BRITAIN AND SOVIET

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 53, Issue 171, 3 May 1933, Page 5

BRITAIN AND SOVIET

QUESTION OF RELATIONS. DEBATE IN HOUSE OF LORDS. DEBTS AND LENA AWARD. (United Press Association—Copyright!. (Received This Day, 11.15 a.m.) LONDON, May 2. In the House of Lords, Earl Mount Temple of Stowe, seeking a statement of the Government’s policy toward the Soviet, said lie welcomed the present change from tlie former entreaties. Negotiations backed only by persuasion have been entirely ineffective, lie said. “You cannot treat Russia as though she was civilised. Beneath the veneer of civilisation there is the Tartar of a savage.” There should be no diplomatic relations till the Lena goldfields .award was settled and some payment made toward Russia’s debts to Britain, whose ratepayers were paying some £45,000,000 annually in interest owing to Russia’s failure to meet her obligations. Baron Marley said no objection had been raised to the recognition of Russia im Czarist days. Tlie Russian people were now described as savages, but they had not. changed in 15 years. Mr Baldwin had pointed out that the Lena goldfields represented a capital loss of £3,500,000, and the speaker suggested that the .award of £13,000,000 was hopelessly exaggerated. The recent embargo had robbed Britain of an expanding market. Trade was going to France, Italy, and Japan. The decision would throw 60,000 men out of work. Earl Stanhope (Parliamentary Secretary of State for War) said that no statement of policy was possible at present. It was necessary to lie careful with statements, as everyone desired the liberation of Thornton and Macdonald. The Government was devoting its attention to questions of Russian debts and the Lena .award. Mr Baldwin’s reference to £.3,500,000 had applied to the company’s actual loss, not the total damages suffered. He believed that British nationals resident in Russia were not to be molested .as a result of the Government’s action in the recent case, but lie recommended others to postpone prospective visits. Further interference \yith British subjects would create even more serious Anglo-Soviet relations than had resulted from the recent trial.