The Washington times., 1922-03-31
Continued from First I'age.)

A~Ss " ~0S. A0A
purposes.
The show schools were q most
evil influence. especially on the
children at large. They poisoned
the chtld's mind with sense of In
Justice and discrimination. For
quicker and more correctly than the
adult. the child senses wrong and
sham. And while these "show"
schools were being used a. news.
paper copy abroad, the masses OF
children In Russia were neglected
as the workers children are In the
rest of the world. Everywhere the
privileged few receive all the advan.
tages. Bolsheyik Russia is not ex.
empt from this cruel situation.
I have said in the beginning that
| was deeply disturbed when first
heard that children were Isolated as
thieves and moral detectives" At
the time / ascribed this attitude to
the old-fashi0ned notion OF the physi.
clan In charge at the Hotel LEU
rope. An article In the official
"Pravda," and the talk ! had with
many leading Communists. among
them Maxim Gorky, Nine. Lillina,
nearly all Of them believed in "in.
herent moral depravity."
Some Understanding pedagogues
even favored prisons for such
moral detectives" But that was
too much for Lunacharsky, the
commissary of education; Gorky,
and others of the more progressive
element, whom orthodox Commun.
lists regard as sentimentalists. Luna
charsky fought the barbarous propO-
sition and, fortunately, his side
scored victory. Yet even as late
| as September 1921. there were 200
| Juveniles. among them q child Of
eight, In the Taganka prison Of
| Moscow.
| i i am certain neither Lunacharsky
Jr 'iorky knew about 1t. But therein
lies the curse of the vicious circle; 1t
mixes it Impossible for those at the
head to know what the host Of their
subordinates orc doing. The pres
ep,e of tire children in the Taganka
'vs.s discovered by the political pris-
oners who had been sent there. They
outside, who took the matter UP with
I.Lnacharsky. The children were
finally removed from the prison.
Schools for Detectives"
However. schools and colonies for
The moral detectives" are not much
better thar a PRISON. An investiga-
lion mada by. a Committee of the
Communist Youth disclosed harrow
ing conditions in some Of those
schools IN Petrograd. The report
was published In the Petrogrsd
Pravda of Moy. 1920. 1t substanti-
ated the charges frequently made.
Among them the general practices
" dead souis," the multiplication OF
attendants at tn" expense of the chill
dren's IatiOrs. and other methods ci
committee found. for instance, 1873 a.
tendants in a school of 1875 children.
In another, thlrty-eight attendants TO
TWENTY-FIVE cfilcren. These were not
exceptional cases.
besides that. the committees re.
port showed that the children were
lady neglected, clad in dirty rags
and permitted to sleep on filthy, i'll
smelling bedding without linen; that
some children had been punished by
being locked IN dark rooms for the
right, others forced to go without
supper, and Y"me had even been
leaten. The report caused a great
stir in official circles.
A special investigation was or
dered and, of course, like similar
things in America, 1t resulted in q
whitewash. The committee of the
Communist youth was rebuked for
"exaggerating." 1t was stated that
the article In the Pravda should
have never appeared, such stories
are water on the mill Of the coun-
ter-revolutionists, and so forth.
Typical OF New England.
discussed the matter with some
Communists. How could such a
thing happen in Soviet Russia? I
received the stereotyped reply. lack
Of dependable and efficient work
ers." / offered to take up work
among the unfortunate children
branded as moral detectives"
"Oh. you must see Comrade Lii
ina," I was advised. "Sho will be
delighted to have you"
Several days later Comrade Li!i,d
called. She is a frail woman with
a hard face. the typical New Eng
land schoolma'am of fifty years
ago. She assured me that she was
intimately familiar with the best
methods Of pedagogy and psychol-
ogy. l ventured to tell her that
did not believe in the theory Of the
moral depravity Of children and
that no modern educator held such
antquated notions: that even de.
fective children could not be pun
ished or be branded moral degen-
crates.
told her Of the modern methods
and Of the experimental work with
delinquent children done in America
by Judge Lindsay and others who
had repudiated the moralistic con-
ception of sinner and saint. Oh, yes,
that was all very we'll in a capital
istic country where food and every
thing else, was plentiful, but In
starved Russia moral detectives
were the inevitable result OF long
war, revolution and hunger.
The Interview convinced me that IL
/ were to take up work among the
little victims my efforts would be
thwarted at every step by this prim
and dosmatic lady. She in her turn
probably thought that 1t would not
be safe to intrust the care Of children
in the Communist state to an An
archist. At any rate, nothing came
Of the project.
give this as an illustration OF the
falsity of the oft-repeated Bolshevist
claim that the corruption, abuse and