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THE

PEOPLE’S

ADVOCATE

THE
PEOPLE’S ADVOCATE

Published Weekly by the Proletarian Publishing
Association, Room i10, 163 West Hastings Street,
Vancouver, B.C. Phone Trinity 2019.

One! Year $2.00 Three Months __. $ .60
Helf Year —______$1.00 Single Copy ---—--—--- $ .05

Make All Gheques Payable to: The People’s Advocate
- Friday, February 10, 1939

Vancouver, B.C.

No Defeatism!

ype news from Spain is admittedly bad
this week. Driven from Barcelona and
Catalonia, now driven across the border into
France, the Catalonian army and the Loyalist
eause has suffered a severe setback.

But the labor and progressive movement
generally would be making the greatest kind
of mistake to allow any spirit of defeatism
to creep into its ranks regarding the “hope-
lessness” of the Loyalist position.

Serious, yes, but not hopeless!

The Catalonian army was beaten by over-
whelming superiority in manpower and arms,
but it was not routed. Troops who flee from
battle in hopeless confusion and fear don’t
take their arms and equipment with them.
But the Loyalists succeeded in transporting
even tanks and planes into France.

Democrats throughout the province should
take their cue from Premier Juan Negrin:
“Spain is not beaten—we will fight on.” And
here in Canada we can do much to see that
the Loyalists are given the arms and food
with which to fight on!

We can flood our members of parliament,
our government, with demands for lifting the
embargo. We can demand of Premier King
that Canada take its stand against the “ap-
peasement” policies of the arch-traitor Cham-
berlain, help to force the National govern-
ment to lend its aid to Spain’s legitimate gov-
ernment.

That's the way that defeat can be turned
into victory!

Victoria and Public Ownership

TCTORIA took a step this week that may
have far-reaching effect not only in the
capital city but in Vancouver as well.

People of that city want their utilities pub-
licly-owned. So the city council has voted to
apply for a $450,000 loan with which it is in-
tended to purchase or construct the necessary
power equipment to supply civic buildings

-and some 700 rural customers with electric
power and light.

The fact is that Victoria, like a number of
other BC cities, has become fed up with the
monopoly and resultant exorbitant rates pre-
vailing under the BC Electric. And now the
people are soing to demonstrate to the power
combine that a publicly-owned utility is pre-
paring to enter the competitive field and show
what can be done in the way of cheaper
rates.

What is happening over on the Tsland
should serve as a guide to Vancouver.

Ever since his election, Mayor Telford has
ben conducting a strong fight for lower utilty
rates. On the other hand, the BC Electric
has intensified its propaganda in an attempt
to defend its profitable monopoly of BC
power resources. It points to its tax bill, its
paternal attitude toward employees and “high
wages’ paid.

But the ruthless power barons can’t hide
this simple fact, so ably brought out by Mayor
Telford—that BC citizens pay just 177 per-
cent more for domestic power than the citi-
zens of Manitoba, who own their own power
resources.

That’s why the move by the Victoria City
Gouncil assumes such importance. Their ex-
periment with public ownership will serve as
British Columbia’s “yardstick” by which to
measure the comparative costs of BC Electric
power and municipally-owned power.

There’s no doubt as to what the verdict
will be.

The Bren Gun Probe

ae Bren gun probe has again hit the front
pages and whether the majority of the
House members like it or not, it threatens to
become one of the big issues in the coming
elections and a scandal which may rock the
country from end to end.

That certain profiteers in munitions have.
plenty to hide, and are afraid that the Bren
gun probe in the Public Accounts Committee
may reveal the real dirt behind the deal, be-
came apparent when certain members ap-
proached Grant MacNeil in an attempt to
blackmail him.

What was the CCF member’s “secret past”
they threatened to reveal? No more than this
__as national secretary of the GWVA in 1925,
MacNeil had conducted a fight against the
“brass hats” in charge of veterans’ pensions.
The “brass hats” retaliated by appointing a
Senate Commission to investigate the GWVA
administration, a commission that brought in
the required report seeking to discredit the
secretary.

But the payoff came shortly after. The
GWVA held a national convention and unani-
mously repudiated the Senate report, com-
pletely endorsed Grant MacNeil and the ex-
ecutive.

And the backer of that motion was Ian
Mackenzie, present Minister of National De-
fense.

‘Blasted Out Of Existence’

bl eth i de i><lis<hosbe<isciciicshoed

i Siiby ba ba be Pa Pe ed Pe Se es ee

<4it was well led.

lt fought heroically.
was blasted out of existence.’’

But it
This is the con-

clusion of the writer, a major in the Loyalist
intelligence Service, of the Catalonian Army
which was driven out of Barcelona by starva-

tion and the arms embargo.

“But thoush we

die, the Republic still lives.’’

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By MAJOR XAVIER MORA

| Be oes even more clearly than Prague, lies on the
road from Berlin to London. As I write this despatch from
the bending, crumpled front in Northeast Catalonia, the second
greatest port of the Mediterranean has crumbled into dust.
There is no need for me to explain why we Spaniards have

been defeated. The whole world knows.

The correspondent

of the great London Conservative paper, The Daily Telegraph,
sent in his despatch two days ago:

“Ten six-inch guns will triumph over one, no matter how
heroic the artilleryman who fires the lone piece. The Italian

divisions have a very high fire-power.

They use almost ex-

clusively automatic rifles and machine-guns, with ample motor

transport.”

The correspondent of 4 Lib-
eral London paper wrote to his
office:

“The insurgent planes dominate
the air. Fleets of tanks and ar-
mored cars attack on all sides-”’

Correspondents of all European
papers—and IT Know because for
five days I was censor in Barce-
lona—bore witness to the stub-
born resistance put up by our
People’s Army, crushed by weight
of high explosive. All say, “it
was well led. it fought heroically.
But it was blasted out of exist-
ence.”

T could add many things to

that. I know that half our men
were nearly starving. I know that
they were short of munitions, des-
perately and heartbreakingly
short. That was not our fault;
none who saw our women flock—
ing to the factories these bitter
winter dawns, who watched them
slaving feverishly to fill the cart-
ridges and turn the shells, could
doubt that we did everything that
eur industry and resources would
allow. But we could not cope with
the combined weight of the fac-
tories of Essen and Milan. Wor
could we buy arms or materials
to make arms.

But though we die, the Repub-
lic still lives. I have had three
friends killed in this retreat. My
wife is in the vineyard country
north of Almeria, and safe as yet
unless a German bomb finds the
lonely farmhouse
lies of men £E know, who are
fighting on this sector with me,
are at FEranco’s mercy itm the
great city that is now going up
in flames.

Yet liberty lives. It feeds on
our death, and we gladly die for
it If we are forced back upon
the Pyrenean frontier, there are
many who will not cross it. There
are many who will slip through
the fascist lines and dare death
every minute of day and night
to reach the Gentral Zone. Wo
ene knows better than Tf how
many suerrillos fight on in Hran-
eo’s territory. It was the danger
behind his lines that made him
fling this tremendous drive at us
to Smash us before revolt oyer-
took him Mit was the knowledge
that at any time the rebels who
are yet Spaniards might suddenly
turn on the Italians and massacre
them, that made Mussolini's le-
fionnaires fight so desperately
behind their waves of tanks, be
hind their barrages.

Even should all Catalonia fall,
still there remains the Central
Zone, under our lover Miaja. That
small, thickset spectacled hero
has yet to be reckoned with. No
less a person than General Molos—
worth, British representative on
the Commission repatriating our
disbanded International Brigades
has just said: “Even if Barcelona
should fall, the war will be con-
tinued in Central Spain and may
last for another three, four or
five years.”

A Survey Of Mexico

By LESLIE MORRIS

HIS week the seventh conven—

tion of the Communist Party
of Mexico opened in the capital
city. Mexico is one of the centres
of world attention at this time.
Placed strategically along the
southern border of the United
States, south of the Rio Grande,
and moving forward to the com-
pletion of its long-standing revo-
lution against landlordism and
imperialist control, it is naturally
one of the centres of fascist at-
tention.
to the opening of the convention
bands of hooligans roamed the
streets, breaking the windows of
Jewish stores and beating up
Jewish people. At the main centre
of the city they shouted their fas-
cist slogans through loudspeak-
ers for several evenings in suc-
cession, venting their spleen on
the leader of the Latin-American
trade unions. Vicente Lombardo
Toledano; on the president of the
republic, Lazaro Cardenas, upon
the Jews, upon the Communists—
all in the name of the Mexican
revolution !

Se

TANDARD ODL is back of the
reactionary conspiracy to de-
feat Mexican democracy. The
Trotskyists are active in colla-
boration with the agents of fas-
cism. The British interests, who
with Standard Oil lost their pro-
perties when they refused to ac-
cede to the demands of the oil
workers, are also up to their ears
in combination with Mexican re-
actionaries, to halt Mexican de-
mocracy and foist upon it a fas-
cist edition of the hated Porfiro

Diaz. :

All this struggle between the
needs of the Mexican nation and
its democratic requirements on
the one hand, and fascist-imper-
jalist forces on the other, will find
their high expression in the pre-
sidential election which will take
place next year.

The ‘Mexican constitution de-
mands that no president can run
for office a second time. It also
requires that the nominee must
be a general. This means that
President Gardenas will. not be
able to run again, yet the masses
want the continuation of Car-

RRS

PSS SR

For several days prior-

PRESIDENT CARDENAS

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eS 4 PS Siea sit

denas’ progressive and enlight—
ened policies.

FJRHE Mexican election will be

as important as the United
States presidential election next
year, or the Canadian general
election. In all three, reaction is
ganging up on democracy. Im all
three, there are weaknesses and
disunities in the democratic camp
which can, if not healed, bring
votes to the reactionary candi-
dates.

In all three countries, the cam-
paign is already on. Issues are
being fought out. The reaction-
aries are perfecting their me
thods of deceit. The democratic
camp, and above all the Commun-
ist parties, are issuing their clear
ealls for unity in the democratic
camp and calling attention to the
practical requirements of tnat
unity.

e
EF REACTION wins in these

elections in the three main
North American countries, then

it will be a sad day for the
masses. Fascism will then ad-
vanee with seven-league boots.
The democratic rights of the
masses, the rights of labor, the
civil liberties of the people, the
economic concessions which have
been won in the past few years,
will be viciously attacked and
probably swept away by reaction-—
ary regimes.

His convention of the Mexican

Gommunist Party, which has
80,000 members and is 20 years
old this year, is taking up in the
most practical manner the way in
which the Communist Party can
serve more effectively than ever
to ensure the victory of demo-
eracy in the 1940 election.

Delegates are present from the
29 states of Mexico. Peasants
from the gsreat haciendas which
have for centuries exploited the
people; some from land which
has been restored to them by Car-
denas; workers from the oilfields,
the railroads, the sugar and cof
fee mills; artists, teachers and in-
tellectuals who have made Mexi-
can art world-famous — all are
gathered together as a unifying
force in Mexican politics to throw
the weight and influence of the
party into the pre-electoral sirug-—
gle to oppose all opportunist
tricks, and to raise the principal
issue to the highest peak; that is,
to elect that candidate who in the
course of the struggle best proves
his loyalty to the masses and
their needs, as expressed at this
time in the actions of the Car-
denas government.

T WILL be well for Canadians

to keep their eyes on Mexico,
as it is for citizens of the three
main Worth American countries
to take the deepest mutual inter—
est in the forthcoming elections
and in the struggles which will
precede them. WNineteen-forty will
be a fateful year for us. The
Communists of the continent for-
see this and are gathering in
their conventions to place the
leadership, organizing skill and
political wisdom of their parties
at the full service of democracy.

A Letter From China

EIGHTH ROUTH ARMY
ASES AD
Editor, People’s Advocate:

We have heard of your strug-
gles and work for Spain from
some of our common friends now
in China and on this basis we wish
to appeal to you for help for the
war victims and wounded of the
Worthwest and the 8th Route
Army. We are also enclosing for
your information an announce
ment of the 8th Route Army
Trustee Committee.

As you know the general war
situation in China is becoming
more and more critical and the
fighting from day to day is char-
acterised by a more intensive and
fierce resistance of our heroic
Chniese soldiers.

In addition the Japanese “bar-
barians with machine guns” are
continuing to unleash still more
savage attacks not only on our
troops but also to encompass the
women and children in their
slaughter. The flood of war refi-
ugees, war orphans, war wounded
continues and the resources for
their care are too limited. This is
true all over the country and is
particularly severe in the WNorth-
west and in the rear of the enemy.

The 8th Route’ Army, fighting
a broad scale guerilla warfare in
the rear of the Japanese, is ham-

pered by many difficulties. The
wounded have to be transported
sometimes for days to reach ade-
quate medical aid. War refugees
and orphans are picked up by
eur valiant fighters and trans-
ported to safe places in the Worth-
west. The sending of medicines
and drugs as well as having
enough on hand for both the
front and the refugees is nearly
impossible for the lack of funds.
Bandages, gauze, first aid pack—
ings, antiseptics, drugs, clothing
and blankets are very scarce.

I= a B=d p=alb =a boea Saba Pela bab iba bad badd badge a bad bag EERE Bad

TRULH WLLL OUT

Goebbels prides himself on his
publicity-sense. One of his favor-
ite stunts has been the setting up
of large billboards wherever any
big construction job is going for-
ward, stating in letters a yard
high, “Chat we work here is due
to our fuehrer. Thanks to him!”
The story is told in Berlin, how-
ever, that this notice stood for
many days in front of the old
Reichstag building when it was
being cleaned up by workmen
after the great fire which Hit
let attempted to use against the
Communists. Then suddenly the
notice disappeared, never to be
seen again. But by that time, all
Berlin was laughing.

Many times the wounded have to
be operated on without anaes-
thesia Simply for lack of it. The
whole Worthwest and the region
in the rear of the enemy occupied
by us, being partly poor and part-
ly having its economy dislocated
by the war, needs help and aid
for the war victims.

With this in mind we urgently
appeal to you and your friends
through you for all the help pos-
sible. All forms of help are need-
ed. One dollar will support a
refugee or orphan for two weeks.
One first aid packing will save a
life on the battlefield and one
ounce of anaesthesia will relieve
pain for a life-saving operation.
Blankets and clothes will carry a
refugee through the winter. No
help is too little or too much.

All donations and supplies can
be sent to the China Defense
League, Hongkong, China, ear-
marked for the 8th Route Army
Trustee Committee. We ask for
your support in this life and
death struggle.

Sincerely yours,

MAQ TSE-TUNG,
Hon. Chairman.
LI FU-CHEN,
Chairman.
Address:

8th Route Army Trustee Com.,

c.o. Li Fu-chen,

Wenan, Shensi, China.

But the fami- ~

SHORT JABS

A
Weekly

Commentary

By Ol’ Bill

A Li Woe matter how depressing
ttle the front pages of the daily
Sunshine. dope-sheets appear, a little

ray Of sunshine finds its way through them once in
a while. It must have gladdened the hearts of the
shareholders of the Howe -Sound Company when
they read the news a few days ago, that on the basis
of quarterly statements, net income for 1938 was
$2,153,662. Hunger, destitution, roofs that let in the
wet, clothes that let in the cold, shoes without soles
in slushy weather,none of these things will worry
the fortunate shareholders of the Howe Sound Com-
pany to whom Santa Claus has just brought this
nice little donation of two million bucks.

That news, however, did not bring much gladness
to the hearts of Walter Newberry and his wite.
Newberry operated a crusher in the Britannia mine
and ten days after the didiyend-pie was cut by the
stockholders of the- Howe Sound Company, 500 tons
of muck rolled down on top of him. As there was no
provision made in the mine for him and others like
him to climb to safety out of the way of the rock, he
was buried alivye—or buried dead, rather.

Another to add to the list of slaughtered miners in
the most dangerous mine in BG where about two
men are killed for every one in ALI, the cther hard-
rock mines in the province combined.

Britannia Had there been a room for
the machine operators cut in
Mantrap. the roof and a ladder to climb

up when warned, Walter Newberry would still be
alive. As it was, he was trapped like a rat. if the
clever Mr. Browning had spent more time and
money in perfecting safety devices in the Britannia
mine instead of lecturing workers from “service”
club platforms, the other six or seven miners killed
in that mine during the past year would also be
alive—but the New Work owners of the mine would
not have had so much dividend-pie te cut. That, of
course, is more important than the life of a chute—
puncher in a hardrock mine. - 2

And speaking of dividends we should extend our
sympathy to the poor shareholders of the E. L
DuPont De Nemours and Company, who only made
$50,190,827 from the sale of merchandise for slaugh-
terins their fellow men, in comparison with $83,031,-
$34 in 1937. If things don’t improve they will soon
be on relief!

= = If you are blessed with a
High Society family, mostly girls, and are
Stuff. on relief, you are probably
worrying about their “debut.” Wor the benefit of
those who do not speak French or the English of
the 400, this is a social function in which the girls
of the “hupper clawsses” are groomed for the mar-
riage market, paraded like heifers and steers in the
ring at a cattle fair.

In Manhattan recently, one of these jamborees
took place. It interests us, not because of the mar-
riage angle or the girl glamor point of view, but be—
cause of the fact that one of the grandfathers of the
dame who was being “debutted,” was a prominent
Ganadian financier who has been gouging our people
for a generation, Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor,
whose mug and John Hancock decorated the bills
of the Bank of Montreal for many years. They may
do so yet, but it is so long since IT Saw a five or a
ten that I don’t know.

Taylor himself is one of the brigade of Canadian
tax-dodgers headed by Harry Oakes, who have emi-
erated to Bermuda and the Bahamas to ayoid paying
their legitimate share of the cost of maintaining
the Canadian state.

His granddaughter’s Manhattan “debut” or “com-
ins-out” or what-have-you, cost somebody $50,000.
Quite a mite more than the case of rum for which
the Indians sold Manhattan to the Dutch.

The moron debutante should have a chance in
the marriage racket (it is only a racket among the
class to which she belongs), for she already has
four million dollars of her very own—her hard-
earned savings, no doubt.

She is handicapped, however, by the fact that her
parents, until one of them died a couple of years ago,
spent their time attempting to prove that the other
was unfit to be her custodian. My suess is that both
were right. =

Another Road The Marquess of Londonder-

= ry, chief commissioner of the
To Fascism. new “Civil Air Guard,” right
bower to Lady Astor, the queen of the Cliveden set,
demands a government which in times of emergency
will adopt the position of dictator.

But Britain has gone a long way already in estab-
lishing a dictatorship. The Chamberlain gang, if
they can get away with it, intend to impose fascist
rule on the British people by easy Stages, so that
they won’t know it until they wake up some day
to find themselves in the same sorry plight as the
peoples of Germany and Italy.

The organization of a “dungaree army” under the
control of Sir John Anderson, one ofthe fascist “co-
options” to the British National government and the
recent announcement by the same gentleman of a
resional zoning system, whereby in wartime, all
civil rights will be abolished and government of the
regions taken over by a regional commissioner and
a war staff, are part of the plans of the Chamber
lain fascists,

Sir John Anderson is one
A Real Scotsman who has done more
Bad Scot. to discredit the liberal tradi-

tion of his native land than any other since Mon-
teith sold the Scottish national hero, Sir William
Wallace, to the English hangman.

We was the organizer of the infamous Black and
Tans who brought upon the British government the
curse of every honest Britisher. He was governor
of Bengal later when Hindu “detainus”’ were mas-
sacred in their prison compound at Chittagong. Now
he is appointed to carry out the same atrocities on
the body of the British people as he inflicted on the
Irish and the Hindus.

Only a united British people can put a stop to the
machinations of Ghamberlain and Anderson, and we
ean help here.

From the News-Herald edi-
The News- torial, February 7: “The stiff
Herald Says: ening in the British stand
since the fall of Barcelona is encouragins. The
British Prime Minister has declareq in language
which cannot be misunderstood that if the interests
of France are jeopardized, HE AGGRESSORS
GAN COUNT ON THE WHOLE AND UNDIVIDED
SUPPORT OF BRITAIN.” For once the mormminge
rag has told the truth. The British susport which is
promised to the aggressors in the future has been
plentifully supplied in the past and the results are
apparent in Spain.

ars ae ee bined Ob Te OE a