be SO and that
Lenine should be seated on a heap of skulls
quaffing human blood, while Trotzky should
be engaged nightly in bacchanalian revels;
but. as matter of fact, Lenine leads as
austere life as Oliver Cromwell while
Trotzky is as busy as Lloyd George.
The platform Of Ekaterinburg station was
no longer a promenade, and only people
who had business to do came there. 1t was
sometimes deserted altogether save for
three grim and watchful figures thirty PAGES
apart, Trotzkys janizaries. One great hail
in the station had been turned into typhus
hospital and another great hall into prop
aganda point" The station walls were
covered with advertisements not advertise
ments of the nerve tablets and hair tonics
order, but Bo!shevik propaganda advertise
ments
At each end of the platform was painted
a huge notice ordering all o. C.s to bring
their men without fail to the propaganda
point" and to apply there for newspapers
and literature" which would be given free.
These propaganda points exist in every
station along the Siberian line and are very
remarkable institutions. The largest hall
in the station building is always selected
and is generally presided over by Red
soldier, who has a tiny Office apart. Seated
there on a collection of Bolshevist news
papers. he wrestles In his spare moments
with the voluminous volumes of Karl Marx,
indicates to the young the damnable and
pernicious heresies of Krautsky, or engages
In edifying conversation about Lenines lat
est encyclical with wise, ungodly old Com
munists from the local Soviet
Pictures and Cartoons for Every
Phase of BoIshevist Enterprise
over the entrance of the Ekaterinburg
hall there was painted in large letters the
text. "Thosc who work not, neither must
they eat" while inside saw on every
wall the well known appeal Of Karl Marx,
Workers of the world unite! You have a
world to gain and only your chains to lose."
The pictures and cartoons with which the
whole interior was covered from floor to
ceiling might be divided into several groups:
1. Those praising the Red army and cal
culated to foster a military spirit. 2. Those
cordemning capitalists, priests and militar-
lists. g. Those fiattering the workman and
promising him the overlordship of the world.
4. Those exciting anger against foreign
countries particularly France and England.
There were appeals to the railway work
men not to go on strike, but to remember
that by striking they would inflict deadly
present discomforts were great there was
a good time coming.
There were charts showing the parts of
machine guns and the way to make bombs.
and these were generally accompanied by
explanatory letter press and by appeals to
the workmen to drill and arm and study the
mechanism of their rifles. so that no power
on earth could dsarm them and force them
back again into the old servitude.
Side by side with these were charts ex-
planning the construction of the latest agri-
cultural machinery and exhorting the peas
antry to make themselves proficient agri-
culturists.
The attacks on religion consisted of
caricatures showing monks and priests
making money out of holy relics and squan-
dering that money privately on revels and
debauchery. The priest was sometimes rep
resented jas huge eering spider weaving
his web around the muzhik and his wife and
children and these anti-clerical cartoons
were generally accompanied by satirical
doggerel from the pen of the Sovets prin-
cipal poet, Moscow Communist who writes
a great deal of coarse, satirical verse under
the pen name of Ivan Bedny Poor john.
Many huge colored cartoons were devoted
to Kolchak and Denikin. and were mostly
vulgar but effective.
The triumph of the Red Army was ex-
hbited not without a rough art, In series
of cartoons, some showing the Red soldiers
winding through frozen steppes. others
showing them charging madly through the
smoke of battle.
No Public House or Church
In the Communist Picture