Evening star., 1951-04-25

Nothing seems to be going smoothly in coun-
tries on this side of the Iron Curtain. Our news
papers are full of stories about how we are all
pretty much up in the air, or begged down, or
at skies and sevens, or plagued with violent con-
troversy or in general bewitched and bewildered
by stresses and strains of the severest kind.
BY way of contrast, we hear very little about
trouble on the other side of the Iron Curtain
Relatively speaking-snce our headlines are con-
centrated on the headaches of the United States
and the rest of the free world-the Soviet Union
and its satellites seem to be blessed with order
and serenity. The press and radio of the Comm
form countries are not full of stories about how
those countries are all pretty much up in the air.
or begged down. or at SKIES and sevens, etc, etc.
So one gets the impression that everything is
going rather smoothly over there.
But one ought to be wary of Impressions
Appearances are often deceiving. What looks like
order and serenity in the Soviet world may really
be an optical illusion. AS matter of fact, we
can be 100 per cent certain that it Is an optical
illusion. In this connection leaving aside such
factors the silencing terror of the police state
a point to be remembered is that the prime
function of the Cominform press and radio is to
suppress the truth and dstort reality into the
exact opposite of itself. Hence, since that press
and radio have little to say about trouble behind
the Iron Curtain, we have good reason to believe
that there is plenty of it there.
Actually, of course, even though our own free
press and radio are not allowed to look at what
is happening in the Soviet world, and even though
they may give the impression that only our own
world has headaches enough is leaking out from
behind the Iron Curtain to leave no room for
doubt that Stain and his stooges are having any
thing but smooth sailing The fact can be vrtu-
ally documented for example, that Red China
is feeling lot of internal strain as result of it's
criminal aggression in Korea Further, the
evidence is plentiful that the East European
satellites are experiencing more than a few trou-
bes in agricultural and industrial production and
that the masses of their population are reacting
surlily to steadily declining living standards.
AS for the Soviet Union itself, there are
numerous indications that it has many tribula-
tions of its own, including worry about the loyalty
Of the oppressed satellite peoples in the event of
war Today's troubles are not confined exclusively
to the free world. # the men OF the Kremlin
lifted the Iron Curtain, the chances are that we
would see an immense amount of confusion, mess
and turmoil The facade of order Is one thing;
the reality another. Let us not be fooled by an
optical illusion.
Because of a coal shortage, London orders
semiblackout which just makes for more jolly
confusion in a town where they rename street
every 400 yards
If the Soviet comrade performs no other
useful service at least he demonstrates that
nothings SO easily alienated as an inalienable
right.
Something different would be diplomatic
,ne,,,nirs entitled nAfv Wrong Moves book Of
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