ce ATR

FASCISTS STIR TROUBLE
Rising unemployment, housing |

factors in British color riots

LONDON

EST LONDON has been

witnessing racial persecu-
tion of the most violent and
hysterical kind. But it must
be realized that color preju-
dice is no new problem in
Britain.

We have had a color bar
in many of our plushiest and
most prosperous hotels and
restaurants for many years,
though it has been a kind of
“black market” color bar,
under the counter and most
discreet.

Now this latent prejudice
has come into the open, and is
not confined to the top fringe
—there is a growing antag-
onism toward colored people

SCIENCE

among the ordinary people.
This is a much more deplor-
able and dangerous situation.

Anti-colored feeling has not
been altogether spontaneous.
Forces have been at work
which have whipped up racial
prejudice. .

In Wolverhamption, when
we had some trouble with our
bus workers on this issue,
slogans appeared on the walls
along with Mbosley’s fascist
insignia immediately the in-
eident was publicized. d

And in Notting Hill fascist
meetings and propaganda have
had some considerable influ-
ence on present events.

I believe one of the main
causes of friction is the hous-

Radiation disease can

SOVIET technical paper
A presented to the atomic
energy conference in Geneva
has opened up the possibility
of a completely new  ap-
proach to the treatment of
diseases caused by exposure
to radiation.

The paper reported to the

conference on extensive- re-,

search by Soviet, Chinese and
Bulgarian scientists on the ef-
fects of radiation on the ner-
vous system.

“After experiments on ani-
mals and- birds, they con-
cluded that the nervous sys-
tem may be the seat of a
number of fatal diseases.

This is contrary to the prev-
iously held theory that the
nervous system collapsed as
a result of injury elsewhere

in the body. The Soviet theory

strike nervous system

put damages to the nervous
system as: the prime cause,
not as an effect. | .

Two United States scientists
told the conference that they
had found an_ unidentified
substance in the protoplasm
of living cells which had a
limited capacity to prevent

death from atomic radiation.-

A summary of their paper
issued by Argonne Labora-
tories, near Chicago, added:
“The work may also possibly
contribute eventually to dis-
covery of a specific drug for
radiation sickness in higher
animals, including man.”

On the dangers of radio-
activity, an American paper
said that even the smallest
rise’ in radioactivity increased
the chances of damage to fu-
ture generations.

China doubles harvest

MagiTH a harvest of food-
W stuffs amounting to 300
million, or even 350 million,
tons — 60 to 90 percent more
than last year — virtually as-
sured, a call has gone out to
the. Chinese people.

It is to raise iron and steel
production this .year to -10,-
700,000 tons, twice last year’s
figure and nearly half the
British output.

This was one of the main
decisions to emerge from the

recent meeting of the political
bureau of the Chinese Com-
munist Party.

This year’s iron and steel
target was originally fixed at
6,200,000 tons and later raised
to, eight million, but an un-
precedented leap in farming
production demands that in-
dustry shall catch up more
rapidly.

Previncial party leaders
have now been instructed to
turn their main attention to
developing industry.

ing shortage. West Indians
are not used to our housing
standard, and many of them,
when they arrived in Britain,
banded together and bought
themselves houses (often in a
bad state of disrepair) into
which they crammed them-
selves and their friends.

There are also some un-
scrupulous colored people
with capital who have bought
properties and are now explo-
iting their fellow West Indians
by charging extortionate rents
for overcrowded . conditions.

This situation has been cre-
ated, to a great extent, by the
refusal of so many of our own
people to take in colored work-
ers as borders or tennants and,
as a result, there is a danger
of colored ghettoes being cre-
ated.

Apart from the Teddy boys
of Notting Hill and Notting-
ham, however, the main cause
of racial tension in Britain to-
day springs from a fear among
the .working class of unem-
ployment.

The workers feel frustrated
and, make no mistake about
it, many of them are finding
a scrapegoat — as happened
with Hitler, and the Jews—
by blaming their troubles on
to colored immigration.,

Although in factory and
foundry today colored and
white men and women §are
working happily together, the
spectre of unemployment is
growing.

Yes, unemployment is loom-
ing over Britain again, and
the Labor movement has fail-
ed to expose the Tories on
this issue.

Working class people’ who
succumb to racist propaganda
are playing into ‘the hands of

the Tories ,who are to blame.

for deliberately creating eco-
nemic conditions lending to
unemployment and racial
jealousy. :

This sind of color prejudice
ean only lead to suspicion
and jealousy among various
racial groups employed here.
It will encourage the employ-
ers in their policy of divide
and rule.

My experience is that West

Indians, since coming to Brit- -

ain have become loyal mem-
bers of their trade ‘unions,
as was shown in the London
bus strike. ae
Only through unity can we
hope to retain and improve
our standard of living in these
difficult economic times.
® John Baird, who wrote this
article, is Labor MP for
Wolverhampton Northeast,

MUSIC

Scottish pipers still

In Montgomery, Alabama, police seized-Rev. Martin wth
King jr., a leader in the fight against segregatio id |
marched him roughly along the street with his arm
behind his back. The charge: “Loitering.”

hearts of Muscovité

Tes of the town in Moscow

last week were the half a
hundred pipers and a’ and a’
who performed on September
4 in Gorky Park and then to
five million televiewers.

The pipers, drummers and
dancers of the worfd - fam-
ous Shotts’ and. Dykehead
Band were concluding their
five-week tour of the Soviet
Union,

It was almost impossible to
get through the crowd as the
band in full tartan dress and
bearskins, led by Pipe Major
John McAllister swung
through the great gates and

down the main aventt
open air theatre wher
performed. att
And when the cone ~
over the entire audier
thousands more fell te
the band as they play att
way out through the tio?
as warm a demons?
friendship for the ee
Britain as Moscow i ation
It was a culm* eg
demonstration after jing
formances to over © 4es

i 5 en
ple in the main 5 yee

the Donbas minin& ad
Tbilisi, Sochi, Len¥?

av
Moscow. aan pus

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September 12, 1958 —PACIFIC TRIBUNE