Northern Standard (Darwin, NT : 1921 - 1955), Friday 2 August 1935, page 9


RUSSIA

IS SHE APPROACHING A CRISIS?

Professor John Anderson, Challis Professor of Philosophy, in an ad-dress t0 the Public Questions Soc-iety in the University Union Hall, Sydney, recently said that there were signs of a crisis in Russia.

According to Trotsky, whose statements were borne out by the documents of the Stalin party, the Russian trade unions had become simply organs for driving the work-ers, and power had become concen-trated in the bureaucrats. The soviets had become mere skeletons and the Communist party itself was not functioning properly. There was evidence of a lack of independ-ent thinking by the people. Deci-sions were made from the top, and planning was being forced on the people. As a result serious dispro-portion was taking place in indus-try, which would become worse and would probably result in a crisis.