The news that commissar Litvinov at the reception given in honor of [Secretary] Eden delivered an address and concluded it by giving a toast in honor of King George V [of England] has gone around the world.

Present at the reception were English ambassador to U. S. S. R., Lord Chielstone with his wife, members of the English embassy, and the Soviet "ministers" with Kaganovich and Voroshilov at the head.

International etiquette demands, of course, that the first toast at all diplomatic receptions shall be given in honor of the ruler of the country of the diplomats being entertained. Mr. Litvinov, of course, fulfilled this requirement of international etiquette. In the "Red" capital in the presence of the "Red" ministers, Litvinov raised his glass and drank to the King's health.

And yet apparently the diplomatic gesture of the Commissar for Foreign Affairs must remain unknown to the soviet readers of the newspapers. In all of the accounts printed in the Soviet papers about the reception given in honor of Eden in Moscow by Litvinov they do not even mention the toast in honor of the King. Obviously the communist censor found it improper to give publicity to such an act on the part of Litvinov in the official statements. Moreover, the toast was meant rather for its effect abroad than for the soviet public among whom it might produce very unfavorable reactions.

The Havas dispatch reporting the occasion and the fact that Litvinov raised his glass and drank to "the health of his Majesty, the King of England" was printed in the newspapers all over the world, and yet the Soviet papers were forbidden to give publicity to this "anti-Soviet" action.

The position of a minister of foreign affairs of a great power maintaining friendly relations with other European states and carrying out its policy of peace preservation with the aid of other countries obligates him to observe 3all customs of international relationship which have been established for generations and have been made a part of all diplomatic acts. This general rule permits no exceptions. International etiquette is ruthless. It demands obedience from representatives of all countries which are considered members of the international family. The people's commissars of U. S. S. R. taking part at the reception, for the first time heard from the lips of their comrade a toast given to the health of a king. The power of the rules of international etiquette forced the communist leaders to listen meekly and quietly to the giving of a toast in honor of King George V.

From the point of view of diplomatic courtesy everything went off smoothly at the reception given by Litvinov, but the fact that Soviet censors did not allow the Soviet press to advise the Soviet public of the exchange of toasts that had taken place between Litvinov and Eden is a violation by Litvinov of the communist "etiquette."

Really, it is not quite proper to let the Soviet readers know that the 4European regulation has penetrated so deeply into the highest Soviet circles of the commissariat for foreign affairs of U. S. S. R. Close collaboration with the capitalistic states, common interests in the sphere of international politics, the need for common action forced the commissariat for foreign affairs to take steps that were absolutely inadmissable from the point of view of the communist preachings. Litvinov himself hardly felt any embarrassment when he greeted Eden and gave his toast to the King's health. During late years he has become accustomed to the necessity of observing international traditions and diplomatic etiquette. But this bourgeois habit of the Commissar for Foreign Affairs is so much out of line with the communist psychology that the Soviet newspapers found no space available for a true and full account of the proceedings at the diplomatic banquet staged in honor of the English guests.

Exceedingly novel for the newest phase of development of the Soviet foreign policies is this very typical "double-facedness". The old precepts of communism about irreconcilable hatred and enmity toward the bourgeois world, the slogans of the Communist International calling to a relentless struggle 5against dying capitalism and the Bolshivik methods of carrying on foreign affairs have been dumped on a scrap heap. The foreign policies pursued by Litvinov cannot be carried out by the old methods. New times require new methods, and the quite-adjustable commissar for foreign affairs of the Soviet Union, who had bravely and determinedly broke away from the old traditions of communism with his inherent diplomatic jauntiness, lived up to every minute detail of international etiquette at the reception.

But the Soviet newspapers must preserve the purity of the communist ideals and, consequently, they are categorically forbidden to print any thing about the friendly toast given by Litvinov.