RED ARMY DAY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 February 1943, Page 2

RED ARMY DAY

CELEBRATED IN MASTERTON LAST NIGHT SPEAKERS PAY TRIBUTE TO RUSSIA. MR H. ATMORE'S ADDRESS. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the inauguration of the Red Army was celebrated in Masterton last night at a public meeting. It was decided to send a cable expressing congratulations and admiration of the Russian war effort to M. Stalin. Mr E. J. Esler, who presided, apologised for the unavoidable absence of the Mayor, Mr T. Jordan, and the Member for Masterton, Mr J. Robertson. Mr Esler said that the meeting was called to mark the 25th anniversary of the Red Army. He said that while paying tribute to the Red Army the meeting should not forget the work of our own men and the American members of the forces. Lieutenant-Colonel Benner, of the United States Marine Corps, said that he had always been intensely interested in the Russian people, their literature and music, but unfortunately not in Russian politics. There was little he could add to the general expressions of praise for Russia; all people had to do was to read the newspapers each day. By their wonderful achievements the Rusians provided for their own praise. Mr H- Atmore, member for Nelson, spoke at length on Russia’s social and economic progress. He claimed that the Russian people were today more highly educated than in any other country in the world. In 1912 there were six million boys and girls attending school in Russia; last year there were thirty eight millions. Education was free from the kindergarten stages. Each child’s aptitudes were noted at school, and the child was encouraged to take up the subjects for which it had a natural inclination. The whole structure was laid on the ideal of service. Mr Atmore said Stalin was the son of a poor cobbler, and Timoshenko the son of a poor farmer. What chance, he asked, would Timoshenko have had in the Guards in England, where the Guards sat and watched the battle of Britain being fought on the plains of Russia? Mr Atmore stressed the fact that Russia was leading the world in daring modern surgery. The manner in which the Russian people were fighting indicated that they had something worth fighting for. Russia was the worlds greatest social experiment, and that it was succeeding was shown in the way Russia was dispelling the German myth of invincibility. Mr Atmore said there was complete freedom of religious belief in Russia despite all that newspapers had had to say before Russia came into the war. Referring to Russia’s attack on Finland and Poland, Mr Atmore said that Finland was an armed gateway leading into Russia; a German military expert had stated that that gateway would be used. Under international law, where a smaller country was a menace to a larger country, the smaller country could be occupied. Mr Atmore cited cases in British history where that had been done. In the case of Poland, Russia had taken back what had been taken away from her under the Treaty of Versailles, and had not taken an inch more. Mr E. C. Coddington spoke on the pre-natal and maternity benefits for mother and child under the Russian system. He also referred to the provision of rest and convalescent homes for workers. Mr J. P. Farrell said that Stalin was originally the “Bolshevik ■ monster”; then he was the “arch-communist”; then, as things calmed down, he was the “riddle of the Kremlin”; then he became “our noble ally”; then he became “our comrade and brother,” and he was now “the saviour of the world.” The Russian people had not changed, he said, but propaganda methods had. Weight of public opinion had changed the propaganda. Mr Farrell compared the training of German and Russian youth. The German youth were taught to kill and exploit countries they invaded, he said, but the Russian children were taught to be good citizens. Mr A. Gibbs, secretary of the Masterton branch of the Society for Closer Relations with Russia, also briefly addressed those present.