The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-01-17

little committee of American:
headed by a Russian princess has
undertaken the task of caring foI
refugees who have fed from tht
Soviet government.
The princess is the granddaugh-
ter of President Grant. and mar
ried Prince CantacuZene, aide-de-
camp to the Grand Duke Nichols
OF Russia. After 20 years of life
in the palaces and military camps
of Russia, and exciting experiences
! in the revolutionary days, she came
! back to this country, one of the
100000 refugees who have fed
from the bolshevik rule.
These refugees, she says, are
I practically all that is left of the
Russian educated class. They are
! the professors, biologists, chemists
bankers, artists, engineers and
| students. She recalls Dr. Charles
Cranes statement that more Rus
slams with professional ability
/ were crushed by bolshevism than
| by the Tartar invasion which shook
| Russia centuries ago.
| Naturally the princess is against
the Soviet government. She be-
lieves that it is nearing a collapse
| and that it is hostile. by its very
nature, to the professional class.
| Much, of course, can be said>on the
| other side. These are the views OF
refugee who was identified with
! the old regime.
The educated class could not
| thrive under bolshevik regime,
Princess Cantacuzene explained.
Those who stayed in Russia are
lost to Russia as useful material,
forever The bolsheviki have built
their government with the peasant
class as the basis and they cater to
this class. The Russian peasants
are a strong foundation for a gov
eminent, but in any progressive
civilized state there must be en-
couragement given to the thinkers,
and the skilled and learned.
so we regard the 100000 refu-
gees as seed corn from which Rus
STA must grow up again to strength
after the fall of the new decaying
Soviet government. The refugees
are waiting patiently for the time
when they can go back, and we be
lieve that day is not far off"
OF about 100000 wandering
Russians, approximately 100000
are in need of assistance, it is esti-
mated. These are to large extent
the women, children, old people,
and wounded Helping to keep
them alive and to put them on their
feet is the mission which Prin-
cess Cantacuzene and her commit
tee have undertaken because they
feel that Russia will soon need her
refugee element.
It sd difficult task. The refugees
are scattered from Finland TO Con-
stantinople in Europe. They are
in Paris, Berlin and Jerusalem. a
few are in this country. Wherever
they are, they want only chance
to earn their living somehow until
they can return to their homeland.
Experiences OF Refugees.
THE refugees are willing to do
anything" the princess says. Their
spirit is wonderful. Here is one
typical instance: my own ex-neign-
Dor, Il rich land owner in Russia,
wrote me some months ago that
she, her daughter and grand
daughter, had escaped from the
bolsheviki and were stranded in
Serbia They were in rags, had
tried to obtain work and had been
unable to do so because of the con-
dition of their clothing.
twenty-five dollars was sent.
The old lady was p, very fat, IN
used to work, and of delicate health,
to my personal knowledge. Within
three months, however, had a let
ter from her saying that $40 had
been spent to buy clothes for her,
her daughter, and granddaughter;
that the granddaughter was earn
ing her living by sewing, the daugn-
ter was teaching French, while she
herself was working in a paper box
factory.
One of her gardeners. who had
also escaped from Russia, had
found her in her retreat, and they
had together bought a few pair of
ducks, geese and chickens, estab-
fishing a small poultry farm.
which she hoped would be a sue
cess. Five dollars of the S25 she
had passed on to another refugee.
poorer than herself, and she added
that ] need not think further of
her. A few weeks ago still another
letter from the same old lady told
me her poultry-raising was such a
success that she had been able to
give up work in the factory. and