. ‘: Page Two THE PEOPLE’S ADVOCATE April 14, 1939 ~ THE PEOPLE’S ADVOCATE Published Weekly by the Proletarian Publishing Association, Room i10, 163 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC. Phone TRinity 2019. One Year _______-$2.00 Three Months ——--- $ .60 Haif Year —____-..51.00 Single Copy ——-—--- $ .05 Make All Gheques Payable to: The People’s Advocate Vancouver, B.C. Friday, April 14, 1939 Have You Elected Your Delegates ? ~ AVE you elected your delegates to the Pacific Northwest Embargo Conference yet?” This question, which has become almost a slogan, is being asked in countless trade union, church, and peace organizations these days 4s hundreds of delegates from Woashinston, Oregon and BC points prepare to head for Vancouver on April 22 to plan a coastwide drive for an embargo on wat materials to Japan. To say that the forthcoming gathering is of vital importance is by no means an overstate-— ment. Canada, along with the other demo- cratic nations, stands at the brink of a war provoked by the Berlin-Rome-Tokio axis. Together with these democracies, Canada and its people may be called on at any time to bear the brunt of a world conflict that will bring suffering and death to millions. Yet Canada for years has been loading the guns of the Tolxio end of the axis in particular with the shrapnel that will inevitably, unless we call a halt, be taking a toll of lives in Van- couver and other Canadian cities. Under these circumstances it is manitestly suicidal for Ottawa to talk of building de- fenses on our coast while we ship millions in nickel and concentrates for war purposes to the military fascist dictatorship over in Tokio. That’s the reason, then, for the Pacific Northwest Embargo Conference. Along with delegates from across the line, from whom, by the way, we can learn much in the conduct of the embargo campaign, we are going to sit down and work out plans to stop war ship- ments to Japan, to stop the war in China, and ultimately, to guarantee peace. For that is ex- actly the issue at stake. So we ask again—has your organization elected delegates? If not, see that it does, and join the movement for peace on the Pacific— and the Atlantic. An Unfertunate Decision E’VE been accustomed to good news from Eastern Canada’s labor movement during the recent period, but one news item this week was far from encouraging. We refer to the annual convention of the Ontario CCF where, despite strong opposition from progressive delegates and stormy scenes, the party voted to prohibit unity “vith all other progressive groups.” Tt should be noted that the decision covered not only the Communist Party, as might have been expected considering the caliber of the right wing leadership in that province, but every other progressive and liberal organiza- tion. “Well only fritter away our strength by working with such groups,’ declared John Mitchell, provincial president. “Our task is to continue to stress before the people the meed of socialism as the only alternative to fascism.” To term such a stand unfortunate is putting it mildly. At a time when the lessons of Spain and France cry out the need of democratic unity against fascsim, when the governments of capitalist democracies are talking of unity against aggression, when even Britain’s Tory diehards are being forced to concede the need of seeking the cooperation of Russia, the right wing in the CCF “can see no need” of co- operating with any other party. May we warn, as we have warned countless times before, that such a policy may lead to unity, all right, but unity behind the barbed wire of fascist concentration camps. May Day i939 ANCOUVER will celebrate May Day this year in the midst of one of the worst erises in history- Europe is mobilized for war as never be- fore. Armies are on the move, navies are putting to sea. Fascist aggression pushes father afield, threatens South America and Wexico, moves in on United States and Canada. e In these tense circumstances, there could be no more fitting slogan than that which will keynote this year’s parade— Stop Hitler and Save Peace!” May Day can be made the occasion of a tremendous expression of Canada’s will for peace. When those hundreds of thousands take to the streets from Vancouver to Halifax, they will be voicing the demand that Mac- kenzie King take his place with Roosevelt in challenging opposition to Hitler. The rumble of marching feet will echo the cry: away with “appeasement ; no committments with the Chamberlain government; for a democratic bloc against aggression! In this period of great crisis the historic day of May 1 is destined to play a greater vole than ever. Participation in the events of that day is required in the very interests of world peace itself! What’s Chamberlain Doing? Hibs aT Sieh te et EE GEES Ub=e ied b= alba gibed bad begs bd be et bs a is the chief Municheer laying the groundwork for some more “appeasement’”’ or is he finally alarmed at aggressor gains? This writer be- lieves he’s straddling the fence temporarily waiting his chance to again aid his friends, Hitler and Riussolini. Cae Sg =a bs lx Ss ba a fae fd = vga sage edb Sie =S DS ES SS aEES E=db= abs ob fabs eb pas bab xa bed bee Edad s bd peg aS By HARRY GANNES S FASCIST-CREATED incidents pile up menacingly from Iraq to Patagonia, the anxious attention of the world is concentrated on London. In this highly explosive situation, just what is Chamberlain’s game? Will the early outcome of his conversations with the shifty Warsaw foreign minister, Joseph Beck, be the handing over to Hitler of Danzing? Or, is the British prime minister really finally alarmed over the Nazi threat to Great Britain, and is he trying to swing Beck and Co. into some form of collective ac- tion to block Hitler? We believe that Mr. Chamber Jain has merely moved from Mun- ich to a convenient fence. He is now sitting on that fence hoping for an opportunity to rush bach: to his old position, if he can, and if this is not possible he may be compelled to get off on the oppo- site side. In moving from Munich to his present fence-sitting, Chamber- Jain has to that extent changed -his position. ° Ur in thus far refusing any definite commitments and in earrying on suspicious intrigues with Beck, as well as consistently stalling on the Soviet Union’s pro- posal for a conference of all na- tions desiring to halt Hitler, Ghamberlain has left the way wide open for more treachery. Events in Irag, where, no doubt, Nazi instigation of anti- British sentiment because of TLon- don’s imperialist control of Iraq’s economy, oil, and government, led to the assassination of the Bri- fish consul at Mosul, will make it harder for Chamberlain to step back into the Munich path. Also, events in Buenos AUres, where the Argentine government, headed by the pro-British Presi- dent Ortiz, is carrying out a ser jes of raids against Nazis who plotted seizure of the Patagonia province, have I.ondon approval. This action will have a ten- dency to counteract the British Tory sabotage of the Lima Conference. At Lima, Argen- tina tried to wreck western hemisphere antifascist unity- Mussolini’s preparations for in- vading Albania placed additional obstacles to CGhamberlain’s get- ting off the fence on the Munich Side. British Mediterranean and Wear PBastern interests are dir- ectly threatened by Rome’s Al- banian adventures. Then, re ports of 5,000 additional italian ¢roops landing in Spain after Hranco’s victory, have aroused alarm in Brance and Great Bri- tain. In short, the rapid drift of events is away from any easy re- enactment of Mnuinich. e Boe Hitler knows his Chamber lain. The Nazi dictator is threatening a direct, lightning and horrifying attack on Great Britain. Hitler thinks this will give Chamberlain either the op- portunity of “saving the peace” through new forms of eoncession, or create such terror aS may hin- der any genuine British steps to- ward collective security. Tt is Ghamberlain’s costly delay and conscious muddling that Hit Jer counts on so strongly. Im the midst of all this, the in- cident of Lord Stanhope’s sensa- tional warning to Britain that the navy was manning its anti-air- craft batteries to meet any sud- den Nazi attack from the air, is surrounded with mystery. The first lord of the admiralty made this statement on board a battleship to the papers so they could transmit the information to the British people. The re- port was even broadcast over the British government-owned B.B.C. (British Broadcasting Co.) which makes it official Then Chamberlain came out, first flatiy denying the truth of the statement, and later relegat— ing it to the sphere of “usual practice in a tense situation.” Is Chamberlain deliberately cresting a new case of national jitters, wearing out the people’s nerves, as Hitler sets out to do, in order to facilitate another deal? Or, again, is this a genuine de fense move in the face of a threatened Nazi lightning attack? ° KNOWLEDGE of Mr. Cham- berlain and his past would more emphatically point to an attempt to ereate panic, rather than instil confidence that through collective action the Wazis can be halted and kept from striking. : The authoritative Journal de Moscou pointed out that the chief danger lies in Chamberlain’s pro- erastination, saying: “In view of the extent of Ger- man agrgession and the existence of the bloc between Germany, Italy, Japan and fascist Spain, the as yet timid measures to en-— force security in certain sectors are powerless to ensure peace. “Weasures are needed which extend to Europe as a whole and perhaps to the centres of war outside Hurope. Collective secur- ity must be assured.” Z Similar misgivings over Cham- pberlain’s hesitation and two-sided maneuvers are expressed in Wash- ington. Even the US State De— partment which has a strong clique sympathetic to Chamber- Jain has given newspapermen in- formation pointing to new Bri- tish Tory trickeries. The N.Y. Times printed a story which was summed up in the headlines this way: Capital Wonders on British Stand. Question is Whether Firmness Toward Hitler Will Go On or Collapse As Before. That, indeed, is the question. Other People’s Money By ANGUS MUBREBSY Ape week the fact that the Metropolitan Life Insurance had paid its policyholders half a billion dollars during the past year was featured news in the commercial press. What was not featured was the fact that the United States senate monopoly committee has discov- ered that the insurance companies constitute the United States’ most powerful monopoly. Forty-nine companies eontrol $27,000,000,000 of US policyholders’ money. Out of these 49 companies four control 17 billion all by them- selves. ° HESE huge reserves are sup- posedly the property of the policyholders. Actually it has been established that only one per cent of the policyholders ever get an oOppor- tunity to vote in their eompanies. A handful of Wall Street financi-— ers control the 27 billion and they manipulate these assets at their will and in the interest of the other monopolists with whom they are connected. In Canada a similar picture can be seen. There are 28 Ca- nadian life insurance companies and, of these, six control 79 per cent of the total assets of these companies. The four dominant United States companies also operate in Canada and further add to the picture of monopoly. Total assets held in Ganada by British and United States insur- ance companies amount to $577,- 572,955. Seventy-eight per cent of these assets are controlled by three companies out of the 34 for- eign companies holding assets and doing business in this country. Assets held by Canadian life insurance companies total $2,135,- 373,567. ° 4 eee 6,41,839 Canadian life in- surance policyholders have no say whatever as to the disposal or investment of these huge as- sets. This is particularly true of the 3,977,725 Canadian holders of in- nt bze ae rqipzdibeaibedb= abr b=Gb=eo- 4 b= 4 b= 4 Pd teed as Insurance monopolies reap a huge profit but pay little back to the policyholders. sFadibea bes base ba b- 4 b= 4b = dibd aaa pedib=t ree EVES dustrial policies, have an average of $215, and who than 60 per cent policyholders. The accumulated assets result- ing from the investment of policy— holders’ money never get down to the policyholders. They become the private plaything of a few big bankers and financiers. Canada’s big shots are to be found well entrenched in the di- rectorates of Canadian insurance whose policies value, at death, constitute more of all Canadian iF=dibxd P=dibsdibedibe4 badibxb=e bad Padbae braib=Gb-4ibsd bedded Pa bE) They Say: Of all human inventions charity is the nastiest. If you do not be- lieve this, watch the Salvation Army break a man down before giving him a five-cent meal; watch your Community Chest destroy dignity before giving aid. T worked for Hearst once and one of my duties was to distribute food to the poor of New York— baskets—celery, potatoes, a yel- low-fleshed chicken. We took them to the tenements. We were ashamed. We saw the hatred in the eyes of the people who re ceived our baskets. We went back to the newspaper city room and wrote columns on the generosity of Mr. Hearst. . . . I can tell in advance what may happen—a crowd of sullen men expecting charity. They know charity and hate it; the children pressing close, eyes wide, faces expression- less. And now and then a woman erying softly in the background. Candy and food today—and starvation tomorrow. The chil- dren will be unhappy tomorrow. The gifts will only serve to em- phasize the poverty of the re- cipients.—John Stienbeck, in the American Guardian. DE aibs dibsaipsaipsaibadlbsdib=aib=4ib=4ib=