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UKRAINIAN WOMAN OUR ENGLISH COLUMN The Soviet Union as Mrs. Roosevelt Sees It After returning- from her so journ. in USSR, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt has dwelt upon her im pressions in the articles in major American dailies as well as in several lectures on her visit in USSR before various audiences. These impressions, or rather her interpretation, have called forth many a rejoinder. The wo men of UNWLA have prepared a special letter to Mrs. Roosevelt rela’tive to her reports on Soviet realities and problems. W e are tendering here the train of thought supporting our argu mentation. Ms. Roosevelt was trying hard to grasp the important scopes of Soviet life, so as to perceive the motive power of the affairs of that land. She reported and gave her impressions of agriculture, welfare, religious life, status of women, education and upbringing of youth. She discussed these problems with diverse people, viewed various institutions, and obtained statistics. She tried, she states, to evaluate everything ob jectively and correctly. However, she did not take into account some important and per tinent facts. Her traveling, even if in company with her interpret er, had all the same been a guid ed tour under the Soviet govern ment’s tutelage. Thus she met the people and viewed the institu tions that had been for long time selected for the purpose, to dem onstrate to the foreigners, or to her in particular. Her request for permission to inspect other build ings was not granted. Moreover, Mrs. Roosevelt is not versed in historical questions of Eastern Europe. She likewise did not study effectually the life and conditions in USSR, so as to acquire the knowledge of devel opments in the countries under Soviet regime, and hence accept ed the official explanations oi va rious phenomena in the way they were submitted to her. Some of these explanations were challeng ed by her, it is true, however, she complied with most of them, evi dently considering these elucida tions to merit credibility. Conse quently, she jumped at conclu sions, emanating from these offi cial assertions. As an example we may cite her statement that the peasants in USSR have experienced “a change for better” under the bolshevik regime since they used to live, as she believes, in wretched condi tions before the revolution of 1917. Yet the fact is that the mass of the peasants in former Russia, and in Ukraine in particular, had lived incomparably better prior to this revolution. The standard of living of the “kolkhozniks” (“collectivized” farmers) is the lowest one in USSR even at the present time. This is the reason why the peasantry is hating so intensely the bolshevism and its ‘kolkhozes.” The “collectivized” farmers are ever ready to aban don and to dissolve these “kolkho zes” at the slightest prompting, as it was demonstrated in Yugo slavia and Poland. Mrs. Roosevelt, as it appears, wished to evince to America, or to the whole democratic world, the attainments of USSR in various fields of life. She has determined it is a real challenge which re quires comprehension on our part, more devotion to our ideals, as well as the willingness of our peo ple to apprehend this challenge. Her notion may be correct, yet in such case she ought to have like wise pointed out the blunders and deceits of the bolshevik regime which she has for the most part omitted or overlooked in her re ports. And there is no doubt that there have been very many and very weighty evils, faults and draw backs, too many to dwell upon in such a brief article. The uppermost and the most essential defect has been the lack of freedom in USSR, which state is holding the people enchained and isolated from the rest of the world. Mrs. Roosevelt encountered several times the manifestations of this constraint, still she has never stopped to consider the causes of this problem. However, the emphasis on. this most impor tant question would best eluci date to the peoples of the free world the value of the propagated freedoms under bolshevik regime. L. B . C O M IN G E V E N T S Major Ukrainian centers are giving consideration to arranging a festival of U k rain ia n H e ro in e. This being a serious observance, the preparation is carried out carefully. Some centers have al ready set the dates. F ebruary 9 —UNWLA Region al Council in New York. M arch 15— UNWLA Regional Council at Philadelphia. * * * February—is the time of carni va l. The UNWLA Branches are likewise arranging entertain ments famed for fine atmosphere .and choice buffet On F eb ru ary 22 —the SUA Branches in New York will have their annual ball.
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