Evening star., 1932-12-11
Continued From First Page.)

tocracy, for which the future seems to
hold brilliant promise of further en-
trenchment and further privilege, the
Russian woman envieS foreign and par
ticularly American women for their
beauty and femininity In vain they
spatter their worn, lifeless features with
rouge and powder-the beauty parlors
are overcrowded They cannot hide
the effects of their bitter. fear-ridden
lives. They are less charming. less al
Turing than women of other countries.
Their love-life has become an economic
struggle. A mans ration card and room
are mightier weapons for courtShip than
curly hair or a romantic soul. 1t Is no
wonder that Lunacharsky, as commits
sioner of education, has succeeded in
paying court seven times. His seventh
wife-Rosa Nell, an actress-is the
envy of all Russian womanhood for
her French clothes.
The attitude of the courts toward
women reflects once again the great
difference between statute on paper
and law that has found its way into
the hearts of the people. Close to the
law as they are, and aware that women
have the same legal rights as men, yet
judges allow their arguments and de-
cisions to be swayed by their feeling for
the weaker sex," especially If the
woman is attractive.
All Ordered to Pay.
witnessed case in Kief that was at
once amusing and pathetic. A young
woman, having borne child, accused
perfectly innocent man of being the
father, and, according to her rights, de-
a1I. fAv- a.
support of the child. He was engaged
that his fiancee would break the en-
gagement if she heard of the charge.
A few of his friends came to his assist
ance. and although they knew the
woman only casually, all swore in court
that they had been intimate with her,
in the hope that the judge would con-
slider the woman promiscuous and re-
lieve the defendant of responsibility.
But the judge, casting his eyes upon
the witnesses and the young woman,
said: II order you all to share in pay
ing this woman's alimenti."
Another case I witnessed in Lenin-
grad was that of girl, tired of living
in single room with her parents and
three brothers, who sought to escape
this drudgery by marrying d man with
she sued her husband for divorce, and
the court, ignoring the fact that the
room had been in possession OF its orig
inal owner for the last : five years.
awarded it to the girl.
The problem of marriage and divorce
Is becoming more difficult as time goes
on, because of the acute housing short
age. 1t is not uncommon for di-
vorced couple to remain in the same
room because neither of them can find
other quarters. If either marries again,
the second wife or the second husband
may be forced to share their humble
abode.
The Soviet woman assumes the re-
sponsibility of marriage with as much
gravity as her sisters anywhere in the
homogeneous world, and she expects
her husband to assume them in the
same manner The case Of Tanya,
whom I knew in Charkoff. who COM
mitted suicide when she discovered her
husbands infidelity, and the case of
another woman who attempted TO hang
herself when she learned that her hus-
band was the father of another
woman's child, prove their violent re-
actions to the blasting Of their marital
hopes.
Two Still Active.
OF the few remaining vigorous per-
sonalities among women developed in
the early Nihilist days, Nine Kolon-
tai and Nine Krupskaya are the
only two old Bolsheviks still active.
Mime. Kolontai. Ambassadors to
Norway at present, Is brilliant, fasci-
mating personality. Her book, "Red
Love-" gives insight into one of the
most original characters among mod
ern women. Those who know her, who
have seen her strange, exotic beauty,
which she clothes In black Grecian-like
dresses with sleeves that reach to the