Evening star., 1945-07-22
The Russia | Believe In
By Samuel N. Harper. fUni-
persity of Chicago Press; $500

By samuel ~. HdTpeT. tUHt-
Dersity of Chicago Press; $500
Reviewed by JOSEPH H. BAIRD.
The late DIR. Samuel N. Harper
OF Chicago University was. by rea-
son of long and acute first-hand OBJ
servation and study, one of perhaps
half a dozen Americans of his gen.
Grafton who could call himself, with
sound reason, an expert" on Rus
sia. For that, in short, was his
profession.
From 1904 until 1899, a period of
three and one-half decades, he
made frequent trips to Russia. Thus
he had what so many present-da
writers on the Soviet Union lack,
a knowledge of Tsarist, as well as
Bolshevik Russia, and was able to
judge the gains and losses of the
latter against the background of
the former, which, believe, is the
only sound basis of comparison
The ore of knowledge which DR.
Harper dug out during these fire.
quent visits to Russia was refined
into lectures for his classes in Chi
cago University and into shelf of
well-documented books on his
chosen subject.
During this reviewers years in
Moscow in the mid-30s DR.. Har-
per's pilgrimages were always well
come by the newspaper colony,
among whom he had many warm
friends. There was, as he recalls in
his book, much good-natured rail-
lery between him and the corre-
spondents He considered us, with
a few exceptions, too superficial in
our judgments OF things Soviet, too
prone to criticism and too easily
annoyed by the lack of creature
comforts in Moscow. We, on our
side. joked with him about his
academic attitude" and his ina
ivete." But this was inconsequen-
tial. The newspapermen found DR..
Harper a mine of information on
both Russian history and the
nuances of Bolshevik philosophy.
His informal seminars were rich
and useful.
The author, who made his last
trip to the Soviet Union in the
summer of 1889, just before the
outbreak of the European war, died
in 1943, while occupied with the
writing of his memoirs.
These, amplified by letters and
memoranda which he wrote over a
period of some IS years, have been
brought together in the present
volume and edited coherently and
UNDERSTANDABLE by the professors S
brother. Paul Harper. In them there
is wealth of personally wit
messed historical incident-from the
massacre Of the workmen before the
Winter Palace in st. Petersburg in
1905 to Stalin's PRONUNCIATION of the
Soviet constitution in 1886.
DR.. Harper was. suppose, an
apologist for the Soviet regime, or
at least he became so In his latter
years. Many casual phrases in his
notes indicate that he regarded
himself in this light. But he was
far removed from the type of pres
ent-day propaganda who sputters
out panegyric after a three weeks
conducted tour Of the U. S. S. r. His
opinions are the distillate of decades
spent in observation and intensive
thought.
To the reader seriously inter-
ested in understanding the social
forces that have shaped the rapidly
emerging colossus of the East. can
recommend DR.. Harper's book un-
reservedly. Not every student Of
Russia viii agree with his defense
of Stalin's policies between 1889 and
1871. But his sincerity and forth
rightness are obvious, and his skill
In following the processes Of RUS
sian of1cial thinking Is. ct times,
iincanny.