Evening star., 1939-05-14
Appointment Of Oumansky, 81,
Stresses Soviet Youth Policy
Elevation Makes Envoy Youngest Chief of Major
Diplomatic Mission in History of Embassy
System in Washington.
BY Sudduth
By Joseph II. Baird.

Indeed, as a Tass correspondent the
new Ambassador was going through
valuable training school for diplomacy.
Because Tass is a government-owned and
controlled organization its correspond
ents in foreign capitals are considered in
fact, If not in name, members of the
Soviet Embassy staff and work in close
coordination with their Ambassadors.
There was no sharp break in Mr..
Oumanskys career, then. when he was
recalled to Moscow from Paris and made
assistant chief of the press section Of
the Narkomindel. In 1881 he became
chief of this bureau, which serves as
the official contact between the Soviet
government and correspondents of the
world press stationed in Moscow. In
addition to the usual functions of such
an office, Mr. Oumansky also was the
chief censor for press dispatches filed
abroad and in this capacity wore out
many blue pencils deleting phrases
which he considered inimical to the
proletarian dictatorship.
Oddly enough, MI Oumansky always
resented being called a censor Sew
eral times l have heard him. smiling
but serious. insist to visiting American
news executives in Moscow that he was
not a censor. This point apparently
was weighing on his mind when he ar
rived in New York in 1895 to assume
his diplomatic post. for he told ship
news reporters there:
1T was not censor in the usual sense
Of the word. I was only a guardian
against error, not opinion Foreign
newspaper correspondents were permit
ted to express themselves freely"
While not questioning the sincerity Of
Mr.. Oumansky's statement, most of tbs
American correspondents whose dis
patches have felt the weight of his blue
pencil certainly would not corroborate it.
Respects American Technique.
Like most young Americans, Mr..
Oumansky has a keen interest in and
respect for American technique AL
though the Soviet press may picture the
American workman as a pitiful, UNDER
paid slave of capitalism. awaiting some
Lenin to break his chains, it is lavish in
praise of the American machine De-
troit and Gary are pictured as the in
dustrial Utopias which Cork and Kuz-
metz will be some day
During his first visit here in 1888 when
he accompanied Litvinoff on his mis-
sion to re-establish Soviet-A American re-
lations, Mr. Oumansky went to Detroit
for a frst-hand view of the vast auto
mobile industry. Later, in Moscow he
took great pride in pointing out to
American visitors the latest Soviet fac
tories and comparing their advancing
technique with that of the United States.
There is. in the Soviet Union, a blind
faith in the efficiency of work under
socialism which is hardly borne out by
the facts but which is tenet in the
creed of every loyal Communist.
One day at luncheon Mr. Oumansky
and I were discussing the backward
condition of Russian highways. He ad-
mitted their shortcomings, but said con-
fldently that within a decade the Soviet
Union would have road system equal
to that of the United States.
But" I countered, even with the
most advanced type of building
machinery it has taken the United
States 25 years or more to build up its
present system of motor highways"
YES" he smiled indulgently, but that
was under Capitalism. Under Socialism
We can build them in 10 years"
Nothing delighted the new Ambassa-
dor more, during his years as press CEN
uloi ~,
complimentary terms of some new devel-
opment in Russian industry.
Well Equipped for Diplomacy.
To his new task, the Ambassador
brings a good technical equipment for
diplomacy. He is an excellent linguist,
speaking German, French, Italian and
English with almost as much f1uency as
his native Russian. He has a good
knowledge of international politics and
wide acquaintance among journalists
and statesmen throughout the world.
Unlike the older school of Bolsheviks
Mr.. Oumansky seems to enjoy society
His entertainments at the embassy here
have been among the more lavish and
popular of the diplomatic set, and he is
ners. Although, in any event, his role
as diplomat requires certain amount
OF social intercourse he enters into these
festivities with a gusto which would be
difficult to feign.
Dark-haired, swarthy and approach
ing stoutness, Mr.. Oumansky has a mer-
curial temperament and changeabe
personality. At times jovial and ingrati-
ating, he also is capable of sudden
flashes of anger and raper-like thrusts
of irony. He has keen mind but one
which is inherently serious and inclined
to miss humorous nuances.
From the State Departments point
Of view, Mr.. Oumansky should make q
satisfactory Ambassador, for he is WE'LL
connected in Moscow, not only in ths
foreign office but, more important, in
the Kremlin, and may be relied upon
to express an authoritative point Of
view. He is, both personally and po-
litically, truly representative Of the
Stain Yerimo.