"Sensible Communism"

Where should a member of Congress be when Congress is not in session. Many of them have given their answers by going to Russia. Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana is the first to return from there this summer. Representatives Beedy (Me.) and Collins (Miss.) are there low. Senators Ladd (N. D.), King (Utah) and Brookhart (Ia.) (although he announced before leaving America that he would not visit Russia) and Representative Frear (Wis.) are expected there shortly.

In addition to members of Congress, ex-Governor Allen of Kansas, Perley P. Christensen (Farmer Labor candidate for President in 1920) and Irving T. Bush, prominent business man, are now or have been in Russia.

Senator Wheeler and Governor Allen, who have just returned, and Mr. Bush (still in Russia) last week made public statements of their opinions.

Senator Wheeler, who is only 41 years of age, is a Democrat and a " radical." In 1920 he was defeated in the election for the governorship of Montana. Last Fall with the aid of the Non-Partisan League he was elected Senator. He has allied himself with the progressive bloc in Congress.

He announced that the Russians are now better off than they ever were under the Tzar, that Soviet government with a well trained army of 600,000 is stable, that " there were signs of prosperity on every side," that graft is nonexistent, that the hatred of Russians for religion is exaggerated, that the Russian government will honor the debts to Americans contracted by its predecessors (Tzarist and Kerensky, that Trotzky is willing to guarantee American property rights in Russia. In short he believes that Russia is taking up "sensible communism" and he joins the Senators who demand American recognition of Russia.

His findings are significant because they are likely to typify the reports which other progressives (e.g., Senator Brookhart and Representative Frear) may bring back to use as ammunition to fire at the administration.

Governor Allen, good Kansan and sponsor of the Kansas Industrial Court, was not so optimistic. He termed Russia " the industrial paradise of idleness." He found the peasants returning to the church; he found women wearing furs and jewels once more. But he declared that if American relief is stopped " 50,000 helpless people in the Black Sea region alone will perish."

Irving T. Bush considers Russia from the business man's viewpoint. Over his desk in New York hangs the motto: " Consider the Postage Stamp, my Son. Its usefulness consists in its ability to stick till it gets there." He bought sand lots on the water front of South Brooklyn and stuck till he got there. Now the Bush Terminal with rail and water connections covers 30 city blocks and contains 123 warehouses, 8 piers and 16 model industrial buildings.

Mr. Bush conferred with Trotzky, Kameneff, Tehiclierin, Litvinoff and others. He then gave interviews which were published in Izvestia and other Russian papers, From Moscow came a report of his remarks: " I am bold to say that not one American in ten thousand has any idea of the order and generally good conditions prevailing here. . . . The Russian leaders strike me as intelligent, courageous and sincere. . . . But there is one thing these people have to learn . . . that they cannot expect American cooperation until they regain American confidence. . . Optimistic as my comments may seem to many people at home, that should not be taken to mean that I am less of an individualist than before or less a believer in the superiority of American methods."

Mr. Bush is not a Congressman but his views, it is said, will carry weight with the Administration which likes to be known as a "Business Administration."