New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1922-04-12

'rt for dignity of carriage. All are
going to the prisons of Moscow to be
buried in silence for time. The
Cheka has got them.
go to a photographers shop to
make arrangements for some pur-
chases and am to 20 back in three
days to get the pictures. When I
come again am told by woman
with red eyes that her husband is
very sick and cannot come to the shop
know better. The Cheka has got him
Many Still Are Held
AS Political Prisoners
A large percentage Of the prisoners
| in Russia to-day are political prison
ers. The number Is nothing fike as
! great as 1t was year ago, but still
1T is considerable. The one ever-useful
| charge to bring against person whom
the government wishes to dispose of
| is speculation.
1t is difficult for many Russians,
even among the most intelligent, to
differentiate between the tweedle-dum
that is permitted and the tweedle dee
for which one is shot. theoretically,
of the state. On the way from private
to public ownership much property
| passed into the hands of Individuals
For time this was winked at by the
government. To-day stealing either
from individuals or from the govern
ment is severely punished. Once in
long while one hears of man or
group of men being hauled up before
a tribunal and shot for doing what
the favored ones were permitted to
do with impunity three years ago, The
Soviet government has become very
strict Incidentally, this strictness
enemies in and out Of the government
The Cheka, or Extra ordinary Com
mission Against Counter Revolution,
is the most efficient institution in Rus
sa. 1t keeps the railroads going and
it keeps the government going The
Cheka exercises police power in the
cities, railroads and towns. But its
chief purpose is to keep the govern
ment Clean" This is technical
term to indicate uncompromising fdel-
ity on the part of the members of the
government to the mandate of their
superors. The government is kept
tions" Of the party and of government
employees. Every once in while the
government announces that the Cheka
| has been disbanded. This is not true
| The Cheka cannot be disbanded. Its
name may be changed, but the institu-
! tion goes on.
When Emma Goldman was sent to
| Russia she early made it known to the
| powers of the state that she considered
| the Soviet government failure. Miss
! Goldman, who Is an anarchist, believes
in less government rather than more
| government To Miss Goldman the gov
ernment assigned the task Of document
| ing the records of the revolution The
| surrounded was made up Of agents of
| the Cheka.
| Soviet Government Is
Slow Moving Machine
The essential feature of the Soviet
government is that 1t is q committee
government. Manifestly there are dis
! advantages in the committee form of
| government. It is toe deliberatve: too
slow moving. In all essential matters
! the Soviet government avoids these dis
advantages by giving certain members
Of it's committees the powers of dicta
| torship. While these men are in fact
| dlctators, or ipotentiaries, they
Stlll nave 10 pass thell Will through
| large groups of complicated commit
| tees, and this takes time.
Under such conditions of government,
where strong hand is exercised un-
der the guise of committee rule, cleo
tions might be a great Inconvenience
! But the Russian people have never
been taught to think of elections as
right, and so the lack of elections, while
commented upon, is not seriously re-
sented by the people.
In handling disagreeeble problems
the government uses the system of
| interlocking directorates and of invis
| ible government, Many Of the inter
| national functions Of the Russian gov
ernment are passed over to the Third
Internationale. the national interests
to the Communist party, the local in
terests to the unions. So confused
have the Russian people become that
they have lost all interest in govern
fcontlnuad on paoe four)