The Guardian (And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times.) FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 1938. PURGE PROBLEMS.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 March 1938, Page 4

The Guardian (And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times.) FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 1938. PURGE PROBLEMS.

The frequency with which some countries indulge in “purge” action to remove apparently undesirable figures from posts of authority, make these occasions rather familiar of late. Germany joined, in the practice recently, but on more humane grounds than are noticeable in some countries, where executions or long .terms of imprison-, ment often ensue. The purge in Germany was in respect to the military, ■and it has not been explained publicly the occasion, for the wholesale action. ■ There was the suggestion of a plot, but as condign punishment was not | meted out that may be an exaggeration, and it may have been purely, a. revision as in England lately, whop elderly executive officers in the army, were superseded. by younger men. Attention was drawn to the latter case, because so many high officers were in- | volved, but with a new War Minister imbued with the importance of Ins office, he, adopted a sweeping policy i in the endeavour to secure efficiency, j However, in the case of Russia, the penalties are severe, and the crop of alleged offenders appears to be inexhaustible'. Trotsky is evidently a clever schemer if all hire plots credited to;him since he appeared on the political horizon, were organised througn his workings. There were many ready to co-operate with him, and the manner in which those in high places have fallen to the wiles of the tempter, is remarkable. Many stories are told .very 'circumstantially, though often when j foreign countries are implicated, and especially in the case of Britain, it would appear the statements are highly. coloured. The almost cheerful man- j ner in which some of the culprits boast , of 1 their feats, suggests a strain of madness, or some narcotic influence for the time being. Security in Russia, it would appear, is a very slender thread for those in high places. The country certainly is vast, and carries an enormous population, so that on a percentage basis, a goodly percentage could he drawn from a section of the people, without occasioning special concern in relation to the number from whom the culprits might be drawn. The system of plot and counter plot revealed, and the roundabout way in which some of the schemes were developed to reach tin., “wicked” period, indicate a wide interlacing of interests, making the occasion the more serious. If what is revealed is a symptom of the regular course of events in Russia, the internal state of affairs must be sadly disorganised. And such being so, it is remarkable the country is making the progress it is, with all the cross currents operating to defeat national ends. The extent of the country makes it unwioldly naturally, but with the counter workings of destructive plots, * it is remarkable indeed that its internal condition is as good as it is. The country will surely be looking for more permanent relief when the present purge has run its course.