News, an English-language periodical which made its first appearance in
Moscow this week and which is dedicated to the. cause of co-operation between Russia and the West, may have some deep international significance ; but I find that it is upon the human problems connected with its production that my mind dwells at this stage. What on earth were the reactions of the various prominent Soviet writers when their telephones rang and an editorial voice said : " Good morning, comrade. Could you let us have two thousand words in praise of American enterprise and efficiency? " or " We thought you were just the man to write on the traditional ties of Anglo-Russian friendship "? A good Communist expects the Party line to oscillate perceptibly from time to time ; but it must be with a certain sensation of awe, if not of misgiving,lhat he puts his name to an article from which his fellow-citizens will learn for the first time that the Party line has boxed the compass.
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