Jered in. Atlantic war alliance

~ behind Truman’s ‘peace offensive’

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254

U.S. has vested
interest in war,
declares Nearing

The American Quaker proposal
that the great powers negotiate
a peaceful settlement. of their
differences. was praised by Dr.
Scott Nearing, American sociolo-
gist and lecturer, in an Armistice
Day address. <

Dr. Nearing spoke at the Pen-
der Auditorium under sponsor-
ship of Vancouver Peace Assem-
bly. Chairman was Dr. Lyle, Tel-
ford, former mayor of Vancouver.

Dr. Nearing said the United
States has a vested interest in
war. He estimated that at least

15 million Americans were now
engaged in war preparations or
in the actual waging of war.

Asked if he thought Premier
Stalin was willing to negotiate,
Dr. Nearing answered, “Yes.” -

He deplored the glorification
of violence and killing by the
American press, radio, television
and movies. —

* The Quaker proposal, he said,
was that. the nations should “ne-
gotiate, negotiate again and still
negotiate.”

CONTINUED

COUNCIL

ington and Ottawa, made difficult

“all moves for disarmament and,

moreover, prevent the German
people from restoring ‘unity: all
this increased the danger of war
in Europe.

Point three referred to the San

Francisco treaties with Japan.

and declared that all hostilities
should be ended in armistice

agreements 4nd the Asian peoples
should be given the right to de-
termine their own independence
and territorial integrity without
foreign interference.

The fourth point demanded the
right of the pedples of Egypt,
Iran, Morocco and other coun-
tries of Near and Middle East to
conduct their own affairs without
foreign pressure or intervention.

The fifth point referred to the
arms race and demanded simul-
faneous, progressive and_ effec-
tively ‘controlled disarmament,
such disarmament to include the
prohibition of atomic weapons
and other weapons of mass de-
struction. It called on the UN
to put before the General Assem-
bly the disarmament resolution
passed by the World Peace Coun-
cil.

The Council’s resolution on dis-
armament stated that the arms
race was laying the basis for
economic chaos and driving the
peoples to poverty and that it
could only lead to war. “The only
way to security lies in fair and
controlled disarmament,” said the
resolution. It called on the five
great powers — the U.S., Soviet
Union, China, Britain and France
— to conclude a disarmament
convention thereby demonstrating
their desire for peace. The reso-
lution declared that prohibition
of weapons of mass destruction
should be ensured by strict con-
trol and there should be pro-
gressive and simultaneous arms

reduction.

MAPRICE RUSH

Rush announces
candidacy for
park board seat

Announcement that he will be
a Parks Board candidate in the
forthcoming Vancouver civic
elections was made this week by
Maurice Rush, who last year re-
ceived over ten percent of the
vote in his first bid for this civic
office.

In a press statement announc-
ing his candidacy, Rush said;
“Vancouver needs a working
man on its parks board. At
present the 'voice of labor is ab-
sent. The parks board is dom-

inated by old-line politicians who -

follow a. consistently anti-work-
ing man’s policy.

“I take my stand for ending
discrimination against the work-
ing class districts of the city, for
better recreational facilities for
young: people, such as swimming
pools in the communities, for
freedom of speech in our parks,
and for greater federal govern-
ment appropriations for our
parks.”

By JOSEPH STAROBIN

PARIS

Behind the current “peace offensive’’ at the UN Assembly lies the simple fact that U.S. policy
has been rushing the. Atlantic alliance toward war at a time when the principal members of that alliance
are caving in from an acute economic and political crisis.

President Truman and Dean Acheson are constrained to talk peace these days not only for internal
purposes, and because the world peace movement has put them on the defensive, but because the prospect
of war—which Collier's Magazine projected with such fantasy for next May—has frightened the
people of western Europe and their shaky governm<nts out of their wits,

It is this crisis which mainly

explains General Hisenhower’s
visit to Washington, and his
readiness to accept 20 or 30 west-

ern European divisions by next

Summer—including West German

units—instead of the more fanci-
ful plans of at least 60 to 90 in
1954.

But obviously, fighting a war
with 20 divisions in western Eur-
cpe would be madness. These div-

isions are rather intended to

“keep order” on the critical “home
front,” and help pave the way for
a de Gaullist government and
others. of that stripe.

The most acute crisis lies in
Britain. Churchill cannot con-
ceal it. While debating whether
to pay the first installment on
the 1946 loan which falls due this
December Churchill is preparing
to ask Truman for a long-term
new loan. This is something
which economy-minded Congress,
although edger to blackmail the
way for U.S. big business into the
British Empire, will think twice
about. 2

The sterling bloc is not export-
ing enough to the dollar area, in
view of skyrocketing raw mater-
ials prices and shortages, to com-
pensate for imports. Britain
itself cannot hope to borrow dol-
lars from Canada, Australia and
other commonwealth countries.
Its dollar deficit has beén steadi-
ly growing all year, and the re-
serves of about $4 billion are
quickly disappearing.

’ Churchill therefore has the task
of projecting a new program of
reduced imports and _ increased
exports—face to face with Ger-
man and Japanese competition.
And with the U.S. program of
finishing up the stockpiling of
strategic goods, the Churchillian
policy means either a drastic re-
duction of already-miserable liv-
ing standards (and a resultant
class struggle of huge propor-

‘tions) or a reduction of the arm-

aments program.

At the Ottawa NATO parley

the British said they would go
through with their present pro-

gram, but could not meet EKisen-
hower’s demand for more,

The French situation is equally
critical. In the November 1 ques-
tionnaire the French submitted to
the “Committee of Sages” which
Averill Harriman heads for the
Atlantic alliance, the shocking
fact was that the French said
they could mot increase their
military budget over the past
year. The top figure for all mili-
tary expenditures in. 1952 is about
800 million francs, out of a bud-
getary total of close to 3,500 mil-
lion francs. That is just about
what it was last year. And one-
third goes for the ruinous war in
Indo-China.

France needs a billion U.S. dol-
lars between now and July 1952.
Its projected income in dollars is
$550,000,000, and it figures on get-
ting about one-third of the deficit
from the U.S. foreign aid pro-

Four-point plan for peace

This Soviet four-point plan titled, “Measure to combat the threat
of a new world war and to strengthen peace and friendship among
nations,” was presented last week to the UN by Soviet Foreign

Minister Andrei Vishinsky (above):
@ Declare the North Atlantic Pact and U.S. bases abroad illegal .

under provisions of the United Nations charter.

e Call for an immediate ceasefire in Korea, to be followed by
an armistice and withdrawal of all troops from the 38th parallel
within 10 days and from Korea in three months.

@ Summon a world conference of UN members and non-member
nations by June 1, 1952 to study “effective and substantial” reduction
of arms generally and prohibition of all atomic weapons.

@ Seek a five-power peace pact among the United States, Soviet

peoples to adhere | to that pact.

‘Union, Britain, France and China and call upon all “peace loving”

gram. The only choice is to re-

duce U.S. imports—but that is ~

not easily done, since most of it
is in coal. One of the madnesses
which U.S. economic policy | im-
poses ppon Europe is the ‘pur-
chase of high-price dollar coal
instead of what could be gotten
from Poland. :

As for American arms deliver-

des to, Europe, the fact that the

Korean theatre has priority and

deliveries there are lagging by
@s much as 70 percent added to
the prospect of re-equipping U.S.
armed forces with atomic weap-
ons — still a distant prospect —
means that the western Euro-

pean components of the “Euro-

pean army” will be old-fashioned
even more than they are now.
Even now they are getting con-
siderable 1946 stuff.

The U.S. will become the big-
gest junk-dealer in outmoded
weapons before long, if this goes
on.

These are some of the reasons
why President Truman is. anxious
to reassure his staggering ‘“al-
lies” and he only has peace in
mind, and that is what impels
Eisenhower to satisfy himself

_With a lot less than the much-

vaunted “European Army.”

CONTINUED.

ROMMEL

Rommel. This he declined “to
do.”

“Only a perverted Nazi film
could have as its hero such Pp
notorious killer as Field Marshal
Rommel, who has been correctly
described in an American book
as a storm-trooper thug,” states
the peace leaflet. 5

“This glorification of Rommel
and the other Hitler generals is

a most dangerous threat to world

peace because it is part of the
propaganda campaign now being
waged to justify the resurréction
of the Nazi army by General
Eisenhower, ... :

The leaflet also gives a ‘true
picture of Rommel in _ these
words:

“

. Rommel was an original
member of the Nazi party, one
of the first SS leaders, one of the
first leaders of the violent out-
rages against the people of Ger-
many themselves, a room-mate of
Hitler,, Hitler’s favorite general,
the most Nazified of all the Ger-
man generals, a member of the
Gestapo and one of the key in-
stigators af World War II.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — NOVEMBER 16, 1951 a PAGE 12