Freda Utley

              1940
Freda
UTLEY
Member of the Advisory Council of the Department of Politics, Princeton University


Author of

Lancashire and The Far East
Japan's Feet of Clay
China at War
Japan's Gamble in China
The Dream We Lost:
Soviet Russia Then and Now.



Figure


Known from coast to coast for her lectures on Japan, China, Russia, the United States and the Far East, and on the Totalitarian Challenge to Democracy.

AT the time when most writers and lecturers, aware only of Europe, ignored both the menace of Japan and the heroic struggle of the Chinese people, Freda Utley was lecturing in the United States under the auspices of the American Committee for Non-participation in Japanese Aggression, and writing articles here and in England advocating an embargo on the sale of war materials to Japan.

Having formerly lived in Japan and made a special study of its economy and politics; and having gone to China in 1938 as correspondent of the London News Chronicle in the War zone, she knew the menace which Japan was becoming and had seen the horrors of Japanese aggression in China.  In China she had been the only woman correspondent on the Yangtze fronts, and had witnessed the terrible sufferings of the wounded soldiers and the heroic efforts of the Chinese Red Cross to aid them in spite of the poverty of China and its lack of medical and other supplies.  When she left China en route for the United States the Japanese authorities refused to let her land in Japan on account of her writings and her exposures of Japan.  The Japanese honored her by ascribing to her the original inspiration for the boycotting of Japanese goods.

MANAGEMENT: HORNER-MOYER, INC., 3005 HARRISON, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI




FREDA UTLEY
Dr. Hu Shih, the Chinese Ambassador, has written:

Miss Utley, through her well-known book, Japan's Feet of Clay, has rendered a signal service to China in her fight for freedom.  Her book has been translated into many languages and directly and indirectly influenced many of our present allies in understanding the real strength and weakness of Japan.

The New York Times termed her book a long-overdue book … so well and thoroughly documented it should be read by all who are interested in getting at the roots of what is happening in the world today.

The New York Herald-Tribune remarked that Had Dr. Utley's point been driven home during the early stages of the Manchurian crisis it is not inconceivable that the effect on the thinking public of Britain and America might have been sufficient to bring Japan to book.  A more effective indictment of a nation's economy has seldom appeared.

Freda Utley now speaks often for United China Relief.  Mrs. Maurice T. Moore, Chairman of the Women's Division, wrote to her:

We can never thank you enough for the really magnificent speech you made at the Biltmore.  I have not heard more whole-hearted praise of any speaker for China during this entire campaign than has flowed to us since the luncheon.  It was splendid of you to give of yourself so freely, and to have stirred hearts and souls as you did.



Lived for several years in Russia
Freda Utley is not only exceptionally qualified to lecture on the Far East.  She has also had the unique experience of living for several years in the U. S. S. R. as the wife of a Russian citizen—not as a foreigner or a high Communist official, but as one of the ordinary people.  In her book, The Dream We Lost, published in 1940 by the John Day Co., she has told the tragic story of the failure of Communism and of her own disillusionment and loss.

While advocating aid to Russia as an ally against the Nazis, she is strong in her conviction that Stalin's tyranny should not be whitewashed, nor an opportunity given to the American Communists to acquire power and influence under their present cloak of patriotism.  We should be careful, she holds, not to embrace on the Left what we are fighting against on the Right; not to admire Russian National Socialism just because Hitler forced Stalin to become our ally; not to trust the Communists just because the Russian people have fought so well in defense of their country.  Nor, she thinks, does it aid or comfort the Russian people for us to praise the despotic Soviet Government which has caused them so much suffering over the past two decades; which has imprisoned or executed tens of thousands of Russian liberals, which made the Russian-German Pact which unleashed the Second World War and helped to destroy France.

Her belief in democratic institutions and democratic government has been immensely strengthened by her experience of living under a totalitarian collectivist system.  Her experience of Communism from within enables her to expose its many fallacies in a way impossible to the ordinary observer.  Hence the insight and value of her lectures on the dangers which confront democratic government and the way to avoid them.




Distinguished Author and Lecturer…
…Authority on Russia and the Far East
Typical Appreciations
PEARL BUCK wrote of her book on Russia:

This is one of the richest books I ever read.  It is more than an unassailable indictment of Russian Communism.  It is a strongly dramatic story and one interesting enough to make a major novel … It is the story of a fearless and penetrating mind in search of good.  It included the love story of a man and woman, strong and beautiful and tragic as a Greek play … The truth about Russian Communism is here.  For clear, reasoned, impregnable revelation of the modern Russian state this book surpasses any I have yet read.

OSWALD GARRISON VILLARD wrote:

A remarkable book on the Soviets and the state of the world—remarkable in its power, its wisdom, its frankness and sincerity and its profound horror of what the epoch-making Russian experiment has become … Many a best-seller does not come within gunshot of this book for depth of feeling and intrinsic worth.

MAX EASTMAN wrote:

It is the best informed and wisest, most judicious and convincing, account of the real outcome and meaning of the Bolshevik experiment that has been written.  It combines her personal life story and philosophy in a thrilling way with her political and economic analyses and explanations.  I can hardly praise it too highly.  Such a rare book—at once poetically alive and scientific.

Her last year's lecture to the American Academy of Political Science in Philadelphia, was first printed in the Annals of the Academy and subsequently reproduced in the December Reader's Digest, under the title Whither Bound.  A previous article of her's in the Reader's Digest called Must the World Destroy Itself aroused nationwide discussion and was answered by Wendell Willkie in the next number of that magazine.  She has spoken on the Granik Forum of the Air from Washington and on other coast to coast radio programs, including Columbia's Invitation to Learning.

Concerning a lecture she recently gave at the College of William and Mary, Virginia, the Dean wrote: I am sure that the subject of 'The Hope of Democracy in Wartime' could not have been dealt with better by anyone.

Dr. William S. Carpenter, Chairman of the Department of Politics of Princeton University, has written that Miss Utley's Japan's Feet of Clay and The Dream We Lost constitute the most thoroughgoing defense of democratic institutions available in English.  After her lecture he wrote the Institute of International Education:

Miss Utley gave last Wednesday a splendid lecture on Russia at Princeton before an audience of about 450 young men.  The lecture was so successful that I am writing to assure you that she is the ideal person to recommend for lectures before similar academic audiences.  Her training as an economic historian together with her intimate knowledge of Russia, have qualified her in an unusual degree for appearances before college and university audiences.

She is equally successful as a lecturer to women's Clubs, Foreign Policy Associations, and businessmen.  She has lectured to such distinguished audiences as the National Industrial Conference Board in New York, and the national Association of Metal Manufacturers in Chicago.  The Secretary of the latter Association wrote:

Your talk before our Convention was outstanding … It was perfectly obvious from the way the crowd stayed on to hear you conclude the sessions that they were immensely interested in your message.

This is just to tell you for myself and associates of the Conference Board, how grateful we are to you for your fine contribution to the Roundtable Conference at the March meeting of the Board.—Virgil Jordan, President, National Industrial Conference Board.

The following tribute from the Chairman of the Peoria Citizen's Forum is typical:

Miss Utley gave her talk on Russia here in Peoria to one of the largest audiences we have ever had and, in addition, gave one of the finest addresses to which we have had the privilege of listening.  She was absolutely superb!  There were over 1200 to hear her speak and I do not believe that anyone went away disappointed.  In fact at the close of her talk and answers to questions (which lasted almost two hours) no one seemed ready to leave and I am sure would have listened on and on.

Miss Utley's main address had great intelligence, vitality, and another element which completely captured the interest of her audience—drama.  Following her initial talk Miss Utley answered questions with a tolerance and intelligence which are rare indeed … We have had some of the best known lecturers on the platform today and I can say without qualification that Miss Utley took her place with the exceptional few.  I say without qualification because often one is inclined to separate the ability of men and women.  The best of the men, and we have had some of international reputation, have done no better job than Miss Utley did.  Personally I cannot imagine anyone having a more authentic and worthwhile message than Miss Utley.  She has something of importance to tell Americans and should be heard from coast to coast.

I have had so many people tell me that they had clarified for them much of the Chinese puzzle that we all try to understand.  You had a most happy way of mixing history, politics, and personal experience that no one became dull and all hung together.—Mrs. Kenneth B. Jaffray, Greenwich (Conn.) Womens Club.

The day after a lecture is always interesting.  We get indifference, or great approval or disapproval.  We have had nothing but praise for Miss Utley … It is the best thing of its kind that Springfield has had for a long time.—Mrs. Reuter, Springfield (Ohio) Women's Club.

Miss Freda Utley's vigorous mind and interesting personality as well as her first-hand knowledge of conditions in the Far East, combine to make her a very fluent and stimulating speaker.—Mrs. Richard Meade, Jr. Executive Sec'y, Foreign Policy Association, Philadelphia.

She made a splendid address of fact, well-balanced and ingratiating.  She has a fine grasp of China's and Japan's economics, and she has an extremely acute eye for observing and describing political movements.  It was one of the most informative addresses I have ever heard.—B. H. Kizer, Institute of Public Affairs, Spokane, Wash.

In your talk before the Club you gave us probably the most graphic and penetrating analysis of the underlying factors of the Sino-Japanese war that we have yet had.  Your address was well-organized, convincing and powerful.—Commonwealth Club, San Francisco.

OTHER NOTABLE APPEARANCES:

Boston, Buffalo, Columbus (Ohio), Albany, Baltimore Foreign Policy Associations, International Harvester Co., Chicago; Boston Book Fair; Garden City, Long Island Woman's Club; Binghampton Women's Club; Elmira Community Church; N. Y. City Community Church; Delaware State Conference on Social Work; Newcomb College, Tulane University, New Orleans; Ratcliffe College, Cambridge; State Teacher's College at Trenton, N. J., Plattsville, Wisconsin, etc.; North Eastern Wisconsin Educational Association; American Friends Service Committee Institutes at Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Grinnell, Wichita; Council of Foreign Relations, Chicago, Cleveland; Institute of Public Affairs, University of Virginia; New York University; Queens College, Flushing, etc., etc.




FREDA UTLEY'S LECTURE SUBJECTS

THE FAR EAST IN WORLD AFFAIRS
How the Far East has affected the balance of power in Europe and influenced American policy.  The importance to world history of the war in the Pacific.
JAPAN AND RUSSIA
Their past and present relationships, and the connection between the European war and the Far Eastern war.
TOTAL WAR AND THE NEMESIS OF IMPERIALISM
The Second World War as the end of the old colonial imperialism.  Why we must make a reality of our democracy for all peoples and races in order to defeat Japan and Germany.
CHINA'S LONG STRUGGLE AGAINST JAPAN
Why so little aid was given to China until Japan attacked us.  The profound differences between China and Japan.  The internal situation in China.  Experiences at the front in China.
I MARRIED A RUSSIAN
Life in the U. S. S. R.
THE PACIFIC-ATLANTIC CONTROVERSY
While it is true that in one sense there is only one war, it is also true that Japan and Germany are separate Empire builders.  Neither is the tool of the other and the defeat of one would not necessarily mean the defeat of the other.  Japan's dream of world domination versus Hitler's, and both versus the security of the United States.
INSIDE JAPAN
Her economic, social and political structure.  The Japanese state as the proto-type of the Nazi state.  Resemblances and differences.
WHITHER BOUND
Is some form of state controlled economy inevitable?
Is private enterprise doomed?
Can we hope to preserve democracy in the new society?
The importance of our traditions and of the liberal temper.
The strength of individualism and private enterprise in the U. S. A.
PROBLEMS OF DEMOCRACY IN TOTAL WAR
Freedom from versus freedom to.  Security versus liberty—can these needs and demands be satisfied?
Totalitarian liberals versus liberal conservatives.
THE DREAM WE LOST
The false hope of establishing a better world by class war, violence or revolution.  The Russian future.
RUSSIA IN TRANSITION
From world revolution to national socialism.  The distinction we must make between aid to Russia and aid to the Communists.
THE NATURE OF THE POST-WAR WORLD
The various possible outcomes, and some of the probable results in the economic and political sphere whatever the outcome.

ALTHOUGH best-known as author, lecturer and newspaper correspondent, Freda Utley has also had a distinguished academic career and is recognized as a first-class economic historian and student of political science.  She graduated from London University with a First Class Honors B.A. in History; acquired her M.A. degree from London University (equivalent to the Ph.D. of American Universities) with the mark of distinction and recommendation for publication of her thesis.  While subsequently holding a research fellowship at the London School of Economics she started work on her first book, Lancashire and The Far East which she completed and published after a year in Japan as special correspondent of the Manchester Guardian Commercial.

She married a Russian and went to live in the U. S. S. R. in 1930 and worked there first in the Commissariats of Foreign Trade and Light Industry as a textile specialist, then as a research worker in the Far Eastern section of the Institute of World Economy and Politics, Academy of Sciences, Moscow.

In 1938 she went to China and subsequently lectured in the United States.  After a year in England she returned to the United States to live and has worked for the past year as economic adviser to Starr, Park, Freeman & Co. (an American firm with large interests in the Far East) as well as lecturing and writing.

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