CRUCIAL SUSPENSE

Northern Advocate, 19 April 1933, Page 5

CRUCIAL SUSPENSE

PRISONERS’ FATE MOSCOW PROCEEDINGS. EXPERT REPORT FLOUTED. INTOLERANT PROSECUTION

(Times Cable.) (Received 9 a.m.) LONDON, April IS.

The Riga correspondent of “The .Times’? states that in his. address to the court the prosecutor completely ignored the reports of the Soviet’s own investigation commissions to the effect that the breakdowns in the Aloscow, Ivanovo, Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk and other electric stations Avere due to mismanagement, bad transport and the scarcity of skilled labour which constantly caused serious damage in Moscoav stations.” The correspondent adds tliat none of the Soviet reports mentions the foreign engineers or Avilful Avrccking ns the cause of the damage.

POIGNANT PERIOD, THORNTON MESSAGE. ■ GRAVE ADVICE TO WIFE. SEVERE PENALTY EXPECTED. (Received 9 run.) LONDON, April IS. The wife of W. 11. Thornton, one of the Vickers engineers on trial in Moscow, has received through the Foreign Office a personal, cryptic message from her husband, warning her “not to be.shocked’’ at the result of: the trial.

The message adds: “I have little doubt that my punishment will be the most severe of all the, Englishmen,” Mr Thornton' asks his wife to be brave, but says he cannot stand the agony of waiting for sentence much longer.

SUPPORT FOR SOVIET. LABOUR PARTY’S DISHONOUR. " SCATHING INDICTMENT. (Received 9' a.m.) LONDON, April 17. The “Daily Mail” says the members of the Independent Labour Party who have proclaimed their support for the Soviet against their own countrymen dishonour themselves at the moment when Moscow is giving the Avorld an object lesson in what Soviet justice means.

ULTERIOR MOTIVE. SIDE-STEPPING- DEBTS., “AN AVOWED ENEMY.” (Received 9 a.m.) LONDON, April *lB. The “Morning Post” says: “The Soviet’s wanton outrage against our subjects could only have been devised with one object, namely, in order to pick a quarrel * and use it as an excuse for ’ repudiating inconvenient debts.

“Under the exports guarantee system we have incurred a liability of £7,000,000 in order to encourage Anglo-Russian trade. This is likely to become a bad debt. It will, however, be some compensation to know that it ends an arrangement to use British money and credit to bolster up and strengthen an avowed enemy. ”

SPY SCARE. NEWSPAPER PROPAGANDA. (Received 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, April IS. Russian newspapers signalised the last day of the trial by whipping up a tremendous..f?py s scare and copiously referring ,to Brace-Lockhart O'Reilly, Colonel Lawrence,.; , and other, alleged British spies. The Press generally demanded the ..death penalties, in order to demonstrate the Soviet’s strength. “P.ravda” declares that Vickers employees were preparing for war.