Page Six THE ADVOCATE January 26, 19. THE ADVOCATE Published Weekly by the Advocate Publishing Association, Room 20 163 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C. Phone TRinity 2019 EDITOR - HAL GRIFFIN Qne Year $2.00 Three Months _._...______$ .60 Half Year $1.00 Single Copy, 0b Make All Cheques Payable to: The People’s Advocate Vancouver, B.C., Friday, January 26, 1940 Free Douglas Stewart [ee VICIOUS sentence of two years imprisonment imposed on Douglas Stewart, business manager of. the Clarion in Toronto is a danger signal for all sections of the labor move- ment and all supporters of free speech and free press in Canada. It is not the first prosecution under the regulations which the King government passed by order-in-council without reference of any kind to parliament. But it is the first time that on such a charge a Canadian citizen has been sentenced to the peniten- tiary, and if the sentence is not fought and protested by the labor movement with sufficient vigor to assure the release of Douglas Stewart, the present twilight of democratic rights in Canada threatens to become a complete blackout. Consider the amazing statement of Judge Jan Macdonell in pronouncing sentence: “I am not sentencing Stewart as a man who would commit armed hold-up. . . . it is not hard to tell he is a well-educated man . . . I can’t send you to the reformatory as there is considerable intercourse between prisoners there and your influence would be detrimental.” The same judge in the same week after remanding the editors of the Hush for what he indicated would be a ‘severe sentence’ on a charge of “publishing and distributing obscene literature” announced a sentence of three months in jail. Hush continues to be pub- lished. The further publication of the Toronto Clarion is banned by order of Justice Minister Lapointe. On what grounds was Douglas Stewart prosecuted and sen- tenced? The charge was based on the fact that he was the busi- ness agent of the Clarion, which published the full text of a statement of the Communist International from which other Canadian newspapers published garbled and distorted extracts. Evidence that the full text of the statement was published in Britain without leading to prosecution, that it was passed by the British censorship for transmission by cable and was read in full in a special radio transmission address to the Ger- man people from British short-wave stations was ruled out as immaterial by the judge. How soon will it be, if the sentence on Douglas Stewart is not defeated and withdrawn, before we will be prohibited from listening to foreign radio stations, especially Moscow, but even to British radio stations during the period that they are broad- casting not for Canadian but for German ears? Douglas Stewart is symbolic of the age-long fight of the Canadian people for democratic rights. Before the jury of the Canadian working-class he is not guilty of any act harmful to the interests of the people. Two things every reader of the Advocate can do to win his release: First, write personally and get your organization to write to Justice Minister Lapointe protesting this conviction and vicious sentence and demanding repeal of all those regulations (particularly sections 15, 21, 39 and 39a), which infringe on freedom of speech and press in Canada. Second, contribute to the Stewart defense fund which the Canadian Labor Defense League has established to launch a strong appeal to the higher courts. Douglas Stewart must be released if Canadians are to be free! Undeclared War ITH remarkable frankness the Vancouver Province stated in a recent editorial that the present British and French governments are waging an undeclared war against the Soviet Union at the present time, but wrongfully credited Japan as the inventor fo this method of conducting war, placing the time of the ‘invention’ as 1931 when the invasion of Manchuria took place. The undeclared war which Chamberlain and Churchill, Daladier and Bonnett are now waging against the Soviet Union is but a continuation of the undeclared war which Churchill and Lloyd George, Clemenceau and Poincaire, President Wil- son of the United States and the Mikado of Japan waged in concert against the Soviet Union while squabbling among them- selves in 1918, 1919 and 1920, until the defeats of the armies they financed and supplied and the growing dangers of revolt at home reluctantly compelled them, only temporarily, it now seems, to desist. One needs to go back to the history of those days to under- stand the realities of the present. In the spring of 1918 the Allied powers were still at war with the German Empire. Yet when General Mannerheim, Finland’s Franco, rose in rebellion against the Finnish Socialist government the allied governments welcomed Germany’s des- patch of troops to Finland in order to create on the borders of the new Russian Socialist republic the first fascist-type regime in Europe. For over and above the desire to destroy the threat to their colonial domination represented by their German im- perialist rivals the allied governments feared the contagious effects that the example of a federation of socialist republics would have on the peoples of all countries. Then it was that the undeclared war against the Soviet Union waged by Churchill and Lloyd George began. Archan- gel and Murmansk were occupied on the specious plea that they must be protected from falling into German hands. But when the German revolution in 1918 led the German generals hur- riedly to rush the Kaiser into exile and sign an armistice the undeclared war against the Soviet Union was continued with renewed vigor for several years more, until not lack of desire put lack of success brought it to a close. The undeclared war of 1918 never had the approval or con- sent of the British or the French or the Canadian peoples. The undeclared war of 1940 is no more popular and all the artifice and deception of the imperialist propaganda mills will not be able to change, though they may temporary obscure, that fact. The common peoples of all countries want a peace and se- curity. If the continued existence of capitalism is unable to provide that, so much the worse for capitalism. WAR INTRIGUES IN THE EAST) IN [EWS from the Balkans, from the near and middle East, gives the measure of the progress made by British and French ii perialists in their ies towards an anti-Soviet war. Following the trip made recently by President Inonu and General Orbay, and their saber-rattling at Erzerum and along ie Turkish-Soviet frontier, another puppet appeared on the scene—Tatarescu of Rumania, who takes his orders from London Cit This representative of an effete ruling class spent Christmas Day at Cetatea ona similar saber-rattling mission. He was accompanied by Gen- eral Tliasievici, chief of King Carol’s military household and by General Tenesco, chief of the Ru- MIanian general staff. What explanation is there for these military tours by Turkish and Rumanian military agents of Britain and Hrance, other than the fact that they are surveying the ground for future attacks upon the USSR? igs EGYPT, too, British imperial- ism prods its vassals. Thus a message from Cairo states that on Feb. 15, the Egyptian prime minister, accompanied by the ministers of defense and public works will leave on a three-week tour of the Sudan. Included in the itinerary are visits to the Su- dan frontiers and the new reser- voir and military center of Deje- bel-Awlia. This will be the first time in 49 years that an Egyptian prime minister has paid an of- ficial visit to the Sudan, which has always been a British mili- tary base of the first import- ance, And in Asia Minor preparations are being hastened to completion. The massed forces of the colonial troops of the French army in Syria have now received further reinforcements, while a Reuter dispatch from New Delhi states that new contingents of Indian troops shave now arrived in Egypt, e@ N SYRIA French authorities are going one step further. Follow- ing the mobilization affected in the French North African col- onies, an attempt is being made to introduce conscription in those territories held by France under mandate from the League of Na- tions, notably Syria and Lebanon. Mere mention of this project has already caused disturbances in Syria so serious that the French High Commissioner has been forced to issue a denial, which does not, however, dispel the distrust of the native popu- lation, fearful that it will be dragged into war. Tee DAILY Telegraph , com- menting on the visit to Turkey of Sir Denison Ross and Major Burton, states that the object of the trip is ‘cultural’. (Im this it disagrees with the Times which holds that it is commercial.) The Daily Telegraph gives the following interesting biography of Sir Denison’s assistant, Major Burton: ‘Major H. M. Burton, who is accompanying Sir Denison Ross on his cultural mission to Istanbuck, will hold the honor- ary rank of first secretary. For an officer on the active list to We Stand Corrected To the Editor—In your report last week of the concert held Jan. 14 at the Croatian Educa- tional Home to mark the third anniversary of the language paper, Pravda, you referred to the paper as Croatian. Correctly, you should haye referred to it as the Serbian language paper. SERBIAN. Vancouver, BC. Not ‘Ours’ But ‘Theirs’ To the Editor, — As an unem- ployed worker who has travelled the width of this country many times in the last nine years in search of work, I had come to the conclusion that the ruling class definitely owned everything worth owning, but it appears I was wrong. Since war broke out the word ‘our’ has been working overtime. The press refers to our country, our wealth, our industries, our manhood, our battleships, ete. How kind and considerate of them to include the workers. In the last few years of wander- ing with its attendant miseries, it was impressed upon me, some- times very forcibly, that every- thing was theirs and theirs alone, and I ought to be duly grateful if they were so kind and humane to give me a bowl of soup. Evidently I was wrong, The last nine years (the best years of my life) of poverty and misery that I put up with were unneces- sary in view of ali ‘our wealth.’ I think the time has come when all workers should venture forth and demand a just share of this ‘our’ stuff before it is too late. What a calamity it would be if the Soviets were to liquidate ‘our’ $200,000,000 investments in Fin- Jland. Our position would be des- perate because we are only suffer- ing the pangs of hunger now and walking around in a rage. I find it hard to visualize what our po- sition would be if we were to lose only this one of many investments of ‘ours.’ TRANSIENT WORKER. Victoria, BC. do this in time of war must be a@ very rare occurrence. He is at present seconded from the Roy- al Norfolk regiment to the Bri- tish Broadcasting Company. His jobthere is to advise on the breadcasts for the Middle East, a part of the world on which he is an authority. His specialized lmowledge has resulted in his having spent only three years with his regiment in the last 13 years. “Major Burton is one of the few officers in the British army who are first class in- terpreters in Turkish. He made a speech in it this week at 2 dinner given by the Royal Cen- tral Asian Society to the Turk- ish ambassador. Arabic he al- so knows well Major Burton is dark and sallow-complexioned and might pass as an Afghani.” This description should leave no doubt in anybody’s mind as to Major Burton’s real function, As a second Lawrence of Ara- bia he goes to Istanbul, and all the hints of commercial or cul- tural missions, only make this the more obvious. Major Burton and Sir Denison Ross are to act as counsellors to the Turks in the plans for anti-Soviet war. T THE same time, reports from Kabul via Cairo reveal that in the Middle East, Franco-British imperialists are (preparing Af ghanistan, Iran and Irag to play their part in the anti-Soviet war. The Egyptian newspaper, ‘A1 Misuri,’ reports that while re- ports of general mobilization have been denied in Kabul, meas- ures for such an eventuality are being ‘studied,’ and that the goy- ernment ‘has decided to reinforce the control of the Afghan-Soviet frontier.’ In the spring a conference or Afghanistan, Iran, Irag and Tur- key, all countries having common frontiers with the USSR, is en- visaged. The object is ‘to dis- cuss lines of common action in the event of the Saadbad engage- ments coming into operation.” Plans of British and French imperialism are of tremendous scope and design. Well realized are the difficulties of attacking the Soviet Union. And 50, be- sides the concentration of troops, there is great activity im the preparation of new roads and railways, ports, docks and other military centres in the same area. @ HE TIMES’ Jerusalem corres- pondent tells of completion of the new 140-mile asphalt highway from Cairo, across the western edge of the Sinai desert to Is- mailia. This will make Palestine only five hours by motor road from Cairo. The road follows military needs exclusively, puss- ing through all the most import- ant military centers, notably through Auja el Hafir in Pales- tine on the Egyptian frontier, which was a large military camp even when in possession of the Turks, There is likewise tremendous activity in railway construction. A Message from Damascus re- veal sthat the last section of the line Bagdad-Kalat-Schergat via Mosul is now under construction, completing the great military preparations of Britain and France in the Near East. This line gives the Persian Gulf and Basra direct communication With the Mediterranean, dividing at Aleppo, where the recently- constructed Ankara-Erzerum line begins. The same message reveals that construction has also begun on a2 road some 1000 kilometers in length going from Bagdad across the deserts of Mesopotamia, Transjordania and Palestine to Haifa, terminus of the Mosul pipe-line. : e AX AW illuminating article in Le Temps, organ of the 200 families of France, shows just why these plans are being made. The article is entitled ‘Le Stra- tegie du Petrole, and after sur- veying the possibilities of the gas- oline supply in Europe, con- cludes: “Thus we see the truly stra- tegic importance of the area around the Black Sea, where al- most the entire deposits of Eur- opean gasoline lie. If on the one hand Rumania ceased sending her gasoline to Ger- many, and if on the other hand, the region of the Caucasus es- caped, for one reason or an- other, from the authority of the Moscow government, these two powers would be deprived of this essential fuel” The article then attempts to picture the Soviet peoples on the borders of the Black Sea, Ukran- jans, Georgians, Turks and Tar- tars as yearning for ‘independ- ence’—an independence, presum- ably, which will enable them once more to be exploited by British and French capital. Le Temps concludes: “For all these reasons, the Black Sea area may eventually become for the Allies, a strategic objective of Capital importance.” PPE SPECIAL correspondent of the Daily Telegraph in the Wear East confirms reports of mass troop concentrations by the French higher command, in a dispatch sent from Beirut. “I have made a tour,’ he states, “of the principal miii- tary centers in Syria and Leb- anon. A force is assemblea FORUM OF THE PEOPLE Befs is is ls ha he la cl cis cls chs is che is is is ls chs is Ss as as os ale ls is as sas Ss cis EELELELELEEE TES Because of space limitations only a few of the many letters re- ceived each week can be published. Letters therefore, will be selected for their general interest, the editor reserving the right to edit all letters published with the understanding that the views expressed will be preserved, Letters must bear the names and addresses of the senders. Where desired, however, a nom-de-plume and only the name of the city or town will be published. Anonymous communications will be ignored. Views expressed in this department are not necessarily those of the Advocate. SETEELESIT LESTE SI PESILESSI SSSI ESP PSPS E LTPP ISIS Reealls 1918 ‘Relief Ship’ To the Editor—Another bare- faced robbery of generous, well- meaning people is being perpe- tuated before our eyes. In Canada various committees, with the government’s blessing but without, as yet, its official stamp, are soliciting funds by use of the slogan “Aid to Finland.” In the United States a govern- ment committce headed by Her- bert Hoover is engaged in simi- lar work on a larger scale. Recently, that committee ap- apealed to Theodore Dreiser, noted American writer, for a short art- icle endorsing its aims. Dreiser, replying, satirically called to mind some of Hoover’s benevolence of the past. He recalled Hoover's mis-use of his post of Food Commissioner in Paris during the years immedi- ately following the armistice as a means of becoming chief source of supply for Admiral Horthy, mass murderer of Hungarian workers and peasants; his role in the United States as the man behind those who machine- gunned the bonus marchers, Then Dreiser remarked: “Does the committee imagine I am merely another American propa- ganda sucker?” I myself in 1919 might be a prize exhibit with the label “one born every minute.” At that time I was an oiler aboard the US ship ‘Delisle,’ laden with wheat and flour for Batum on the Black Sea. We of the crew felt very sat- isfied that we were assisting in carrying this cargo, supposedly part of that purchased by mil- lions of dollars collected ‘to feed the poor, starving Russians.’ Several monthe later came dis- illusionment. We learnt in a meeting at "Frisco, from authori- tative sources, that the very ships we had loaded or manned had become chief source of sup- Ply for White Guard and foreign armies, British and American in- cluded, engaged in starving and murdering the very people sup- posed to be fed by the cargoes. A feeling of rage surged through the meeting. Howls of anger were directed against Hoover. Had he been present ‘Helpful Herbie’ would not have been allowed to escape to con- tinue today in the work of aid- ing in the slaughter of Finns and Russians. I learnt my lesson in 1919. But due to a press conspiracy of silence, very few other Ameri- cans and Canadians have been able to learn the same lesson. Perhaps this contribution may help others not to be an Amer- ican or Canadian propaganda sucker ! FRED GRANGE. Vancouver, BC. ——LONDON. here representing practicall €very part of France’s empir and every element of her Nort |! From Nakura to Aleppo, fror | the countryside is one v2 camp.” a In the same dispatch the cj) respondent reveals that t 1 troops are Subjected to what calls ‘S€yere discipline,’ also tk’ “it is no secret that when ¢ || French reinforcements arriv” i they were looked at askance ~ the people.” ae It would be a mistake to und: estimate the force of the prote: the peoples of these countries 2 |} making. For ,in spite of the | morance in which they are bei |} kept, the people of Africa kn. || well for what they are being p/ pared, i Thus in Dar-es-Salaam in T: #} ganyika, Sir William Lead, un ficial] leader in the Tanganyi | legislature, revealed that the 3 tive populations were alrea $2 Saying among themselves “tt” the war was not a natives’ Yb and that it would be unfair bf ask Tanganyika to bear a she 4 i of the cost and sacrifice.” | Pues all these things, it mi be obvious to even the blind: 4 that parallel with pressure on ws Scandinavian countries there |f developing in the Near Hast a |p in Asia Minor a ney attempt British and French imperiali: to attack the Soviet Union. This attempt is shown by mc‘ llization in Afghanistan and military preparation of the stai |/p of the Near East (iran, Iraq a { Arabia), | And in these plans Turk | : plays a key part. All indicatic i seem to show that Turkey is ni | in the hands of men like Gene) Orbay who are prepared to alli | their country to become the ti { of British imperialism. In Le words of the organ of the R- Navy, Turkey has become t point of Franco-British agen } Sion in the Balkans and the Ne | East. For it is the Turkey General Orbay that has ente; into an agreement with Brite” and France which provides - / the formation of an Anglo-Hyr: \ co-Turkish army of no less th 980,000. The organ of the Red nay concludes: “The Anglo-Franc Turkish war bloc has closed ¢ Balkans to Tialian imperialis And British imperialism, ev faithful to the principle of usi ' others to pull its chestnuts irc the fire, has concluded a pil with Turkey in order the bet /} to defend British interests in i countries of the Near East, a. through Turkey to obtain the : hesion of the countries of =}; Balkan Entente and of the Ni | East to their war bloc.” ~ Accept Gur Thanks, Too To the Editor — We wish thank our many friends for th Support of the raffle sponso: ¥ recently by the South Vancou > press committee to liquid: | Some small bills incurred dur’ the press drive The winner of the prize y'} Mrs. McGregor, 7027 Steril © Street, with ticket number 172 pt South Vancouver Pr ae Committee. iit Plan Bethune (|: Memorial Meet }, To the Editor—Under the s: } ervision of the China Aid Cour * ] a memorial meeting to commem ~ ate the memory of Dr. Norm: b Bethune, who died at his post t China while attending wounc!} Chinese soldiers, will be held | Croatian Educational Home, |} Campbell avenue, on Monday, J : 29, at 8 p.m. : There will be an TAPS Seal program of appropriate mu } , songs and dances. Proceeds from the sale of i paintings of Dr. Bethune, fam: 5 for his blood transfusion work } Spain and humanitarian servi 5 in China, and a silver collect 3 taken at the door will go to International Peace Hospital Wutaishan, China. A.M. STEPHTT. Vancouver, BC. Sidelight On Finnish Aid To the Editor—There was B press story and accompany = picture in Wednesday's Provi: showing some Finnish reside who have paid their own fare Finland to fight on the side General Mannerheim. te Well, at least, Finnish : sak Tahaan tak del (| See ae a= al @) era Helge Ekengren, who is 20 m Finn than I am, was able drum up a little business wl has not been too good lately. Bill once wrote it’s a poor that a shipping agent can’t Bi a few nickels out of. How tr Ww. MeDONAL|: Vancouver, BC.