PUMA

os

siven To
JS Senate

Japanese Police
' Arrest Head Of
| Press Service

WASHINGTON, D€.—Mem-
ers of the US Senate’s foreign
_}slations committee this week
| Vrere reported to be in posses-
7 7 on of ‘a confidential document

+f undetermined origin’ giving
stalls of a purported secret
eaty concluded between
japan and Britain, according
"> a sensational International
y jews Service dispatch.

h | The treaty assertedly was
t jigned last June and, the INS
ef ‘ispatch claimed, contains a
" \foritish pledge cf neutrality in event
“Wig war between Japan and the
Jnited States.

Washington circles this week
“vere speculating on the report, but
| enators were reluctant to com-
-ionent Officials of the US state
* epartment said .they had ‘no
| I-nowledge’ of the reported treaty.
} ‘An undisclosed senator, in whose
- ¥.ands the ‘confidential document’
) e reported to have been placed,
t |-evealed, according to DNS, that
he purported treaty appeared to
se a reyision of a prior secret
4 agreement between Japan and
¢)Sritain, presupposing secret dip-
+ fiomatic relations between the two
countries extending over a period
n jjof six years.

st Points of the treaty, as given by
1. SONS, were:

1 — Britain recognizes Japan’s
paramount interests in Worth
y § China.

if 2—Japan recognizes and agrees
2@not to violate Britain's sphere of
riinfluence in South China.
uy 3—Britain promises to support
fj Japan’s aspirations for naval par-
elity or equality with the major
2A povers, and her claims upon cer-
| bain, mandated islands of the South
¢ = Pacific,
- 4_Britain agrees to exert her
: diplomatic influence to the end of
eneouraging other powers to grant

5 ment of the puppet state, Manchu-
{ kuo. se
5—Japan agrees to participate
with Britain in a partitionment of
si leading world trade market areas,
allowing broad expansion of Japa-
nese trade in South America.

(Continued on Page 2)
- See TREATY

ji a ®
/Ship Jobless
\-

\To Fi

\To Finland
STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Among
"} the workers of Sweden, Norway
el} and Denmark resentment is grow-
‘ling at reactionary efforts to 1n-
"| volve them in war with the Soviet
1} Union over Finland.

Ss} With connivance of government
authorities Swedish unemployed
f\are being herded to Finland to
4}construct fortifications for the
“White Guard Finns while recruit-
E ing of ‘volunteers’ to serve under
General Karl Mannerheim is being
-Ipushed by government officials.

: Swedish reactionaries, having
created the most difficult condi-
1} tions for the unemployed, are now
bending every effort to urge them
;| to join ‘volunteer’ detachments.

, Social-Demokraten reported that
"17,000 stonemasons from Bohuslan
| will be sent to Finland where they
will work on construction of for-
tifications.” The newspaper, which
is close to the government, added
the threat that ‘the number of un-
| employed stonemasons in Sweden
|} will soon be doubled.”

Large sums of money are of-
4) fered for service with the Manner-
heim forces, but, according to the
| Norwegian Conservative news-
| paper, Tidens Tegn, agreements
j with ‘volunteers’ are “signed only
when they reach their units’ to
make sure that they arrive in Fin-
land. :

Tidens Tegn reported that re-
cruiting offices ‘collaborate with
the police’ in investigating “mor-
ale of recruits.’

OSLO, Norway — According ¥o
the newspaper, Arbeideren, here,
a meeting of 600 peasants at Osnas,
Norway, adopted a resolution ex-
pressing solidarity of the working
people of Norway with the Fin-
nish working people and their
people’s government. The resolu-

| tion voiced confidence that the
Finnish people in collaboration
With the Red Army will create a

) free, independent Finland. The

Meeting also sent an appeal to the
Worwegian government demanding

that strict neutrality be observed

; and that the campaign to organ-

(Continued on Page 2)
See PROTEST

ecret Anglo-Japanese Treaty Hinted

FOR PEACE, PROGRESS AND DEM OCRACY

The ADVOCATE >

VOL. 6, No. 2. Full No. 263.

VANCOUVER, B.C., FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 1940

SS LY 5 Cents

recognition to-Japan’s establish—| -

Where Vigilantes Mu

SEAN

APPARENTLY seeking to destroy evidence implicating Aberdeen businessmen in destruction
of the Finnish Workers’ hall in that town by a mob, vigilantes murdered Mrs. Laura Law
(body, posed by police photographers to imply another motive for the crime, shown above)
wife of an IWA official, ransacked the house (below). :

rdered Labor Leader's Wife

Stewart Given Two-Year Sentence

TORONTO, Ont—Following con-
viction of Douglas Stewart, Clar-
ion business manager, under Sec-
tion 39A of the War Measures Act,
the Canadian Labor WDefense
League has immediately launched
an appeal against the two-year
sentence through the Appeal Court
of Ontario.

Attempts to have: him released
on bail through the Attorney-
General’s office have so far been
unsuccessful but the GCLDL has
further appealed to the Justice
Minister Lapointe.

Charged with ‘printing, circulat-
ing and distributing’ the Clarion
containing the Communist Interna-
tional’s manifesto on the war, Stew-
art received a vicious sentence of 2
years in Kingston penitentiary, not
because he was a criminal and
“would commit an armed holdup”
but because, according to the
judge, he was ‘an educated man”
and if sent to the reformatory on
a lighter sentence in intercourse
with other prisoners “his influence
might be detrimental.”

FOUGHT IN SPAIN.

That Stewart was an imperial
veteran of the last world war and
bad fought in Spain “against the
very influences which our army on
the Western front is combatting,”
where he became a battery com-
Mander, was pointed out by CLDL
Lawyer Goldstick in his address
to the jury.

“It may well be that the free-
dom or conviction of Dougl=5

Stewart will in reality be the

Court Rejects Defense Evidence

freedom or the conviction of the
one communal institution which
more than any other distinguish-
es us from all previous forms
of society, viz., the press,” Gold-
stick declared.

“We sitting here in judgment
must cautiously avoid doing not
only a wrong to Douglas Stewart,
but to the very cause and the very
objective we are endeavoring to
achieve.”

“We are told that the Communist
International manifesto declares
our war to be an unjust war. As
Canadians we are entitled to be
given this information and we are
entitled to be’ told who thinks so,”
he said. “Any agency pretending
to perform the public function of
disseminating information such as
a@ newspaper, would be remiss in
its public duty if it failed to pro-
vide this information.”
EVIDENCE REFUSED.

Main evidence in defense against
the charge was refused hearing be-
fore the jury.

Fored to argue before a judge
alone, CLDL Defense Lawyers
Newman and Goldstick based their
case on several points:

— That the law under which

Stewart was charged was be-
yond jurisdiction of the cabinet,
Since parliament alone can make
laws.

— That the manifesto on which

the charge was based had been
passed by the British censors, had
come over the cables and thus
Canadian papers had authority to

print any such matter passed by
the censors.

— That the indictment, by just
naming the manifesto as the
offending article, had failed to spe-
cify which particular portion was
a violation of the act.

BLANK CHEQUE STEAL
PURPOSE OF ELECTION

Seeks To

with all that it implies.

to the war more consolidated.
being returned.

oppose it.

election.

For Or Againt War
Is Real Issue Gov't

Confuse

Dissolution of parliament Thursday following
the King government’s abruptly announced de-
cision to call a snap federal election, probably in
March, must be regarded as a danger signal by the
entire labor movement. For the King government,
aware of international developments far more por-
tentous than the expectation “‘of a great offemsive
on the Western front in the spring’’ is seeking a
biank cheque endorsation from the Canadian peo-
ple to continue in office for another five years—

Two main factors must be considered in estimating the gov-
ernment’s decision to call an election at this time.

Wirst, the gevernment isaware that by delaying the election
even another six months it might find itself facing a difficult
situation in which the real issues would be clearer and opposition

Second, by calling an election now, with a minimum time
for clarification of issues, before anticipated international de-
velopments mature with all their consequent effect upon the
people, the King government believes it has a good chance of

There is a real danger that the issue in this election will
become King or Manion, between whom there are only minor
differences of policy in conducting the war, obscuring the real
issue between those who support the war and those who

The labor movement has only a short time to marshal its
forces, to bring the real issues before the people in this decisive

The need now is for CC¥Fers, trade unionists and others
who have not been deceived by the ‘limited war support’
slogans of their leaders to join in nominating anti-war candi-
dates. The time is short. Such candidates can be placed in
the field only in face of difficulties and opposition from the
top leadership of reformist organizations. But only in this
way can the real issues be brought clearly before the people.

Pioneer Miners’ union leaders

— Further that Douglas Stewart

a business manager only, had

no connection with subject matter
appearing in the Clarion.

CARRIED ELSEWHERE

Evidence that many periodicals
and newspapers of repute, in Can-
ada and other parts of the British
Empire, had carried the mani-
festo, was also refused hearing be-
fore the jury, although defense
had witnesses, a CPR telegraph
office representative and Toronto
librarian, to prove its case.

The defense appealed for a com-
mission to collect evidence in Bri-
tain supported by an affadavit to
the cffect that a Canadian radio
station had broadcast a statement
that the entire text of the mani-
festo had been broadcast from an
English shortwave station to Ger-
many, defying the German gov-
ernment to print it. This sugges-
tion was rejected as unnecessary.

The CLDL has assured a nation-

wide appeal for financial ance
moral support in appealing this
first conviction on indictment

under the War Measures Act.

(Continued on Page 2)
See STEWART

did not attempt to prevent the
evictions. Instead, they are bend-
ing every effort to billet the evict-
ed miners in homes, even if they
have to sleep on floors, for men
can't sleep outdoors with a few
blankets in 10 below zero weather.

Application for a three-man
board of arbitration has been
made by Pioneer Miners’ union
to the provincial labor depart-
ment and to F. E. Harrison, fed-
eral labor department’s western
representative. But, since the
application must have agreement
of both parties involved to meet
with a government representa-
tive, Dr. James is holding out
just as he has done whenever at.
tempts have been made to settle
the strike.

In the first of Thursday's evic-
tions, W. J. Cameron, president of
the union, accompanied the sheriff
and related afterwards that it tool
two hours to evict one tenant. Four
tenants in all were evicted, and
several days will be required to
oust the remaining.

Eviction orders were granted the
company by County Court Judge

(Continued on Page 2)

See PIONEER

Miners Evicted In
Below Zero Weather

PIONEER, BC.—Indignation is running high among residents
of the Bridge River valley arising from eviction of striking
miners from company-owned bunkhouses carried out Thursday
on two hours’ notice from Mine Manager Dr. James, who had
apparently expected that the evictions would precipitate viol-
ence, which could be used as a pretext for bringing in police.

Workers
Executed

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — The
newspaper, Ny Nag, here, report-
ing mass shootings and arrests of
workers in White Finland, de-
clares that the workers of Finland
are hostile towards the Manner-
beim regime.

Information received here states
that about a thousand workers in
White Finland have been arrested,
while mass shootings of workers

with revolutionary sentiments have
occurred.

In the Viipuri province, in the
industrial district of Vuoksenniska
and in Kotka ports, disorders
Started with protests against star-
vation wages and the excessively.
long working day, whereby work-
ers are forced to work overtime
without any extra pay.

Local authorities, with unlimit-
ed dictatorial powers, can arrest
and hold in prison any person
without preferring charges and

are able to hold prisoners in iso-
lation.