Steel's Sister

An insignificant figure in Europe is Dr. Smeral of Prague. He sits with the Communist contingent of 30 Deputies. He can throw an inkwell clear across the arc of Parliament at the Conservatives with fair accuracy.* But nobody in Czechoslovakia would pay serious attention to Dr. Smeral if his wife's maiden name had not been Dzhugashvili.

In Moscow the most potent Communist of all is Josef Vissarionovitch Dzhugashvili, whom the late great Lenin called for short "Stalin," which means Steel.

Dr. Smeral's wife is Steel's sister. She was told to pack up and prepare to leave Czechoslovakia last week. The police who told her to pack told reporters that she had been caught "engaging in Communist agitation in the Ostrau industrial area."

As boldly as Mr. Curtis of Washington ever fought for the rights of his sister Mrs. Gann, Dr. Smeral of Prague began to battle for his wife's rights. "Scandalous!" he cried, though no one heeded. "I have been elected to Parliament as a Communist by Communist constituents. Yet the police now propose to expatriate my wife for advocating the doctrines of her own husband and his constituents. Scandalous!"

* Books, inkwells and finally one or both of one's shoes (but these only in extreme cases) are among the stock arguments of European Communist deputies, usually in so small a minority that unless they throw things they will not be noticed. Most notorious for ink fights is the Parliament of the German State of Prussia.

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