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Manchester Guardian, UK
24th January 1933
Mr. G. Jones's Lecture
Mr. Gareth Jones, a member of Mr. Lloyd George's staff, who has travelled
extensively in Russia, speaking to members of the Flintshire Committee of
the League of Nations Union at Rhyl, said be considered that although the
Five-year Plan in Russia had achieved great things, much of its success was
only "on paper." The rock on which it had foundered was the attempt to
socialize the peasants which had led to famine conditions and to the ruin of
agriculture.
There was now a change of policy, and the peasants were to be encouraged to
go in for private trading. He doubted whether anti-religious propaganda in
Russia had gone as deeply as was generally supposed, and quoted: "Religion
is like a nail, the more you strike it, the deeper it goes." Greater
toleration was now being shown; something of a revival of religion was
beginning, and strange new creeds were growing up.
The Soviet Government and the Russian people, he said, were far too busy
with their own affairs to desire war, but they were desperately afraid of
being attacked. He spoke on a visit to a village 2,000 miles from the
frontier, where the inhabitants were so afraid of foreign invasion by air
that they kept a large supply of gas masks ready.
The lecturer's references to social conditions in Russia led to the asking
of many questions by his audience. One result of the attitude to religion,
he said, was that priests were barred from trading at the co-operative
shops, and had to pay exorbitant prices for bread and other necessaries.
ArtUkraine.com thanks Margaret Siriol Colley and Nigel Colley for
furnishing this interesting article from their extensive Gareth Jones
archives.
Please check out the Gareth Jones website created by the Colley's:
http://www.colley.co.uk/garethjones/index.html
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