WHAT IT MEANS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 536, 20 May 1933, Page 5

WHAT IT MEANS

LECTURE ENTHRALS AUDIENCE IN ST. JOHN'S HALL MODERATE TONE ADOPTED Notwithstanding a colj anJ cbeerless atmosphere, for the doors were left wide open all through the meeting, admitting a breeze that could not be described as tropical, St. John's Hall was well filled on Thurso day evening when Mr. Max Riske, national secretary, Friends of the Soviet Union, gave a lecture on Soviet iRussia. The audienee was there. to learn and accorded the lecturer an attentive and sympathetie hearipg. After a brief infcroduction' b'y the mayor, Mr. T. Jackson, Mr, Riske hegan by saying that moniied interests controlled the press agencies of the world thereby malfing it difficult to get reliable news oi- Russia. The Soviet Union is an interjiational organisation with the avowed aim of. improving the lot of the worker. OapiAkstic dndustry had deprivej 50,000,000 workers of employment and to-day we looked out upon a world in want and stagna-tion. Disarmament eonferences were fashionable and the oftener they met the further into the baekground receded the idea of universal peace. Preparations for war were continued at a feverish p.ace by the peace-loving nations of the world. Mr. Riske scored heavily at the expense of ex-President Hoover and Henry Ford. The former had stated that the eepnomic hlizzard that was sweeping over and devastating the rest of the world could not pqssibly come near the United States. America m ght experience a momentary flurry which would pass away and reveal the country once again basking in peace and prosperity. The audience smiled and commented in aiT" undertone. Henry Ford the erstwhile model employer whose character exuded benevolence and altrusism had closed his biggest factory, reduced his staff by 60 per cent., and had the rest working longer hours for as little as "Henry" felt inclined to give. Five Years' Plan The Five Years' Plan involved the ecmpletion of a chain of giant industries that at the end of the period named v/ere to be found in per feet working order and able to turn out a pre-determined quantity of goods. The success of the scheme would mean in Russia the inauguration of a period of material prosperity and ccmfort the country had never known, It had all but succeeded; but when 'Russia beheld the rest of the world arming it had to divert much of its industrial energy from the pursuit of peace to preparation for war. The armies of the world were slowly but surely being infiuenced by Soviet ideals and wai" against Russia would be faced by moral diffieulties that had not yet entered the calculations of eapitaldstic eountries desirous of making war. The co-ordination of industry had brought every activity and every phase of life in Russia under one unified control. Over-production with' ccnseqUent linemploymeift) and the closing of factories was impossible. If a shortage of any kind occurred it was shared by all. Houses and buildings were owned by th's community, not by - the individua.1; they could be rented but not bought. Medical and dental services were free to all. A Drab Town The audience warmly applauded Mr

Riske's references to Waihi wbere he had leotured the night before. Waihi is without drainage, electricity has only recently been installed, its streets and houses are in the main drab; but if a larger proportion of the wkalth derived from the mines went toward improving the lot of thq worker in Waihi the town could be made attractive and the amenities of life wonderfully improved. The mention of Waihi was without a tinge of revolutionary sentiment and in no part of the lecture were the bounds of mederation passed. The Union of Soviet Republics porere d one sixth of the surfaee of the world and embraced 160 distinct raees. Homogeneity of this great conglomerate of peoples was aimed at and then would come a fulcrum of power that might control in time th'e destiny of the world. The lecturer was frequently applauded and it was evident that a number of his hearers was npt strangers to Soviet literature. A question put to Mr. (Riske involved th'e religious issue in Russia. The Sovicts ,had not attempted to eradicate the religious instincts of the people, that was something well beyond human power, but ari- effort was being made to hring these instincts into line with humanity and reason. The bulk of the people still attended church but the priesthood had been placed under State supervision. Spiritual oversight had ceased to be one • with a vulgar pltiless tyranny. The meeting adjourned at a late hour. Before 'the adjournment Mr. Riske ref erred to the chairman. He said that it was seldom that a mayor presided at any of his meetings, Mi\ Jackson was a man of courage and vision; he desired to enlarg'e his experience and knowledge of the world. Rotorua was fprtunate In its chief exeeutive; and as Mr. Riske deseended from the pjatform h'e again ref erred. to Mr. Jackson as a "spprt" an opinton with which the audience concurred.