MODERN RUSSIA

Hokitika Guardian, 28 September 1932, Page 8

MODERN RUSSIA

LAItGE AUDIENCE ADDKI.JoED VIEWS OF MAJOR PHARAZ'iT'L CHRISTCHURCH, September 26. Conclusions»on the operation of the governing body, in Russia, based oh a yeeent, stay in, that. country, were given to a large audience jn .the Caledonian Hall last evening by Major W Ay Pharazvn, who stated til *, only one side of, the actii.lL picture tvns given in the newspapers u.f the rest hi the world, and that the avingj inan knew very little of the , = übiec*,; He declared that Russia's system would soon prove successful, and that it lyould be an: example to'the other nations ‘ . ..

Mr G. Lawn, lecturer ui economics at Canterbury College preside i, Major jpharivrynmhe said; had .just returned from a yisit to the .country, which w» B . probably the most misunderstoj 1 of all countries tcHdayn He. had made investigations into the. - working of the Union,of Socialist and Soviet republics]*, file world was passing through great changes, and a new richer, and better ivilisation was emerging. .. (Applause.) it was as well to know what was happening in Russia, so .a® to be able to vote-the successes and tlio failures. They best antidote to international U ai-fare was an-understanding el and spirit of friendliness toward ; the nations separately and severally. -

; A NEW CIVILISATION. Major Ph&razyn disclaimed any vast ' first-hand knowledge -of Russia* it.t'ting that he had not known a great deal of the language. -Russia's 160,.000,000 people were evolving a now v-ilisution and yet the astounding thing was that it -was not regarded as-“respectable.” -To go into a draw-ing-room: and shout the; , word .* ‘Ruse sia” wt ild prodtice the most extraordinary results. He could not say that lie (was am entirely unbiased person, because there was no such thing.

After dealing with the searching enquiries of the. Customs officers in , Australia and New Zealand and their suspicions of any literature that contain© the word “Russia,” Major Pharazyn spid that from what he had seen .recently there w r as a great danger of losing the old liberal British tradition. The curious thing about Russia w -,s thqt outside opinion was that the people were 'idle nrtd starving on the one hand, yJt on the other they .were tevmed an “industrial menace”!

THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN. The five-year plan was quite unprecedented said Major Bharazyn, and inspite ol its great size and seppe, pne heard little about it. A filfii,;; dealing ; with present life in Russia, and devoted in the main to tbje development of machinery, had been sent hack to Australia on the ground that it showed only the bright side, ,Jt was .. not; permitted "to be shown in , the “pure” ppminfon. All sorfa. of varying and diverge stories were told abput Soviet Russia, gorpe it .was a Heaven ; others a Hell, and ftlipre was a little of the truth iri; hptb, 'Statements, yU. ; !‘)Vhil"e mjr, wife and I were there we found .that; everyone was compelled; to gq forward whpthep. they wanted *9 or not, and I must confess, ,at times there was a desire tq ,be & free and unfetfed individual'. On .leaving London, for, ;a tour to. the Soviet, we were under a cheap tourist scheme, blit ,as the .more cpstly, cabins. on the ship were not occupied, . we, wpre allowed to use them,. The,, crew, ofthe ship enjoyed the , same food , the passengers, including roast turkey. with v aj.l garnishiugg. Yet, you may.laugh., but it’s a fact,” said the speaker. ■Y . ’ ■ V ' CAMARADIE AMONG THE SEXES ‘“Another extraordinary thing is the complete, camaraderie between ,the .men and the women. Great care is taken of, the childron and delicate people. Tlje children’s theatre in Leningrad is of the most modern type, and the plays are excellently presented. The audiences of children are well fed,, clothed, and contented. Again there arq night sanatoria for the care of children. The theatre is subsidised by bhs State 'to the tune of £50,000 a year.” Tne tie th-rate in Moscow oefore the war ,vrs. the hi heft m tile world he continued. To-day it was about the sai|W as that ip England owing 'to the attention given to mothers and childrep, and it compared favourably with any other country in the* world. The Russians had learned how to capture the enthusiasm of you'th. Hie young people were made to I'cel they were part of the great plan. There was no neqd fo make any bones about the housing in Russia. Undoubtedly there wa? a great shortage, bu'b it was - reife of the Czrrist regime. Great housing schemes were, now in operation.* The population was increasing by tthree fo five milions every year, and naturally the housing was a great problem. Huge blocks of flats were being erected—not luxurious, but comfortable. However, they were vastly superior to the conditions to which tlw people had been accustomed. Com pared with gome, of the places in Great Britain those Russian houses were the height of luxury,, NO STREET BEGGARS.

Thefe was no such thing as begging in the street. People were apt to say that the Bolshevist Government was rntpless and cruel. Tt might »>o ruthless, owing to tpe, gigantic nature of it::, plan, but jt was not cruel. It i '