Evening star., 1934-03-03
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C. BOWERMAN.

lCCtlOL8 Ok xCh CA10 AL 6OVlCS
Moscow. BY Alexander Wicksteed.
New York: Whittlesey House. Nc
Graw-Hill Book Co.
Entirely apart from political and
economic considerations, Russians of
Moscow are neighbors, just as are
citizens Of Atlanta, indianapolis or
San Diego. Perhaps they are more
an Englishman, has had = good op-
portunity to learn their qualities as
neighbors and their methods Of every
day life, for he has lived ten years
in Moscow, under the Soviet regime.
Ue went there first in 1922. with the
Quaker Relief Mission, and was suf-
ficiently comfortable and well salts
fed to decide to remain permanently.
He Is now . teacher Of English in
several Moscow educational centers.
1t hardly needs saying that Mr..
Wicksteed Is in sympathy with Soviet
ideals and likes the country: other
wise he would not have made 1t his
home. He chooses association with
Russians and shuns English-speaking
residents. II his book is not charac-
terized by high judicial impartial
ity, 1t is interesting as . record OF
personal experience.
Mr.. Wicksteed lives in q large
block Of workmen's dwellings, built
on the corridor system" Two hun
dred rooms contain population Of
1000, of whom over 800 are children.
The corridors are fine running track
for the children and, fortunately, he
says, Russian children hardly
ever howl" He considers Moscow a
"city fit for children to live in," with
its yards, parks, Winter sports, Sum-
mer school camps day nurseries and
kindergartens. His account does.
however. suggest that some things of
a sanitary nature are still to be de-
sired. Mr.. Wicksteed discusses the
f1ve-year plans only so far as he sees
their working in the everyday life of
his neighbors. He attempts to ex-
plain, humorously, the shifting value
OF the rouble, which depends Alto
gether on what is being purchased
and on the person doing the buying.
Workers in the lowest category, with
the first claim on orders for food and
clothes, get large value for their
roubles in the CLOSED shops" being
able to avoid the "open market" He
tells why tourists often have q hard
and expensive time-they are not
privileged workers Soviet education
naturally interests him and he sees
in 1t steady improvement. Collective
farming, industrial CONSUMPTION and
the treatment Of minor nationaliites
have all come under his personal OBJ
servation. His chapter on Drink
and Drinkers" Is indicative Of much
information on the subject Of interest
to . nation which has tried prohibi-
tion legislation and abandoned it.
MOSCOW: lsll-ls33. BY Allan
Monkhouse. Boston: Little, Brown
& Co.
As one Of the British engineers
brought to trial by the Soviet gov
eminent In Moscow in April, 1888, on
the charges OF espionage and sabotage,
Mr.. Monkhouse has had experiences
not shared by the many who are
fastening to write about Russia to-
day, before everything is told by some
one else. He has also spent a longer
time in Russia than some Of the
sojourners Of . week or two who
come away so wise. He first went to
Russia in 1911, and so had an oppor-
tunity to observe Tsarist Russia. as
basis of comparison with Soviet
Russia. He has been engineer, NUM-
tions worker. member Of the Arch
angel expeditionary force, refugee,
Soviet adviser and was convicted of
completely in sabotage and bribery.
After % years, he left under COM
pulsion. His chapters on the arrests
OF the engineers and their trials are
naturally the ones which are of great
est interest, being, as they are, pri-
mary sources. He speaks of the whole
affair as "a frame-up" and questions
the motives of Soviet authorities in
their astonishing course" toward
men who had done their utmost for
many years to assist the Soviet Union
in its relationships with Great Brit
ain" He gives no inside information
about the probable reason but repeats
the ofhcial British explanation that
it was probably subterfuge to divert
public criticism from the failure Of
the five-year plan to meet expecta-
tions. Less sensational but as in
formative as regards the methods
and accomplishments Of Soviet Russia
are Mr.. Monkhouse's observations on
industrial organization. agrarian prob
lens, economic policies. the relation
Of British firms to the five-year plan,
transport and travel and the o. G.
P. U. His experiences in the Cau-
casus. Siberia and Archangle and as
a practical participant in the Soviet
development give him his
best material. for here he Is on
factual ground.
y j 4 4
THE UNANIMITY RULE AND THE
LEAGUE OF NATIONS. BY Crom-
well A. Riches. Phi. D. Baltimore:
The Johns Hopkins Press.