A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 74, 21 December 1937, Page 9

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Russian Elections Soviet Russia lias just held its tir.elections under the new Constitution.i Tlie new law for Hie election of tin.J Supreme Council (Soviet) of the, Union and of the Council of 'h<Nationalities was adopted on July I 1937. Every citizen of the Soviet Unmii who has attained his or her eighteen, n year by polling clay is an elector an possesses at the same time the righ to be elected, irrespective of race n nationality, creed, degree of education property status, social origin, or length of residence. The only persons excluded from the franchise are those sentenced to loss of electoral rights by the courts, or mentally deficient. Every citizen has a vote, and all. whether workers, peasants, or intellectuals, take part in the elections. Women have the right to elect and be elected on equal terms with men; the young Soviet citizens serving in the Red Army at the time of the elections also have equal electoral rights. In all towns, villages, and even the smallest settlements, lists of electors are drawn up, registering in alphabetical order, the names and addresses of all Soviet citizens entitled to vote. The whole country is divided into electoral constituencies. For the election of the Supreme Council (Soviet) of the Union, every 300,000 citizens form a constituency, and send a deputy. In tfie case of the Second Chamber, the Council of Nationalities, the election is carried out in accordance with the national districts, 25 deputies falling to each Union Republic, 11 to each Autonomous Republic, 5 to each Autonomous Province, and one deputy each to every Rational district. The constituencies themselves are subdivided into smaller divisions or wards for purposes of exactitude ef electoral organisation, putting up of candidates, distribution of voting papers, and counting. A candidate must get an absolute majority of votes. Should that not result, a special election is held later between the two can didates polling the largest number votes. A non-working day is selc. H-.i for polling. Gateshead

The Commissioners for the Special Areas report the completion of 28 far tories near Gateshead to cope with th” unemployment problem. Gateshead, a town in the county ot Durham, England, is situated on the opposite side of the Tyne to Newcastle, a town with which it is very closely connected. A fire in 1854 destroyed a considerable portion of Gateshead. The river is bridged in three places, and thus connection with Newcastle is established. The town is also a great centre for the London and Northeastern Railway. The town is probably of Saxon origin, the first mention of it being made toward the end of the eleventh century, and it was a rival of Newcastle as far back as 800 years ago. The great struggle between these two towns rose from rivalry over fishing and trading rights. For a short time in the sixteenth century Gateshead and Newcastle were united. The population is about 125,000. Depending as it does on its coalmining and its heavy industries, the county of Durham was one of the areas in Great Britain most adversely affected by the depression. Many thousands of the workers were thrown out of employment as industries and mines were forced to close down. Russia And Japan Japan has protested to the Soviet Embassy in connection with the arrest of seven Japanese on ambiguous charges at Vladivostock on March 27 and has demanded their immediate release. There has been frontier trouble between these two Powers for a long time, and protests and counter-protests are repeatedy being made. One witty Far Eastern newspaper man has expressed it: “Tokio and Moscow’ niuiji have concluded a secret pact not to make war upon each other in any circumstances, otherwise neither side would take the risks they do.” In May, 1936, Mr. I-lachiro Arita. Foreign Minister of Japan, declared: “The present relations between Japan and the; Soviet Union cannot be said to be altogether felicitous. The fundamental cause of this unfortunate state of things lies, if I may say so frankly, in the lack of comprehension on the part of the Soviet statesmen of Japan’s position in East Asia, coupled with their baseless fears and suspicions. The fact that the Soviet Union maintains excessive armaments at her remote outposts in the Far East constitutes a real menace in this part of the world. I desire to state definitely on this occasion that Japan in her solicitude for the peace of East Asia eannot remain indifferent to that fact.” On the other side of the fence, Marshal Bluecher, late commander of the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army of Soviet Russia —to give that force its full title—once said: “The Red Armystands as a formidable, invincible force on the Soviet frontiers, guarding the happy, joyous labour of the workers and peasants. The Soviet Government is firmly and undeviatingly pursuing a policy of peace. . . . “The playing with fire along our Far Eastern frontiers is not ceasing. The Japanese militarists are stealing up to our frontiers both directly and through other territories. Attempts of evernew violations of our frontiers on the part of Japano-Manchurian military detachments are not ceasing or declining.” Chiang Kai-shek’s Decision General Chiang Kai-shek has declared his intention of resisting Japanese aggression to the end “for the sake of the nation and posterity.” Not long before the outbreak of the present conflict he said: “It is a fatal mistake for the Japanese to imagine that I will ndt fight under any circumstances.” His tactics were summed up: “Give me a guarantee that my coastline will not be blockaded by the Japanese fleet, and my source of munitions and supplies thereby cut off and I will fight to-morrow.” Equipment, if has been said, is the main problem. Apart from a small corps d’elite, which is equipped with modern weapons. China’s soldiers are armed with a dozen different varieties of rifles, needing almost as many different brands of ammunition Some of them have old Austrian bayonets, some Japanese. The machine-guns include old Maxims. Hotchkiss. German Pack, and Japanese air-cooled weapons. Some are of Chinese manufacture. There exists no heavy artillery worth speaking of. Every regiment, however, possesses a battery of trench-mortars •(a favourite weapon with the Chinese), some very good armoured trains, and an air arm said to number 1000 planes Its weakest point is transport, there being- few motor-lorries and fewer motor-ambulance units When any portion of the force takes the field its a iiiiiiiinit ion and supplies are transported in carts, or on animals, requisitioned from the local population.