"ae aE TREN TIT me TRE NTS the ADVO CATE is p Franco look like small potatoes. which proved ineffective against US Paper Admits Anti-Soviet Plot WASHINGTON, DC. — The influential United States News, edited by David Lawrence, well-known columnist, reported recently: “It is mot possible, say the realists at the nation’s capital, that Prime Minister Chamberlain, repared to start action on a world union against the Soviet Union that will make the anti- its purpose is to destrey the Soviet Union if possible . . the conquests of Germany, Italy and Japan, “Compared to the proposed league of armed power, in which the United State possibly, Germany, italy, Japan, Spain and Turkey, the recent German The article in the United States News was headlined: ‘The World War Against the Soviets — the Modern Crusade.’ with the hearty approval of President Roosevelt, Communist alliance of Germany - Italy - Japan and . by a world war against Russia. The League of Nations may become a league for war against Russia. s and Latin American countries would be members along with -sponsored anti-Communist pact would be a mere bush-leaguer.”” FOR PEACE, PROGRESS A ND DEMOCRACY : Lies Over Finland A Reply To Angus Maclnnis Appears On Page Six => 5 Cents FULL No. 259. VANCOUVER, B.C., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1939 > Ald. Smith Runs For Controller Salsberg, Collins, Bell Candidates For Toronts Council TORONTO, Ont. — Breaking through the reactionary daily press campaign of slander and misrepresentation, progressive candidates for board of control, council and board of education here are carrying the offensive to reactionaries, exposing the wasteful civic government of the present council and adyvanc- ing a program of Civic admini- stration in the interests of the people. With the Clarion, fighting labor weekly, banned, with every effort being made by reactionary inter- ests to bar them from the public platform, labor candidates are nev- ertheless succeeding in getting their. message before voters. Candidate for beard of con- trei is Ald. Stewart Smith, On- tario provincial leader of the Communist party, who has drawn the chief fire of reaction- ary interests chasrined at their failure to defeat him in iIiast year’s civic elections when, de- Spite a vicious red-baiting cam- paign, he actually mecreased his vote, and at defeat of their efforts to unseat him after out- break of war. Isast week, in his nomination speech, Aid. Smith cited three points as the basis of his camps3ign. These were: Full investigation of the present assessment structure in Toronto; introduction of the merit principle im civic service, and an adjust- ment in relief scales to meet the rising cost of living. Declaring there are those who use municipal office for political purposes, Ald. Smith stated that this was not true of his work in the city council “When my op- ponents, and particularly Ald. Bal- four, whose bitterness, I fear, Sometimes exceeds his fidelity to the truth, make statements to the contrary, the public cannot believe them because they cannot offer 4 Shred of evidence to support such statements.” Also running in a field of seven for four board of control seats, is the pro-tascist, Ald) Dayid Baifour, who was greeted with boos when he rose to make a nomination speech devoted, not to civic mat ters, but to anti-labor themes. Progressive candidates for coun- ceil include former alderman J. B. Salsberg, militant trade unionist and well-known Communist, who is running in ward four; Fred Col- Ins, prominent trade unionist, in ward five; and Harry Bell in ward one. Among candidates for board of education is William Tawson. Im a recent speech before ward Seyen ratepayers, Ald. Smith scor- €d reactionary members of the council who had blocked public Works for years and yet were pre- Pared to spend millicns of dollars Gn traffic arteries and a proposed Sewage plant. “Tt is a strange thing that men who have constantly blocked pub- (Continued on Page 5) See ELE CTICNS Sudbury Finns Boycotting White Guard Committees SUDBURY, Ont. — Fin- nish-Canadians here, the ma- jority of whom fled to Canada to escape either Tsarist oppression prior to 1914 or the mass slaughter following suppression of Finnish democracy by ‘Butcher’ Mannerheim in 1918, are demonstrating their sympathy with the Finnish people by boycotting White Guardist “Finnish Relief committees.’ Denied free ex— pression of their opinions by terrorism following police raids on Vapaus, Finnish language daily here, they have adopted this method. <2 Nazi-French Deal Hinted NEW YORK, NY¥—Through neu- tral Belgium, French iron ore is rolling into Germany while, in the same way, German coal is reach— ing France, as the result of an agreement reached between Hrench and German capitalists. This is the gist of a sensational item pub- lished in the New York Times last week. The New “SXork Times quotes a Copenhagen dispatch to Iron Age, US steel trade journal. The dis- patch says: “One of the most extraordinary transactions is the recent sale of 4,000,000 tons of Belgian coal to France and 6,000,000 tons of French iron ore to Belgium, which was transacted by a group of French iron ore mining companies and the Belgium coal cartel. The exchange Should be completed within nine months beginning Dec. 1. “It is easily established that Bel- @ium can neither consume this quantity of ores nor supply the 4,000,000 tons of coal. Belgian iron production is only about 230,000 tons average in its best months. ‘About 85 percent of the ores need_ ed for this production come from national resources. The import de- mand is therefore rather small. “Six million tons of iron ore rep- resents (on French average) about | 2,700,000 tons of ore, or far more than the total Belgian production of nine months. On the other side, Belgium suffers a lack of coal and coke. “How can Belgium supply 4,000,- 000 tons of coal and coke and ab- sorb 6,000,000 tons of ore? Your correspondent is not entitled to draw positive conclusions but as both the coal and the ore will be loaded on Belgium cars the as- sumption is that most of the coal will come from Germany and the iren ore will go to Germany, the former French-German iron ore- coke exchange (or barter). “That there is also a not unim- portant other trade (machinery, 4001s, implements, ete.) via Bel- gium between France and Ger- many has but recently been con- firmed by Belgian sources.” And Here’s Why NEW YORK, NY. — Stake of London, New Work and Steck- helm investors in the Helsinki Soevernment is estimated by La- bor Research Association at $209,000,000. Swedish Workers Support Finn People’s Government COPENHAGEN, Denmark.—The reactionary press everywhere is broadcasting to the world that public opinion throughout the Scandinavian countries is ‘solidly’ behind the Ryti-Manner- heim regime in Finland. Helsinki dispatches: report that 10,000 Swedish ‘volunteers’ are at the front with White Guard armies, while this number is expected to be increased to 50,000 ‘by spring.’ Every effort is being made to depict the struggle as one between ‘imperialist’ Soviet Russia and the ‘democratic’ Scandinavian countries. What the reactionary press does not mention is the spreading resentment among the work- ing class in Sweden, Denmark and Norway against the efforts of the ruling classes in their coun- tries to utilize the so-called emergency to force down wages and generally to place the burden of war preparations upon the workers. In their offensive against the workers the ruling class has the full support of the leaders of the Social-Democratic parties, who-are loudest in their attacks on the Soviet Union. As an indication of their support of the people’s govern- ment of Finland, workers’ rallies at Bergen and Hammerfest have expressed approval of the Red Army’s action in Finland and acclaimed establishment ernment. of the Finnish people’s gov- Stockholm workers retaliated to the boycott measures initi- ated against Ny Dag, central organ of the Communist party of Sweden, by contributing 25,000 kronen to the party’s fighting fund in three weeks. Those in Sweden and other Scan- dinavian countries whose ‘heart- felt sympathy is for the Finnish White Guard regime are not the workers and peasants, but the wealthy industrialists and Jland- owners. . On the list of sponsors of the Pravda Hits MOSCOW, USSR. Comment- ing on the unprecedented slanders spread by the Swedish paper, So- cial-Demokraten, Pravda recently wrote: “All parties of the Second Inter- national and the Socialists of vari- ous countries are tirelessly vying with each other in their servile zeal to gain the favor of their masters, the imperialist warmongers. fhe Swedish Social-Democrats, fearing lest they lose the remnants of their influence over the work- ing class, greeted the Finnish Workers’ government in 1918 and expressed their sympathy with the Finnish proletariat. At that time they even sent a delegation to Hel- sinki headed by that contemptible renegade Hoeglund and pledged their support to the Finnish work- ing people. © CCF Clubs Ask Firm War Stand Hostile Attitude Of CCF Organ To USSR Condemned Central Finnish Help, recently or- Sanized in Sweden, appear such names as Mme. Rickard Sandler; wife of the former Swedish for- eign minister, who heads the or- Sanization; Countess Ebba Bonde and Baron Knut Bonde, none of whom showed any interest in dem- ocracy until a few weeks ago. ‘Socialists’ “Twenty-one years have elapsed Since then. The reactionary lead- ers of the Swedish Social Demo- cracy serve capital heart and soul. But remembering the sins of their youth, they always bark the loud- est at the land of socialism and at any attempt of any nation to liberate itself from the yoke of the imperialists and exploiters. “From the very beginnings of the events in Finland and even long before these events, the Stockholm Faper, Social-Demoraten, took 2 clear-cut and uneguivocal stand — namely, full support to the Tanners and Mannerheims, unrestrained Slander against the Finnish people and its friend, the land of Socialj- ism.” (Continued from Page 5) See SOVIET POWHLL RIVER, BC.— De- mand that the CCE national council correct its statement of policy on the war and ‘‘declare this war a war for imperialism” is voiced in a resolution passed by a recent joint meeting of Wildwood, Westview and Mala- spina CCF clubs. Text of the resolution was: “Inasmuch as Section 10 of the Regina Manifesto states that the CCF is opposed to imperialist war, and that recent world events have tended to confirm that this is =n imperialist war; this meeting is in favor of a modification of the Na- tional Council’s war statement, and urge that the movement now declare this war a war for imper- falism.” The clubs also voiced condem- nation of the policy of the Feder- ationist, €CE provincial organ, towards Soviet Russia. Angus MacInnis, CCE federal member for Vancouver East, in particular Came under heavy criticism for his recent articles attacking the USSR. A resolution adopted by the Meeting urged “the Pederationist control board to treat matters con- cerning Russia more sympatheti- cally in their editorials and arti- cles.” STRIKE PARLEY PROCEEDS