There are many Russian organizations in Chicago, and there are many men active in social work among the membership, but there are only a few organizations which might properly be called cultural and educational. Various political squabbles within some of them, falsely understood religious dogmas, and misinterpreted church prescriptions in others, selfish caprices and ignorant snobbishness among the so-called advanced elements in still others, frequently interfere with the cultural and educational work among members of various organizations. There is no doubt that these causes more than anything else hinder progressive work in many Russian societies, separate branches, and other organizations.

Besides, we have only a very few people and a few organizations which put all their efforts into doing something that is really good and sensible, people with purely humanitarian motives, devoid of selfishness and inspired only by 2a sincere feeling of benevolence. Among us there are only a few people whose efforts are directed toward the attainment of truth and are concentrated on spreading culture and education among the hard-working Russian people. To the number of these latter belongs undoubtedly a small group of men, members of the school society named after I. A. Krylov. [Translator's note: Krylov is the world-famous Russian author of fables.] In this group, numerically small, there are no leaders, and there is none of the snobbishness which characterizes some of our "advanced people." There are no political squabbles. All these harmful deterrents to any progressive action the members of the Krylov School have swept out of their way. Only recently the Krylov School suffered with the same drawbacks which still afflict other Russian organizations. That was at the time when the School society was composed of members subservient and servile to the Bolshevik dictates of Moscow and the Bolshevik lackeys of the Novy Mir. [Translator's note: A Bolshevik newspaper published in Russian in New York.] In those days the School board meetings were attended by twenty members, and the School counted only fourteen pupils. The School treasury was empty.

There was a great deal of friction and quarreling among the members. Suspicion and mistrust were rife. Every little personal grievance was brought to light at the business meetings and made the subject of squabbles and the excuse for invective. Such harmless words as "God's light" or "God's creatures" in the textbooks were regarded as monstrosities by the ignorant slaves of the idealogy imposed by Moscow and were considered as highly "counter-revolutionary". The "revolutionaries" on the School's board of directors believed, it appears, that it would be better if such expressions were stricken out and replaced by others such as "Lenin's light" and "Stalin's creatures". From all this the Krylov School suffered a great deal, and it could not have been otherwise, for any school can function properly only if it enjoys complete academic freedom and the liberty of creative initiative in its widest sense, [it must enjoy] the benefit of an unobstructed road to advance in the direction of truth and progressive ideals.

The fanatical adherents of the Novy Mir, accustomed to servility to their superiors, could not endure the spirit of freedom prevailing in the School and have left its board. On relinquishing their hold they predicted that 4without their participation the School would not last even one year, but they were sadly mistaken. To-day, a year and a half after their departure, the School both morally and financially is much better off and stands on a plane never occupied before. Formerly the expenses amounted only to $23 a month, and yet there was no money in the treasury. At present the School spends more than fifty dollars a month and has money on deposit in a bank. Formerly the [board] meetings were attended by an average of twenty members, and there were only fourteen pupils in the school, and now only ten or twelve members attend our board meetings, but the number of pupils has risen to twenty. In connection with the School we have a children's chorus, and just recently we have organized dance classes in a separate building and have engaged a permanent music teacher. The School of dancing has an average attendance of twenty pupils, and the Krylov School therefore has a total of forty pupils.

How do we account for the success achieved by a small group of active men of the School society? First, all the members of the present board are serious men and 5regard the maintenance of the School as a vital matter. They all love the Russian language, literature, and poetry and Russian art. They enjoy the respect and the confidence of one another, and the School grows and prospers in every way.

Just come to a meeting of our School board, stay with us for two or three hours, and you will be convinced that these men work in the organization not in order to gain personal glory or just to display themselves as busy men. They are active because they like the School, believe in education, and love the Russian language. Besides, you will see that they are men of creative mind; they are full of inspiration and ambition to advance the Russian cause. They fully deserve to be called idealists. They are principally members of the R. I. M. A. S.--progressive persons and humanitarians.

You will never hear any quarreling among them; they avoid personal antagonisms and petty squabbles. On the contrary, their business meetings are conducted 6in the spirit of the utmost harmony. Our men are serious and jovial at the same time. Respect for one another, love for the School, freedom, and progress--these are the ideals which guide the members of the Krylov School Society. Who, then, are these indefatigable workers?

I know the characters and the natures of these people. I know that they love to work for the common good and do not seek personal selfish ends. Knowing all this, I nevertheless, and contrary to their desires, take the liberty of naming them, for they deserve praise in the highest degree on behalf of the entire Russian colony in Chicago and on behalf of the R. I. M. A. S. in particular. Their names are A. Gapanovich, I. Sytnik, P. Borisiuk, W. Sabinsky, M. Boran, S. Volodkin, S. Vakimovich, M. Alekseiuk, P. Marchuk, and K. Volmisty;there are several others.

Those members of the R. I. M. A. S. who desire to see their society in the ranks of progressive organizations should follow the example of these men 7and carry on the work in their own branches as they do in the Krylov School society.

One of the School's friends.