THE RUSSIA OF TO-MORROW

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17957, 8 December 1932, Page 12

THE RUSSIA OF TO-MORROW

INDUSTRIALISED LAND SIR A. STEEL-MAITLAND ’ S IMPRESSIONS LONDON, Oct. 19. Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland addressed the members af the Philosophical Institution at a meeting in the Assembly Hail of tho Church of Scotland in Edinburgh, with Lord Sands in the chair. Referring to tho Five Years Plan, Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland said that what was not fully realised was the very great difficulty as to personnel in Russia. A lack of managers and foremen could bo met, and had been met, by the temporary importation of foreigners. With workmen it was different. The existing body of skilled Russian workmen bad already long been absorbed. The Government had to deal now with a large inert mass of peasants; men with a low standard of living; without initiative; who had been driven for centuries; who were slipshod and procrastinating, and not only unskilled in any trade, but unaccustomed to factory work, however, unskilled. NEED FOR CAPITAL Russia was faced at the moment with two great temporary difficulties —the need for capital and the present agrarian difficulty. But if these were surmounted, lie ln\d no doubt of the success of tho Russian scheme of industrialisation. It could not have succeeded in a country like our own, under British conditions, but it would in Russia, accustomed as tlie people had been for long years to hard living and to short commons. The intensity of the effort which was being made by the Russian Government and its supporters was shown by the fact that equal energy was put into the building of workmen’s dwellings, of schools, of roads, and other social activities. To this force should bo added the power of propaganda, of which, all the instruments—the newspapers, advertisements, cinemas, the theatres, wireless were in the hands of the Government. The influence exerted by propaganda was enormous. In particular, distorted accounts of foreign countries maintained the belief among Russian people, that their country was in danger and encouraged the mass of people, for patriotic reasons, to tolerate hardships against which they might otherwise rebel. Those were the reasons which made it likely that tho great attempt to industrialise Russia would finally meet with success. It was not a question a Five Years Plan, nor even of a Ten Years Plan. Fifteen or 20 years would probably see an industrialised Russia Therefore, the question of the attitude of this country towards Russia was of great importance. lie went to Russia with a strong dislike of the way in which Hie Bolshevist regime was started, and he had that dislike still. But a policy of sterile, negation would not mend conditions. He was, therelore, from the point of view of the immediate future, in favor of increasing trade with Russia as much as possible. In this country capital was lying idle. In Russia - it was urgently needed. Why should not the supjily meet the demand? Security would have to ho, forthcoming, and this should not be impossible.