STUDY AND DISCUSSION' SOCIETY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume L, Issue 16458, 17 June 1924, Page 8

STUDY AND DISCUSSION' SOCIETY.

At flip meeting of the Study and Discussion Society last Thursday, Mr. Mount gave an address on "The Russian Commune.” Mr. Morrison took the chair. Mr. Mount introduced his lecture by saving that it was impossible yet to know the whole history of the Russian revolution. Fragmentary news had been told of different parts of the country during that period of upheaval. He proposed dealing with it on the lines of the official account by Lord Dunstable, who was in charge of a "hush-hush ’ mission from Persia to Baku. From Dunstable’s book we got information about the state of South-East Russia, immediately after the revolution, tlis touch with Russia made interesting reading from a social point of view. It hud been said that the ideals of the Russian revolutionaries were the ideals we should rule the world by, but we should wait and see the effects of the movement. Dunstable met no hostility except from agitators, so he concluded that hostilities wore mainly dictated by the leaders. Ho found the towns full of disbanded troops who had been left to get to their homes as best they could. The political ideas of the people * were simple; the revolution had come about because they were oppressed : now they were free, but quite ignorant of what Bolshevism was. After being turned hack by a Soviet committee, Dunstable linnllv reached Baku, where he found his mission greeted with .suspicious that (lie English were taking advantage of the Russian situation to serve their own ends. He found everything nationalised food, labor. shipping, wheat : especially was it difficult- to get any wheat, though the possession of gold made him powerful in this land of paper currency. He was particularly struck bv the unkempt appearance of the soldiers, who. instead of saluting their officers, would now greet them with n silly smile. Everywhere lie found committees ; the; town was ruled hv n committee; the sailors on the ships held committee meetings to decide whether they should sail and what cargo they should carry. Even the soldiers went into committee, sometimes in the midst of action. The administration of the town was carried on under central rule from Moscow. The lecture was followed by a few questions, and three excellent short speeches were made by Mr. Maunder, Mr. flail and Mr. Morrison.