Two Views

Two U. S. men last week came out of Russia. One, Geroid Tanquary Robinson, instructor at Columbia University, arrived in Paris after two years spent in Sovietland. The other, James Hudson Maurer, president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Labor, reached Warsaw, capital of Poland, after a month spent in investigating conditions under the Bolshevik regime. Both said much:

Mr. Robinson: "In some of the newer buildings in Moscow the architecture of American pyramided skyscrapers is imitated, and the revolving street signs for the control of traffic remind the American visitor of Broadway. The newest architecture, sculpture and painting show preoccupation with mechanical forms hardly to be matched in the United States, and magazines similar to Popular Mechanics are to be seen on all newsstands."

He further remarked that many Communists were ardent admirers of the writings of Henry Ford and Upton Sinclair.

Mr. Maurer: "I am favorably impressed. After hard experiences and many shocks, Russia is recovering under the present regime, which is introducing new methods to replace the extremely backward system of the old regime.

"All statistics and figures show tremendous work accomplished and continuous improvement. Labor never before had conditions such as obtain now. The trade unions rule the country and everything is open to labor.

"Libraries exist in every factory and the trade unionists have a free ticket to the theatre every night, while the theatres are free for everybody twice a week.

"In general, labor has pleasures and entertainments of which it never dreamed before. I never saw a more moral country, and all the stories about an increase in venereal diseases are incorrect.

"I saw a prison the day we were leaving Moscow. There were very few prisoners. The Bolsheviks do not improve the conditions in the prisons, because they do not believe in prisons and do not want to waste money on institutions to be liquidated in the future.

"Food in Russia is very cheap. Clothing is expensive, but prices are gradually diminishing."