The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, AUG. 19, 1942 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 93, 19 August 1942, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, AUG. 19, 1942 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

. i YESTERDAY morning, Whakatane listeners were startled in common with the rest of the world to hear that the amazing Churchill had 'done it again'; this time making the trip, by air to Moscow to interview the leader of the world's ( greatest Socialistic State —Stalin. Can it be imagined that j since Chamberlain set the fashion for Britain's Prime Ministers to make diplomatic 'hops' to the capitals of 1 Europe,, there would ever arise an occasion when Churchill ; the most orthodox of the: pi d school would delibeiately seek interview and counsel with a man so diametrically opposed 1 to his ideals, as Josef Stalin. The event has come to pass and with it portends the future policy which will govern the course of life for millions and possibly determine the destiny of the world. "Important agreements were reached" reads the criptic radio message given to the world as a result of the: interview. That is as far as it is intended the world should know, but it is interesting to weigh up the position, as we are privileged to see it from a distance. Nearly a year ago Hitler startled the world by flinging his equally-astonished legions against the unsuspecting Russians. The winter campaign with all its frightfulness has come and gone since then and now to-day with Hitler's reinforced armies once again eating into the giant body of the Soviet, we find England's Prime: Minister undertaking a perilous flight in order to interview the leader of the oppressed. Nearly one year to the day (September 14th) since Hitler's treachery, and nearly two years since England first defied the Axis—alone. To-day with American strength gathering mighty momentum day by day, the net which every lover of freedom feels in his heart, will eventually entangle the beast of Naziism, is steadily drawing in. The growing demand for a second front finds popular echo throughout the British Isles where five million fully trained and well equipped men await impatiently the wordi to advance against the common enemies of freedom. Undoubtedly the mission of England's Prime Minister could mean little else than the completion of a common plan of action between the four great nations now championing democracy's cause.