Francis R. Bacon letter to Beulah Hurley Waring

AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE

KINDERHILFSMISSION DER RELIGIOSEN GESELLSCHAFT DER FREUNDE (QUAKER) VON AMERIKA
BERLIN NW7, Dorotheenstr. 2'

Telegr.- Adr.: Kwaker, Berlin
Francis R. Bacon, Chairman Telefon: Zentrum 104536

ldanns pret Assistant to Chairman | “anuary 10, 192 Zo

Mary Hannum
Caroline G. Norment
Frieda M. Burkle
Edna W. Morris

Dr. Homer L. Morris
Committee on Reorganization

speulah Hurley
MOSCOW.

Dear seulah,

it is within two hours of the time when the Wearschau-
Express leaves berlin this evening with the largest party that we
have yet sent to the land of hunger, ana this is not time enough
to do more than express the word of regret that my good intention
of writing thee before this and to do the others things that are
necessary before escorting to the station Homer and Kdna morris,
Robert Dunn, Cornelia Young and Varry Paul, a splendid group of
people who are sure to make a valuable contribution to the work
you splendid folks are doing under such tremendous hagiicaps .-
aA hundred times a day we have been thinking of you and trying to plan
ways of really helping youe Homer and #dna will tell you what we have
done and how little success our efforts appear to have had.

Yesterday afternoon and especially today at lunch we had
the company of Dr. thomas ie bickenson and his companion wr. bang
(not the wre Lang of Denzig) + “re Yang is the assistant coworker
to Dre Dickenson who is in the service of the a-Keae ue was for-
merly, thet is perhaps five years ago, professor of History at
the university of Wisconsin. He has been Svoubbenge travelling ex-
tensively in most of the countries in which the Hoover feeding ope~
retions have been going on and has just returned from an extended
tour of perhaps three months duration in parts of Russia. What he
told us at lunch and told me in private conversations wast startling
for the conclusions he comes to with regard to the Soviet Government
are sb utterly different from those we have been accustemed to hear >
from the liberal press and from such observers as Margaret Thorpe e
I would ,of course, not prefer to be quoted but just want to pass on
to thee the sum of the e impressions which 1 received from him -
Though some of the facts may be already common place ones to you
who are actually on the spot and have read more likely on the sub-
ject than I have. He denies that there is any real idealism in our
sense of the work about the intentions of the present governnent

and that the propaganda, tending to support, belief¢ in the idealistic.

intentions, is for external consumption only, end within Russia
virtually no one except an occasional hazy minded american really

ew














a a

supposes the government to have any so-called utopian schemes, put

that the whole attendency of the government is to impress upon the
people the strength of the ruling powers. Lenin, he says, is very |
intelligent and very capable, but like all his associates is pure-~
ly selfish in his political activities and that even he is subject

to the dictation of the secret Service or special police,whe , for
example, compelled his attendance at a certain wWinth conference.

He Says that a year ago there were six hundred thousand communists

in the parties supporting the government end that now after a house=-
cleaning there are only three hundred thousands and that in the natu-
ral course of events the number will be reduced to one lone communist
holding 311 Russia in his power. He claims that even with the most
ecaref inquiry in hundreds of villages with the aid bf all sorts

of interpreters and talking with peaSants ea of alYsorts he did not
find a single person who was really in favor of the present govern~
ment. Incidentally though perhaps it is not at all significant, he
did not go into eny place in Russia excepting those cities where the
A-R.A- 18 feeding, and he says he refused to talk to people who were
openly opposed to the government, because he wanted to hear the other
Side. Of course, it is true, however, that under difficult conditions
existing in any country the powers that be are generally unpopular.
But this is only aside, and I did not undertake to be more than a
very interested listener during the short time we were together.

He states frankly and strongly that he is opposed to the
present government authorities and characterized as false the popular
statement thet the Lenin=/rotzki regime is the only one capable of
maintaining any sort of order and discipline in Russia. 1t appears that
there isstill a ragged remnent of intelligencia in Kussia fully
capable of formimg a government of and for the people, and that this
class has been andis still to some extent a powerful factor for good
in spite of the crushing efforts of the Soviets. 1t appears that in
duly 1921 there existed an up of people of the caliber of Hoover who foresaw the famine and
made such intelligent and potentially successful plans to prevent it ,
that the jealousy of the Soviet Government whose representatives were
participants but not absolutely in control of the committee, was
arbused snd sll the independent members of the committee with one ex~
ception were thréust into prison where they are still languishing.
Dre Dickenson has their names « the one exception to imprisonment was
Maxim Gorki who happened to be out of the country at the timee Upon
commitment to prison of his co-workers he wrote the letter to which
Hoover responded in the name of the american VPeople-.

Under the plan of cosoperation agreed upon at Higa the
A.R.A. feeding, Dr. Dickenson says, is a very strengthening influ-
ence for the Soviet authorities whose plenipotentiaries are working
with the 4a.R.A.

If Hoover is or through Dr.Dickenson's becomes convinced
of the correctness of the unsoundness of the Soviet regime, what of
the future of the aR. Aé in Russia? We hear reports to the effect
that the Ae R.A. may be asked by the Soviet authorities to leave
Russia because of the improper activities of Some ot its workers.

i ae om 9 es
g &. £ 5 }
‘ ae i i
we Be ayes = p si
‘ sf yeti eg Ok ‘

4 i ome é
wh ee Boer thl gt ho" i a ai hi *,
% . Bags 21 i a
tes, Ri ‘,
ae




What I have said in this letter is coming thru Dr.
Dickenson and does not violate any confidences, 1 believe, for
he spoke quite freely and openly on most of the topics 1 have
touched, but thee will, of gourse, not give publicity to what i
have said until Dr. Dickenson's report becomes public properly.
I would be very sorry to do anything that might unjustly cause
embarrassment to the A.R.Ae but feel that some one of you in our
unit should have this inforfiation in case of possible future de-
velopments. in the meantime you are doing a quaker work in the good
01d Mission spirit. Wwe are all for you and want to help according to
our abilitye :

With love to every one of you,

i

Sincerely your friend,



er pat ors ff 7 & P Ae ’ n ‘ ay
r Ete’ ef Eee
FRANCDS RK. paCOh.