Evening Star Newspaper, October 6, 1929, Page 21

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COMMUNIST TELLS OF RUSSIAN VISIT Observations Disillusion Frenchman After Stay of 18 Months. ; BY PAUL MARION. i This Is the first of a_series of seven daily articles in which Paul Marion, for eight vears an outstanding figure in the Prench Communist party and chief of the political agitation and propaganda gection, tells of his disillusionment after 15 months in Soviet Russia. PARIS, October 5 (N.AN.A)—A French Communist making ready for his first journey to the United States of Soviet Russla is always moved by a sense of deep enthusiasm mingled with feelings of curlosity. It should not be thought, however, that he is expecting to find in Russia a form of promised | land where communism has come into its own. The naive mysticism of the pilgrims of 1919 and 1920 has fallen to the ground. For a long time the militant Communist has known both by what the bolshevists have written and by what he has had to admit as truthful in the criticisms of their adversaries that the Soviet regime has not got be- yond the period of socialistic construc- tion. And he knows that this regime is struggling in a sea of immense eco- nomic and political difficulties. ‘The Frenchman, however, strongly believes that a better kind of social state is rising in Russia along two great parallel roads, the first being the development of socialized industry aad of agriculture that industry is leading with it toward collective forms of activ- ity: and the second the fact that the bulk of the workmen and of the peasants and the greater proportion of the technical and Intellectual employes are taking an increasingly active share in the bolshevist regime and conse- quently in the movement toward pure socialism. The French Socialist knows, too, that the dictatorship of the proletariat holds good in the United States of Soviet Russia, but he thinks that this dicta- torship is based on the support of the great majority of the population and is only opposed to the belated represent- atives of the former regime, the net- men, the small bourgeois of towns. the well-to-do peasants, etc. He believes | that the dictatorship of the proletariat identifies itself completely with Soviet domocracy, which he considers the only real democracy. Arrives With Delegations. Tt must be recognized that at the mcment of his arrival and for a month afterward, or even longer, if he does not learn Russian and does not stray be- yond the Communist circles our pilgrim- delegate is not deceived. I arrived in Russia in November, 1027, with a large number of labor delegations invited to see with their own | eyes the progress accomplished after 10 | years of revolution, and for some weeks 1 lived through hours of joy, happiness and enthusiasm, At the station in Moscow each group | of newcomers was received by a crowd of Russian workmen with prolonged cheering. Speeches expressive of the warmest welcome were exchanged, broken by more cheering. What did it matter to us later, after we had driven away in motor cars with the cheers still in our ears, that the waiters at the hotel where we were staying seemed to embody misery and servility. I found out afterward that they received $32 a month. ! ‘Thereafter an extraordinary _life opened before us. Every day without a minute’s respite we visited, under the leadership of women interpreters. who, T must confess, were extremely friendly and obliging, factories, clubs, children's institutions, houses of rest, sanatoria, schools, public establishments, barracks and even prisons. Later I learned that unkind and eritical tongues used to describe these enormous rounds as tours of the Little Red Cook Agency. We ourselves, how- ever, in those days were far from en- tertaining such disrespectful thoughts. Excellent Impressions. At the “Amo” Motor Works (one of the five or six factories in Moscow equipped according to European stand- ards) we lived through a moment of unforgettable emotion when an old, gray-haired workman who could speak a little French saild to us, pointing to the walls, the furnaces, the machines and the tools that were lying about: “Thanks to the October revolution all this belongs to us, and we are working twice as hard as in the time of the bourgeois. Look: here are the bonds in the industrial loan that 1 have just” bought. All my comrades have invested in the loan, too, because we want to develop our industry. We rely on you to defend our conquests.” Wherever we went the impressions we obtained were on the whole excel- lent. I did not know then that our tour had been carefully regulated, planned out and prepared, and what efforts and stage managing the recep- tlon of foreigners involved in any establishment. Children in kindergar- tens and schools, men and women in factories, sick people in hospitals, sol- diers in their barracks and even pris- oners in their gaols all seemed de- lighted to live in the gentle Russia of the Soviets 10 years after the revolu- tion of October. 1 have retained vivid mental pic- tures of the visit. Here is one of them. French delegates were visiting a huge building called “The House of the Peas- ant.” Suddenly they came into an enormous hall. Some real Russian peasants were there, of whom, it. ap- peared, 500 were lodged from week to week in the building. They were read- ing or having read to them technical :’rl_:‘d agricultural newspapers and maga- es. In a corner an old, white-bearded moujik was looking at pictures of model farms and of modern plows. He was listening with the greatest atten- tion to a clivil servant, who was ex- plaining the working of these plows. Our interpreter joined in the conversa- tion, and then, turning to us, said: “You see that man; he is a delegate from his village co-operative society. He is going to order several of these plows, and the necessary credits for the purchase will be allowed him.” Another Tllustration. Another picture: An industrial in- surance office. Officials were receiving in the friendliest spirit workmen come to draw various sums of money. A modestly dressed woman approached one of the paying-out windows. She had papers in her hand and spoke to an employe. We asked what the mat- ter was, and our interpreter, after speaking to the employe and looking at a book the latter had shown her, sald to us enthusiastically, waving the book in the air, “This woman has come to draw money due her husband, who was injured in his employment. He was hurt only a fortnight ago, and Senora de Viteri Preparing to Introduce Ancient Music of Ecuador. Places Senor Duran of Her Country Among Greatest of Living Composers. BY GRETCHEN SMITH. A movement to preserve the music of the ancient Inca race of her country has been greatly stimulated by the zealous work of Senora de Viteri, wife of the new Minister from Ecuador, in introducing at recitals and private con- certs the music of her country's great composer, Sixto Duran. Senor Duran is director of the Na- tional Conservatory of Music in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, where for many years Senora Viteri, who is a brilliant pianist, studied music. “I consider Senor Duran one of the greatest composers of the day,” said the senora. “He has gathered together the music and ancient folk lore of the old Incas and written these strains into music for modern interpretation. ‘While the middle classes of Ecuador are extremely musical, their songs have preserved the rythm of Spanish in- fluence. But the Inca music is abso- lutely distinctive. There is a scale of Jjust five notes which is characteristic of the Incaic music.” Senora Viterl here gave a romantic word picture of the Indian musicians of her country. “They are usually to be found in the mountains,” she said. “You can hear them in groups playing on the Inca instruments, especially two, a flute-like instrument made of bone, called the ‘quena’ and one made of can bars, on the order of a xylophone, known as a ‘rondador.’ Only the Indians play these instruments. The peasants of the country are also extremely musical, but bearing the influence of their Spanish ancestors, the most popular instrument with them is the guitar. “The Inca music is unmistakable,” added Senora Viterl, “It is very sad and plaintive—like most primitive American_music, in a minor key.” “Senor Duran’s music has alredy been introduced in Paris with great success, and I have brought several of his and other Ecuadorean compositions carry- ing throughout the Inca motif, which, later, I hope to introduce in Washington at private recitals in my home.” It is certain that invitations to Senora Viteri's recitals will be widely sought, as the senora’s reputation as a pianist has spread before her. En- dowed with more than one person's ordinary share of beauty and charm, Senora Viteri is distinctly Spanish in type. She speaks no English as yet, but in conversation. she lends to the Spanish tongue all the musical beauty for which that Janguage is famous. In addition to her musical accom- plishments and activities, Senora Viteri is vitally interested in the social wel- fare work among the babies of Ecuador. “For about 15 years.” she says, “we have had public milk stations through- out my country. My father, who was dean of the College of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Guayaquil, established the first free milk station for babies in the country. The movement has spread rapidly until now there are several societies among the women which take care of the distribution of free milk to the children of the poor. Hyglenic stations are found in the dif- ferent cities where the children receive all the fresh milk they wish. If the family is unable to call for the milk, on account of illness, it is delivered at the homes.” Senora Viteri is the mother of two lovely children—Rosita. 8 years old, and little George, 4 years old. She expects to send both children to school as soon ;‘.! the family is established in the new ome. World Phone Directory Out. Because of the rapidly increasing use of the telephone by business men for communicating with manufacturers and customers in other countries, an inter- national telephone directory has been published in Europe. It contains the telephone and mail addresses of 12,120 firms in 1,485 towns in 27 countries, to- gether with rates. e Woman Sculptor Honored. In presenting to the Tate Gallery of ford and Asquith by Lady Hilton Young 1ecently, Sir Joseph Duveen placed the first sculpture by a woman in a British national collection. Lady Hilton Young is the wife of Sir Hilton Young, a mem- ber of Parliament, and was the widow of Capt. Scott, the Antarctic explorer. Her,| statue of Capt. Scott is 1n London, and that of the Hon. C. S. Rolls, one of the ploneers of flying, is at Dover. — e It may even be said that he got rather more than the ration of enthusiasm he expected to receive. Some Entertain Doubts. Even in those days, however, facts stood out which caused some of the delegates, who were perhaps more ob- servant and less credulous than the rest, to entertain certain doubts. During our visits to some of the centers of social service some of the employes, particu- larly women who could speak French, had given the astonished visitors to understand, in a few swiftly-spoken words, that what they saw was excep- tional, or at all events unusual, in Mos- cow, and that only a fraction of the population were free of these children’s elubll!hmen':a lmul: l,;ous:‘s of rest, ria, model schools, etc. “;‘l:ul).he factories some of the visitors had been shocked to learn that under the Soviet regime there were 18 grades with a family of seven chlidren mighs quite possibly be earning only $30 a month in a country where living is very expensive. They had also been surprised to note the vital importance of the word “bureau” (administration) in planations given to them on the work- ing of any particular factory and the fixing of wages. And then there was another thing. Some of the more privileged visitors had received in Paris from kind-heart- ed friends the names and addresses of people living in Moscow who had very Tittle to do with the Soviet government. Slipping away from the whirlwind of official tours they had been able some- times to pay some private visits. Saddened and Downcast. They had trodden a path which was so different from the familiar road that in the evening they had gone back to their hotel saddened and downcast, and had even allowed themselves to make his compensation has already been set- tled. Our struggle against bureaucracy is really giving splendid results.” In the Moscow Soviet, in an immense hall, representatives of factories, shops and every kind of institution and cor- poration “were on their feet, cl ? the foreign visitors and the leaders of the Russ! government. There were 2.30: of these men, all obviously of the worl class. § No‘\?efnbn 7, the day of the tenth an- niversary of the revolution, I witnessed the march of more than a million demonstrators, who, as a body, ap- peared to cherish the liveliest friend- ship for their {overnment. ‘This march mog place in the Red Square in front of stands filled with visitors from every corner of the earth and under the eyes of the ple’s commissars and the 12aders nm-m Communist International. The march lasted eight hours. It will be seen from what I have said that the Prench Communist, or' lutionary workmen, found all that rhetvnluwmd to'find in the U. 8. 8. R. some whispered confidences in a spirit of pessimism on workmen's dwellings, on the miserable lives of the out-of- works, on the scandals of the labor exchanges, etc. But these were only passing words which merely represented an ineffective variation :h‘llch 'uI,l drmud in immense fand enthusiast symphony conducted by the majectic leaders of the orchestra, who are the masters of Soviet Russia, so much so, in fact, that even those pessimists when they re- turned to France some weeks later for- got their own words and praised bol- shevism. - I remained 15 months longer in Mos- cow, and this magnificent Soviet facade before which I marched with my fellows soon began to crack before my eyes and to lay bare before me the pitiful reality of Russia. (Next: The Dombatz trial and the collapse of the Soviet facade.) (Copyright, 1929, erflem Newspaper London a bust of the late Earl of Ox- | of wages, and that, for instance, a man ; THE: SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, OCTOBER 6, 19%_PART 1. WIFE OF ENVOY HERE DEVOTED TO REVIVAL OF INCA MELODIES SENORA VITERL —Harris-Ewing Photo. YEAR PROGRES OFCHANBER T0LD Charles W. Darr, President, Sketches Wide Accomplish- ments in Talk Over WMAL. Charles W. Darr, president of the Washington Chamber of Commerce, in A radio talk over Station WMAL last night reviewed outstanding activities of the chamber during the current year, after paying tribute to his prede- cessor, the late Ivan C. Weld. “The city of Washington has been particularly fortunate in its business record for 1929, Mr. Darr said. “There have been large increases in bank clearings #nd bank deposits, retail trade has been excellent and local real estate and building activity have shown satisfactory progress. The great Fed- eral building program is well under way, land is being secured for the new municipal center, and delayed justice in the form of salary increases is being awarded to our Federal employes. Vision An Effort. “This prosperity is due to the vision, supplemented by the organized efforts, of Washington business men. These men have planned well and have worked harmoniously together to carry out their plans for the advancement of the Capital City. In these co-oper- ative efforts the Washington Chamber of Commerce has strenuously partic- ipated, aiming to promote this new ‘Washington and to secure for it, as its right, all of those advantages enjoyed by similar communities throughout the United_States.” Mr, Darr said the movement to ob- tain national representation for the citizens of the District of Columbia has shown substantial progress, “The chamber's committee, headed by Mr. Thomas P. Littlepage,” he said, “helped to organize and manage the national representation office and dem- onstration maintained in the National Press Building during inaugural week. Radio talks upon this subject were presented in the Chamber’s Radio Series and in The Star's Radio Forum. Offi- cers of the committee also participated in the effort which resulted in securing a permanent office for the Citizens' Joint Committee on National Repre- sentation.” Festival Meets Favor. The chamber's proposal to hold in Washington an annual cherry blossom festival, he said, also has met with im- mediate favorable response. are coming in at chamber headquas offering cherry blossom songs hearty commendations of the plan are being published in newspapers through- out the country, Among other achievements of the year, Mr. Darr stressed the enactment of the diploma mill bill. The aviation committee has been particularly busy, he pointed out, and will keep working in behalf of a municipal airport at Gravelly Point. The committee, he said, wants to see Washington “an’ important center in our rapidly developing national system of aviation transportation” and “the point from which will radiate air mail and air passenger and express lines to all cities of the country.” In this connection, he reported the success in obtaining Washington's in- clusion in new air lines connecting with Norfolk and Richmond on the east and Pittsburgh and Cleveland on the west. Point on New Line. A new line from New York to Tampa, Fla., with Washington as an important stop has also been inaugurated, he said, furnishing the Capital’s first air line to the South, and commencing next January there will be direct air-passen- ger service to the Atlantic Coast cities of South America, The chamber at its annual meeting ‘Tuesday evening at the Mayflower Ho- tel will elect a president, two vice presi- dents and ten new members of the board of directors. The president and vice presidents will be elected on nominations made from the floor. The 10 board members will be elected by ballot, the polls being open from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Charles H. Frame has appointed the following tellers: Grover Blackstone, S. E. Burgess, Joseph D. Dreyfuss, Henry C. Cole, Edwin L. Davis, Ralph A. Davis, G. Manson Foote, John S. Hornback, W. Earl Leese and W. McK. Stowell. President Darr has appointed as judges John A. Eckert, Judge Mary O'Toole and Henry D. Crampton. 26 in Nomination. The names of 26 chamber members have been placed in nomination for membership on the board of directors. are Darrell P. Aub, Dr. Bernard A. Baer, Dr. Frank W. Ballou, Joseph A. Berberich, Merritt O. Chance, Charles W. Clayton, John J. Deviny, Willlam John Eynon, Frank P. Fen- wick, Frederick P. Guthrie, Ernest E. Herrell, Robert B. Hollander, Frank P. Howard, Col. J. Miller Kenyon, Harry King, Henry T. Offterdinger, Hilleary L. Offutt, jr.; Maurice Otterback, Ar- thur C. Smith, Gen. Anton Stephan, Mrs. Caroline B. Stephen, Charles J. Stockman, Willlam C. Sullivan, Stephen H. Talkes, John Z. Walker and W. H. ‘Wollums. o “Jag” Chocolates Latest. “Jag” chocolates have been making 2!. money for fakers in Europe. The e; ire guaran to produce a rosy state of inebriation in 15 minutes md. are sold at the equivalent of 65 cents for an the | amount equal u;l a nickel bar in this country. The Deepest I;ke Boosted, Central Africa boosters are claiming that in'Lake Tan a they have the tal ingredient comes e in the mlfl.| have formed Depths of 4,100 feet have been located. The lake is 200 miles long and 40 miles —_ Because of a bumper crop of olives this season and a large supply left from last year, growers in Spain face a seri- ous problem in disposing of their wi d | The changing of the printed form con- ISINCLAIR RELEASE | DATE EXPLAINED Jail Superintendent Says Change in Printed Slip Caused Confusion. I By the Associated Pre Maj. W. L. Peake, superintendent of the District Joil in which Harry P. Sinclair is serving his sentence for jury shadowing, last night issued a state- ment in answer to newspaper articl which he said have “emphasized what they designate my error in commuting the date of the expiration of his sen- tence,” with reference to good time commutation of the ofl man's sentence. In his statement the jail superin- tendent recounted the procedure he fol lowed in the matter, asserting that he had dealt with the oil man in the same manner used with all other i prisoners. The text of the statement by Maj, Peake follows: “My attenition has been called to various newspaper dispatches and arti- cles commenting Upon my :ubmission to Justice Frederick L. Siddons for his approval on October 4, 1929, of the good- e certificate of Mr. Harry F. Sin- clair. Several of these dispatches and articles have emphasized what they designate my error in commuting the date of the expiration of his sentence and have indicated the advantage that might have accrued to Mr. Sinclair in terms which, to say the least, I con- sider somewhat misleading. To Correct Misunderstanding. “I desire, therefore, to make this statement to correct any misunder- standing about my position in this mat- ter because the public generally are not acquainted with the procedure always followed in connection with the | discharge of all prisoners from the jail, and which I pursued in this jnstance without reference to the fact that it happened to be the good-time certifi- cates of Harry F. Sinclair. “Harry F. Sinclair arrived at the | Washington Asylum and Jail as a prisoner on May 7, 1929. My authority to receive and hold him was the com- mitment issued by the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia command- ing me to receive and keep him in my custody until ‘he shall be discharged by due course of law.’ On the twenty- second day of June, 1929, the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia sent me another commitment, again com- manding me to receive Mr. Sinclalr in my custody and to safely keep him until he should be discharged under a sentence which the commitment read was ‘for a period of six (6) months’ and ‘to take effect from and including the date of arrival at said Washington Asylum and Jall I immediately had entered on the index card of Harry F. Sinclair what I considered was the date | of the expiration of his sentence under | that commitment, viz., October 6, 1929. I do this in the case of every prisoner. He has the right to demand a copy of | his commitment from me. I cannot re- fuse his request. That expiration date | so entered remained on his index card from the day I receiveed this commit- ment. The procedure was no different in this than in_any other case. The only protection I have in holding any prisoner is the commitment. I have no right to keep any one except as com- manded thereby. The commitment of June 22, 1929, was made out on a Rflnted form and if the printed text ad not been departed from it, would have been clear that the sentence was for six (6) months from that date. as the printed form read ‘to take effect from and including this date,” but th> word ‘this’ had been changed before the word ‘date’ to ‘the’ and the words ‘of arrival at said Washington Asylum and Jail’ had been added thereafter in type- | writing. Mr. Sinclair_actually arrived at the jaill May 6. If therefore, the | commitment meant what it sald—and | that is all T had before me—I was com- manded to hold him for the period of six (6) months from that date and had no right to hold him a single day longer. Printed Form Changed. “Then arose the question as to whether his sentence began to run from May 6, 1929, or from June 22, 1929. fused me. Because of the change and the addition in typewriting it seemed to have indicated to me that I had the right to hold Mr. Sinclair only for a period of six (6) months from May 6, 1929. Accordingly after the ques- tion arose I felt I needed the advise of the court in the matter. The ultimate ccnsequence of an erroneous interpreta- ¥ tion of that language upon my part, whatever it was, would fall upon me alone. Therefore, I took the usual method in this case which I pursued in the case of each and every prisoner who has earned his good-time certifi- cate. On October 4, 1920, I presented the certificate of good time in the mat- ter of Harry F. Sinclair to Mr. Justice Siddons showing on its face that Mr. Sinclair was entitled to his discharge on October 6, 1929, u?lon the assump- tion that I was authorized to keep him under the commitment for the period of six (6) months to take effect from and including the date of arrival at the sald Washington asylum and jail. I presented it that I might be certain of my own rights and duties in the premises by obtaining a judicial interpretation of Mr. Justice Siddons of the meaning of that commitment, and also because as assistant superintendent I am authorized to do no more than to certify that the prisoner is entitled to discharge for good conduct in com- pliance with the act of Congress ap- roved by the judge imposing the sen- &nce. in this case Mr. Justice Siddons. Mr. Justice Siddons then interpreted the commitment for me and advised me that Mr. Sinclair’s sentence there- under became effective on the 22d day of June, 1929, and not on the date of his actual arrival at the jail, on May 6, in accordance with his memorandum opinion, a copy of which he inclosed to me. This was the be- ginning and the end of the entire matter. POLICE SAY WOMAN CONFESSED BURIAL Member of Mysterious Cult Charged With Placing Daughter in Grave Under House. By the Associated Pre LOS ANGELES, October 5—Mrs, W. P. Rhoades, alleged member of a mys- terious cult described as the Divine Seak™ whs quored by polce. tonient o , was quot e have conluFud that tg: body of a 19- year-old girl had been buried under ;:e lfllwmb box her house in Venice, a ach- suburb, Investigators said Mrs. Rhoades told them that her daughter Willa had died three years -? while undergoing treat- ment given by members of the cult, S e Mhatlon seave under the 5c00) low flloor olth- .ible_;.imom. where they had aced the girl’s body. 4 Mrs. Rhoades had been questioned for chrfi hlwun betobt: fll‘l?e sobbed the story of e alleged 5 guce i authorization was received Earlier today Mrs. Otis Blackburn, self-styled head of the cult, and her daughter, Mrs, Ruth Angline Wieland, were arrested on charges of having fraudulently obtained from various per- sons $50,000 in connection with the ac- | tivities of the organization. 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