Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1936 RUSSIAN JUSTICE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 308, 27 November 1936, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1936 RUSSIAN JUSTICE.

The sentence of death imposed on the German mining engineer Stickling, who pleaded guilty to sabotage in a Russian factory, aroused great indignation in Germany which will now be allayed by the Soviet’s reprieve. The German Government demanded the commutation of ' the sentence, and though Russia at first seemed disinclined to accede, possibly the threat of a break in diplomatic relations between the two countries caused the Soviet to review the matter. Be this as it may, Russian leaders do not fear the strength of their western neighbour. The incident gave Stalin the great opportunity of posing before the Russian people. “Russia,” he says, “has defied Germany because Russia is strong and not afraid of' Hitler, and his hordes.” Russia has been concentrating her attention on her army and air force, not necessarily witii an ulterior motive, but to hold the revolutionaries in check. Russia is never free from the danger of revolution and the Stickling incident is not unconnected with revolutionary schemes. Russia has a great army and a great air force, well-disciplined and loyal. Germany is not ready for war. Her army is new and there is a great shortage of trained officers. In any case it is difficult to know how Germany could attack Russia. The old system of sending warships to bombard a town is now quite obsolete, and it has been rendered obsolete by the aeroplane. • Germany was not likely to do more than protest in connection with the Stickling affair. Russia is also at loggerheads with Japan over the treaty signed with Germany which is obviously aimed at Russia. The latter has no occasion to fear Japan, for besides holding a big force on the Siberian border, Russia can look for the support of China, and the two nations might easily account for Japan.

Germany is really not' anxious for war, and the statement recently made by flerr von Kibbentrop, the German Ambassador in London, is transparently honest, and convincing. He said recently : ‘“Undoubtedly Europe is in a strained state to-day, but we still believe that we can maintain the peace. It is sheer nonsense to say that Germany is playing a ‘war of prevention’ against Ihissia, neither the material nor the psychological conditions are given for such constellation. . . . Besides that the foreign reports about German armaments are exaggerated. Though we are strong enough to defend ourselves

we are by no means armed to launch and win a war. There are no common frontiers between Germany and Russia, so the troops would have to be transported through Poland to the Russian border, and he who knows the political conditions in Eastern Europe, knows very well that Poland is by no means prepared to allow her country to become a theatre of war.”