Evening star., 1923-08-26
Ry SIR PHILIP GIBBS.

y OCTOBER OF lSzl L went W fuS-
sia for the purpose of making
report on the famine to the i'm
i perial relief fund.
Much as l disliked the idea of see
ing the grisly vision of famine after
so many experiences of war and Its
effects, I felt that 1t was an inescap-
able duty to accept the invitation
made to me. I was also drawn oy
strong desire to see the conditions
in Russia outside as well as inside
the famine area. and to get frst-hand
knowledge of the system OF bolshe-
yism which was a terror to the ma
jority in Europe with some secret at
traction, holy or unholy. among men
and women of revolutionary views.
With regard to the famine it had
been impossible to get near the truth.
The Daily Mail said the tales of
famine were vastly exaggerated. The
Daily Express said there was no fam
ine at all. The Morning Post sug-
gested that it was simple scheme
for deluding western nations in order
to feed the red army.
wanted to know, and promised to
fnd out and report impartially to the
imperial relief fund. The Daily
Chronicle agreed to publish num-
Der of articles written after my re-
turn from Russia (in order to avoid
censorship, and / arranged to send
an account to the Review Of Reviews,
of which I was the rather nominal
editor.
A Journalist friend of mine named
Leonard Spray was also under IN
structions from the Daily Chronicle
to go to Russia. for another line OF
inquiry, and much to my delight
promised to wait for me In Berlin so
that we could travel together. 1t
would make a great difference having
a companion on that adventure, for /
confess that I hate the lonely trail.
1t was a question of waiting for
passports from the soviet foreign
office in Moscow. / had applied to
the Russian trade mission in Lon
don, and was recommended by an as
sistant to Krassin, an intelligent and
well educated young Russian who
professed devoted adherence to com
munism while doing himself remark
ably well, l thought, with all the
material pleasures of capitalistic
luxury. After a couple of weeks my
credentials arrived. my passport was
indorSed with the stamp of the soviet
republic. and l had in this way a
talisman which would open the gate
of red Russia and let me enter the
heart of it's mystery. To some of
my friends ii seemed the free admis-
sion to tigers cage.
In Berlin l was advised to buy
blankets, cooking utensils, as much
food as 1 could carry, and illimitable
quantities of insect powder. l took
this advice, and with Leonard Spray
and very useful lady who under
stood the German ways of shopping
we bought this outfit remarkably
cheap, reckoning in German marks
which were then not quite 1000 to
the English pound.
* X y 4
HCR journey to Riga was half a
~ nightmare and half farce, and
Spray called our train the get in
and get out express" We generally
arrived at a new frontier in the dead
of night or in the early hours of
dawn, after fitful sleep. Then we were
awakened by armed guards demand
ing to see our visa for each side of
the "Danzig corridor" for Lithuania.
Esthonia and Latvia.
In Riga we put up for three or four
days, waiting for a train into Russia
and permission from soviet repre-
sentatives in that city to cross the
Russian frontier. In. spite of our
l. Il ID srvo
bolsheviks were extremely insolent
and put up a blank wall of indiffer-
ence to our requests for railway fa-
cilities. There seemed to be no
chance of a place In any train, and
very little chance Of a train.
doubt whether we should ever
have set foot in Russia il it had not
been for the American Relief Admin
istration established in Riga and just
beginning to send food supplies into
the famine area. The chief of the
Riga headquarters promised US two
places on the next food train going
to Moscow. and broke through all
formalities by reckoning US as men,
bers of his staff.
What about the famine?" / asked,
and he said, There's famine all
right, with capital F.
We saw red soldiers for the first
time at Sebesh. the Russian frontier.
anemic looking lads, wearing long
gray overcoais and gray hoods, ris-
ing to a point like Assyrian helmets.
with the red star of the soviet re-
public above the peak. Here at
Sebesh also we saw the first train
load of refugees from the famine area,
whom we met in hordes throughout
our journey. They were Let's, and in
a bad state. after being three months
on the way, in closed cattle trucks
Many were typhus-stricken. All were
weak and looking, except some
of the children, who had a sturdy
look in their ragged sheepskins.
A man spoke to me in English, with
an American accent. He had come