South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-06-03

nine mas anu many persons express
ed the opinion that the biggest sin
7 gle factor holding the Russian gov
eminent today - Lenine's personal
/ prestige.
/ Despite the faith OF the people
! IN Lenine the masses OF the people
are dissatisfied" continued Cooper
But they are dissatisfied in a hope
I les way. for they have accepted the
I Communists government with an air
OF fatalism, and those who might
have overturned the present govern
ment and established a new govern
ment In Russia have all been dispos-
ed Of The people are hopeless and
Y say that Russia faces two extremes
/ One is the continued rule OF the
Communists which is undergoing
| some notifications and the other is
/ complete anarchy which would come
/ II Communism should fall. believe
I that the Soviets will rule for some
| time 20 come.
Fear of the Cheka
THE present government OF Rus
STA would be a popular government
I II Il could feed the people and II the
/ Cheka were abolished. The Cheka
\ has every one terrcrized. The say
| ing is that one OF every four peosons
! Is a member of one OF the Chekas
I or a spy. One Of the Russian officers
with whom 1 had been imprisoned
and who had been informed that he
was to be released told me that at
I home he had four children and that
he was almost afraid to go home 10
them for the fear that one OF them
would be a spy.
whether or not the Cheka Will
be abolished is a question. II is
probable that the leaders Of the sys-
TENS would not eN'st very long II ii
was abolished and so they defend
The Terror" as = is known as
necessary to the transition period
through which the country is pass
ing.
There are several Chekas, mill
tary and political, and branches Of
this organization exist in every
group OF workers. such az the rail-
road Cheka. There are even a num-
Der Of spies IN Jail.
And speaking OF the jails, it is
very sad to see the children calling
at the prisons to see their fathers
and mothers. All OF the children
are Red and they accept the i'm
prisonment of their parents very
philosophically The schools are all
Red and the educational program
prescribes that the first thing which
must be developed in the mind of
every child is the revolutionary
conscience And whatever the OUT
come in Russia will be il is certain
that the coming generation Will be
Communists for the Bolsheviks at
tack more importance to the care
OF children than to almost any
other branch of their activities.
View of Communism.
THE propaganda section is an
other Of the few efficient branches
of the government. There is scarce
" a person with whom I talked in
Russia who is not more or less af-
fected by this propaganda. At the
present time among the workers and
the peasants there is a bitter hatred
against the Entente. Wherever
have been the Allies are pictured on
posters as being the real cause Of the
present misery in Russia.
However, the feeling toward
America is even friendly.
Many communists told me that
they regard a revolution in the
United States as a remote possibility
and that they think our country
must change to communism by a
general process of evolution.
There are three very popular
posters in Russia which I have seen
widely displayed. One pictures a
French general whispering into the
ear of a pig with a Polish hat on.
Another shows Uncle Sam as an
opulent capitalist. with two similar
figures representing France and
England reaching out for the gold
of the Russian workingman. The
third shows a Red soldier lung.ng
with his bayOnet at figure of
, WrangeL and the second half Of the
poster shows the coat ripped - ny
and a number Of Allied officers in
I the figure.
zone particularly clever piece Of
/ propaganda work now being affused
with the Polish war prisoners is
/ this. Before each batch OF prisoners
/ is repatriated it is given better food
/ for a month or six weeks and then
/ all of the men receive a new pair of
shoes and a decent suit of clothes.
/ Since the Polish Russian peace
/ treaty was signed their food has
/ improved greatly and when these
soldiers get home they will be a
walking advertisement for the Soviet
/ governments
But Of the total number Of pris-
/ oners captured it is safe TO say that
at least one-third have either died
! of starvation or of disease. The
! treatment Of the prisoners also var
I les. Upon being captured each is
questioned separately. They are
asked If they were drafted or if they
volunteered The volunteers have
I the hardest time Of il.
Revolutionary Conscience"
but I saw no brutal treatment in
the prisons and the guards were
friendly and some Of them would
even share their rations with the
prisoners. All Of the prisons con-
tain a number of foreigners of var
ious nationalities who call them
selves Communists and who ar be-
Ing detained on the suspicion OF be
ing spies.
There are no avs IN Russia to-
day and the government Is enforced
by DEGREES. And the DEGREES are en-
forced by the revolutionary con-
science of the Communist party
AS for the party, it is the real aris-
tocracy of Russia today and it is one
of the most exclusive organizations
which have ever been organized in
Drszaia