One small case is typical of many others :
again and again the world has been told that
a celebrated anarchist, “ Peter the Painter,”
who was wanted in England for alleged burglary
and murder, was head of this Extraordinary
Commission. This statement was
intended to prove that the lives and
liberties of law-abiding citizens were controlled
by a criminal. I was informed
by an anti-Bolshevik woman, well known in
this country, who had been arrested by order
of the Commission, that this story was too
ridiculous to reply to, as everybody in Russia
acquainted with affairs knew that although a
man named Peters was one of the chief officials
on the Extraordinary Commission, he
was not an anarchist and was not the man said
to be wanted in England. I give this friend’s
authority because it adds the weight of independent and rather hostile testimony to that of
the Government itself.
The present head of the Extraordinary Commission is Djerzinsky. I visited his headquarters in company with some other friends. He appeared to me to be as mild a mannered man as any of the Chief Police Officials in this country ; in fact the men I have met who are at the head either of the police or killing business always appear to be amongst the most urbane and courteous I meet in any walk of life. And Djerzinsky is no exception to the
