STANLEY RYERSON

Is act of sig

CORRESPONDENT . writes -

about a disagreement which,
arose among a group of active
workers regarding the demand
for a pact of peace among the
five great powers. “I feel,” she
writes, “that the clearing: up of
such a disagreement. has every-
thing to do with the fight for
policy discussed in a recent col-
umn of yours.” 2

The disagreement was over
“the purpose of the worldwide
campaign for a five-power peace

pact... . Is the actual signing of
such a pact the decisive ques-
tion?” > \

The arguments with which my
correspondent took issue included
the following:

“That Truman as the head of
an imperialist war government
could not sign such a pact. ‘A
leopard cannot change his spots.’

“If he did, it would only be a
) ‘scrap of paper’ and he would |
continue to work for war ‘through
the back door.’

“That the actual meeting of
the five great powers and the
signing of such a pact is not the
aim of the worldwide campaign,
but rather the prevention of war
by the will of the people for
peace, aroused in the course of
the campaign. (The success of
the Stockholm Appeal which call-
ed for the outlawing of the atom
bomb lay in the prevention of
the use of the bomb although no
international agreement was ac-
tually signed.)”

_It seems to me that-these ar-
guments, which add up to one
thing: We don’t mean what we
say when we advocate a pact of
af peace—come under two distinct
headings: :

‘ One, that we can’t mean it be-
cause such a pact is impossible
(er unworkable) ;

Two, that we don’t mean it be-
cause we have something else in
‘mind, other than the achievement
of a pact of peace, but concealed
somewhere inside the campaign.

’ Both of these propositions are
false. ieee:

Both help the warmakers. No.
1 trundles along behind a peace
! petition canvasser, and when the
person approached says, “No, I
don’t think I’ll sign because what
good will it do?” No. 1 pipes up
with “You're right, bud, there
isn’t anything we can do about
war—it just happens and that’s
that.” Or if the person’s response
is, “No, I won’t sign that—it’s
just a Communist trick,” then
No. 2 chimes in with “You're.
right, bud, we say we're for a
pact of peace but we don’t believe —
in it, we just want to educate
you—!” :

Sf

and Mr, Truman.

It’s true that: Aristotle called
man a political animal — zoon’.
politikon. But that doésn’t mean

‘that politics is zoology. Pierre
Laval was the head of an im-
perialist state when he signed the

* assistance in 1985 in Moscow.
Harry Truman was the head of
an imperialist state when he sign-
ed the Potsdam Accord in 19465,

ence table as‘Stalin and Attlee.

: Tt was the mounting mass pres-
‘sure of the anti-fascist and peace

“Franco-Soviet treaty of mutual —

after sitting at the same confer- _

ning pact —

itself decisive question?

forces that compelled the heads
of imperialist governments to
come to agreement with the so-
cialist state, in spite of the war-
breeding urges and pressures of
the capitalist ruling class in
France, Britain and America*

“But,” someone exclaims, “La-
val and Attlee and Truman re-
neged on the signed word! Look
what became of the Franco-Soviet
treaty and the Potsdam agree-

-~ ment!”

Well! The only conclusion I
ean draw from‘the well known
facts of history is that the pres-
sure of the people, which had
reached a greater height in °45
than in ’35, needs to be still
greater, today, to impose a pact
of peace and compel adherence
to it; that the hundreds of mil-
lions of people in all countries
who are putting their names to
the demand for a. pact of peace
represent a new, high stage of
struggle to curb and foil the war-
makers, giving every augury of
success, to the extent that the
web of lies is torn, to. Shreds—
No.’s ‘1 and 2 included.

Moreover, to say that Truman
can be compelled to sign, just as
he was compelled to yield a step
in the direction of negotiations in
Korea, is not to say that his (or
his cronies’) prospects of tenure
of office are eternal.

e
To the extent that his attempt
to scuttle the negotiations in Ko-
rea is exposed and fought, along
with the increasingly brazen
threats to bomb People’s. China—

-to that extent will ‘the peoples’

will for peace be made to prevail.
‘The ultimate triumph of that will
is going to include, of course, the

consignment to the ashcan of his-.

tory of the would-be initiators of
a new world war. :

But action can be effective now.
The example of the A-bomb that
is cited, emphasizes this. The
struggle for peace is a living

- force, battling on concrete issues.

As the September National Af-
fairs editorial states, it is not a
matter of “peace” in general:
“Peace today means the conclud-
ing of a» pact of peace between
the five great powers, leading to
disarmament, the outlawing and
control of weapons, the enforce-
ment of a policy of peaceful co-
existence and peaceful competi-

‘tion between the capitalist and

socialist worlds.”

The halting of the war gang
now. is possible—and utterly ne-
cessary! : \ y

In the process of this struggle,
people are learning some mighty
lessons. The process of learning,
though, is hindered, not helped,
by sectarianism—which puts for-
ward the most backward ideas in

The «worldwide campaign for
the pact is, in the words of the
publication, For a Lasting Peace,
the “mighty irresistible move-

~ ment of the day ... (uniting) all

‘that is honest in the world,, all
who deeply loathe war and treas-

ure the achievements of human.
\ culture’...
capable of thwarting. the criminal ©

i he imperialist war- | :
designs’ of ‘the bas \ auspices of these organizations.

. This front is a force

. makers.” .) >“

that the five great powers. sign
a pact of peace we are in earnest.
We mean what we say. :

: . the most “advanced” phraseology. —
Let’s go back to the leopard — ,

O, Canada, say can you see. .-

LESLIE MORRIS

‘Operation X’ activities extended
inside Canada by war inciters :

PERATION X is the subver-
sive activity of the U.S. gov-
ernment, designed to disrupt,
sabotage and destroy the socialist
countries from within. It is bas-
ed on the stupid and exploded
myth that if only the peoples of
the socialist countries “saw the
light” according to President
Truman and accepted the “Am-
erican Century” complex, © they
would: rush to change their gov-
ernments and social system.

Ever since 1917 the capitalists
have been trying to spread this
murderous lie... The effort has _
cost the lives of millions of peo-
ple because the propaganda
campaign has always’ hitherto
ended in a military aggression a
la Hitler. :

Operation X is the warmongers’

; = 3 :
reply to the principle of —peace-
ful co-existence of the capitalist |
and socialist systems, the only
way by which we can have world
peace, Because” men in high
places refuse to recognize this
necessity they are trying to drag
the people of the whole world in- _
to another war. :

Operation X exploits the anti-
social, fascist elements of old
Europe and Asia to do its dirty
work. Trial after trial of these
sabotaging elements has revealed
the hand of the U.S. government.
Tito, the archtype of this scum
(called the “most hated man in

, Yugoslavia” by ABC commenta-

tor Henry J. Taylor) is just now ©
being bought off by Truman’s
man Harriman for. millions of
‘U.S. dollars.
e

We now have branches, of Op-
eration X’s propaganda depart-
ment actively at work in this
country. A month ago an office
was opened on Bay ‘Street, Toron-
to, of the International Rescue
Committeé of New York which is
bringing to (Canada _ fugitives

- from the justice of the People’s

‘In our support for the demand |

Democracies. Another group is
headed by Professor Watson
Kirkconnell and Willson Wood-
side, the “International Union of
Saqviet Oppressed Peoples.”

Last week this column described
how 12 thieves from People’s Pol-
and arrived in Canada under the

The day they docked in Quebec
City (September 11) ~ Willson
Woodside fulsomely praised them ,
on C'BC’s News-Roundup (an of-
ficial program of the \CBC) and

¥
,

4)

'

the peace forcés in every coun-
try is that no action of this kind
must go unchallenged, that every
piece of propaganda for war must —
be exposed. We would fail to
do so only at our very peril.

Toronto city council, the Op-
eration X branches here, the CBC,
_the newspapers, all of whom have ©
joined in a well-timed plot against
peace and friendship by import-
ing thieves and saboteurs and
then playing them up as “heroes,”
must receive the protests of all
peace-loving people.

Time. was when North America
was a haven for fighters of liber-
ty. Canadians will not forget
that the’ people of the United
Statés once gave shelter to Wil-
diam Lyon Mackenzie and Louis
Riel when the tyrants here sought
to murder them. , :

Louis Riel, Papineau, Macken-
zie would join in protest today,
were they alive, that the country
‘for which they fought is now be--
ing so traduced, and its honor
soiled, by the actions of the Cany
adian government and the pro-
fessional disrupters to whom it
- gives official encouragement. — :

prayed that the thieves would
engage in “political warfare”
against their native countries,
help to arouse “resistance” in
Russia and “stir up trouble.” It
was a brazen incitement. :

The Toronto papers gave col-
umns of tearjerker stories - to
these characters:and—it is shame-
ful to have to record it—the To-
ronto city council is.giving the
12 thieves a civic reception!

Toronto citizens should rise up
in protest against this disgraceful
action by the city of whom the
Little Rebel William Lyon Mac-
kenzie was the first mayor. :

And the CBC should get its.
ears burned off for allowing Will- -
son Woodside to use the tax-
payers’ money to spread scandal
and abuse against countries
whose recognition was forced on
the government by the people of
this country in a war against
Hitlerism. — :

There are ample signs that as
part of the war hysteria and to
step up the war propaganda, Op-
eration X is extending its opera-
tions here. One of the profound
lessons that is being learned by

:

Indoctrination |

€@TARTLING conclusions on the system and results of education —
and indoctrination in the United States Army have been

published by the New York Times as a result of a special investi-

gation. |

The paper sent its education editor, Benjamin Fine, on a
tour of sei Se in six states to study the Troop Information
and Education gram which gives American soldiers regular
instruction on “why GI’s must kill and risk their lives far

- across the world”. He interviewed 5,000 officers and men and —
sat through innumerable “commanders’ conference” lectures.

_ Here is examples he gives: : = ee ene

A sergeant instructor explaining “why we give other coun-
tries money”"—“We got to keep the nations on their feet so
we can sell to them later so you guys can have a job when you
get back to your civilian jobs”. Comment by Fine: Half of
the men had a far-away look on their faces; the others were
‘asleep, | . ape ee :

Fe Coe a x , oe
To ascertain the effect on morale, Fine listened to GI's
answering their own favorite question: “Why am I in uniform?”
These were some answers: os : mite

“So that my neighbors can make more money while I
sweat it out here” ... “Democracy doesn’t mean a damn thing _
to me in this hell-hole” . . . “They tell us about how bad Com-
munism is. Well, why, not wait and defeat it when it comes
here? Why look for trouble?” ... “I just have no stomach ~
to fight the United Nations war. It’s only for Wall Street any- —
way” .... “If my son ever wants to joint the National Guard
Y'll shoot him first” . . . “Once you get into the Army it’s like —
walking in a blind ditch in a snowstorm”. — :

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — SEPTEMBER 28, 1951 — PAGE

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