A Revolutionary's Opinion of Russia Under the Soviet Regime

Radio Record, 18 March 1938, Page 26

A Revolutionary's Opinion of Russia Under the Soviet Regime

By

O.E.

W.

THE more I read the more I am convinced that it is impossible for the average man to get the truth about Russia. I read Eugene Lyons’s "Assignment in Utopia," during the few days in which Stalin’s latest and perhaps most dramatic political purge miade heavy headlines in the Press of the world. If I had read "A’ssignment in Utopia" a trifle less carefully I would have leapt to the conclusion that its penultimate arguments had been startlingly borne out by events. _But if ever a moral were written legibly between the fines of a book the moral: "Believe nothing about Russia" is written between the lines of Eugene Lyons’s book. Passionate Sincerity "Assignment in Utopia" is the lat-¢st-and perhaps one of the most notable and sineere books-written about the Soviet experiment. The man who wrote it went to Russia in 1928 as chief correspondent for the United Tress, He went as a convinced Communist, as the defender and biographer of Sacco and Vanzetti, and as exemployee of the official Soviet news agency. He came out as a confirmed opponent of Communism as it exists in Russia, © . . OW, giving Mr. Lyons all credit for passionate sincerity, I cannot help but remember that I- have also read

books by sincere men who went to Russia as convinced reactionaries, and ‘ame out militant reds. And Mr. Lyons himself throws the searching light of truth on Press methods, so that never again shall I feel content to be guided by the cables with a Moscow dateline in the daily newspapers. Even supposing it were possible for an unbiased and well-inform-ed observer to find a paper willing to print what he believed to be the truth about Russia, the odds are that the truth and his belief would be widely at variance, ESPITEH, however, my irritating inability to find in Mr, Lyons’s contribution an end to all the arguments for and against the Stalin regime, L find his personal observations singularly convincing. He paints a picture of Russia which the Western mind cannot ¢omprehend, except insofar as the design lies within its own experience, His expose of the demonstration trials-such as the trial that is now finding so much space in the news-papers-is ruthless: his description of an oppressed and sometimes starving people is moving and horrible. Better-Or Worse But more moving and horrible than this is the picture the author gives of the political frustration of the Russian people. Iverywhere those who desire to take an intelligent and constructive interest in the wellbeing of the State are met by the blank hut perilous wall of bureaucracy. Espionage, censorship, suspicion dominate the (Continued at bottom next column.)

(Cont. from previous column, ) life of every Russian with the faintest interest in polities, . HE only thing Mr. Lyons does not attempt to evaluate is this: Would substitution of democratic practice for the present proletarian tyranny make Russia better-or infinitely worse? Russia may never be judged by any but Russian standards. However much ‘Mr. Lyons may be shocked and horrified by the outraging of his democratic and humanitarian ideals, there is but one test by which the Soviet may eventually be judged, that of survival. The book, "Assignment in Utopia," is one which should be read by the theorists of Left and Right. It is skilfully, brilliantly written, and very definitely stimulating, "Assignment in Utopia," by Eugene Lyons (Harrap, London). Our copy from the publisher.