The Daily News SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 1926. RUSSO-TURKISH TREATY.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 January 1926, Page 10

The Daily News SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 1926. RUSSO-TURKISH TREATY.

To attempt the task of reviewing all the circumstances connected with the recent treaty made between Turkey and Russia would be impossible in the limited space available in this column. All that can reasonably be done is to refer to some of the incidents which have a more immediate bearing on the action of those two countries in connection with Britain and other Powers interested in Eastern affairs. There is, of course, no wonder that two of the less civilised countries like Russia and Turkey, which have isolated themselves from other nations by means of adopting totally unacceptable policies and marked by a preponderance of fuel for mischief, should come together and form an alliance of menace. It is claimed by one of our contemporaries that the Russo-Turkish treaty is, in its immediate bearing, not so much an answer to the lieague of Nations as to the Locarno Pact. Possibly both these factors may have had an influence in bringing about the recent treaty, but, so far as Russia is concerned it ' far more likely that signing an agreement with Turkey is a

direct effort at retaliation on Britain for refusing to ratify the agreement which had been accepted by Mr Ramsay MacDonald and his Labour Government in August, 1924, which provided for an unlimited loan to Russia and for long credits in respect of materials supplied to her. It was Russia’s policy at that time to play off both Germany and Turkey against Britain, as well as to give hints concerning India. In this connection the Zinovieff letter has not Ijeen forgotten, nor the venomous diatribes which came to light when the so-called agreement was east into oblivion. So far as Turkey is concerned, the Angora Government (a selfconstituted dictatorship) was prevented from raising further strife with Greece and other neighbouring countries, and was made to realise the power of the League of Nations as the arbiter of international quarrels. Although these two nations have had more than their share of military struggles in the past they have now, it seems, been -drawn together by a common desire to further their own ends, which may be translated as acting the part of thorns in the flesh of Britain. Now that the Locarno mutual guarantee to prevent war has been signed, Turkey and Russia can see that their impotence has still further been augmented and their capacity for mischief effectually reduced. The treaty they have entered into may be regarded as an instrument of defiance of the Powers which have joined the League and signed the Locarno

pact. With the duplicity which has been a marked feature of Soviet Russia, no sooner was the Locarno pact signed than she again expressed her willingness to discuss with the British Government the questions left unsolved and outstanding when the Russian treaty came to grief towards the close of 1924. While, in the course of time it may be possible for British traders to overcome the manifest difficulties connected with a resumption of trade, there seems to be no possibility of finding any acceptable compromise which will permit of full intercourse and settled tolerance between the Soviet and the Parliamentary countries. It may be that the realisation of this barrier has helped to drive Russia into the arms of Turkey. Thus there is presented to the world an alliance between two nations whose only common ground is that of aiiti-Christainity, and what that means, especially in the case of Turkey, has been only too deplorably evidenced recently. It is significant that the German firebrand and eminent architect of misfortune, Admiral von Tirpitz, in giving his reasons for the rejection of the Locarno pact, appealed to the natural German fear of being tied to the Allies against Russia. He need | not worry on that, score. Britain may decline to resume relations with Russia, but she certainly will not develop an anti-Russian! policy, or, for that matter, an I

anti-Turkish policy.' The Western nations, however, will not be doing their duty unless they closely and unceasingly watch the new co-operation between Turkey and Russia. The treaty appears to be the outcome of a retaliatory spirit, and both parties thereto will probably use it only for causing trouble. Sooner or later their interests will clash, and the co-operation will dissolve. Meanwhile, vigilance should not be relaxed.

AN EXPANDING TOWN. A feature of the development of Taranaki is the continued growth of its capital town. Some may regard it as an undesirable feature. Certainly one would like to see rural Taranaki advancing at least in the same ratio as urban Taranaki. There is, however, this to be said of New Plymouth—the town remained stagnant for many years ■whilst others no more favourably situated. nor endowed with greater natural resources, forged ahead. It is only during the past seven or eight years that New Plymouth has come into its own and got into its proper stride. Several factors have contributed to this result. The improvement of tl>o roads surrounding and leading to it, and the Consequent development of the motor traffic has been one. Probably no other provincial town in the North Island has benefited more than it- has by the motor traffic, which received a big impetus by the opening of the through road to Te Kuiti. Then there has been the development of the port and the institution of direct shipping services with the United Kingdom and America. This has rendered Taranaki independent of Wellington and Auckland, and made New Plymouth a distributing centre of considerable importance. New businesses have consequently sprung up and branches established in the town in order to meet competition. These require staffs, who, in turn, provide trade for others. The unique advantages of New Plymouth as a place of residence have also been recognised, and numbers of people have built or bought homes in the town in preference to leaving the province for Auckland or other big centres. Business people have shown greater confidence and. faith in the town, and have extended their operations and improved or rebuilt their shops and offices. Hence it is not surprising that the building figures for the past year stand at the comparatively high figure of nearly £2oo,uuO. Last year the returns showed better, they being £42,000 in excess, but they do not disclose all the facts, several big buildings, authorised last year, appearing in the returns for that period, that were actually carried out this year. Again 28 Government cottages built on the Avenue Road, and the Public Trust additions, do not appear in this year’s returns. It can confidently be stated, therefore, that the building figures for last year arc quite equal to those of the previous year. Permits for new dwellings to the number of 191 were issued, plus Government cottages 28, a total of 219, compared with 197 last year. The indications are that this rate of building will be maintained during the new year. The building industry is a fairly accurate index of. the condition of a town, and consequently New Plymouth may be considered to be in a prosperous state. Its growth has not been of the ‘‘flash in the pan’’ order; it has been regular and sustained, and if those at the head of its activities are alive to the interests of the town and province, and to their own responsibilities, then the town, blessed as it is with so many natural advantages, must in the near future assume an importance only second to that of the metropolitan centres.