Trotzky

According to a despatch from Moscow, ex-War Lord Leon Trotzky was not elected a member of the Council of People's Commissars, as stated in TIME last week (Page 10, col. 1). It was expected that M. Trotzky would be made Commissar of Foreign Trade; but, at the eleventh hour, it was decided that any rearrangement of the Council would be interpreted abroad as a symptom of weakness. The election of Trotzky referred to last week was to the Federal Congress of Soviets. A report from Moscow, via Berlin, stated that Ivan Stalin was using Trotzky as a lever to oust Grigori Zinoviev, chief of the Third Internationale. Stalin and Zinoviev were formerly fast friends and led the recent attacks against Trotzky that led to his political fall (TIME, Jan. 26). It now appears that Stalin (backed by Alexei Rykov, Chairman of the Council,* Karl Radek, notorious Bolshevik propagandist, and some others) is seeking a gradual reconciliation with Trotzky. This, in turn, evidences the fact that Trotzky is still considered a political power by the Bolshevik leaders.

*Premier.