The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-08-31
Stalin Frightened
 AtMuch Opposition,
tccntinued from Page D

kN0HpWA&gd party does not seem to be cracked lrreparably.
 At no time during the two months of the crisis has there been any indication of popular support of the disaffected clements, either in the party, the army, or the non.party mass. Nor has there been the slight est rumor of disorder or uprising anywhere in the Soviet union. Diplomats Bewlldered
 Even diplomats and foreign cor- respondents who have lived for years in the Soviet union find themselves bewildered and hard pressed to discover an explanation which satisfactorily covers all ram- lfications of the purge.
 The most reasonable guess at the underlying reason for such a gen- enar purge is that some develop. ment or combination of develop- ments gave stalin such Q fright that he decided to "crack down" ruthlessly on all classes and kinds of potential opposition, no matter what, besre 1t had Q chance to unite.
 Any regime that has lasted 20 years, especially Q regime which had to resort to aS many reprcsstye measures as the Bolsheviks have, is bound to make enemies. Undoubt. edly there were clements hostile to Stalin within the party,
 No Real TrotSl6yism
 But l found nobody who believed that there was any really organized support of the Trotzkyist Idea that Stain had betrayed the revolu. tion," although there were those who individually disagreed with tho course that the revolution was talk. ing under stalin's leadership,
 They felt that the revolution on many points had strayed from the line of pure socialism advocated by the original BoiBheviks-such devia. tions as allowing peasants to hold small plots of land for gardening and feeding domestic animals, the restoration of ranks in the army the strengthening of family units the restoration (although under al- most confiscatory taxAtion) Of ths right of inheritance the encourage. fneilt of deposits in savings banks the protection of private incotnei from work and savings, the tight. efling of divorce regulations and the abolition of abortion.
 WFeckinR, Sabotage
 Charges Of wfecking or sabotage, which also figure importantly in the purge, result from negligence, slack ness, even ignorance, which cause the breakage Of machines and thu interruption of production or trans' port And know of foreign engln. eers with years of experience in So. viet factories who are personally convicted that there has been fre' quent sabotage and Wrecking ir factories for political reasons,
 Many of the old Bolsheviki caught Up in the current purge hat been conspirators by career all oi their lives before the Bolshevis revolution. It is not improbable tha' some had retained their taste fol underground work. Every knowr friend of Trotsky, even friends oI his friends was rounded up, Espionage Another Cause
 Espionage Is another reason fol the purge, There seems not tn, slightest reason to doubt that for eign nations have and are main taining spies in the Soviet union Every military nation n Europe maintains spying organization among her strongest neighbour Du certainly not everyone labeled 1T the Soviet as Q Japanese or oermar spy, or as . Fascist spy, was on . foreign payroll
 Anyone who recalls the epidemic of German spies" ifl the Unites States during the world war under stands what happens under th' stress of wartime hysteria. Th' Soviet union iaborB under Q war time mentality now, as t has ffe' auentiy to Q greater or less degree during the last % years,
 Some of the charges in the press such as the infection Of bouquets with potato cancer, the infection Of cotton areas with pink worm, th' poisoning Of water sources and thi spreading of contagious diseasel among cattle, are reminiscent o wartime days in the United states
 Execution Of 0eneFRis
 When one comes to the case ol MaPkhaii Miehail Tuhachevsky ana seven ether generals Of the Ret Army, conjecture regarding th' background Of their executions II complex and unsatisfactory,
 Tbe key to the mystery possibl, may be found in Btalin's decisiof in May to restore the institution oi political eommissars attached ts large army units, The comnilBsafi are virtually spies to keep an cyl on the actions of the army com manders and report directly to tbs political party, 1t was provided thal every order had to be counteg.sign' ed by two of three peHsons-ths commander, the assistant com mander or the political commissar.
 Any American making his careei in the army might be expected t object bitterly to such Asi arrange ment, TukhAchevsky and othei generals may have resisted this in. stitution and continued their fe- slstance to Q point regarded aB sllB. picioHs or as Q deviation from the party line, It has been known that some upper career militafists wers less interested in the Bolshevisatlon Of the army than in military eff ciency.
 Closing Days Time Table
 4 time table Of the closing dayi Of Marshall Tlakhachevsky'e career reveals with what devastating slid' dsnl,sss the crisis broke. II ID i vee. ?.