The Press: Politicians and Love

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In prewar Russia it was not healthy to be seen talking to foreigners. The doctors of the Cheka-prescribed a Siberian rest cure for comrades who mingled too freely. With Siberia in mind, Moscow maidens are standoffish.

Correspondent X faced this problem squarely. He loved a Russian girl. Russian bureaucracy ordered her to Siberia to keep her away from Correspondent X. The order was rescinded, but she was removed from Moscow. The correspondent returned to the U.S. After brooding a bit, he took his problem to Wendell Willkie, with whom the Russians had not been standoffish.

World Traveler Willkie cabled to his good friend Joe Stalin, closing: ". . . Anything you can do to facilitate this union I will personally appreciate, for I have absolute confidence and I am willing to vouch for [X] completely."

To his good friend Wendell Willkie, five days later, Joe Stalin cabled: "I am glad to inform you that your request regarding [X] will be fulfilled. The decision was made as a special exception on your recommendation and vouching."

Correspondent X was more than grateful. Wrote he to Wendell Willkie: "You have actually saved a life, and probably two." Until he returns soon to Russia and claims his bride, Correspondent X prefers to remain nameless.* And he can undoubtedly count on Politicians Stalin and Willkie to keep his secret.

<footnote>* U.S. correspondents in Moscow last summer who have since visited the U.S. are: James Brown, I.N.S.; Henry Cassidy, A.P.; William Chaplin, I.N.S.; Eddy Gilmore, A.P.; Walter Graebner, TIME & LIFE; Walter Kerr, New York Herald Tribune; Larry Lesueur, CBS; Leland Stowe, Chicago Daily News and New York Post.</footnote>