BRITAIN AND RUSSIA

Otago Witness, Issue 3806, 22 February 1927, Page 29

BRITAIN AND RUSSIA

A FUSILLADE OF QUESTIONS. LONDON, February 14. In the House of Commons Mr G. LockerLampson (Under-Secretary for Home Affairs), replying to a question, said that no communication bad passed between the Soviet and the Foreign Office on the subject of China. ' ; Sir W. H. Davison -Con.): What is the date of the last protest made to the Soviet in connection with its action m China? -Mr Locker-Lampson: That really does i not arise out of the question. He added j that no ‘communication whatever had : taken place in connection with M. Eras- j sin’s successor. There had been no change in the Russian situation since Sir Austen I Chamberlain’s statement on the subject.- I Sir W. H. Davison: No change, even I in view of’what happened in ('•him? Mr Locker-Lampson : I did not say that. The official Soviet press provides ample evidence of the hostile propaganda against Britain without- the necessity of the Foreign Secretary producing further evidence. Mr Ramsay MacDonald: If that is the case the Foreign Secretary had occasion to cornplain. Has he done so? Mr Locker-Lamspon: Certainly; in interviews with the Soviet representative. The trade agreement has bee broken over and over again. Mr A. M. Samuel (Under-Secretary for Overseas Trade) stated that Britain had sold Russia in 1925 £19,000,000 worth of goods, and £14,500,000 worth in 1926. ANTI-SOVIET HOSTILITY. LONDON, February 17. The British United Press reports that a sensation was caused at Moscow by .the publication by the newspaper Pravda and Isvestia of documents purporting to show that Sir .W. Jbynson-Hicks (the Home Secretary) and other prominent British personalities are in league against the Soviet, notably with M. Sablin, a former Ambassador under the Czar, who is now resident in Paris. The Isvestia represents the Czarist diplomats acting as agents—accomplices of the British “Diehards.” The Pravda declares that certain groups in England are plotting against the Soviet, and enumerates the individuals and organisations, including the British bankers, and evten the heads of the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches. This so-called exposure purports to reveal the secret springs of the anti-Soviet work in England. It declares that Mr Churchill and the Earl of Birkenhead support a group which is trying to break up AngloRussian relations. It is even alleged that an appeal has been made for money from the Russian Loyalists for a campaign to clear out the Reds. Both the Pravda and the Isvestia, it is reported, publish photographs of documents allegedly proving their assertions.

THE GOVERNMENT’S ATTITUDE. LONDON, February 17. Mr Churchill, in a speech, indicated that the Government at present had no intention of closing down the Soviet Embassy. He said that the Government was not labouring under any illusion about Russia. “It is sometimes asked,” he said, “what the Government is afraid of. Nothing could be less alarming from the Governmen’s viewpoint than the gesture of sweeping out the Russian representation. It would in nowise involve any test-of physical or moral courage. It would give immense satisfaction throughout the country, but if we do not take this course you must credit us with having, carefully considered all the aspects of The matter with no other object than the preservation of the country’s interests and the peace of the world. We are not ignorant of the provocation, but there are other considerations which at present cannot be swept aside as of