RUSSIA'S PLEA

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19139, 7 October 1936, Page 13

RUSSIA'S PLEA

“LEAVE US ALONE”

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UNNECESSARY fears

SYDNEY, ftp. 16:. Professor T. Hytteii.; qictvisei to the Bank of New Smith Wales,. iri an address at t-iie .luiicheoii of the, Sydney Rotary Club yesterday,, saicl .that much of the milfoil fear between .Rijssia and neighbouring.ctJ.Mtri.es. \yris. iiecali’ss. . “There rriay be little sqdaDbfes id Russia,” he declared, “but, inns opiiriiori,; there can be no real.big upset to the Communist regime. The old Cornujuhisirt is being replaced .largely by , Riissian nationalism, and Russia has abandoned to a great extent its propaganda hi o.tnfer countries, and is concentrating on making its country self-sufficient and satisfied. , “Russia’s plea, is ‘Leave us. albrie,’ It wants peace to work out its owii affairs, but bow far Russia will be allowed to develop ort these lines is a riddle Wlilcli 1 will not attempt to afiswer.” Professor Ilytteh gave instances of Russia’s fears, and spoke of barbed wire entanglements on the Polish frontier and of soldiers on high observation towers watching for something to happen. One of the greatest problems in intebnatlorial affairs to-day, he siiid, was fear, and this had slatted, the senseless armaments race. Visitors to Berlin were impressed by the-feai’ there of Russia. _ When the position was analysed, it appeared that the cliaiices of a Russian military offehsive were almost nil. Russia had long lilies of communication, and its transport system was badly developed. GERMANY’S “fiiM” Professor Hytteir referred to . the impression made in Moscow by the passage m Herr Hitler’s bbok, “Aleln Kdrripf,” containing rather bkitaht, reieietiefos to Gerriiiiiiy's supposed desigris oil Russia. He had askecl the, Russian Foreign Milliter, M. Liivinbff, “Why briiig up a statement made 10 years befote, and written by Hitler wHeu he was an oppositionist-!” M. Litvitibff’s diiswei- had been to reach for the book oil d, slielf anil point, out that tlfc stateineiit bad been repeated in a recent edltioii., in Berlin, Professor, Hptteh said, lie had diScilssed, this .matter with. a. high Gerfhaii official: aficl Uriel asked hint, why the offeflHihh passage lidcl not .boon, excised frdih fob book. The HttsWct • aChS J “Professor, one does not alter the Bible.” The tendency was for Russia to become more Westernised, Professor Hylton dm blared- .This was'apparent in its . new buildings, in its underground railway, and its marble architecture, and its wonderful lighting system, and in the gradual rising of the standard of living in the country. ... Russia’s overseas trade position hrid teen stabilised, and the country was no longer keeri on foreign credit; as it paid very largely in, gold. It was well on tile ivay to self-sufficiency, and was, now exporting manufactures to Turkey arid Persia—countries, perhaps, which were not “fussy” as to what- they .got. The standard of living had been extraordinarily low since the revolution. There bad been even cannibalism in parts of Russia, and people who were aged between 30 and 40 had grown up in absolute want. What they were enjoying today was to them a. life of plenty, and tins was the real driving force behind the people there to-day.