NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY Registered for transmission through the post as a newspaper. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1925. RED PROPAGANDA.

Northern Advocate, 9 February 1925, Page 4

NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY Registered for transmission through the post as a newspaper. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1925. RED PROPAGANDA.

Every now and then the cable mentions, the incessant activity of the Russian Soviet authorities in furtherance of their desire to Bolshevise the world. Only the other day, for instance, we learnt that the school teachers of Britain had been asked by Moscow to "prepare to take their part in t-lie new sphere of history being prepared for them through the revolutionary movement." They were, in short, to instill "the spirit of class war" into the minds of the growing generation. British teachers are not at all likely to follow Moscow's advice, for Communism is little favoured in the British Isles, or indeed in any British country. Yet the Bolshevists spare no effort to spread their gospel, and it is interesting to study their methods, for there is a curious, naivete in the Soviet's attitude to propaganda. Russia is ardently seeking recognition, loans, and concessions from other nations. When they arc given she is exultant —when the treaty with Japan was concluded, Moscow, we were told, celebrated for a week. When they are withheld she is aggrieved. An invariable condition of

accommodation is that the Government will put a stop. to propaganda in the country in question. The assurance is always cheerfully given—and the campaign continues with unabated vigour. The Soviet refuses to see any inconsistency between its pledge and its practice. True, it alleges that there is no connection between the Government and the Third (or Communist) International, and that it cannot be held responsible for the actions of the. latter. The pretence deceives nobody. Everyone is aware that the two are closely associated. The Communist International is simply a branch of the Government; the one is the extraterritorial organisation of the other. "While Lenin was,in a state to direct our work," said Zinovieff, in a speech last year, "we, the members of the Communist International, came to him for advice, and the whole central committee agreed that his views were to be put into practice without further debate." "To all intents and purposes," writes another, authority, "the Third International is a department of the Moscow Administration. . . . The

apparent separation enables the Moscow Government to speak with two voices; one makes promises to foreign Governments, while the other issues orders in an. opposite sense to revolutionary parties in other countries." The Government supplies the sinews of war, and it is worth noting that however impoverished Russia may be there i* always money available for propaganda. No doubt, had the British loan been floated, a proportion of it would have gone back to England in the pockets of Bolshevik agents. This Red propaganda is literally world-wide. The evidence on that point is incontrovertible. It has been active in Persia and Afghanistan, and has stirred up sedition in India. It has penetrated to China. It has been at the bottom of many of the troubles in Australia, and nowhere has it been more unblushing than in Britain. Its exponents make no secret of their achievements. Did not Kameneff frankly, if indiscreetly, boast that the Anglo-Russian treaty had been procured "under the menace of the big stick?" The Soviet does not only condone propaganda; it encourages it in every conceivable way, knowing it to be indispensable to the continuance of the Soviet system, the future of which depends on Russia's ability to convert other nations to a similar way of thinking. Lenin realised this. , "We run the risk of perishing," he said, "if revolution does not break out in other countries with the least possible delay." His sentiments have recently, been echoed. Hv Ivameneff, who declared that "v[e must win over the masses who st'/JI follow, the I .London and American national." There is a tendency to dis.miss Bolshevik propaganda as an empty boorev; but we shoiild cherish no •. illusions on that score. Bolshevik prois a very real thin<x. arid Russia can no more abandon it than she can. give up breathins:. It is well thnt we should grasp this fact and recognise the oricin of the strnnn-e new doctrines that are now preached so

freelv. Thev are an importation from Moscow —the one product, indeed, that Russia now has to export. "Onr'nicr January 10(1 patients were admitted to- the Whangarei Hospital and were discharged. There were siv deaths during the period, and on TV> T T-n<irv 1 f.Tipro wee 95 patients in {lie institution.