News week, Oct. 25,1948 EDUCATION Soviet Russia," by S. Kovalyov, and "The Pattern of Soviet Democracy," by Through Marxist Glasses G. F. Aleksandrov, one of the leading For years United States scholars have Russian philosophers. Behind the hubbub the project has fretted because Americans know SO little touched off. the ACLS scholars calmly 26 Nov. 4 about Russian thought Soviet writings are as scarce as good vodka, and translations keep up the pick and shovel work. They HARVARD PICKS GALBRAITH comb pro-Russian book stores and other even scarcer. In 1944, the Rockefeller Foundation got spots for their raw material. Then once a Names Ex-Government Official month five distinguished Slavic language Professor of Economics interested in the problem and gave the American Council of Learned Societies specialists gather in the cosy. book-lined library of W. Chapin Huntington, 64-year- Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES $500,000 to do something about it. For old editor of the translation program. Over CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 25- four years, council scholars plugged away Scotch and soda and crackers, they thrash John Kenneth Galbraith, econo- in their ivy-covered red-brick home in out a selection list. often far into the mist who served with several gov- Washington, D. . C., reprinting hard-to-get night. The group includes John A. Morri- ernment agencies, has been named Russian books and pamphlets, and trans- a Professor of Economics at Har- lating others. This summer they quietly son, Harold Spivacke, Mortimer Graves, vard, a university spokesman said executive secretary of the ACLS, Sergius today. began to issue the first of their works. Then Yakobson, and Huntington. A native of Toronto, Canada, the on Sept. 22 a mimeographed book by Translators at Work: The biggest 41-year-old appointee has been a N. A. Voznesensky, a member of the lecturer at Harvard for the last headache is getting good translators to year. Mr. Galbraith will assist in Politburo, that scoffed at the Allied war ef- handle the next step. All too often they research on farm problems and fort hit the street and caused a sensation. either don't know Russian idiom or get teach agricultural economics, con- This week in Washington, both the sumption and distribution. He cloistered ACLS and the little Public stumped by Americana. One smug spe- holds the Medal of Freedom for cialist working on a Ph.D. racked up a his work in World War II as di- Affairs Press which prints most of the con- list of errors including calling "carnal rector of the Strategic Bombing temporary translations were dumfounded bond" a "cardinal tie." But eventually Survey, and is the author of sev- at the response. Thousands of letters from Huntington built up a roster of 150 trans- eral books on economics. United States colleges, from government lators, many of whom worked in pairs- Mr. Galbraith is a graduate of the University of Toronto and of agencies, from wholesale book stores, from one Russian and one American. the University of California Grad- American leftist leaders-who want to The council is naturally thrilled at the uate School. He served for five know what the party line really is-jam big response. As Huntington says: "It years as a member of the board of the PAP office. will be a new experience to many Ameri- editors of Fortune Magazine. The project includes (1) reprints and cans to read a Soviet book and to microfilms of original Russian; (2) trans- see how different the world looks through lations of Russian books; (3) a series of pamphlets called "Current Soviet Thought" Marxist spectacles When Americans read some of this material, they'l get such as "Soviet Interpretation of Contem- porary American Literature" (a critical quite a shock. They won't recognize themselves." As for Russian reaction to review of America's "literature of deca- the program, one scholar put it briefly: dence"). Early next month two new works will come out: "Ideological Conflicts in "They haven't said a word."