IN SOVIET RUSSIA

Evening Star, Issue 21254, 8 November 1932, Page 9

IN SOVIET RUSSIA

“ A NATION AT SCHOOL M “ I do not pose as a 100 per cent, expert, but Soviet Russia appears to have solved our major difficulties of unemployment and finance,” said Major Pharazyn, who recently returned from a tour of Russia, during a chat with a ‘ Star ’ reporter to-day. Major Pharazyn was for ten years in the Royal Air Force, and before resigning to enter business, which he has since followed in Australia and elsewhere, he was an officer in the Army of Occupation in Turkey. During 1921 he was in charge of a camp in Turkey at which 3,000 Russian refugees were located. The question of what the exact martial conditions in Soviet Russia were at the moment was of less importance than what they may be in the future, said Major Pharazyn. It was reported that some 15,000 tourists had visited Soviet Russia this season, and among those who had visited the country within the past eighteen months were Lord Lothian, Under-Secretary for India, Professor Julian Huxley, and others, whose evidence could no longer bo discounted. It was as well to take very careful note of what was happening in that country. The trade possibilities were, of course, enormous, but if the world continued its present prejudice against accepting Soviet goods it would be impossible for Russia to pay for such goods as it would otherwise purchase from the outside world. Under such conditions trade would become impossible, unless the rest of the world was actually prepared to give goods to Russia.

“The idea that tourists are shepherded and carefully shown selected exhibits is seen to be fantastic and absurd as soon as one realises the number of tourists and the extraordinary preoccupation of the Russians with, their own tremendously difficult problems, and the fact that they show not the slightest concern what opinion the tourists form,” said Major Pharazyn. “ They seem to be quite confident that they are on the tight lines, and events certainly seem to be justifying that confidence. The workers in the factories and elsewhere are showing no signs of being under any restraint whatsoever. They behave much as the workers in New Zealand factories would behave if a number of tourists were visiting the works. They were slightly curious about us, and made jokes to each other about our appearance, and in so far as wo could overcome the language difficulty by speaking to them in a few words of Russian or through an interpreter they showed the greatest amusement at any notion that they wore subject to any special discipline or tyrannous control. Tourists are quite iree to wander where they like. Members of our party frequently did so.’ It could be said definitely that there was no unemployment in Soviet Russia. In fact, the actual difficulty was of workers continually changing their jobs out of a desire for new scenes and new sensations. Beggars were very rarely seen in the streets, and prostitution had been practically abolished. Those were very notable advancements, although one might find a great many matters for criticism, such as tho over-

crowding of houses and the backwardness of the great masses in the country. But those were, problems inherited from the old order. Tremendous efforts were being made to put them right. Something like 50,000,000 people, or nearly a third of the population, were attending some kind or educational classes. Soviet Russia was, in fact, a nation at school,;