TACTICS OF THE BEAR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 December 1939, Page 5

TACTICS OF THE BEAR

CRITICISED AS CLUMSY WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN DONE. A CORRESPONDENT’S SURVEY. By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright. NEW YORK. November 30. The “New York Times” correspondent, Mr G. E. R. Gedye, in a. message from Moscow, states that among the foreigners it is generally felt the Kremlin’s handling of the Finnish question has been clumsy compared with the tact and adroitness connected with the dealings with Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, which agreed on the terms. and with Turkey, which did not. It was frequently remarked that the Soviet might have expected more understanding of its attitude if they had said v/hen it became clear that the Finns were unwilling to accept the minimum terms that world events obliged the Soviet to insist that the policy of collective security they had long vainly advocated had become a dead letter, and that with the world ablaze they must take exceptional measures to protect their frontiers. It was argued that Russia should have offered generous treatment if Finland agreed, especially in matters of trade, but that if Finland refused the Soviet in the interests of her security, would be obliged to treat the refusal as a hostile act. Though this might have been criticised as overriding the formal independence of a small neighbour, many felt it would have created a better impression than the methods actually used, namely, alleging frontier incidents without offering an opportunity for impartial investigation, insisting on the correctness of their own versions, and brushing aside the explanations and disavowals while maintaining a campaign of vituperation in the Press, attributing incredible dreams of conquest to the Finns, and organising inflammatory meetings of Russian workers, which were certain to meet with an unsympathetic reception by the outside world generally. •