RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23413, 21 August 1941, Page 6

RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA

Overflow Audience At Meeting

RESOLUTIONS CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

The audience, attending the meeting held in the Civic Theatre last evening by the New Zealand Society for Closer Relations with Russia was so big that an overflow meeting had to be arranged in the Christchurch City Council Chambers, adjacent to the theatre. Not a voice was raised against the speakers, who advocated a better understanding with the U.S.S.R., and' at the end of the meeting, after each speaker had been enthusiastically applauded, two resolutions were carried unanimously—first, that the meeting send greetings to the citizens of_ the Soviet, expressing admiration for their heroic and determined resistance to the Nazi attack and pledging full support in breaking the power of world Fascism; ■ and, second, requesting the New Zealand. Government to open diplomatic relations with Russia immediately and to initiate trade negotiations with the idea of affording the greatest possible assistance* to Russia in her fight. There was enthusiasm when one of the speakers, Mr H. Winston Rhodes, asked,for donations to assist in meeting expenses and establishing a fund for the society. He asked for pound -notes-to start, the fund, and. in a few minutes had 30, some of them having been thrown down from the upstairs gallery. These notes, collections of coin, cheques, and promises totalled £ll9 5s 4d. The speakers were Mr Rhodes, Mr J. Roberts, and Mr H. Atmore, M.P., with the' Mayor, Mr E. H. Andrews, presiding. Mr C. G, Scrimgeour was to have spoken, but sent an apology because of illness. There was applause when Mr Andrews explained that the Civic Theatre was not able to accommodate all the people wanting to attend the meeting. The movement was not a class one, he said, but one in which all New Zealanders could join. Russia was now an ally t>f the Empire, and a very valuable ally.' Russia had given us a new hope and increased confidence in victory for the Allies. Mr Roberts moved the two resolutions, emphasising that the society was non-sectarian, non-political, and nonpartisan. The time had arrived, he said, when there ought to be some better understanding tfith “this much maligned country," and there were cheers when Mr Roberts mentioned Mr Ernest Bevln’s statement that Russia would play a great part in deciding the terms of peace. Shadows and Light

“There are shadows as well as light in Russia,” Mr Roberts said, “but too much emphasis has been laid on the shadow. The world has been given a distorted view of Russia.”. Mr Roberts mentioned that recently he had been in Russia, and as one example of the conditions he saw there he cited a garment factory. “I wish it were possible to secure the same conditions for New Zealand garment workers that I saw in that factory,” he said. “They worked a seven-hour day with a, five-minute spell every hour. Their factories are not only places where they make things: they are political and cultural centres as well.” It was true that women did manual labour in Russia, Mr Roberts said, but women also took their part in every sphere of the life of the Soviet Union. •Mr. Rhodes was warmly applauded when he mentioned the part being played by the Soviet and also by China .in' a fight which hesajd was as much the Empire’s fight as theirs, and was also applauded when he declared that the destinies of the future would lie with Great Britain, the United States of America, the Soviet, and China, for the simple reason that those countries stood, all of them, opposed to the domination of world Fascism. “Whatever we as British people have thought of the U.S.S.R., as intelligent people we must all say thank Heaven the Soviet took the action she did,” Mr Rhodes said, when referring to the 1 Soviet’s occupation ■of the Baltic States, Finland and Bessarabia. The- people •of th? Soviet.had in the last 20 years been trained to " expect attack from Fascism and had taken full measures to protect themselves.

“Greatest Crusade”

‘T have no hesitation in calling this fight the greatest of all crusades the world has ever engaged in,” said Mr Atmore. He spoke of the close ties New Zealanders had maintained with British traditions and said: "It is because of these traditions that we feel so disappointed when we find men coming out here like Sir Ronald Cross and saying that few people in the Old Country think otherwise than he does. Men like him do not represent the true traditions of the race.” Mr- Atmore declared that the recent joint declaration by Mr Churchill’and Mr Roosevelt was a Magna Carta for the nations. He said that to the extent that Russia was using her own men in the fight against Germany, she was saving New Zealand lives and the lives of the soldiers of other allies. He could- not understand any intelligent man, oh the side of right against evil, who did not, thank God for Russia’s help. •Mr Atmore emphasised his view that it was wrong, when discussing Russia, to contrast conditions there tojday with those of the privileged claswis in another country. The true contrast, he said, was between Russia to-day and Russia of 1912. He also mentioned Russia’s occupation of Finland, describing it as an essential part of Russia’s strategy., He quoted, in supportof that. claim, the action: taken by Great Britain in Syria- and in the naval attack on the French Fleet at Oran. Mr Atmore" was warmly applauded for: his speech. Before the meeting started, the audience sang the National Anthem and the Internationale. .