RUSSIAN BORDER GUARD CHIEF AT HOME IN KYRGYZSTAN.

Lt. Gen. Pavel Vasko, the commander of Russian border guards in Kyrgyzstan, told Slovo Kyrgyzstana May 27 that he and his men were happy in that Central Asian republic both because it was where he was born and because the Kyrgyz authorities were so cooperative. They supply the Russian forces with 50 percent of the troops in the border guard contingent there, and pay 20 percent of the costs Russian forces incur there. In other remarks, he suggested that most smuggling in the Central Asian region was coming through legal crossing points and not through mountain fastnesses as before.

If Americans Want to Breathe, They Should Pay Russia a Tax.