THE BRITISH SCENE:

eevee

THORSON

Cont’d from pg. 2

I felt impelled by a sense ot
duty not to “keep silence’ but
to speak in protest against it.
That is why I appear before you
this evening. The proposal is a
Monstrous one. It ought to be
repudiated immediately . . .

If a Starfighter pilot in the
course of performing the strike
reconnaissance. function assigned
to him were to drop such a
bomb on a_ concentration of
troops in a large populated
centre it would be in cffect a
repitition of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki and he
would kill or destroy hundreds
of thousands of persons who had
no ill-will toward him or to the
Western allies.

If he did so he would trigger
a. nuclear war that would anni-
hilate western Europe. Indeed,
it might escalate into a full-out
nuclear war between the Soviet
Union and the United States
which would result in the de-
Struction of both.

Surely, it cannot be a matter
of national honor to accept a
role that might result in such
an appalling consequence.

A one-megaton bomb is not a
weapon of defense. It could be
an instrument of mass murder.
Indeed, its use contemplates the
Possibility of the destruction of
the centre on which it may be
dropped and the extermination
of all its people.

If a Starfighter pilot were or-
dered to make a “‘first-strike”’
on an enemy centre and the
bomb that he dropped on it had
the result of repeating the hor-
rors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
how could anyone deny that those
who authorized his action were
Suilty of a war crime of at least
a great magnitude as that of any
of the war crimes of which the
Nazi war lords were found guilty
at Nuremberg and for which they
were executed?

_ Indeed, they would pale into
insignificance beside it .. -

Therefore, I speak to you this
evening without hesitation. I am
assisted in my decision to do
SO by the precepts in Ecclesias-
tes. There the Preacher says, in
Chapter III:

“To everything there is a
Season, and a time to every pur-
bose under the heaven: 7... - 3

the bombing of ©

a time to keep silence and time

to speak;”’
This is the time to speak in

‘protest against the acquisition

of nuclear weapons by Canada
generally and, in particular,
against the continuation of the
strike reconaissance role for
our Starfighters in Europe and
the murderous proposal that
they should carry a one-megaton
hydrogen bomb. . .

It cannot be a matter of na-
tional honor to adopt a proposal
that might result in mass mur-
der and threaten the peace of

the world.
f e

The course for Canada to fol-
low is as clear as crystal. It is
her moral duty in this age of
international tension to make
the best contribution to the cause
of world peace of which she is
capable. She must choose between
two roles. She is not a great
military power, but she has a
substantial capacity as a pro-
moter of peace.

She “cannot possibly advance
the cause of peace by equipping
her Bomare missiles and her
Voodoo interceptors with nu-
clear weapons. They are useless
for defense and worthless for
deterrence.

The equipping of her Honest
John rockets with nuclear weap-
ons would be expensive and of
negligible value. And our strike
reconnaissance role in NATO is a
menace to peace.

Canada, therefore, should have
nothing to do with nuclear
arms... -

Canada is one of the great-
er middle powers and her repu-
tation among the other nations
of the world is high, for they
know that she has no imperialistic

“aims and they are not suspicious

of her.
But if Canada accepts nuclear

weapons she will seriously les-
sen her influence with other na-
tions. They will regard her as a
satellite of the United States.

The best contribution that
Canada can make to the safety
of mankind is to continue the
efforts in the cause of peace and
to strive for the abolition of nu-
clear tests and the promotion of
disarmament agreementts.

This is the path of interna-
tional duty on which she should
continue to travel in her efforts
to assist in reaching the goal of
world peace.

coe ees

This is an eleventh hour appeal to
all PT friends and supporters. With on-
ly a week left in the Press Drive, there
is a grave danger that the drive ob-
jective will not be met.

Many individuals and clubs re-
sponded very warmly to last week’s
personal appeal by our editor, Tom
McEwen. In fact, $1,900 came in to
our office in the past week.

But this is not enough, as a

DON’T FORGET TO BE AT THE

GREATER VANCOUVER

City Tota: —
PROVINCE GENERAL

Fernie-Michel $ 75 30.00
=: Nelson 30 28.00.
= Powell River 200 199.39
= Prince Rupert 100 44.00
Sointula 100 60.00
Steveston 150 40.1 5
Trail-Rossland 300: 207.00

Urgent call
PT still requires $3,600

- Amounts raised so far:
City—$9,000 Province—$5,400

Only 7 days left indrive!

PT Victory Banquet
Friday, June 28—7:00 p.m.

Russian People’s Home — 600 Campbell Ave..
Good Food—Varied Cultural Program

Press Drive Quotas

Club Quota in

Advance $ 350$1214.36
Bill Bennett 625 523.50
Broadway 770 796.50
Dry Dock 250 120.00
Frank Rogers 350 190.00
Georgia 150 151.00
Kingsway 660 587.19
Niilo Maksia 156 73.00,
Cigin 450 394.00
Point Grey 330 341.75
Vanc. East 1430 1407.16
South Vane 600 561.18
Victory Square 440 480.00
West End 300 291.75
North Burnaby 800 690.35
Edmonds 440 264.65.
North Shore 825 857.50:
City Misc. 1,350 978.73
City Unpledged — 1,230 10.00
A. Pothorn Fund 115.0¢

311,500 9,026.62.

glance at the Press Drive Quotas be-
low will show. We have $1,700 in un-
pledged funds, which means simply
that every single club will have to go
substantially over its quota if we are
to reach our total $18,000.

During these last few days, it is
imperative that we utilize every mo-
ment at our disposal and every chance
we get fo push the drive over the top!
There is still time-—it can be done!

=e ; Quota stn
orrespon 300 222.
Tom McEwen's Col. 100 ors
VANCOUVER ISLAND
Alberni 304.32
Campbell River Sass
Cumberiand
Cowichan
Nanaimo
Parksville
Victoria
Saanich
DEWDNEY
Haney-Map Rg. $
Mission
OKANAGAN
Kamloops. $
Notch Hill
Vernon
LANGLEY

Ft. Langley $ 275 305.00 —
Ladner. 150 74.58 =
New West. 400 367.00 &:
south Surrey 275 451.29 =

urrey 500 572.60
Prov. Unpledged 475 108.27
Prov. Totals $ 6,500 5414.17
City Totals $11,500 9026.62 =:
Grand Totals $1 8,0001 4,440.79 BS

June 21, 1963—PACIFIC TRI