issues of Znamya (the Banner), official publication of the Union of Writers of the U.S.S.R. (circulation 102,000 copies) in No. 5 of May and No. 6 of June 1959. The article is mainly concerned with the enthusiasm generated by the Soviet dancers wherever they appeared and the many friends the company made while in the United States. Filatov's writing ability seems uncommon in a professional dancer.

CITY LIFE IN AMERICA

The generally accepted reaction to New York is to say that this city is deprived of beauty in the commonly accepted sense of the word ***. It is a city which 1 is least of all adapted to relaxation. A person loving peace and quiet cannot live here even a week ***. The flashing publicity lights of various colors, the flaring and dying traffic lights, and the police whistles awaken in you a feeling of internal agitation ***. The piercing howl of the police siren constantly bursts upon the many voiced symphony of the street, and a blaring car with a red revolv ing lantern on its roof speeds by. No regulations nor laws exist for this "frenzied" ( car. The whole traffic stops as if at the magic wave of a wand at the sound of the strident, reckless, ear piercing howl of the siren, and the car carrying sturdy policemen in white helmets and with rubber truncheons on their hip, races by with the speed of lightning ***. The frenzied howl of the siren is serious evidence, among other evidence, of the tremendous number of crimes committed in the States. Day and night hundreds of police cars dash in various directions through the town. And the following day, glassy eyes of corpses gaze at the reader from the front page of the newspaper and detailed descriptions of bestial crimes are presented to his attention ****.

We seldom visited the suburbs and the poorer sections * * *. No one made any effort to show us the "reverse of the medal." We came as performers and entered America by the "front entrance" ***. We would be distorting truth, however, if we said that during our visit to this country we only saw the gala side of life. We saw need. We saw Harlem and the unemployed standing in line for relief, we saw the look of despair and hope in the eyes of men seeking work, and the rags of an invalid playing the banjo by the mirrored doors of a motion picture theater on Broadway. And we mention this, not because we insist on emphasizing precisely this side of life, but because its outward manifestations cannot escape the eyes of a person even if he has entered not by the back entrance but by the gala entrance carpeted with rugs.

CHICAGO

In the section of Chicago close to the slaughterhouse we saw not only the less comfortable sections of a large city.

We saw here the hunched backs and the sullen faces of men, and they told us much more even than the run down houses and the dirty sidewalks (No. 5, pp. 136-159).

LOS ANGELES

Every night, on our way back from the performance, we travelled almost the entire length of the main street. It is flooded with publicity lights of every color. There are very few people on the street, particularly when compared with New York and Chicago. Everyone is behind the walls of the numerous restaurants and nightclubs, where men with a "flexible dollar," businessmen, Hollywood stars, highranking adventurers, are leading a fast life. What a variety of restaurants

there are on this street. A Swedish restaurant is in the neighborhood of an Italian, next to the gypsy restaurant is a strange building, the small gothic towers of which are crowned with Russian cockerels and ponies ***. At the entrance to the "Grill," the French restaurant, there is a crowd of well groomed young men. "This is the haunt of homosexuals," is the explanation we are given. Many of these young men not only oil their hair, but use rouge and lipstick.

We met such representatives of western civilization not only in Los Angeles, but also on the streets of New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and other cities. "Urgent measures are needed," demand the newspapers, "debauchery and banditism reign in our schools.' And the monstrous facts are cited, of which one cannot read without a shudder. But the shelves of bookstores continue to be

gay with the bright covers of comics, and the muzzle of a gun continues to face -one from motion picture theater posters.

Our last four concerts in New York became a true demonstration of friendship. Friendship upon which no propaganda can have any influence. Our success in America was not merely the success of an artistic company. Our success was a political success, a vivid evidence of the trend of a people toward friendship and mutual comprehension. All this we saw, and became convinced thereof, and this is our most vivid and profound impression of the trip to the U.S.A. (No. 6, pp. 171-199).

6. "NEW-YORK-KOLIZEI" ("NEW YORK, THE COLISSEUM") BY I. BOLSHAKOV; SUBITLE "THE SOVIET FAIR IN THE UNITED STATES"

The article entitled "New-York-Kolizei" appeared in No. 7 of July 1959, of the periodical Inostrannaya Literatura, official publication of the Union of Writers of the Soviet Union. The article is devoted particularly to a description of the Soviet Fair held in the United States in 1959. Bolshakov, the author, participated in the preliminary negotiations dealing with the organization of the Fair.

SOVIET FAIR

The exchange of fairs, in the summer of 1959, came as a result of the Agreement concluded on January 27, 1958, between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A., "On Exchanges in the field of culture, technique, and education.' *** The exhibits clearly demonstrate the advantages of the socialist over the capitalist system. One of these advantages lies in the absence of unemployment in the U.S.S.R., while every visitor to the fair is well aware that in the U.S.A. the number of unemployed exceeds 5,000,000. In the U.S.S.R., three-fourths of the national income goes toward satisfying the individual material and cultural needs of the toilers, while in the U.S.A., the lion's share of the national income falls into the hands of a small group of financial and industrial magnates. (pp. 250-253)).

7. ARTICLE BY VLADIMIR NIKOLAEV IN "MOLODAYA GVARDIYA"

The article of Vladimir Nikolaev appeared in two issues of Molodaya Gvardiya, the monthly literary and art, and social and political publication of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Union of Youth (No. 4 for April, and No. 5 for May 1959), under the title "America-On an Unofficial Basis." The author, a man of 35, visited the United States as a member of a youth delegation invited to America by the Committee of Young Quakers of the U.S.A.

STOCK EXCHANGE BLUES

Our five companions promised to show us America as it is, to show us the most important, that without which there is no, and can be no America. It is therefore quite natural that we found ourselves at the start of our trip in the main building of the New York Stock Exchange *** (No. 4, p. 225).

"Both you, farmer Smith and you, employee Brown, can, if successful, become a Mr. Rockefeller tomorrow," this is what stock exchange publicity proclaims at the top of its voice to the whole country and the whole world. It screams hysterically, as loud as it can, day and night: in the movies, over the radio, over television, in hundreds of newspapers and magazines ***. I once heard the speaker of a radio broadcasting station say that it is good and profitable for your children to be imbued, almost from infancy, by the spirit of enterprise and to start making money as adults do. In order to be more convincing in conclusion they sang a children's song which began approximately as follows:

"Hush-a-bye, baby,

"The bank pays out money ***

A modern American lullaby.

But before starting on Mr. Rockefeller's career, shares must be acquired * And for this purpose money is needed, dollars***. And so people try to make money in any way they can, in order to make afterwards money from money *** One makes money *** by kidnapping children from wealthy parents and then extorting dollars for them ***. As known this method is most popular over here (No. 4, p. 227).

HORRORS OF INSURANCE

Together with the craving for gain, it is fear which constantly obsesses the American. He is afraid of sickness, of having an automobile accident, he is afraid of an accident at the plant, he is afraid of inevitable old age, he is afraid of a crisis, but the most important of all is that he is afraid of losing his job. How can one ward off these horrors if only in part?

And the American gets insurance.

Publicity, the American's principal source of information, teaches him that this can be done only by getting insured. His ideal is to insure himself against everything in the world. Against illness, accident, for security in his old age; he wants to insure his property, his home ***. But one needs money for all of this. And the American pays every month, every quarter. He pays for himself, his ( wife, and his children, he pays to protect himself from some possible future illnes or accident, pays for an old age pension in the future, and so on. But even al of this does not fully protect him from the vicissitudes of life. For example *** Mal Miller, while insured, must nonetheless pay 779 dollars of his own money for treatment ***. To get insurance means to pay and pay out money. what happens if you are seriously ill over a long time? Or if you lose your job? Unemployment relief in the State of Pennsylvania ranges from 10 to 30 dollars a week. This beggarly sum can be obtained only for a limited time, one cannot make ends meet on this amount, and of course, needless to say, one can afford neither insurance nor treatment *** (No. 4, p. 230).

POLICE EVERYWHERE

But

Every policeman is acquainted with the principles of medicine. Every policeman can, for example, render assistance at childbirth. Poor people often take advantage of this fact. Not everyone by any means can pay a doctor for assistance at childbirth, and to bring forth a child on the street, assisted by a policeman, is considered an accident and therefore is free of charge.

One can only envy the technical equipment of the police. In big department stores, for example, all the products are displayed on counters * * *. Everything gives the appearance of being founded on honesty: salesclerks are not numerous, nor is a policeman visible, they seem to trust you. Actually, the experienced eye of a policeman follows you the whole time: the lens of a televisor is installed in the big chandelier over your head, and the policeman on duty watches you attentively through this device * * *. The policeman is endowed with great powers. Pitilessly he fines drivers and pedestrians, and charges very considerable amounts. Often and with impunity he puts his truncheon into action. The policeman is authorized to shoot straight at a man's head if the man fails to stop at the first bidding. And yet, with such a police force, one encounters in the U.S.A. the most extensive crime, including not only unorganized juvenile, children's and teenager delinquency, but professional crime which has long since become a branch of business. Shooting bouts often flare up in New York, for example, in one or another section of the town: this is a battle of competing gangs. The police arrive at the place of battle, shooting increases, several blocks are sectioned off by the police, pedestrians run for cover, and motion picture operators and photo-reporters hurry to take sensational pictures. In their pursuit of publicity and scoops or in the struggle between competing American press circles, stories exposing the volume of gangsterism and of its ties with the business world and even with politics are often leaked (No. 4, p. 231).

TOO MANY AUTOMOBILES

The highways are truly beautiful and the automobiles are truly excellent— they are justifiably a pride of America *** But at the same time, there are 38,500 human victims a year. Why is this? Because 50 million Americans, the majority of whom has a very vague conception of auto driving regulations and a still vaguer conception of automobiles as such, are at the wheel of 50 million

cars. A car for an American is in no way a luxury, but an indispensable article: as a rule the distance to an American's job is calculated in dozens of miles. The abundance of automobiles by no means indicates that all Americans are rolling in money. The fact is that most of the cars traveling over the roads of America are secondhand cars, with a number of years of operation behind them. Due to their overproduction, these cars may be obtained freely everywhere at a price considerably (several times) lower than when they leave the plant. But to buy a new car becomes a problem. Many makes of car cost several thousand dollars. And thus, the car, summoned to help mankind, has become in the U.S.A. a threat *** to man. Everywhere today one can see signs of the alarm caused by the mode of operation on American highways *** (No. 4, p. 232).

TOTALITARIANS VIEW DEMOCRACY

A good half of the electors in the U.S.A. does not vote. Some of them are victims of various electoral restrictions, but the majority simply avoids going to the polls not wishing probably to waste their time for nothing. Apparently realizing this situation, the authors of the pamphlet "Why do People Vote?" appeal to the reader as follows: "Contrary to widely spread opinion, the average political leader is a thoroughly reliable and honest person * * *" It thus follows that in the U.S.A. the opinion is widely spread that American political leaders are unreliable and dishonest persons, in whom one should place no confidence. The authors of the pamphlet themselves testify thereto: "In 1958," wrote the Reporter, the New York periodical, "just as in every other electoral year, we go to the polls to vote for one or two competing candidates, both of whom have been inflicted upon us by the bosses ****." The newspaper New York Times expressed peculiar opinions regarding the two candidates: "They are billionaires and therefore will not steal." This testimony is very noteworthy when one takes into consideration that the elections to the position of governor of the state of New York are regarded as a kind of preparation for the presidential elections of 1960 (No. 4, p. 233).

U.S. LIBRARY-REACTIONARY

In Washington *** we had a most curious interview with Ernest Griffith, the director of the special reference service attached to the American Senate. The large group of employees whom he supervises engage in the compilation of various references in reply to inquiries from senators. During the conversation, Griffith placed before us several dozen such references prepared recently. Among them we noticed a 72-page pamphlet which discussed the solution of the national problem in the Soviet Union. Not a single, even most reactionary, American newspaper could compete with this "scientific" publication. From the first to the last page the pamphlet was filled with the most outrageous anti-Soviet libel *** (No. 4, p. 234).

WEALTHY WARMONGERS

Some make money publishing comics, others by stealing children from wealthy parents, and a third group makes money by fanning the armament race and by producing reactive missiles, and atom and hydrogen bombs. Concerning this form of American business we had a talk in Washington at the Brookings (literally: Brooklyn) Institute ***. Here are some of our questions and the answers

thereto: ***

"Are there any so-called pure producers of armament, industrialists who engage exclusively in arms production and receive profits only therefrom?"

"Yes, there are."

"Can they influence the government in any manner?"

"Yes, they can," confirmed not too willingly the persons who spoke to us, after we had cited several generally known examples (No. 4, p. 236).

A producer of arms, a man who needs war, is in government. Is that again the "price of democracy?" We also learnt at the Brookings Institute that periodical crises are likewise the "price of democracy"! The erudite participants in our colloquy were unable to answer the question as to whether further crises will take place in the U.S.A.***. "The crises as such," they explained to us, "are a consequence of democracy, of private enterprises which gives birth to anarchy in industry."

American democracy, generally speaking, appears to be a pretty expensive thing! (No. 4, p. 237).

AMERICAN LEGION UNDER FIRE

Certain very peculiar manifestations of American democracy at times clearly perplex even those who usually stand up for it. When we arrived in Chicago, our eyes were immediately attracted by headlines, about a yard high, in the local newspapers: "How to watch the parade of the American Legion * * *"

Our companions led us to the street followed by the parade *** and went away right there and then. Usually, they never left us ***. From their attitude and separate remarks it was clear that they were ashamed of their compatriots, permitted by American democracy to unite in organizations as reactionary as the American Legion (by the way, the same democracy pitilessly throws American Communists into prison). The parade of the Legion this demonstration of the forces of American reaction, is a very curious spectacle reminiscent mainly of the finale of some cheap comic opera. State after state march along in columns. One of these is preceded by a decorated platform with three semi-nude beauties. They are followed by armed and gouty old men, adorned with decorations and in the military uniforms of their forefathers. One of the columns is led by a real clown who seems to have run over from the circus ring. Then come maidens in the uniform of comic opera soldiers, in bootlets, tight white riding breeches, golden helmets and, of course, with guns This brought immediately to our mind the documentary films, obtained as trophies, which recorded fascist parades ***. If one discards certain typically American excentric extremes, the outline of the American copy is basically very similar to the original (No. 4, p. 237).

A BLACK PICTURE IN THE SOUTH

Death sentence to a Negro for the theft of a ridiculously small sum of money, the private home and "Cadillac" of an American pastor at High Point, an old Negro thrown by whites from a bus, a white policeman killing with impunity & Negro teenager, books and pamphlets summoning the Negroes to obey and love the whites, and race-haters blowing up a school for Negro children-such is American life which gives birth to racial discrimination which persecutes the Negro from his cradle to his grave (No. 5, p. 186).

BUSINESS AND GOD

The American God, whichever of the numerous religions and sects existing in America he may represent, is first of all a highly businesslike and practical God ***. The two or three hour "dry law" in the state of New York is perhaps the greatest sacrifice which Americans make to religion ***. Religion and business, the Lord's mercy and the State Department, condemnation of millionaires and a favorable attitude toward those who strive to become one of them-God and the present come into conflict in these and other contradictions and, as witnessed by life, it is only God who makes compromises *** (No. 5, p. 191).

CONCLUSION

To understand fully the propaganda impact within the U.S.S.R. of published reports concerning Soviet visits to the United States, one should bear in mind that (a) Soviet literature favorable to the United States is nonexistent in the Soviet Union, and (b) the reports published are presented as authentic documents confirming allegations hostile to America appearing in the U.S.S.R. For a person not familiar with the subject the volume of anti-American propoaganda material circulating in the Soviet Union is difficult to visualize.

At least 20 books and pamphlets, in addition to numerous articles in Soviet periodicials and daily press, appeared on the United States in Russian (not counting the material published in other languages) during February-May 1960. The circulation of some of the books published exceeds 50,000 copies. All portray the United States as ruled by monopolies, all describe the "hard lot" of the American workman, and the "decline" of culture. All try to show capitalism in the U.S.A. as facing collapse and claim that communism, as a more "progressive" system will inevitably win in the so-called peaceful competition with capitalism.