NOW A POWERFUL FORTRESS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 113, 6 February 1937, Page 18

NOW A POWERFUL FORTRESS

Defences of Vladivostok “RUSSIA NO LONGER FEARS JAPAN” Mr. H. d e Redder, an Australian engineer, who has spent three years on ships trading in the China Sea and on the east coast of Russia, said, on his return to Australia recently, that Vladivostok was now a powerful fortress and naval base, and Russia was no longer afraid of Japan, says the “Sydney Morning Herald.” “Japan’s position at the moment is not a happy one,” Mr. de Redder said. “There is a growing feeling in China that the recent policy of diplomacy should be replaced by one of aggression against Japan. “I was informed time and again by reputable Chinese and Europeans that General Chiang Kai-shek, the virtual dictator of China, was held hostage by Marshal Chang Hsueh-liang simply because General Chiang’s policy was one of diplomacy rather than aggression, and the fact that he was released without bloodshed seems to indicate that China will adopt a stronger and more hostile attitude. “Vladivostok is armed to the teeth. Everywhere yju look you see soldiers. Strangers are not welcomed. They are put through the most rigorous examinations. Everyone, I found, was suspicous of the intentions of Japan, and this unanimous feeling has united the Russians in a bond of loyalty which far transcends their own domestic problems.

“How great or how far-reaching are the plans for fortification it is difficult to assess, but I saw something of military and naval efficiency. I was lucky enough to become friendly with a Russian ship’s chandler, who was not subject to the very strict supervision of most of the inhabitants. He showed me around.

“I saw dozens of small and power-ful-looking submarines; hundreds of aeroplanes; stream-lined destroyers; and many armed motor launches, which had a cut about them that suggested any amount of speed. I gathered the impression that the whole of the plan had been designed for defence. Better Living Conditions. “.Many times,” he said, “we put into Vladivostok and the smaller Russian ports, which are the outlet for timber from the many huge mills. Part of the great Russian programme of rehabilitation was, as everyone knows, an attempt to improve the general living conditions of the people. And this has apparently been generally successful. But until quite recently no thought was given to improving the lot of the people of Vladivostok, because every effort was concentrated on making the seaport impregnable. Today the work has been completed, or sufficiently completed to permit a little relaxation. “Now, having first solved the problem of defence, the Russian authorities are making Vladivostok a place pleasant to live in. When I first went there, three years ago, I found that the people were drab, ill-clad and obviously poorly fed. On recent trips there was a transformation. Dancing I found was the rage and every facility had been provided for encouraging it. I found, too, shops, where one could purchase anything for money. And there was more colour in the clothes of the people. Everyone was talking about education, and grownups and children were thronging the houses of learning, eager to improve their minds. “I wandered Into a picture theatre, and saw a programme of Russian pictures. One of them was a Russian adaptation of ‘Rose Marie.’ “It was something of a shock to leave Vladivostok and explore, as much as I was able to do, some of the rough ports which exist for the most part on the timber industry. The mills are worked by forced labour, consisting chiefly of political prisoners and other offenders. Conditions were crude. Everywhere there were soldiers, and the workers seemed to do little else but work and sleep.”