Evening star., 1954-12-24
THE EVENING STAR As
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MacArthur). I felt I would be
endangering their lives so !
stopped writing" .A
But Mr.. Ladejinsky eln-
phasized that. in his own Mind.
he made his decision when he
came to this country and the
suggestion that he WOULD BE-
subject to coercion Is silly"
He paused Q moment and
then continued:
You who are born In this
country accept the liberties you
have without question. Having
gone through what ! have.
perhaps ! cherish them more
and appreciate them more. and
possibly ] can argue for them
better ts@
one Of the departments
charges was that Mr.. Lade-
jinslxy once was employed by
the one-time Russian Amtorg
Trading Corp. and the depart
ment said that, according to
testimony. such employment
had required clearance by the
Communist Party. ,.sin
"If any such clearance was
required" Mr.. Ladejinsky said.
"I never had any knowledge
Of it."
Then he told how he came to
work for Amtorg as simply an
interpreter. and not, as the
Agriculture Department said as
an economist, Investigator and
assistant to the chief Of the
Bureau Of Transportation Of the
Soviet Railroad.
At the time. in 1880. Mr.. Lade-
jinsky said he was selling news
papers at Fiftieth street and
Sixth avenue in New York. sup
porting himself while studying
for a masters degree at Colum-
bia, and heard that Amtorg, then
active In this country, needed an
interpreter. He said he applied.
got the job at once and worked
with Amtorg for about year.
On the departments point
that he had received a visa. to
visit Russia in 1899 although he
had written articles criticizing
the Soviet farm system. Mr..
Ladejinsky said: "a,
II wanted to visit my father
Che died during World War I'D
and my sisters. ! applied for q
visa In 1887 and was turned
down. / was turned down again
in 1898, and finally got one In
1889. / spent about 10 weeks
there" ~
Mr.. Ladejinsky was employed
by the Agriculture Department
then. He said department ON
cials knew of his trip and en-
couraged 1t because of his. in
terest in the subject of Soviet
agriculture on which he had
published the first studies In
English. He said he spent a
quiet time with his family and
visited some of the collectivist
farm without obtaining much
information because II found
they didn't appreciate my
curiosity" 4.
: The farm expert was accused
by the department of having
belonged to two Communist front
organizations. OF this charge.
Mr.. Ladejinsky said: =
II have belonged to only one
organization, the American Farm
Economic Association--and this
Is o very conservative organiza-
tion." a.
Mr.. ,Ladejinsky hazarded no
opinion on the outcome of his
case which has enlisted the
strong support Of not only Mr..
Judd but also Senator Humphrey,
Democrat. of Minnesota and
others who are seeking to have
the matter reconsidered perhaps
at the White House level. He's
still on the State Department
payroll at $1l,800 a year. while
he sits and waits.
Frankly, ! don't know what
is being done," Mr.. Ladejinsky
said. II don't go to Agriculture
and I don't 60 to State. I Just
stay put here"
But Mr.. Ladejinsky is busy
answering his telephone. and the
Brahms records remained un-
touched in the third-fioor apart
ment.