THE ADVOCATE December i, 1939. THE ADVOCATE Published Weekly by the Advocate Publishing Association, Room 20 163 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C) Phone TRinity 2019 EDITOR - HAL GRIFFIN One Year $2.00 Three Months ———_______—_$ -60 Half Year $1.00 Single Copy $ .05 Make All Cheques Payable to: The People’s Advocate Vancouver, B.C., Friday, December 1, 1939 End The War To Begin Other Wars HE LONDON TIMES we note is now referring to the war of 1914-1918, the war that some call the first imperialist war and other the Great War, as the Four Years War. This Four Years War we recall was justified on the grounds that it was to be the war to end all war, from it was to emerge a new Europe and a brave new world. Wow that we are at war again, we hear repeated all the phrases about a new Europe and a new and better world that the peoples were falsely promised as the reward for their sut- fering and sacrifice 25 years ago. Yet there is a significant change. No pro-war orator has yet called this war that is just beginning a war to end all wars. On the contrary, we hear some spokesmen blurting out in public what our political and economic rulers are obviously discussing in private, that this war is but a prelude, that this war is to be a war to prepare other wars, always bigger, better and more holy than the one that preceded it. Thus Bishop G. A. Wells, whose importance is indicated by his office as Chaplain-General of the Canadian forces, declared in a recent speech in Toronto, which was reported in the morning DPoronto newspaper but significantly omitted entirely from all evening papers, that the present war is “Just a pimple on the face of world progress,” that “in peace there were diffi- culties as great as in war,” that “I see nothing to stop an alli- ance between France and the British Empire and Germany against godless Russia,” that “Allied troops would be fighting shoulder to shoulder with their present enemies behind the Siegfried line against godless Russia before the war was over.” The Toronto Globe and Mail, whose editor George MecCul- lagh has now apparently become an official radio spokesman on Canadian war aims, disagrees with the wisdom of making such public statements as Bishop Wells, Colonel Drew, On- tario’s Conservative leader, and others are thoughtlessly in- dulging in. In a recent editorial it declares: “We had better apply our- selvés to the task of winning the war against Germany before planning another war besides Germany. But the differences of opinion thus exhibited are only minor tactical disagree- ments, not differences of aim or perspective, for the Globe and Mail heads its editorial “One War at a Time,” indicating its agreement that the present war is but the prelude to other wars once it is “won.” The “new Europe” that Chamberlain speaks of as a “peace aim” after the ‘war aim” of “winning the war” is achieved, the “Ruropean commonwealth” that Franz von Papen, German ambassador to Turkey recently declared Germany would estab- lish “after the war, if she wins,” are alike revealed as plans for a great European military alliance, directed in the first place against the Soviet Union but also possibly against the Americas, the immediate issue of the present war being the question of whether German or Anglo-French imperialism shall dominate this alliance. Wo wonder then that in all the belligerent countries there are srowing signs of popular revulsion against the war. No wonder then that such popular Labor figures in England as Sir Stafford Cripps, who at the commencement of the war offered his service for a technical war job declared to his con- stituents in East Bristol at a recent public meeting: “T soon discovered that it was Big Business that was run- ning the war and that there was no vacancy for any one not safely under the influence of big business. “Tt is suggested that we are hoping for a monarchist rise in Ger- many. Are we really fighting this time to recreate what we were told we fought the last war to destroy? The answer is that there are many supporters of the government who are so foolish as to wish for an alliance with such a Germany for the purpose of being able to organize an anti-Soviet bloc. “Ti is easy to understand why Russia was not prepared, after the incidents connected with Czechoslovakia, to trust this govern- ment of ours to act in any way except in the interests of British jmperialism—in which Russia had no interest whatever. “Russia is out to protect Russia, and as the world has been plunged into this war of rivalry she will do her utmost to get from those circumstances everything possible for the building up of her strength and safety.” “Tf the British war aims were clearly stated the people would be so disgusted that they would refuse to continue the war.” Whatever attempts are made to conceal it, truth emerges and with it grows in daily strength the will of the peoples to establish peace in spite of their rulers. Every Aid To The CLDL - IS good news that the Canadian Labor Defense League, which in past years won an enviable record as a vigilant champion of civil liberties, has been revived and is jumping into action to meet the new threats to freedom with which the working people are confronted. Established in 1925 to provide legal assistance, publicity and financial aid to all members of labor and trade union or- ganizations persecuted by employers and their governmental stooges for their activities in the labor movement, the CLDL gained greatest prominence during the years of ‘depression,’ 1930-1935. Ex_Prime Minister R. B. Bennett of ‘Iron Heel’ fame, sought to silence active critics of capitalism by using Section 98 of the Criminal Code as a means of imprisoning them. The CLDL organized and led the fight for the repeal of Section 98 —and the CLDL won. The ‘great depression’ was followed by a short-lived re- covery and the beginnings of a new economic crisis in 1937 have been followed by a new Great War. Again big business is afraid that the people will not wil- lingly accept the suffering and the sacrifices that will be de- manded of them. Again governments turn to suppression of civil liberties as a means of avoiding public criticism of their subservience to the interests of big business. Again the CLDL jumps into action to defend the victims of injustice and demand the repeal of the orders-in-council by which the Fed- eral government, without consulting parliament, has assumed Hitlerite power to suppress newspapers, abolish habeus corpus, arrest without warrant, imprison without trial. The work of the CLDIL merits the fullest support of all sections of the labor movement and all supporters of civil lib- erties. Give it your support without stint or delay. Help to build it so that it might as effectively serve as the protector of the rights and liberties of the working people in wartime as it did in time of peace. IMPERIALIST INTRIGUE IN THE BALTIC By HAL GRIFFIN A CROSS the front pages of every Canadian newspaperb anner headlines seream that So- viet Russia is an ‘imperialist? aggressor threatening Finnish independence. The same press that only last year upheld the betrayal on newspaper banner headlines scream that So- for our time’ and evinced scant sympathy for the Spanish people in their heroic struggle against fascist invasion now reaches the apogee of distortion in its references to the Soviet- Finnish dispute. Wo one reading the commercial press during these past three months can have failed to ob- serve that although Canada is of- ficially at war with Germany, our newspaper publishers seem to be uncer the impression that we are at war with Soviet Rus- Sia. It is as if, knowing the aims of British imperialism and disappointed because the USSR by its conclusion of the non- ageression pact with Germany and its later swift occupation of Poland has frustrated these aims, they are determined to build up sentiment for a war against the Soviet Union. Indeed, some spokesmen for Canadian imperialist interests, like Col. George Drew and Bi- shop G. A. Wells, have so far anticipated what the commercial press still thinly conceals as to Gall openly for a ‘holy crusade’ of imperialism against the ‘anti- ehrist of Communist Russia.’ As yet these ultra-imperialists who would fire the whole world with flames of war have had only flimsy pretexts for their inflam- matory speeches. Even the Chamberlain government has re— luctantly conceded that the Sov- iet occupation of Poland was jus- tified. Finland, however, has provided them with just the ex- cuse they want. Seizing upon it, the bugles of their hateful propa- ganda peal a rallying call for a ‘crusade’ against the Soviet Un- ion. The banner headlines of their press scream their slogans from every street corner. The situation could not suit their ends better if it were part of a deliberate scheme to provoke the USSR into war. @ EMIND this screen of propa- ganda lies the truth no daily newspaper cares to print be- cause it would thereby justify the Soviet Union’s actions and ex- pose the fabrications of the ul- tra-imperialists for the lies they are. The truth is that while for diplomatic reasons the Chamber- lain government has accepted Soviet Russia’s occupation of West Ukraine and Byelorussia as justified, the bringing of these territories under soviet rule and the dispossession of their Polish landlords and capitalists is by no means pleasing to British im- perialist interests. The subsequent action of the Soviet Union in concluding the treaties with Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia removed these small Baltic countries from the threat of involvement in the imperialist war and guaranteed their contin- ued existence as independent states on a continent where the neutrality and independence of all remaining small states is con- stantly menaced by the power politics of the belligerent imper- ialist powers. Weither this nor the additional weight of increased Soviet pres- tige and influence in the Balkans could be ‘expected to increase the peace of mind of those in whose name Col. George Drew urges a ‘crusade’ against the USSR. e TN THE ensuing imperialist counter-moves, Turkey and Finland became key countries in the new European pattern creat- ed by the independent action of the Soviet Union. Turkey, after prolonged nego- tiations, concluded a pact with Britain and France which, al- though it absolved Turkey in the event of a war between Britain and France and the USSR, was hailed as a triumph for British diplomacy throughout the capi- talist world. Premier Molotov, commenting on the pact in his speech to the Supreme Soviet, observed: “« _. the government of Turkey has preferred to tie up its des- tinies with a definite group of European powers, belligerents in the present war. It has conclud- ed a pact of mutual assistance with Britain and France, which for the past two months have been waging war on Germany. Turkey has thereby definitely discarded the cautious policy of neutrality and has entered the orbit of the developing European war. “This is highly pleasing to Bri- tain and France, which are bent on drawing as many neutral countries as possible into their sphere of war. Whether Turkey will come to regret it we shall mot try to guess. It is only in- cumbent upon us to take note of these new factors in the foreign policy of our neighbor and to keep a watchful: eye on the develop— ment of events.” Se T THE same time as Britain was negotiating with Turkey, Finland, where 22 years ago the bayonets of British, French and German imperialists restored the ruling class to power after crush- ing the soviet government set up by the Finnish people, was being encouraged to resist Soviet de- mands. That these demands are vital te Soviet security in the eventual- ity of the ‘crusade’ preached by ultra-imperialists in Canada and elsewhere becoming a reality both Gol. George Drew and Bish- op Wells have unwittingly proven to all but those who do not want to be convinced. But concession of these de- mands would entail surrender of a base which those insane enough to dream of a ‘crusade’ against the Soviet Union hope to utilizze for a new and greater war of in- teryvention. It would remove Finland from the orbit of im- perialist war and strengthen the precarious neutrality of Scan- dinavian countries. It would give the USSR command of the Baltic and render the desired ‘erusade’ of imperialism more difficult. Therefore, the attitude of the Finnish government is being stiffened—even to the point of provoking war — on the under- standing that it will be given powerful imperialist aid. The border incidents, which the com- mercial press infers are part of the ‘Hitlerian tactics’ adopted by the USSR as an excuse for inva- sion, are seen against this back- ground in their true light as a means of provoking the Soviet Union and placing the onus of aggression upon the socialist country. There is no doubt that the would-be ‘crusaders’ would make full use of this in their ef- forts to justify such a war, just as they distort facts to justify the present war. e T IS not the independence of the Finnish people over which the imperialists are shedding glycer- ine tears. Rather, it is the con- tinued privilege of the ruling class to carry out their anti- Soviet intrigues—a privilege the USSR cannot tolerate in this sit- uation—that is threatened. Those who talk gliby about Soviet ‘imperialism,’ estimating the foreign policy of Soviet Rus- sia in terms of Tsarist Russia’s imperialist ambitions in an effort to justify their false analogies, should first answer the questions. Is it characteristic of imperial- ism to offer another state an area approximately twice the size of the territory required to ensure its continued security? If the threat to Leningrad was a pretext ‘invented’ by the Soviet Union, as Finland has inferred, then why was this land exchange refused ? Why, in all this time, has no session of the Finnish parlia- ment been called? Why was there such simulated indignation among Finnish rul- ing circles when Premier Molo- toy revealed the Soviet demands in his speech to the Supreme So- viet? Only if the Finnish govern— ment hoped to gain something from continued secrecy could Premier Molotov’s revelations have been unwelcome. As this is written, the first un- confirmed and obviously distort— ed reports of fighting between the Soviet Union and Finland are being received. Erom most of these reports, particularly thoseemanating from Copen- hagen, it is impossible to obtain a clear picture. One thing is cer- tain. ; A new wave of hate propaganda is being loosed upon the peoples everywhere. There is all the more need then, for bearing in mind DLenin’s words that war is a continuation of policies by other means and for an accurate estimation of the policies now being pursued in the Baltic. 2 : The Soviet Union, pursuing its historic policy for peace, wants peace, for the socialist state has nothing to gain from war. imperialism, pursuing a policy which must, by reason of its in- herent contradictions lead to war, and intriguing against the Soviet Union, wants war. Fin- land, like Poland, becomes only the pretext. The wish of he Finnish people to live at peace with the Soviet people is of no concern to the imperialist interests hoping to make them the collective pawn in its schemes. Their desire will count no more than the desires of the Czechs counted at Munich. HE SOVIET government has charged that the present Fin- nish government is hostile to the Soviet Union. The commercial press dismisses this charge with a sneer. But it is careful, none- theles, not to mention that Fin- nish Foreign Minister Erkko Was instrumental in securing the ousting of his predecessor in of- fice, R. Holsti, because he adyvo- cate improved Finnish - Soviet relations and admitted that Fin- Jjand had the Soviet Union to thank for its independence. The commercial press is equal- ly careful to conceal the fact that Ivan Maisky, Soviet ambassador to Britain, this week informed the Chamberlain government of its demand that a stop be put to British anti-Soviet incitation in Finland and elsewhere. Maisky is reported to have named the Balkans, the Near East and the Far East as regions in which the Soviet government feels Britain is inciting action hostile to the USSR. In the light of these facts the schemes of those who are con- spiring to provoke the Soviet Union into war become clear. Mad schemes, conceived of the desperation of capitalism, rhey have their ardent proponents in Canada among those, who like Gol. George Drew, openly pro- claim their hope of directing this war into a ‘holy crusade’ agsinst the USSR. These schemes will fail, as they have failed before. Their fatal plan is that they reckon without the majority of the Canadian people who regard the Soviet Union as the one country lighting: the way to a new and happier system of society. But, so long as the present war continues in Europe, these and other such schemes fraught with menace to the peoples everywhere will con- tinue to be devised. Only by de manding an immediate end to the present war can the Cana- dian people ensure that they will not be committed to this insane ‘crusade’ of which our ultra-im- perialist dream and for which they are even now attempting to frame public opinion. FORUM OF THE PEOPLE ‘Bishop Wells Stated War Aims’ To the Editor — We are told that this is a war against fas- ecism. Now Bishop Wells tells us, in effect, that after we Have changed a few Nazi figureheads so that we shall be able to call German fascism by a non-fascist name we shall proceed to a splen- did (for those who will profit by it) crusade against the Soviet Union. So it is not a war against fas- eism after all, as more and more workers are beginning to see. Well, the best comment If can make on Bishop Wells’ statement is that it is the only frank state- ment of war aims we have re- ceived to date. WAR VETERAN. Trail, BC. Explanation Demanded To the Editor—During the past six months I have heard a great deal about conditions that exist in the broom factory of the Cana- dian National Institute for the Blind. To confirm these reports I paid a visit some time ago and inter- viewed a number of the workers. To my surprise I found condi- tions were as bad, if not worse, than I was led to believe. T found that workers were being paid at the rate of $15 per month, plus $10 guide allowance, and that they were working six hours a day an dfive days 2 week. I was also surprised to learn that winders were obliged to turn out on an average 100 dozen (1200) brooms a month for the mere pittance of $15, which would have netted the worker 10 a sighted shop $50. It is public knowledge that the Canadian WNaticnal Institute for the Blind receives an annual erant from the Provincial Gov- ernment, out of the public funds, of $25,000. ceived by sighted factories. Yet the latter are able to make a suit- able profit. It would appear to me that such facts require some explanation. M. CAMERON. Such grant is not re—— \ HROUGHOUT its five ; ‘years of continuous publication the Advocate has striven to reflect the demands and needs of Brit- ish Columbia’s workers and farmers. By organiza- tion of a network of volun- tary correspondents in all important provincial cen-= ters it has been able to champion the cause of the people throughout the province, boldly raising local issues other weekly papers suppressed. Since outbreak of war, however, this organization has been disrupted for various rea— sons. This is unfortunate because now, more than ever, the Advocate must be fully informed if it is to be an accurate reflection of the people’s needs. The editorial board urges all correspondents to study their local issues and to send in reports of all local developments of interest to the labor movement. In those localities where there is a press drive committee but no correspondent, com- mittees are urged to name a correspondent without delay. What is your union doing to win wage in- ereases? What organiza- tions in your community are fighting prefiteering, the attack on civil liberties? Where have €CLDL branches been set up? Let us have the news while it is news. ERKKO--- He Speaks for Imperialism By R. PESOLA RSS Foreign Minister Eljas Erkko, who has taken upon himself the fate- ful responsibility of calling for war against the USSR, has a dong and gory history of ser- vice for Emglish and Ameri- can imperialism. Hirkko, whose vast inheritances from his father, Eero Erkko, made him one of the wealthiest men in Finland, is the owner of the influential newspaper Hel- singin Sanomat (Helsinki News), one of the biggest press organs in Finland. Eero Erkko fled Finland in 1903, during the Tsarist rule, and came to the United States. He established a Finnish-language newspaper Amerikan Kaiku (American Echo) in Brooklyn, which turned out to be a very successful business venture. His son Eljas attended school in Brooklyn, where he learned Eng- lish and established his first ties with the American ruling class. Eljas Erkko returned to Fin- land after the 1905 general strike, but unlike the majority of the Finnish intellectuals, who steered a pro-German course, he kept in elose contact with his American and English friends. During the Finnish civil war of 1918, Erkko was a White Guard officer. At one time he taught in an officer’s school. De-— spite his pro-British orientation, he had no objection to the bring- ing in of German soldiers to help the Finnish bourgeoisie crush the working class, which had re ceived freedom from the hands of Lenin and the Gctober Revolu- tion. REEKO belonged to the con- servative wing of the so called “Progressive” party. One of his close co-workers was T. M. Kivimaki, who was Prime Minister under the pro-fascist President Svinhufvud. When the Kivimaki govern- ment fell, a new Cabinet was formed under the present prime minister, A. K. Cajander, a repre— sentative of the ‘liberal’ wing of the Progressive party. Another spokesman for this trend was R. Holsti, Cajander’s first foreign minister. Although they both belonged to the same party, Erkko bitterly fought Holsti’s policy of seeking improvement of Finnish-Soviet relations. Holsti even made a trip to Moscow and admitted there that Finland had the Soviet Union to thank for its indepen- dence. Erkko finally brought about Holsti’s resignation and stepped into his place. Tt is to be noted that Erkko, with his pretensions of ‘dema eracy? and his advocacy of 2 pro- British policy, has not scorned to flirt with the German Nazis, even employing Nazi minded edi- tors of the Hensingin Sanomat, according to other Finnish papers.