Stalin appears to be the absolute master of the Soviet Republic. No tone can stand: up-against him. He possesses a complete set of dossiers, in which the doings and utterances of all the other leading Bolsheviks fate recorded, and afiyone who shows fan inclination to resist is. promptly reduced to subjection -by a hint that some rash utterance of former years sill be revealed. Stalin Works sixteen or eighteen hours a fay, and pulls all the strings. Having made-up his mind to divorce his wife, that he could. marry: younger woman,-and not being disposed waste: time on-formalities,-he sent fan. office attendant with a note the judge, and: half-an hour Jater he bodhis divorce decree pocket. The second "Mme. Stalin; who has a child, iscnever cee: outside "Moscow as the inmates of, any" old-time: hard, Stalin is the only one of the 1917, Bolshevik leadere.who believes world-wide revolution is at hand, He cares very little about what happens in Russia. He thinks the system is good and that. all the trouble comes, from the failings those "who "have to carry it out, His ambassadors. and other agents in foreign: countries: fool: him tothe top of his bent by. telling him, that the: revolution ison igs way,: the capitalist system is breaking "up, and 80 on. An "ambassador who stated the actual facts.would mot be believed -and: would be -acciised of selling "himself to the "enemy. If the facts.ido not agree withthe theories formulated: by the. political 'Bureau, so much' the worse, for the Sacts \M, Bessedowsky thinks: that when Stalin disappears from the scene no-one-avill be able to stop linton his shoes: and the whole will break up, The House of Moliere Fabre, the playwright manager of' the Comedic Francaise for quite along time, is-in hot water. iA.petition, signed by 149 more or less well Anown men, thas been sent to. the Minister. of Public "Instruction, asserting in polite language that the principal State theatre is going to the devil and that the only man to "put it right is ©M, Jacques who used to ran the Theatre clu Vieux Colombiery now, a cinema.
Poor M. Fabre. To. have all the worry of managing. a company actors, and actresses naturally. pr disposed, as members of the House of Moliere, to have a' very, goad opinion of themselves, and. then be publicly told that' he does not know his job and had better' 0 back. to writing plays "instoad..of producing them! Very seldom "is State official called upon to un" dargo so mortifying an. experienc but the State, that invaluable foster-mother, will help him out of his trouble. "Those who..generally now say that he will be given nother appointment, with achigher lary to salve: his-wounded feelings, and than M, Copeau will be given a chance to show what he can do.
It_was generally supposed that the Vieux Colombier was. more of fan artistic than a finaneinl success under his. management, but perhaps will be able to put now: lite into the Comédie, which certainly needs it, M. Gabriel Boissy (who agrees in this instance with the Into M. Paul Souday, the eminent literary and dramatic critic of the spa") says that some members of the company do not oven take trouble to pronounce the French Janguage correctly. That important little word "li" is frequently slurred over by Jeaving: out the so that the phrase "ily a" for instance is transformed into "nin." This might be all very well ina realistic modern play, but, when applied to the classics, in a. theatre which is supposed to set an example to.all others in France, the practice extremely ' annoying.to the, purists, A great_many. foreigners go to the Comédie Frangaise not so much for entertainment as. for {instruction in: French, because they have. always been given to under~ stand that in thig theatre the lange age is spoken to perfection, and if this belief is destroyed the receipts wil suffer considerably.
The Biter Bit Apropos of M. Souday, who possessed-a great quantity of books, it is related that a Parisian ate tending the sale of his heterogeneous library-hit upén: an- early work by a. prominent living. author, with pencil annotations: by M.: Sou-day -on. the margins. The otitic, whose temper was often ti the mass of indifferent through which he had to wade, used revenge himself. by very. frank marginal notes, and the "book in question -had such remarks sag i," "tiresome'™ and "!grotesque"™ scattered among its pages. 'The purchaser, not wishing to-"mono-police the' pleasure he. derived from these. comments, sent the' book to the author, whom) he happened: to know. If "his intentions were malicious, they were very: rieatly. frustrated. The distinguished-man letters replied that-: not only was Paul-Souday. quite-right but she was too indulgent, as the average number of "idiotics"
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.