Soviet Threatens to make Radio a Menace to Civilization

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 34, 7 March 1930, Page 1

Soviet Threatens to make Radio a Menace to Civilization

NE hears so much of the educational worth inherent in radio broadcasting and of the entertainment and culture it brings to its far flung audiences that the thought of possible, evil may not be apparent. In excepted cases it may be an agent for spreading insidious propaganda, and it has fallen to the lot of the Soviet Russia to be an exception. Through its station at Khabarovsk, the Soviet is spreading day and night the slow poison of Communism, the effects of which are so terribly patent in Russia at the present time. ,

HERE are few who will not recollect that the dramatic collapsé of Imperial Russia in 1916 was due to causes both internal and external and that the disruption which followed in their wake brought a welter of ghastly incidents scarcely without parallel in the history of

the world. The Russian Republic owes its existence to the powerful dictatorship of Lenin, who introduced the cardinal theory of Communism that in return for service to the

state, every individual would receive equal rations of food, clothes, education and amusement. This was the ‘ ideal, but after a short tria. failed to function as an economic possibility.. "We have suffered a severe a defeat on the economic form," said *Lenin. "Our only safety lies in a rapid retreat from repaired posi tions.": He then introduced new economic laws which abolished’ the ration system, re-established the use of money, permitted private: trading which had been the unpardonable crime, and even invited the intro. duction of foreign capital; but he haa introduced a regime which could work itself out only by squalor ana misery. . Government officials, rick merchants, and factory %.wners, were sLovelling snow upon the streets, 0} dragging loads of wood on sledge. over slippery roads. This disorde) was rapidly followéd by one of the greatest famines in’ history, and + well-known journalist writing at th« time described a scene o-:tside Petro grad in the following strains: "In bare, white-washed rooms there was n6 heat for lack of fuel, and men..yomen and children lay about ir heaps huddled in their sheepskin: for human warmth, . tormented by vermin, fear-stricken, weak.’ Too weak to stand, some of them could not take their ‘place ir line for daily ration of potato soup. A _ doctor took us round. He pointed to those with typhus, and said, "There is no hope for them; they will be dead to morrow or next day." There was m freedom of speech or opinion. There wes no equality, even of misery, anc this, surely, is a first test of a com munistic state." He went on.to de seribe how in some portions of thr aanital city, he was able .to see thr inne" lifé of the communistic satel lites, who, although millions were starving to death around them, were living in luxury,

Nor satisfied with ushering in a decade that has filled the whole of the world with horror, the Soviet endeavoured to entice the proletariat of the world to do likewise, but fortunately their ‘terrible example has not been taken. An Anti-God Campaign is the latest Soviet move, and at the present time a British newspaper correspondent is stationed in the Republic to ge: a true picture of that country to-day. From his observation he finds Sunday in Russia as a day of contradictions, contrasts and perplexities.. A God-

fearing element still attends the Cathedral or Church. For others, Sunday has become a working day, factories and shops run normally, and the usual week-night entertainment is staged; the State Museum has an anti-religious aspect, and evidences of the evolution of the human race are set out plainly. The young are invited and encouraged to attend. This movement is arousing ‘concern among other nations of the world, but steps cannot be taken until the reports are corroborated,

since it is a difficult situation, and will require tactful handling. The reports of the English correspondent would seem to find ample confirmation in a translation of the broadcasts from the Russian station at Khabarovsk, Russia. On two recent nights, Mr R. Leslie Jones, a Wellington listener, together with Col. A. Shebalin, of Samarkand, Turkestan, ex-cavalry officer with the regular army, and now resident in New Zealand, listened-in to this station. Interpretations: show that the Soviet is using radio as the instrument for: keeping the Communist element of the world in touch with the big meetings in Russia, where the voice of Dictator Stalin is sent out not only to the unfortunate people of Russia, Lut to his followers _the world over. Stalin -is an able successor to Lenin. Ke appears determined to carry out the same fiendish ideals, and prosecute the anti-God campaign to the memory of the late Lenin. Stalin is ‘-ongly guarded by highly trained men, and his immediate associates dare not offer any criticism of their leader, or leave anything to chance for fear of being instantly done to dJeath. The population of Russia is ipproximately 180,000,000, while the Red Army comprises 1,000,000 well trained.men. This line of defence is ‘upplemented by the G.P.U., a force of 180,000 special police army of iighly trained men sufficiently equipxed, who are in reality equal to the rillion Red Army. As might be expected there is a reat deal of bribery throughout Russia, especially amongst the koundary vfficials. It is believed that even if movement to end the Soviet regime "ere commenced in earnest, the ques‘on of finance would prove a source @f trouble, and. furthermore, the risk of being shot acts as a deterrent. -Continued on page 2.

Soviet Threatens Radio Broadcasting

(Continued from page 1.)

STALIN has an iron grip on Russia, | and although deficient in education or other qualifications which would ordinarily be expected in the case of a leader, on the contrary, Stalin is one of the world’s worst enemies-if not the worst. He has the whole Communist element at his finger tips, A FHW months ago, Mr. Jones lis-tened-in to the International Red Conference, and he considerg it the most ngisy and disorderly meeting he every heard. The band in attendance played the "Red Flag" at every possible opportunity, in fact, listeners to the Russian short-wave . station will recognise this song as_ being a feature on every programme. It is usual for the band to play the "Red Flag" between the speeches, and is accompanied by voices of the very large pumibers who attend these great meetngs.

ABOUT a week ago Col. Shebalin and Mr. Jones listened to REM for about three and a half hours, covering a meeting of Soviet agitators. The following sums up the main remarks of the speakers :- "This is an appeal to all of you to fight the ‘International Capitalism.’ We must intensify our propaganda amongst our army and police. Our Government is taking care of labour organisations of all countries; and this is the principle on which the Soviet Government is building a new world. The strength of the Soviet is founded on the friendly relations of our people with the Soviet Government, "Superior officers of the army must appeal to their comrade soldiers to beware of anti-Soviet agents. Now we are leading a campaign against religion in the name of’ World Salvation! We are not alone in this fight. "We have much sympathy in other countries, But under capitalistic and Imperialistic influences they cannot succeed as well as we do in their suppression of idols, "The Pope in Rome is raising a crusade against our (the Soviet) struggle with religion. Capitalistic powers are searching for way and means. to justify themselves in the eyes of their peoples in their intention to fight’ the

Soviet. We must be ready to withstand their pressure. The army must be cleared of all element not entirely gsatisfying the demands of Communism... Labour committees must control all actions, All must be built on the principle of "One great union of the peo- , dle, the army, and the workers.’ "Comrades must not forget that workers have freed the country from Tsarism and from ‘white invasion,’ and now we must remember that we have nothing to fear from Imperialistic countries. The Soviet Government is trusting the army. We must organise and fear nothing. "Germany has extensive tradexrelations with the Soviet, and look!} Although ruined by the war she has. now regained her former strength and power." Several speakers spoke on similar lines reiterating with considerable emphasis the foregoing remarks, Bach speech brought forth approval from those present; and the "Red Flag" punctuated each speech, Another speaker dealing with the question of the shortage of firewood in Russia, "exhorted the Russian people not to depend upon firewood being delivered to them, but that they should

go out and search for it." There has been a little uncertainty as to the nature of speeches broadcast from Russia from time to time. It is safe to assert, however, that every day considerable propaganda is passed on to Russia’s millions per medium of Radio. It is further understood that groups of people in Russia congregite round. the radio receivers and listenin There appears little chance of an immediate change taking place in connection with the Russian Political regime, A FURTHER translation of the propaganda broadcast by the: shortwave station from Khabarovsk, Russia, was secured by Mr. R, Leslie Jones fuesday night last. Colonel A. Shebalin again officiated as interpreter. Following is a descriptiv.. of the broadcast: "A representative of the Soviet Government was speaking about the necessity of obtaining workers (specialists) for their five yearly plan, which is

RygBBcation printed in the newspaper ‘Livestia" announced a possible crusade agninst the Soviet, with emphasis regarding Papal influence. The article referred to recent executions, stating that these executions were not due to anti-religious activities, but to a suppression of anti-Soviet actions." There had also been cases of arrests among peasants, who, contrary to communistic principles, would not deliver their crops to the Soviet, wishing to sell them instead, Those peasants, known by the name of Kulaks, are enemies of the Soviet, as they represent small capitalists. The. article stressed the necessity of further Communistic propaganda among the peasants. As an example of an _ anticommunistic spirit among sonre of the peasants the paper cited the following incident :-A few days ago at a meeting in a village some Kulaks and a few ‘old peasants had a lively discussion with a Communist. As the discussion was becoming too threatening to the Communist, he called in a cavalry company and had the meeting suppressed. Then followed a talk by a woman deputy on an automobile factory: which had been started in May last. This factory was intended to produce 40,000 cars a year. 10,000 workmen were required to build the factory, and 10,000 more for building a railroad. Houses would have to be built to accommodate the workers, but it had not been accomplished so far, and the situation was difficult; besides, there is a lack of specialists, and the work ‘is progressing slowly. Then followed a discussion between women peasant delegates. These woen were discussing the plans of spring sowving. Some were in favour of getting men to.help with agricultural Jabour. but owing to a difficult situation in the country it was decided to leave the men to do building and other such works and leave the field labours to women. A report was then presented regarding Ural works. Ural is a very rich area, but owing to lack of specialists the works there are slow in progress. z dvprogressing as it should. A com-

The speaker, Comrade: Ivanchenko, mentioned the possibility of a war between the Soviet and other Huropean countries and stressed the willingness of Ural workers to join the Red Army. The speaker also mentioned that: ‘it was the Ural workers who suppressed the peasant rising last month, and would assist the Soviet Army at all times. Comrade Kozloff spoke next in the same strain, then followed Comrade Batkin. A woman Communist in control of a regiment reported about the state of her regiment in the following words: "All soldiers and commanders are ready. to fight. Ammunition and equipment are now in a sufficient quantity." , : The same woman said that the soliders of the French army are asking for improvement in their (the French) conditions, and she stated that amongst the Warsaw police every twenty-fifth man is a Communist. Speeches and music in a Tungusian language were then ‘heard; this portion of the broadcast being most unique, extraordinarily weird and intensely interesting and clear. At times the singing resembled a New Year’s Eve revelry amongst drunken people. A picture show programme = was then relayed, this including amongst other items, the usual news, which incidentally stated that Europe was preparing for a crusade against Bolshevicks. Some pictures taken at the Chinese war were also screened and the audience was very enthusiastic. Musical items were broadcast from the Russian studio of the broadeast station in between the speeches and relays. Colonel Shebalin and Mr. Jones were most interested in the disclosures made. Reception was perfect at loudspeaker ‘strength on Tuesday, February 25, but on the previous Saturday there was some static.