Evening star., 1933-10-22


" steamer crossing the Gulf OF
Bothnia from Stockholm 10
Abo. Four or five were newspaper cor
respondents from England, Sweden and
Norway, one was an agreeable, SuaVe
Lithuanian of Hebrew extraction.
Silence pervaded the room. All eyes
were fixed on a chess board 1t was
the turn Of the Lithuanian traveller to
play. But he did not reach his deci-
sion hastily. On the contrary, he
studied the situation with care. The
minutes passed. And then. slowly, de-
lberately, he moved a piece. The &C
ton was delicately performed, grace
fully executed. And it spelled Check
mate"
The tension broken. all present re-
laxed. The Lithuanian was congratu-
lated on his perspicacity and skill. He
leaned back in his chair, modestly pro-
testing.
Within a fortnight the victor OF that
February evening IA years ago will
come to Washington to play at the
chess of international diplomacy with
President Roosevelt. His name is
Maxim Maximovich Litvinoff. and the
position he occupies today is that OF
foreign commissar of the Soviet gov
ernment of Russia. He undertakes his
mission to the United States as the
representative of 100 millions OF people
Challenges Rathenau.
Not much is known of him on the
west side of the Atlantic, but on the
continent he generally is considered
challenge to Walter Rathenau's state
ment that no European statesman OF
,y0fa rpC
since the passing Of Frederick the
Great.
The reference books say Litvinof
was born at Bielstok in 1876. At Il
he volunteered for military service
and it was during his army career thai
he became interested in MARKHAM So.
cialism. His studies of radical philos-
ophy carried him into the Kiev COM
mittee of the Social Democratic party
and led to his first clash with consti-
tuted authority. A fellow member o1
the group was police spy and Lit
vinoff and some companions spent IL
months in prison in consequence. Hi!
term in Jail ended with his escape anc
a successful flight from Russia.
For time he was vagabond exile
but 1t does not appear he ever became
discouraged. His mind moved steadll,
to the Left. and he joined the Bolshe
vik or Maximalist section of the Socia
Democracy. 1t is said he took an &C
tive part in the propa ganda Of th'
Iskra, a popular revolutionary period
ical.
Joined Gorky Movement.
In 1903 he returned to Russia illegal
". BY 1905 he was member OF th'
Central Committee and participant Il
the abortive outbreak at st. Petersburg
When the rebels were dispersed by Cos
sack troops, he again became fugitive
In London he attended the Soclalls
congress and joined the novelist MAXIM
Gorky in founding Novaya Zhizn 'Ih
New Life). As an avocatlon he organ
ized the sending Of arms to revolution
aries in the Caucasus.
Like Lenin. Trotsky and THOUSAND
other dreamers. he was awaiting an
other opportunity to strike at the hate
| tyranny of the Car and the imperial
list bureaucracy. His hour struck il
| November, 1917. when the moderat
Kerensky, disguised as sailor, f1e'
! from the wrath of the councils OF sol
| diers and workmen.
By January l, 1918, Litvinof ha
been named first Soviet ambassador t
| the Court of ST. James. He accepte'
| the appointment with enthusiasm. de
| claring the bolshevikS would appeal I
the proletariat of the allies to compel
democratic peace. On January 28 n
made good his threat, addressing
! congress of trade unions and OF tn
Labor party at Nottingham in behal
of world revolution. On August 10 h
was arrested in London to be held /
reprisal for the detention of Consl
Bruce Lockhart and his staff in Mos
| COW. The crown authorities saw hlr
out of England September 25.
| Early in 1919 he again was in tn
news. AS assistant commissar of for
eign affairs he wrote to President Viii
son offering to terminate seditiou
propaganda in Europe If the enten>
would enter peace negotiations. Re
! ceived at American Commission head
quarters in Paris, January II, his lette
prompted the suggestion of confer
ence of all Russian parties at Prinkip
Island and resulted in the mission
William C. Bullitt and Lincoln Steffer
to the Soviet chiefs-a gesture whic
in its effects was to cost Robert Lans
ing his place in Mr.. wilson's cabine
Covered Wide Territory.
Meanwhile, Litvinod was at VOL
among the newly elevated Baltic state
He was the leader of the Bolshev