forged the things knew a good deal, but did not
know quite enough, because these persons, de-
scribed as "plenipotentiaries of the Council of
Peoples' Commissars," though all actually in the
service of the Soviet Government, could not all,
at that time, have been what they were said to be.
Polivanov, for example, was a very minor official.
Joffe, on the other hand, was indeed a person of
some importance. The putting of the names in
that order was almost as funny as if they had
produced a document signed by Lenin and the
Commandant of the Kremlin, putting the latter
first.

Pokrovsky told me a good deal about the or-
ganization of this Commissariat, as Lunacharsky,
the actual head of it, was away in Petrograd.
The routine work is run by a College of nine mem-
bers appointed by the Council of People's Commis-
sars. The Commissar of Education himself is
appointed by the All-Russian Executive Commit-
tee. Besides this, there is a Grand College which
meets rarely for the settlement of important ques-
tions. In it are representatives of the Trades
Unions, the Workers' Co-operatives, the Teachers'

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