Evening star., 1947-04-04

on the Black Sea. The paper pays
his expenses there. II he wants to
take his family. however, he pays
for II at nominal rate Of about 1000
rubles per person.
The paper also has rest home
near Moscow, where the staff may
repair with families for week ends.
Pravda, Izakov said. prints no local
news, nor any sensational stuff such
as crime or disaster stories.
I'VE think this type of material
is not so educative." he explained.
adding that there were local papers
which carried some Of 1t.
"Pravda means truth Izakov
said. What we print must be cor
rect. If our readers can discover
a typographical error in the paper.
they write US hundreds OF letters
about II" y
He denied that Pravda was sub
jected TO any censorship, either be-
fore or after publication. The edi-
tor has full power" he said.
We understood more about the
unforced nature of the harmony
existing between the papers edi-
torial line and the party line when
we learned that the editor is also a
member OF the Communist Central
Committee as well as the Supreme
Soviet.
Received by Editor.
This editor, a small round faced
man of 48 named Peter N. Pospelov,
received us in what seemed to be
Pravdas main conference room.
The contrast between the man
and the room was marked. He wore
a black suit, black tie and black
trimmed glasses, which his pallor
|contrasted sharply.
The large conference room was
something else again. One entire
wall was curtained in blue satin,
while on the walls at either end
hung great framed panels of flaming
red silk. Running the length of the
room, surrounded by comfortable
chairs upholstered in deep blue vel
vet, was an enormous table bearing
fruit and q dozen different kinds
of pastry.
The table was covered in felt, and
had about the size and appearance
of four billiard tables placed end
'to-end.
While we slipped tea and sampled
the food, Mr.. Pospelov answered
our questions. He said he gets about
900 letters each month from
readers Of the paper. all but about
40 or so Of these, he added. express
approval of the job Pravda, the
party and the government are do
ing. The rest generally voice some
criticism Of ineficiency in this or
that government agency.
Pravda usually devotes about a
page and a half of Its four pages
to foreign news, according to Mr..
Pospelov. Since the Council of For
eign Ministers began its session here
the division Of space between ma
tional and international coverage
has been about $3.50, he said,
Reflects Peoples Views.
Somebody asked Mr.. Pospelov
whether Pravda regards itself as
the Communist party's link with
the people or the peoples link with
the party. He replied that as
party organ the paper naturally re-
fleets the peoples views.
The mechanical department OF
the paper, which we visited before
leaving, was festooned with banners
exhorting the workers, many Of
whom were women, to more efficient
effort.
Workers Of Pravda," said one
banner in the composing room, "let
us secure the exact fulfil1ment Of
our schedule Tor the setting and
planning OF Pravdae and Of the
magazines issued St' -4the Pravda
plant!" .z
"What have you done to give
others the benefit Of your. expert
ence?" another banner asked.
In nearly every room, standing
lonely and incongruous amongst
the machinery, there was large
bronze bust of Lenin. Pictures of
the Politburo, with Prime Minister
Stain and Foreign Minister Molo-
tov prominently displayed, hung on
the walls.
The whole operation of the paper
seemed so clear, quiet and unhur-
1ied that most of us had trouble
relsting 1T all to the business Of
putting out newspaper as we
knew it. But one of our number
felt differently TITS all so dsdi-
Gated" he whispered as We left.
Exactly like The Christian Science
Monit d.