almost invariably got was that the treatment
in prisons depended very largely on the sort
of chief officials in control of the prisoners.
But, as I have said, meeting prisoners, talking
to them, hearing their stories, I always felt
they had much about which to be sorry for
themselves and that nothing could get rid of
the fact that they were more or less prisoners
in a strange land.
On the other hand, it cannot be gainsaid that the bulk of the aliens in Russia were free to share all the same amenities of life as Russians ; but when any of these aliens took part or were suspected of taking part in counter revolutionary conspirings, then the authorities put them in prison or internment camp, and in doing so only followed the example of all other European and American Governments.
It is not for us English, and certainly not for the Americans, to complain because people are put in prison without trial and only on suspicion. In both countries thousands of people have been dealt with in that way. No one can defend it, excuse it, or palliate it. But all of us can prevent ourselves from being hypocrites in denouncing it in the one case and supporting it in the other. The position of people like myself is quite clear. I should no more dream of adopting the methods which Britain adopted under D.O.R.A. than I
