"Sincere Friends"

In fine May Day spirits (see FOREIGN NEWS) Moscow's Pravda crowed: "Ardent sympathies toward the Soviet Union are alive and growing in the hearts of millions of workers abroad." To celebrate the occasion, it passed out nosegays to its "sincere friends" in the U.S.

High on the thank-you list were the stern critics of U.S. foreign policy: Florida's Senator Claude Pepper, who wanted to scuttle the Greek-Turkish loan; barnstorming Henry Wallace, who wanted to substitute a loan for Russia; and Biographer Elliott (As He Saw It) Roosevelt.

Other bouquets went to the Rev. Dr. William Howard Melish of Brooklyn, chairman of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship, to members of N.C.A.S.F. and half a dozen allied groups. Among them: retired Harvard Professor Ralph Barton Perry, ex-Ambassador to Russia Joe Davies, Atom Scientist Albert Einstein, onetime California Attorney General Bob Kenny (now national vice-chairman of the Progressive Citizens of America).

The reaction of those blessed was mixed. Pastor Melish was highly gratified by this "unsolicited" tribute. Albert Einstein refused to comment. In California, Bob Kenny tried to laugh it off. Said he: "I imagine Vishinsky is responsible for my inclusion. I saw him frequently at Lake Success and we remarked that we were both in the same business." In case anyone had forgotten Vishinsky's part in the huge Communist purges of the '303, Kenny explained: "Vishinsky is also a former prosecutor."

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