MODERN RUSSIA

Taranaki Daily News, 13 October 1934, Page 16 (Supplement)

MODERN RUSSIA

GIVING LEAD TO OTHERS. PROFITING BY ITS FAILURES. “There is one country in the world to-day which has no need to break up or dispose of machinery to solve its unemployment problem, and that is Russia. There the machine is looked upon as an instrument that will increase leisure, not as we in New Zealand look upon it—as a means of increasing unemployment.” This remark was made by Mr. H. Winstone Rhodes during his address, “What we can learn from Russia,” given to Friends of the Soviet Union. Mr. Rhodes said that although he was not the person who thought that everything done in Russia was right, there were many ways in which the lead she had given to other nations could be emulated. At the present time Russia had more capacity to abandon a venture which was likely to prove a failure than any other nation in the world. It might be said that Russia was not afraid to publish its faults to the whole universe. It had undertaken some enormous ventures, and had gone on profiting by its failures. There was only one way to learn, the way Russia had learnt —that way was to say fearlessly, “I’ve made a mistake.” PREJUDICE AGAINST RUSSIA. There was a rooted conviction in the minds of some Englishmen, said Mr. Rhodes, that they could not learn anything from foreign speaking peoples. That was one of the greatest fallacies that had ever existed. Russia had learned and was willing to learn frdm the rest of the world, and the rest of the world might have something to learn from Russia. Most people thought of Russia in a prejudiced way. That was due to an ignorance of the affairs of the Soviet, Or to the influence of biassed and impressionistic literature. There had been many books published about Russia, some containing the most outrageous injustices, and others giving a correct account of the conditions experienced there. 'Between the two types it was sometimes a hard matter to glean the truth, but there were also several reputable experts who, after a thorough investigation into the living conditions

in Russia, had returned to England convinced beyond all doubt that there was something immense going on there—something that was worthy of close study by other nations. It might seem a rather trite observation, continued the speaker, to say that Russia had taught the world a new way of living. In the olden days, the social

life of a village had been similar to the social life in individual homes, but now our communal spirit was based on pla.es. Russia had abolished the class system, striving to remove all those things which would help the individual to gain control over his fellow beings. It had been found in tfie Soviet that social activity had a definite connection

with work, and the spirit of fellowship had been introduced into communities through the factories. In Russia the schoolroom was attached to the factory, and till he reached the age of 12 years, a child attended the school, and then went into the factory with a thorough knowledge of what was required of him, and how to use his tools. In this way

I Russia had found out how to close up ' the gap between the school and the tory—a gap which we in New Zeala«4 found extremely hard to bridge. Mr. Rhodes went on to describe many of the differences in the mode* of liv- ! ing in Russia and in other Countries i and at the conclusion of his address answered some interesting questions.