Evening star., 1939-05-28
Britons Grasping
Broad Consequences
OF Pact With Soviet
Expect Wedge Will Be
Driven Between Reich
And Russia
BY WILLIAM H. sTONEMAN.

Chicago Daily News Foreisn Correspondent
LONDON, May 27-Now that
defensive military alliance between
Great Britain, France and Russia
seems to be assured, the British
public is beginning, for the first
time. to sense the astounding impli-
cation Of the agreement for which
1t has been clamoring 50 loudly.
Possible by-products OF such an
accord are, In fact, 50 numerous
and so fantastic in character that
many people still find 1t difncult
to believe that an agreement will
actually be conclr ed.
Some of the ce' eequences Of q
pact between the Great European
democracies and Russia seem fairly
obvious.
Strength for Peace Front.
In the drst place, 1t should 50
strengthen the. so-called peace
front" that the Rome Berlin axis
will. at least theoretically, be forced
to mark time. II this pause materi-
alizes, 1t is possible to hope that 1t
will develop into a more or less
permanent truce and ultimately
make real peace possible. Presum-
ably, there would be a cessation of
the present armament race, Ger
many and Italy would be forced to
renounce most Of their imperial
ambitions, and the status quo powers
In turn would make q genuine at
fny,nt - AVIAN I'm $rad ~~d raHa,t&
the economic difficulties Of Germany
and italy.
This. at least, Is what ought to
happen. the optimum. Reichsfuehrer
Adolf Hitler and Premier Benito
Mussolini will not necessarily con-
cede the impossibility of defying
that peace 'front.' and may go right
ahead with their rough stuff.
A second consequence Of the pact.
which is of absolutely paramount
Importance to the British, will be
to drive big wedge between the
Nazis and Bolsheviks and prevent
for the time being the realization
Of that unnatural, but very potent,
German Russian alliance which the
Western powers have always dreaded.
The third consequence, which
should not be lost sight Of, will be
to increase economic cooperation
between Russia, potentially one Of
the worlds greatest individual mar
kets, and Britain, which is one Of
the worlds leading merchants. I'm
less the British tumble the ball
very badly, the proposed pact ought
to be q gold mine to them COM
mercially.
Other Effects Overlooked.
These consequences Of the pact
must be plain to everybody and have
been responsible for driving the
British and Russians up to the point
Of agreement. Some Of the other
effects have either been overlooked
or have not been particularly well
come to either side.
The agreement is bound to have q
stupendous moral effect in both
Russia and Britain. though the
authorities in both countries can be
trusted to limit that effect as far as
possible.
In order to make their defensive
military alliance convincing, the
British and Soviet governments will
be compelled to have frequent and
intimate contacts with one another.
British officers and technical experts
will have to 60 to Russia where, un-
less the whole thing is to be q farce,
they will have to see something Of
the Red Army, its staff officers and
its armaments industry. The Rus
slams, in turn, will have to send
officers and men here for consulta-
ton with their British conferees, and
In some cases for training.
These contacts will have to be
characterized by mutual trust If
they are to be worth anything at all.
This means that the people who
make up the present-day govern
ment Of this country must drop
many Of their present prejudices
and abandon any remnants Of the
old idea that . war between Russia
and Germany would solve every
thing" It also means that the
Kremlin must put . checkrein on
the narkomvnudel, or commissariat
Of the interior-the former gay
pay-oo-and, for the first time since
the end Of the Soviet German treaty
Of 1894, allow ofIicers Of the Red
army freedom in making foreign
contacts. This, In turn, cannot
happen unless the Kremlin adopts
an entirely new attitude toward the
outside world and decides, in general,
to allow much more communion be-
tween the Russian and Western
European peoples.
Wonder About Effect Abroad.
This n asking for % much that 1t
may seem impossible. II. however.