Oct. 1.
'The opening of the conference at Moscow between representatives of Britain, the United States.and the Soviet for the purpose of ascertaining Russia's needs, and the best way of meeting them may' have a very significant effect upon the future' progress of the war. The splendid resistance which the Red Armies have made against the Ger~ man onslaughts, and the manner in which the invaders have been held up, and their timetable disrupted, give ground for. hope that they. will be able to hold the Germans until winter, which is fast approaching, assists in slowing them down, and gives a breathing space during which time it should the possible to send very valuable assistance to the Russians, Obviously, the exact scope of the conference cannot be revealed, and probably will not be until after the' con~ clusion of the war, for' the Germans would dearly like to know how far it will be possible for Britain, and the United States to render help to the Soviet As has already been remarked, the very fact that such a conference has been arrang Should have a good effect upon Russian moral,—not that there is any evidence available of any deterioration—and reaffirm them in their will to continue prosecution of the war until Germany has been humbled. If during the winter months adequate supplies can be sent into Russia to make up for the wastage that has occurred during the past fourteen weeks, the Red Armies by the Spring should be in an excellent condition to resume the struggle with all the fierceness which has marked it up to the present. Routes of supply still offer game dim culty but British rolling stock is being sent to Iran which will improve transport facilities between the head of the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea, while it is reported that another single track railway which has not been used since the last war is speedily being put' into commission Improvements of the few roads available 1s also being undertaken, Thus though Tran may not prove as satisfactory a channel for nding supplies into Russia as could be desired the communications which can be made available should contribute greatly in solving the problem of how to get large quantities of supplies into Russia in the shortest possible tim Military assistance is already being given to the Russians in the shape of participation by. the RAF. in fighting on the Russian front. Tt {s satisfactory that this start has been made, and it is to be expected that as the weeks pass that help will be very considerably extended. It may even bbe that, should it become necessary, British troops will cooperate with the Russians in the defence of the Caucasus. But as M, Lovovsky has pointed out one Tank Week is not suMeient. Many weeks of the greatest effort are necessary, and if the Russians by holding the Germans during the winter provide the needed time, both Great Britain and the United States may be confidently expected to see that every advantage shall be taken of that fact. That the Russians should be able to. maintain an unbroken front while the supplies which are being arranged for are sent forward is indicated by the manner in which they have borne the brunt of the whole weight of the German war machine.
It is towards that end that great efforts are being made in the factories and work. shops of Great Britain and the United States. It is to ensure that the enormous amount of work which is being done shall not have been wrongly applied that, British and "American. experts are meeting the Russians in Moscow. By. the end of the week the various sub-committees which have been formed should be thoroughly apprised of Russia's needs, while the Kremlin should very shortly after that be completely informed as to what Britain and the United States are able and prepared to do for it, The quicker those decisions are reached the sooner can all effort be. directed towards carrying them out, If for the time Doing it is necessary, az it seems to be; to direct activities in the United States and in Britain solely to the rearmament of the Red Armies, that will have to be done, for it would be the height of imprudence not to give Russia all the assiStance possible. Production of war material has not yet reached its peak in the United States, but the output is increasing daily, and if out of it it 1s possible to supply alli that Russia needs Hitler may have a very tough task on his hands before next summer,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.