Freedom of Opinion

Whenever dictators want to wash dirty political linen, they run it through a plebiscite, and it comes out pure as Ivory Soap. Last week Soviet Russia made it perfectly clear that Eastern Poland had all along pined to be invaded. While the Moscow press carefully emphasized that there was complete freedom of opinion at the polls, Poles, Ukrainians and White Russians flocked to voting places and cast ballots for candidates for the new National Assemblies (Soviets) of Western Ukraine and White Russia.

Every candidate was officially chosen for the ballot, and as there was no way of registering opposition except by crossing out all the names, results were gratifying. In Western Ukraine, 92.83% of the electorate took part, and 90.93% voted for the official panel of 1,484 men, 239 women; in White Russia 96.71%, voted, 90.67% in favor of 804 men, 123 women. One candidate had been in prison for 19 years.

Quickly, unanimously, surprising no one, the elected candidates met at Lwow and Bialystok, and proclaimed the areas to be something they had already been made by steel, powder and marching men--units of the U. S. S. R.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.