tXuOOlK p 7 ' oL . cj. _ ( A court trial of magnitude and terror without o precedent began in Soviet “ussla today>) The simple recital of tne facts will give the measure of its ominous importance/ First — the list of the accused. Heretofore those fierce Bed trials and executions have doomed great political personalities, famous old Bolsheviks who were companions of Lenin, former officials high in Communism. But present-day Communism in Russia is intensely militaristic — f, the ned army is all important, i -Loday facing a court of dread, are eight of the foremost Soviet generals. Heading the lugubrious list is Marshal Tukhachevski who was Assistant Commisar of war, Russia's. youngest marshal, a soldier of international reputation. /With him are generals who ) occupied some of the highest posts in the Red Army — Chief of the Auxiliary Air Force, Chief of the Administrative Board of the Commissariat of defense. Chief of the Red Army War College, a military attache^at London, Commander of the Leningrad District, Commander of the Forces in White Russia. a It would be hard to pick out^more imposing list of Red Army generals. ttObblil ( ihe charges against them are startling* Espionage^—— generals w &I lx doing spy work for a foreign 'power . Comspiracy to aid that foreign po.-.er in war against‘Russia, generals <2(L» J plotting to sabotage their own army in battle. ^There* s (X aa JI ~bfcji familiar mention of Trotsky^ ^ further charge that these Red -army commanders were scheming to restore- capitalism. The procedure under which they are tried is the acme of terror. Hitherto, those dramas of doom before the Red Court had been staged in public, with kleig lights, loud speakers, w-rffe condemnation and death, as Red propaganda, "This time the eight generals are being tried in concealment,TAobody even knows when the trial is being held, not even in what city#***=*i£i»«safc -secrecy that is creepy with fear. Those other fantastic cases were heard be^t®^ the High boviet Court of Red Justice. That’s terrifying enough. But this time it’s the most dreaded boviet bcurt of all — the . Military Collegium of the Supreme Court. And the judges^are generals, seven commanders oi as high rank as the accused themselves. ftUSplA - 3 ihe law under which the trial is being held is the most fe&riux of all. The present terror in Russia began with the assassination of the important communist leader and btali^s intimate friend, Kiroff. Immediately after the killing of Kiroff, the most relentless of laws was passed. Anyone convicted under it was automatically condemned to death, executed within hours -- no possibility of appeal. Presumably not even Red Dictator btalin himself can intervene in a conviction under that which law. And that*s the law under^the eight great Red Army generals are being tried. It is officially announced in Moscow that they have confessed --- confessed to the charges against them, espionage, plotting to get the Red Army beaten in war. Trotskyism, and the scheme to resdte capitalism.^) That same kind of mad confessing that goes on under communism. Conviction seems certain, and the conviction means that they will be shot — at once. The eight generals are only the head of the list, along witn them score of other officers have been arrested, moreover. other scores have already been executed, especially in the Red ftU ijjj X A — regiments stationed in the Far East.. All of this in conse­ quence of a wide-spread military conspiracy against Stalin. The rest of the world stands aghast at the ferocious terror that is being waged in the U.E.S.R. and wonders ~~ what's the meaning of all this disaffection and conspiring. What's going on in the Red Army? SIMPSON An apology was made today In London, and a ^ady tooK back everything she said, t.hat was it sne said? It was — that -tiT. Ernest r.. sinpson had been well paid for permitting himself to be divorced by the present Lnchess of Windsor. That annoyed . Simpson exceedingly, oo he sued for libel. The Court aecreed today in his favor, mrs. Joan Sutherland, London society woman, was ordered to pay the costs of the action nearly three thousand dollars — and apologize’, one did. ^er defense was that what she had said was merely in the course of women’s gossip -- not intent to injure, oust gossi -• — just benevolent gossip. I encountered a startling idea today, one that strikes a flash of imagination - something that might possibly mean astonishing things for the world, I»ll be­ gin by mentioning two celebrated names. One - Vanderbilt, The other - the Duke of Windsor, The story begins with something familiar and com­ monplace - a trailer, one of those peregrinating house­ holds on wheels that are so much the vogue. Cornelius Va nderbilt, Jr., made a trailer trip round about Europe, He traveled in his capacity as a writer, an author, the Vanderbilt traditions of millions turned to newspapers and magazines. Representing the magazine LIBERTY, he made a trailer trip to the Coronation, the Paris Exposition, the wedding of Windsor, and the honeymoon castle in Austria, Also, the first trailer across the Alps, thereby putting to blush Hannibal and Napoleon, Today Neil Vanderbilt just back, was telling me about his journey, and its culmination — that striking idea. It f/n /f 57. VANDERBILT - & concerns the Duice of v'vincisor. So I asked, him to come along to the studio and tell it on the air. He‘s here, so let's have it. But t suppose, Nell, you111 first want to tell something about not the great -- but the small. That's the way of this Vanderbilt, Interested In the nobodies, — at great events. C.V.:- That's right , Lowell. From the lesser people you can learn a lot about the big things in the world. I got It from the most obscure individuals there - the ones who had no right to he there. Like the two girls from Sweden, sixteen to seventeen - and pretty. I asked them why they had come to the wedding. They said - beca use from the time they were little girls they'd had a crush on Edward. I asked them how they had come. They answered - on bicycles, they had pedalled their way across Europe. I asked them how they had got In - and that was the most important point of all. The castle was heavily guarded by rows of soldiers. It was VANDERBILT - 5 hard enough to get in even with the proper credentials. The Swedish girls replied - Oh, they had just smiled their w§.y through the lines of troops, lawere telling me about the chap from Vancouver, who had always admired Edward - so much so that he took a course in French at the University of California, so that he could work his way as a high class waiter. Tell us how he got into the wedding. C.V.:- He noticed that the press cards were blue, and he happened to have a Chinese laundry ticket from Vancouver blue and about the same size. 80 he just flashed that quickly — showing the back of it so that the guards wouldn't see the Chinese writing. And there was an Englishman and his wife who thought England had been cheated out of its beest beloved king. They walked it, all the way to Cande afoot. They got in quite simply. The Englishman flashed a Rotary Club pin which he wore and the French took it for some kind of lofty credential. VANDERBILT _ 4 L*J. I see your point, Neil. The place that Edward holds in the imagination of the people Is shown by the devotion of those obscure folk - who had no right to be there. But you did talk to some ibx of the more imposing personalities? C.V.; Yes, the Duke of Windsor - and what I learned is a bit fix difficult to tell - there1 s so much to it. Irm writing it for LIBERTY with all the angles, all I learned, ^t concerns the future that th^Duke of Windsor sees for himself. L.T.: Tell it to us, Neil - give us the low-dx>wn. C.V.: This much I can say, Lowell - that the Duke does not intend to live the rest of his life in useless retirement. That much has already been printed far and wide. He repels the suggestion - that he*ll sink into the oblivion of just another king in exile. And he has an idea, a large and expansive Idea it is. He thinks he can serve the world in the greatest cause of our time VANDERBILT - 5 L^TjJ. I suppose we can all guess what that is - with the perilous state of the world today, the danger that everybody fears. C.V.; Yes, the cause of - peace. The Duke of Windsor believes •tv. that, with his unique position and prominence, he can help to avert the danger of war. He thinks he may become - a prince of peace. L.T.: That does strike the imagination - the former Brince of Wales, ex-King of England, to become - the Prince of Peacel Neil, you*ve given us something to make us think and wonder. And I for one will be watching for your LIBERTY article XiIiJUAF The Long Island kidnap case is in that familiar anxious state of rumours and suspense. One supposition is the Parsons family have made contact with the kidnappers. This surmise was raised today by a taxicab that drove into the family estate. When the taxi drove away, it was followed by an automobile driven by the brother of the kidnapped society woman. And there*s the old exasperating story of how the police and G-men have to hold off from the hunt — to give the family a chance to bargain with the kidnappers, and procure the release of the victim STRIKE The strike situation in this socalled nLand of The Free” Is becoming really tough. We hear that officially today. The word comes from across the sea, from Geneva. No, this has nothing to do with the League of Nations. The word comes from Edward McGrady, Assistant Secretary of Labor and Number One Trouble bhooter in strike disputes. McGrady is in Geneva as American delegate to the International ^abor Conference. But he’s cutting short his stay. re­ turning home, because as a trouble shooter he Is needed badly over here. McGrady explained today why he was re­ turning. Said he:- "It's on account of the tough strike situation." Yes, tough as steel itself. If you need any further proof, take an episode at Cleveland. It’s like an adventure thriller - and rather like war. Another instance of airplanes being shot at, planes carrying food\to non-Union men in strike beleaguered plants _ with Union men presumably doing the shooting. A plane took off at the Cleveland airport and there was a banging of gun-fire - shotgun. Forty slugs hit the fusi- yam STRIKE - £ lags of the plane. The aviator saw that the gunning was done by men in an automobile, a speeding car. The nlane w@n"t them chased, the automohile for forty miles* Swooping low, the winged craft, roared right over the car, and the pilot took an intent look got an observation of the faces of the men - to be able to identify them* As a re­ sult, five suspects are under arrest this evening accused by the pilot. It was quiet in Monroe today, although for a while the situation looked threatening - ten thousand C*I*0. stri­ kers about to march on Monroe from Pontiac, Michigan. Last night I told how strike pickets had turned back automobiles with non-union workers, but later on three hundred police and deputies crashed through the Onion line and got the workers into the Republic Steel plant. the plant was operating today* That*s what provoked the march of the C.I*0. ten thousand from Pontiac - determinded to force the closing of that Monroe plant. Then Homer Martin, the C.I.O. leader intervened. n@ persuaded the Pontiac men to stop, hold oif. STRIKE - 5 Their invasion of Monroe would surely result in riot and bloodshed, said he, and that would have been alto­ gether too tough. loungtown, Ohio, is getting ready for the worst, the toughest. loungstov/n is afraid of a general strike in the C.A.0. Unions, to support their comrades of steel. So the City Council has called a meeting for tonight to decide whether it is advisable to give the Mayor emergency powers, absolute control, virtually. This - to deal with the threat of general strike. But there*s one thing not so tough. The insistent demand for conciliation. Tonight three governors are working at the task of persuading the companies and unions to get together for a peace talk. Governors Murphy and Davey of Michigan and Ohio joined now by the Governor of Indiana, all making a new attempt for - conciliation. EASTON With cities in the throes of strike trouble, itfs pleasant to go on to a city in the throes of cele­ bration. Easton, Pennsylvania, cormnerating its Hundred and Eighty-Fifth Anniversary, a five day festival, starting Sunday, to be climaxed by a historic pageant. The Easton jubilee will be a striking affair, but only in the sense of striking your eyes and ears with festival sights and sounds. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BNDISIG A letter dated April twenty-second has just reached me from Amboina, the Isle of Spice, away out in the Dutch East Indies. It is from Doctor Maynard 0. Williams of the National Geographic Society Smithsonian Institution East Indies Expedition. Some time ago I told how this expedicion was taking some phonograph records along, records they had made at the Bronx Zoo of an orangutang, records of the love call of the orang. The idea being to play these records in the Sumatran jungle and see if Susie’s Bronx love calls would attract “the oldmen of the forest”, the wild orang. Doctor Williams sends me word from the other side of the world of how they crept stealthily through the tangled depths of the dark and spooky jungle. And, as the members of the expedition stood around, holding their breath, they turned on the phonograph, that record on which was supposed to be the love cal&s of Susie the Zoo Orang. And now, let me give you the exact words of the scientist as he tells me of that thrilling moments "From the phonograph came a rasp- ing, mechanical sound like an obstinate cold weather car two NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ENDING - 2 blocks away fighting the self-starter and in the middle of all this rasping we could hear some words in Malay which we took to mean *Use Blue bunocol Use Blue bunocol,M And so say I, Use Blue bunocol, this weekend, and BO LONG UNTIL MONDAY.