Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-04

WOulQ you HIlo eVaAluAAA6 VI
Der u q model for the rank and file Of
the mass. II he fails the example for
others is bad.
Murder, If given no oounter-revolu-
tionary significance, IL punished by o
maximum of 10 years. The gradationS
of punishment for the offense are based
upon distinctions In keeping with the
social danger Of the murderer. Murder
motivated by Jealousy, private gain or
self-irlterest Call bourgeoisie urges) is
the most aggravated form Of the crime
and carries q minimum sentence Of
years with a maximum Of 10 years IN
prison. The brutality or revolving
character of the act does not interest
the court. They believe the social
only through consideration OF the mo-
tives. The decision In recent Soviet
murder trial IL In point
FOR weeks a young wife laid plans to
kill her husband. She saved kopeks to
purchase q knife and bought long
blade with q keen edge that assured
efflciency In the gruesonle work. Her
husband, q good-natured loafer and
drunkard, neglected the support OF his
family and spent his rubles for vodka.
The wife, driven to desperation by his
shiftlessness, but reluctant to divorce
the idler, stabbed him to death as he
slept and mutilated the body beyond
recognition The facts were all admit
ted In court. but the Judge sentenced
her to only three years imprisonment.
He did not regard the woman as socially
dangerous and her act had not had an
arlti-social effect upon the community.
It had, on the other hand, salutary
effects upon the ne'er- do-wellS Of the
village. The sentimentality which kept
| the woman living with her husband and
| prevented her from securing q divorce
| was severely criticized, however, by the
presiding Judge.
Contrast this case TO the affair ot
! Konsantin, Andri and Smirnov, three
boys ranging In age from 20 to % years.
| All were graduates Of q workers high
| school and members Of the Young Com
munists' League, an organization that
prepares the youth for party member
ship. Two Of the boys had attended
the School Of Mines and all were en-
ployed In Soviet factories and govern
ment projects.
one night they returned to the School
Of Mines, broke into the ONCE OF the
gagged his wife, stole 10000 rubies from
the safe and escaped When sppre-
hended the evidence against them was
clear but the trial lasted six days ana
the decision OF the Judge was long and
thorough.
He said that the boys crime was par
ticularly dangerous to the state be-
cause they were members of the
Young Communists, were educated and
considered model youths and had failed
in their duty. He regarded the offense
50 severe in this light that he declared
1t to be counter-revolutionary In its
death. This incident Is interesting by
way Of pointing out the wide latitude
given the Judge in defining the otense,
for had he declared It larceny he could
have imposed only sentence OF two
years at q maximum.
Laws Colored by Two Aims.
In crimes against property the laws
are colored by two Communist aims:
the desire to eliminate the sacredness
OF private property and to protect the
states holdings. The penalty for theft
is measured not by the value OF the
goods stolen. but in accordance with
the circumstances under which they
were appropriated. Theft from q pri-
vate individual, irrespective OF the
amount involved, carries . maximum
penalty Of not more than six months.
But theft from the government Is pun
ished by not less than q sentence OF
one year In jail. In fraud similar
relation of the penalties appears. Fraud
perpetrated ON an individual draws only
one-half the penalty that the same
fraud against the government would
involve.
The Soyiets also have a liquor law.
The manufacture and sale Of all liquor
Is In the hands Of the government. 1t
Is unlawful to make or store liquor
with the view to selling 1t or to trade
in liquor as a means Of livelihood. Con-
viction Of this offense involves a mini
mum penalty of not less than three
years Imprisonment, conflscation OF all
property and loss of political rights.
But the Soviets' regard for the laboring
man causes them to modify the SEN
unemployed at the time he made the
sales or was ignorant of the law.
The affinity between liquor laws and
an approachAble judiciary. manifests
itself In the new Soviet world. The
story Of Fedossja, q prophecies of Red
speakeasy, her anxious husband and an
affable Judge Ia common incident OF
the Volstead era, but in Russia the tale
has a melancholy Slavic ending.
Fedossja, a woman living in liver,
J was accused OF selling vodka In viola
ton Of Soviet liquor statutes. Her hus-
/ band, Iwanov, made q frantic effort to
have the case against his wife dropped
| and arranged through a mutual friend
F.! to meet Nicholai Renkin, Judge of a
| peoples court. He entertained the
jurist, RECALLING him with vodka and
perijiks. The Judge, in an expansive
mood, assured the worried husband
that the case against his wife was
trivial and would come to nothing, al
though the canny magistrate explained
that he would not sit at the trial. The
| jurist's words Of hope cfeered Tedossja
and Iwanov, and the magistrate, taking
advantage of their high spirits, Dor
rowed 10 rubles from the husband
Later, as the day Of the trial APP
preached, the Judge was again enter
tanned by the frightened pair. More
assurances were Forthcoming and an
other loan, this time Of 30 rubles,
negotiated. Fedossja, lulled into o
secure mood, went to trial without fear.
The verdict WaA a ak<srk Che wAR