Evening star., 1933-11-13
RUSSIAN CENSORS
INTENSITY EFFORT
Clamp Lid More RigidIy Lest
Recognition Be Compli.
Gated by Writers.
By Radio to The Star.

By Radio to The Star.
MOSCOW, u. S. s. r.. No-ember 10.
-Overeagerness not to upset the apple
cart of recognition has caused the Soviet
censorship to desert its old rule of al
lowing correspondents to telegraph their
newspapers everything that Is true"
II any censorship can be reasonable,
the Soviet censorship may be said to
have been reasonable until the spread
Of famine and typhus in the North Cau-
casus and the Ukraine last Spring and
early Summer. Even when the foreign
Office issued injunctions to correspond
ents against travelling in the famine
areas. the correspondents took it in an
exceedingly fair spirit and even re-
Trained, in most cases. from reporting
hastily the stories received at second
hand from Russians who witnessed the
trouble.
Correspondents Irritated.
notice of American recognition, how
ev'r touched most American CORE
spondents to the marrow and urged
them to end their endurance. During
the course of the entire recognition
stories" American correspondents in
Moscow have been handicapped at
every turn Of the road.
Two days before the exchange of let
ters between President Roosevelt and
President Kalinin of the Soviet Union
was announced this correspondent at
tempted unsucceSsfully to report the re-
action to President RooSevelt's submis-
sion of the question to the cabinet.
On the afternoon of the day of the
coming recognition talks this cor
respondent again was refused permis-
sion to send story about the pending
trip to Washington of Soviet Foreign
Commissar Maxim M. Litvinoff, of
which I had learned from confidential
sources. Following the exchange of
letters this correspondent, together with
other Americans, YVES refused an in
terview with Litvinoff.
Departure News Suppressed.
When Litvinoff departed from Mos
cow and during the following DAYS the
news of his departure was Suppressed
py the conSor, although everybody man
aged to send the news one way or
another.
Discontinue over this refusal of Lit
vinof to speak to American cor
respondents in Moscow was greatly in
creased two days later when it was
learned that Litvinof talked long and
TO the point to American correspond
ents in Berlin, indicating that he had
more regard for them than for the
servants OF the press in Moscow.
since Litvinoff's departure, CORE
spondepts have been allowed to COM
ment on the expected American recoQ-
milton only to the extent 1t Is reported
In the Soviet press. Incidentally. fol
some days following the exchange OF
letters, there was no comment whatever
In Soviet newspapers, and correspond
ents who tried to send anything but the
most general stories on the subject
were quickly quashed.
Japanese Stories Watched.
Soviet-Japanese relations, having 9
serious bearing on American-Sovie,
rappochement. are also considered with.
in the pale Of recognition stories ant
consequently are scrutinized most care.
fully.
An exclusive story from this CORE
spoAdent to the effect that the Soviet
throught its diplomatic representatives
at Vladivostok, had warned the JAP
anese that 1t would shoot II further
Japanese planes few over Soviet terri
tc-..' was killed by the censor on the
grounds that I'VE know nothing about
such protests"
Later the censor did admit that he
knew something about them-too late
for this correspondent to mention 1t.
The point of the story Is that moth
ing whatsoever may be said about recog-
milton today by American correspond
ents In Moscow except just what the
Soviet censor wishes to have American;
read Considering the fact that the
Americans today are more vitality in
terested in the Soviet than ever before
on account Of the prospect of recogni-
ton, this appears to be neither faii
nor open-faced.
1t must be remembered in this con-
nection that all American correspond
ents here are necessarily objective,
this being a revolutionary country oi
the first category, to which counter
revolutionary" correspondents are de-
MED the privilege of entry. No Amer
ican correspondent here wishes to send
anything but the truth, but all would
like to be able to send the full truth
openly.
Copyright, 1933)