SOVIET RULE LOOMS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 18991, 16 April 1936, Page 9

SOVIET RULE LOOMS

CONDITIONS IN SPAIN PARALLEL TO RUSSIA LABOUR'S RED GOAL LONDON. April -1. Undoubtedly the Spanish elections have brought the possibility of the es tablishmeni of the proletarian revolution a step nearer, states the Madrid correspondent of The Times. The correspondent draws a parallel between the social and political conditions in Spain to-day and those in Russia in 1917. "The commanding feature of the situation,'-" he writes, "is that the labour masses in both town and country are more closelv united than over, and are reinforced'by 30,000 released prisoners who are mostly Communist cell-leaders. "The authorities are at present yielding to pressure of the Labour 'forces, and land is being distributed among the peasants with frantic haste; while strikes are wresting new concessions from tin.' employers in industry. Spain, like pre-revolnlionnry Russia, has a feudal background, with a predominant ly agricult lira I popttlat ion. illiteracy, superstition, an absentee aristocracy, i'i weak middle class, and a desperate working-class. "Other similarities include ceo ii inn it- development by foreign capital, mainly British, French and Del gian, industrialisation copied from abroad and nation-wide prevalence of apathy and fatalism'. "There is a cowardly predisposition to wait for something to turn lip, which plays Spain directly into the hands of audacious leaders. "The Russo-Spnnish "parallel is completed by the failure of the Christian doctrine of the church to bring such emancipation of the masses as would partially reconcile them with capitalism." DAY Of DECISION The correspondent adds: "It might be arguable that the comparison fails when the individualism of the Spaniards is considered, but it is also arguable that Spanish individualism will find an outlet by producing its own, original Communistic hybrid. "The economic backwardness of Spain favours such an experiment, offering fewer obstacles than are met with in countries with more strongly capitalistic governments. "The municipal elections, which will be held on Easter Sunday throughout Spain may, in view of the fact that the Popular Front is flushed with victory, provide the psychological moment for the extremists to bid for a proletarian dictatorship. "It is tragic that the Republic, heralded as a regime of tolerance for all, hits divided 'Spain more bitterly than ever, .allowing social discipline to slacken.

'•'The Spanish Parliament must. before it is too late, endeavour to re-establish respect for authority, an i retrieve the country from its irreconcilable rivalries."