President Ill

President III

Alex Ivanovitch Rykov, President of the Council of Commissars, was reported ill and confined to his bed. For some time he has been in poor health, having, two years ago, spent several months in Germany undergoing treatment for stomach trouble.

In his first statement to the press since he took over Lenin's job, President Rykov said that while international affairs remained complicated by the Versailles Treaty, Russia would keep a Red Army for defensive purposes. He expressed sympathy with "awakening Asia" and hoped to strengthen Russia's relations with Afghanistan, Persia, Turkey, China and other countries of the East.