THESE DAYS . . . .

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000200330053-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 17, 1999
• Sequence Number: 53
• Publication Date: October 3, 1961
• Content Type: NSPR

W AS}INGTON POST O CT 3 19 61
AArTdFease 2000/05/24: CAI-gjt-0
CPYRGHT These Days ?
Beware!
Sen. Thomas J. Dodd, of
Connecticut, calls renewed
attention to an old swindle.
The swindle is a very simple
one. No Com-,
munist coun-
try recogniz-
es the right of
private owner-
ship of prop-
ecty. There-
fore parcels
or money sent
to that country
are the prop
erty of the
government
just as everything else is.
Certain modifications of prop-
erty ownership have devel-
oped in recent years, but
they are subject to govern-
ment negation without trial.
The General Parcel and
Travel Company at 135 West
14th st. is the agency that
handles the transfer of
American gifts to Russians.
The predecessor of this agen-
cy was Jacob Golos who was
a $ , using a travel agency
of this agency:
"While the director of
General Parcel, Mr. Leonid
Tankel, is an Af ierican citi-
zen, and while the company,
is incorporated under Ameri-
can law, there is little doubt
that it was created by In-
-tourist especially for the pur-
'pose of serving as its repre-
sentative in the area of par-
~eel remittances to the Soviet
4Union. General Parcel and
`Travel Company has 12
?branch offices in, various
parts of the country. The di-
American citizens, for the
most- part refugees them-
selves, who enjoy friendly re-
lations with the refugee and
immigrant community be-
By George E. Sokolsky
cause they are considered
non-Communists."
ACCORDING to Sen. Dodd,
although the heavy duties
have been prepaid in this
country, almost 6000 parcels
have been returned to the
United States from Soviet
Russia on the grounds. that
the duty on the contents had
not been prepaid. Who got
the money? Why are some
parcels rotting in the New
York Post Office and else-
where? The money was paid
by the sender but this was
denied by the carrier who
received the money.
This question has arisen
for many years. Relatives
in this country discover that
parcels they sent to Soviet
Russia never arrived at their
destination. There is really
nothing anyone can do about
it, except to send another
parcel of food or'clothing or
whatever gift one wishes to
give.
Sen. Dodd says:
"I do not know at what
point in the transmission line
the prepaid duties disap-
peared. The money may very
well have disappeared in the
office of the General Parcel
and Travel Company, and not
in the Intourist office. But
I feel that this is a situation
in which the Soviet authori-
ties should voluntarily as-
sume responsibility for the
actions of their hand-chosen
contractual agent in this
country."
I think this is rather naive
because under Russian law,
such parcels as Sen. Dodd
describes are private prop-
erty and are therefore sub-
ject to government confisca-
tion in Soviet Russia. Why
should one be surprised that
this happens? Since the ear-
liest days, Soviet Russia has
b e e it confiscating private
property which it does not
recognize as lawful. Why not.
do so now? Why permit Rus-
sians to believe that Ameri-
cans have superior consum-
ers' goods?
IT IS the proper function
of the United States Post Of-
fice and the Treasury to in-
vestigate the activities not
only of the General Parcel
and Travel Company but In-
tourist to make sure that
Americans who prepay for
services get what they pay
for. As all Russian companies
are owned by the Russian
government. When a prob-
lem arises concerning them,
the inquiry becomes a dip-
lomatic incident b e c a u s e
what has to be investigated
is the Russian government.
This then is a serious mat-
ter. For instance, wl}at hap-
pens if an American leaves a
bequest to a relative in Rus-
sia? Who gets the money?
Usually, the Russian govern-
ment gets the money or the
property.
This entire procedure
needs to be investigated very
thoroughly so that American
citizens are not gypped under
the peculiar Soviet property
system. The Russians have a
right to pursue any system of
private property they choose,
but they are not entitled to
steal money or goods sent
from this country.
Sen. Dodd has lilt on a very
interesting subject w h i c h
ought to give the congres-
sional committee of which he
is a member an opportunity
for interesting study.
Copyright, 1961,
King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Approved For Release 2000/05/24: CIA-RDP75-00149R000200330053-9