The Wilmington morning star., 1943-08-30
CHAPTER "a

phrase asnsent IT to speak, was that the ne
did 'onss5l' oaidon, spoke, and then only
very selaGrI ss4inite purpose. Likewise,
for a aeisalt seldom wrote. The fact
he ,15i very matter was that he irrl-
d t1ls omrbassadors and ministers
.',s5lsssIy ',IIs I by ignoring their h0'es
a1d lf',yss' { was exceedingly surprised
50 re w." short letter from him.
TO rec EecslTgt not at all surprised, after
! wsS sino its 149 Russian words,
.ep5ag ,saahS salutaton. signature; an ;raar ana
so+p so+e. to have it become an inter-
uat' uuaational sensation.
na!lV I4 Vhonuened this way:
..,l;1 II nappod had Just received Chur-
IN 9ISle;t Stain had just received Will
tnlll' 9IV Nv New York office con-
he, I'd w. the idea that it was time
cs s..1in received Cassidy.
S'slDi sn New York telegraphed;
CASSIDY VIEW WILKES
cTy4TEMENT TRY UTMOST i1I GET
S1AIT SraIN INTERVIEW OR FAIL
NC ING THAT SUBMITS WRITTEN Nds[r ~
olNTIFsTIONs lND SECOND FRONT ONT Al l,
QUI9IaN lrn AND SOVIET ABILITY RE-
est sTyT ETcETERA ASSOCIATED
r.o+ telegram was sent Sep
..nbpr - IS. It annoyed me. l had
ssade s.' many requests to Stain for
lli'O, ;nterview or statement, dur
sn saa nv nv two years in Moscow. l
hls aad WI Written a beautiful letter, on
iaa .so nrevious June 4, telling Stain
: 1Dt had lust been out to see Amer
iosn m tanks and planes going into
.s .erpice on the Russian front, and
sregesting w. that a declaration by
Sn sG5' on American aid would be
n, nnst welcome. l had had no an
~ smer Now New York had sud-
ssrlv s, thought up the same idea.
T'st1 strffed the telegram into my
nocket and forgot about it.
few days later, while return
;ro from the mornings work at
e tse foreign commissariat to the
Hotel Metropole for lunch, l re-
monbered the telegram. There
we're 10 minutes before the dining
room opened at 2 pm, so l sat
down at the typewriter in our
hotel room and punched out a let
ter,
I gave the original of the letter
10 George Green, our young aft
emoon secretary, and asked him
to drop it sometime at the mail
receiving room in the southwest
cate of the Kremlin. l put car
bon copy, with New York's tele'
gram. in the files at our apart
ment, under the heading, 'Mlscel'
laneous correspondence
At l1:45 pm. the next night, ]
was Just engaging in my nightly
debate with myself on the propo-
sition, should I 60 to bed now or
read awhile longer, when the tele-
phone rang. 1t was girl secre-
tary of the foreign commissariat
press department, who said: MIR.
Palgunov asks you to come to the
Narkomindiel Immediately. 1t is
very important
All right I said, in panied res
ignation, III come. But it viii
take me As minutes to walk there.
When I reached the press office,
the girl secretary dashed out Of
her cubbyhole to identify me, duck
ed back into Palgunovs sanctum
to announce me, and escorted me
into the presence. Palgunov was
standing behind his enormous desk
his eyes bulging farther than ever.
He emerged TO the center Of the
room, shook hands, waved me into
one leather armchair in front of
the desk and sat himself in an
other.
He squinted at me through his
thick glasses, and, with an ex-
preston that might have been Ell
ther suspicion, or awe, or both,
said:
The document that you are
waiting for is here
What document?' was tempt
ed to say, but by then I knew.
FOR Palgunov reached over to his
desk, picked up paper, and hand
ed it to me. Across the bottom OF
H. IN violet ink, was the clear, bold
unmlstakable signature, J. Stain.
with 1t he handed me an author.
lzeo English translation of the let
ter. 1t said:
Dear Mr.. Cassidy,
owing to pressure Of work and
consequent inability tgo grant you
an interview, I shall confine nv
self to a brief written answer to
your questions.
l. What place does the possibil-
i!y OF a second front occupy in
soviet estimates of the current sit
uation?'
Answer. A very important, one
iDtsns T. say, a prime place.
T. 10 what extent is Allied aid
to.. !" me Soviet Union proving eff.
.eeuVe and what could be done
=" .ampllfy and improve this aid:
~ answer. As compared with the
a4u i1 winch the Soviet Union is Civ.
H,s ils 10 the Allies by drawing upor
n. ,saell me main forces of the Ger.
,tlan H. Fascist armies, the aid o1
90 sae Allles to the Soviet Union has
~ d., lar been little effective. In or
sS5 sia 10 amplify and improve thi.
tba s1a' :. only d, one thing is required:
tbe tbe Iuil .,l and prompt fulfillment b,
Dle Allies All of their obligations.
., mat remains the Soviet ca
PoClly Tor recictopcoo,