Evening star., 1937-07-01
WHITE RUSSIAN
OUTLOOK DREARY
American Friend Forced by
Propaganda to Quit Har-
bin "Y" School.

HARDIN. Manchuria {SpeciaD -
The personal efforts of the outstand.
ing American friend of the White Rus.
slams in Harbin have come to an end
This friend was Howard Haag, who
with his American wife conducted 8
Y. M. c. A. high school for White Rus
slams. All who admire people who can
keep their chins up while fighting
capably a losing battle for q prac-
tically outcast society would have ad-
mired them.
Visiting their school, where the
Haags were assisted by group of sew
eral Russian teachers, I saw, in the
Autumn of 1885. boys with eager,
straightforward faces and girls in
cheap but attractive clothing at their
studies, and reciting with hearty vi
vacity. They were acquiring a com.
mand Of English, which would, If they
were lucky, help some OF them.
Some will get jobs in offices where
English is spoken, In Shanghai or else
where" Haag told me then. But al
best the chances for any White Rus
sian are small"
On Lookout for Jobs.
Both the Haags knew that. But
they knew and liked the Russians Of
Harbln and were doing what they
could for them. In addition to con-
Quoting the school, Haag was ever on
the lookout for a respectable Job fol
an ambitious boy or girl
The Haags are here now. They left
because their situation here was made
untenable. Even in 1885 they were
under constant surveillance Subse-
quently, virulent press campaign in
certain Russian papers, melted by
Japanese, heaped abuse upon them
until they felt their usefulness in Har-
bin Was over. 1t Is said that certain
orthodox Russian priests abetted the
Japanese in the drive because they did
not want capable competition for 9TH
er Russian schools.
The Y. M. G. A. school which the
Haags developed, however, remains
An American from outside Manchuria
comes occasionally and inSpects It,
Russian teachers continue the classes
and a japanese Christian municipal
official acts as its Official local head.
Thus the Haags did not labor en-
trely In vain. Yet, even had they
remained, the school would have
been bucking forces entirely too big
for it; Japan is running Harbin and
the welfare OF the White Russians
necessarily is a minor concern in the
great scheme Of empire.
Many Pitfalls for Youth.
Drugs are only one of the pitfalls
lying before Russian youths here to-
day. Poverty, lack of opportunity, re-
sultant laziness, disruption of families
and many other allied Ills lead to
many vices.
P. S. Tischenko, secretary Of the
Society of Old Residents of Harbin,
was quoted in the press as stating at
mass meeting for the purpose of
arousing sentiment for an anti-drug
campaign four months ago:
There are in Harbin thousands
OF known drug addicts among Rus
sian youths. Ihe effort OF
parents to keep their children away
from drugs are futile. There have
been many cases OF parents asking
police to arrest their children in
the hope that q long confinement
would cure the habit; freed, the ad-
diets turn to their old habit again.
Many boys and girls have been driven
away by their parents and they now
roam the streets OF our town home
less, augmenting the ranks OF crimi-
mails"
Thousands Of Addicts.
The estimate that there are thou
sands Of Russian addicts Is based on
3 survey by a number OF investiga-
tors, who over a period Of months
visited most drug dens in Harbin.
There Is no doubt that Russian ad-
diction to narcotics has reached very
alarming proportions Nor can there
be bright hopes Of stamping out its
ravages among the Russians any
more than the Chinese as long as
the Korean and Japanese trafnc in
heroin and other concentrated mar
cotics continues to flow from Man.
ehurian factories
Prostitution, regular and casual,
among Russian young women is no
new development in Harbin. The in
creasingly straitened economic status
OF the whites can hardly be improving
morals, though the decline Of Eu-
ropean Harbin seemingly is reducing
the number OF Russian girls In
cabarets.
japanese girls are working along
side Russians in some Of the cabarets;
some wholly Japanese cabarets are op-
Grating; there are three or four fairly
new japanese dance halls with 80 or
40 girls each. These are in addition
to the geisha houses which have come
tn since the Spring Of 1885.
Torture Has Ended,
Numerous japanese young bucks,
on the other hand, have a fancy for
the vivacious Russians, and feel proud
to dance with them-patronizingly,
treating them with scant courtesy.
In one respect the Russians in Har-
bin are better of today than in the
Autumn OF 1885. Although the Japa-
nese keep q good tab on them, the
extreme surveillance under which