The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1922-03-29

The sudden flood of light in a dis
| trict, the noise of madly speeding
| Cheka automobiles are signals for
the alarm and dread of the com
munity. The Cheka is at work
again!
"Who are the unfortunates caught
in the net Tins night? Whose turn
viii be next:
The ChelIa was organized to cope
with count.r-revolution, but for
every real conspiracy it has I'M
earthed it ms created nine, either OF
an imaginary nature or OF its own
making. /. must be borne in mind
that the main '.ssets OF the Chek'. are
it's provocatCrs and informeis Like
the scourge Il typhus they infest the
very air or Russia. They shrink
from no method. he II ever so base
and cruel. 10 involve their victims
| and to peEallze them as dang 'rous
| counter-erv oIutIonists and Spcrula-
| tors. In reality. however, the Cheka
itself is a hOtoed OF counter-revolu.
tionary plo- and fabulous specula-
| ton.
Recruits Of Old Terror.
Every Communist. by the discipline
OF his party, must at anytime be
ready to serve in the Cheka. But
the majority Of the Checklists are from
the Cars "GkErana" from the black
hundreds. AM from the former high
officials Of he army. They are
| adopts in ne application of barbar-
! GUS methods.
The west srn world has beer. fed on
| glowing accounts of the peoples trib-
unals in RrYsIa-the courts presided
| over by workers and peasants. There
are no such courts within the do
main Of the Cheka. Its proceedings
are secret. The so-called hearings,
when they take place at all are q
travesty on justice.
The "culprit" is confronted by
ready-made evidence. he has no wit
nesses and is permitted no defense.
| When he is led away from the
| Chamber of Horrors he does not
even know whether he is acquitted
or condemned. He Is kept in mad
dening suspense until some night
he is called ou-never to return.
| The following morning Checklist
calls for his belongings, and the
rest of the prisoners know that an.
other cold.blooded murder has been
added to the countless numbers.
| And the relatives and friends OF
the unfortunates? They go on
standing in line on the Lyubianka.
the street where the CHASTITY Cheka
Is Quartered. for days and weeks
anxiously waiting for word from
their own. At last they are told
that the one they are looking for
has been shot the previous night.
In most cases the victim has been
dead for a long time. Thus Insult
Ia added to the tragedy and grief
OF the mourner.
Like the Okhrana of old, the Boil
shevik Ol.hrana keeps its evil do
ings from the public. There is al.
ready considerable printed data on
the horrors within the walls of the
Cheka-the brutal tortures. the
graft, the widespread speculation.
One need not go for Information to
the opponents OF the Bolshevik re.
gime. The Cheka itself occasionally
furnishes much material The
weekly organ of the Cheka No. 3
contains an article on the necessity
of torture. 1t is entitled Enough
Sentimentality!' and says, among
other things:
I'm dealing with enemies OF Soviet
Russia 1t is necessary to use methods
of torture to press confessions out
OF them. and then dispatch them to
/ the other world"
Tho reader need not think that the
Cheka has progressed since 1918
Last summer, when the alleged plot
OF Prof. Tagantseff was discover ii
in Petrograd, brutal beatings, torture
by thirst, and such other eminentiy
revolutionary" methods were en-
ployed. / have this information NOT
from counter-revolutionis but
from a very sincere Communist. who
was one OF the arrested, and who
methods.
A Communist among arrested
counter-revolutionist How did ne
get there7 Very simply. When
the Cheka throws out its not. It
catches the innocent as well ~ the
guilty; In fact. mostly the innocent.
For how can sixty.eight persons DO
involved In a conspiracy without tho
whole city knowing III Yet sixty
eight persons were shot last summer
in Petrograd In connection with the
Tagantseff plot" And that is a
small percentage OF the innocent
men, women and even youths lcne 20
death in the cellars of the Cheks.
Demands for Suppression.
Time and again demands were
made on the Government to check
the power OF this terrible organ.
ization. Such an attempt was made
In the fall Of 1920. Immediately
crime became rampant in MOSCOW.
and "conspiracies" multiplied. Nat
urally, the Cheka had to prove that
1t is indispensable to the Boishevik
state. Thereupon a testimonial Of
thanks was voted to Dzerzhlnsky
and published in the Prayda-