THE U.S.S.R. CONSTITUTION AND CHRISTIANITY
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—I have just finished reading the text of the new Con-. stitution of the U.S.S.R. The preliminary articles on " The Organisation of Society " lead up triumphantly to Article XII, which reads : " Toil in the U.S.S.R. is an obligation, and a matter of honour of each citizen who is fit for toil, according to the principle : He who does not work, does not eat.' " I have a suspicion that if any of the ardent young Communists of the U.S.S.R. were to be asked from whence comes that fundamental " principle " of their State, they would say,
Why, from the Testament of Lenin, of course I " Nor ought they to be blamed, since for twenty years no other kind of testament, nor any foreign newspaper, has been allowed circulation in their country. But they would be extremely surprised if they were to be informed from what source this fine principle actually did come ! If anyone turns up
II Thessalonians, ch. iii, v. to, they will read : " this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat."
It is refreshing to find that, after all, the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. is founded on a Christian principle ! Stranger things than that may yet happen—Christianity, being funda- mentally true, finds its way into strange philosophies, and ultimately baptises them into Christ.—Yours faithfully, FRANK STONE. Christ Church Vicarage, Waterloo, Liverpool.
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