SOVIET PROPAGANDA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20480, 4 February 1930, Page 14

SOVIET PROPAGANDA.

CAMPAIGN AMONG SEAMEN.

A correspondent writes:—The Soviet Government in Russia has recently opened and financed institutes for visiting seamen in various ports of Russia and is responsible for othars at ports outside the Russian Empire, including a noted one in an important port in a BritisK Dominion. These institutes, known as international

clubs for seafarers and waterside workers, are based on methods used in the Missions to Seamen institutes throughout the world, with the great exception that religion plays no part in the work, but is openly ridiculed and mocked at. Officers are in charge of these clubs; in maijy cases men who have sailed on British ships. They visit the ships and the crews are invited to make use of the clubs, which are hot beds of revolutionary propaganda. The British seaman is especially catered for with the intention of making him dissatisfied with his conditions. " Show " ships flying the Soviet flag are pointed out and conditions aboard for the crew are said to be ideal. The literature in the clubrooms is in Bus-, sian and English and is of the deepest dye in red. The walls contain charts of statistics showing the pre-war position of the "slave" and the capitalist; others show the "slave" climbing to a higher position in the social world till he becomes the ruler of labour and commerce. The only other pictures are cartoons drawn to make religion and English customs look ridiculous. . Last week a steamer was at Auckland that had recently been .to Russian ports. Officers and crew accepted the invitation to visit the international clubrooms and nlso saw something of Soviet rule. The propaganda failed to win them over and they expressed the opinion that very few British seamen would care to serve on a ship flying the Soviet flag, though they are aware that conditions on many ship's flying the British ensign leave much to be desired.