Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-05
ALL RUSSIA BEGINS TO READ
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

Were 1t not for the stern political CEN
sorship and the industrial backwardness
which limits the supply Of paper, Rus
STA would be the worlds paradise for
the writer and the publisher Of news
papers, periodicals and books. AS mat
tiers staDd, phenomenal strides have
been made in the publishing business
since the revolution.
Practically 100 1000 900 Russians of
reading age are intensely eager to find
out what Is going on in the world
After centuries of educational darkness
these millions are learning to read and
ere, within prescribed limits. permitted
to do so. The demand for reading
matter created by such a condition has
produced situation comparable to the
publishers, promoters and circulation
managers anxious to distribute their
printed matter.
Before the revolution only one man
in three ard only one woman in eight
could read. For the past six years
schools have been multiplied and at
tended not only by children but by
adults. and the number Of readers has
tremendously increased. The difficulty
is to supply them with books, maya
zines and newspapers.
The first great obstacle Is the official
Russian censorship. It is a fagitious
any work which in the remotest man
ner criticizes the Soviet regime. All
the old books, regarded as classics and
read by those who knew how in the
Czarist days, have been suppressed The
Index ExpurgatoriuS of the Roman
Catholic Church is like a public circu-
lating library in accessibility compared
with standard works under the ban of
the Russian censorship. The prohibi-
ton existing against them Is so strict
that imprisonment befallS the luckless
reader caught In the act Of perusing the
classics.
If caught with the meager. borrowed
volumes to which he had access in his
log-cabin days. Abraham Lincoln would
have been Jailed had his actions taken
place in modern Soviet Russia. For
such works as "Weems' Life of WASH
ington'' would be regarded as highly
subVersive.
Strict Supervision Exercised.
Authors whose writings reflect anv
criticism Of the Soviet regime, or show
any praise Of the good old days" are
likely to be thrown into prison It is
permissible to write books which ridicule
or draw repulsive pictures of the times
before the revolution, but that Is all.
A writer may make fun Of the
bourgeoisie, Of private property, but he
may not treat them with respect or
ascribe to them interesting or admirable
attributes. If books written in foreign
countries are translated into the Rus
sian. they must be expurgated Of all
capitalist doctrine.
No publisher or printer may. upon
pain Of severe penalty, bring out a work
which has not passed the rigid censor
ship. There is some bootlegging OF
classics and Of books, uncensored or
wholly forbidden, but it is as dangerous
to circulate this sort Of work as it was
dangerous for the Nihilists to circulate
revolutionary tracts In the Czarist days
In a word, the Soviet authorities are
copying the methods of the royalists
to a T, but they instead of the Russian
secret police Of the old days, are hold
ing the whip.
But, now that people are beginning
to learn to read, there is appetite for
even the emasculated pabulum allowed.
Just as the man who knows how to
read will. in order to while away the
time, read the few words on postage
stamp or a street car transfer. II that
is all that is available, so the Russians,