buary 16, 1940 THE aDdDvo CATE Page Three | By PEGGY FORKIN fergetic supporters of the “cate proved last week that |campaign for 1000 new brs before Aprill is no im- ‘ble aim but an objective in of attainment if full ad- nge is taken of the elec- ‘campaign to take the Ad- 'e into hundreds of homes. aild the Advocate’s circu- .’ This is the slogan some ‘© supporters are already lating into subscriptions which spell extension of the paper’s influence. Everybody is asking ques- tions these days. On the street, in streetcars, in factories and workshops people are criticiz- ing, querying, answer to complex problems. for the Advocate gives the lead the people are seeking. is week we mailed out more than 100 copies of Light On Moscow, D. N. Pritt’s book seeking an The Advocate is the answer— which the Advocate is offer- ing as a premium with every year’s subscription. This is a good start, but we’ve a long way to go before the mark of 1000 new readers is reached. We want to know what our committees in outlying points are doing. Some have already sent in subscriptions, but few have taken advantage of our offer to supply each active agent who sends in his name and pledge with a copy of Light On Moscow. So let’s hear from you. Indicative of the growing support for the Advocate among trade unionists is this letter, received last week from a leading trade unionist. It’s a brief letter, but very much to the point: “The Advocate is the only paper in BC defending the real interests of the work- ers,” the writer states. “It is bright but not breezy, out- spoken but not _ loud- mouthed, and it gives the news the other papers hold back for their own good reasons. It suits me fine.” That’s the subscriber’s view- point. And here’s what one of our agents in the Fraser Val- ley says: “TI have always been able to sell the Advocate, but never so rapidly as I can now. In- crease my bundle order.” s Protest ish People Demand ree United Country Mounts BOLSOVER ONDON, England. — The British government last week | By PHILIP ) | | two of its enemies and made a million more. When it sd the two Irishmen in Birmingham jail, it started such a on of disgust and fury that Ireland’s struggle for freedom ‘indoubtedly be swept into a new and far more powerful at struggle cannot be separated from the war. For this 1 the British government will have particular reason for en hiopians tablish wn Gov't alians Unable »p Dislodge Force ear Addis Ababa RT OF SPAIN, Trinidad. pite Italian efforts to con- te their hold on the coun- ithiopia is far from con- i and Ethiopian forces stually in complete con- > some provinces, accord- a report from East Africa hed by The People, Trini- eekly paper. : province of Guraji, in the Ababa region, is now in the of the Ethiopians, the report citing Ethiopian control of rovince as proof that the have exhausted their and are unable to send even to such places as salin. ne travelling in Ethiopia any Italians between Dan- ond Hawash, but after Ha- oly very few Italians are een because they are com- to remain within strongly i positions. Pian leaders like Graz- Zause, Asfau, Kenyamatch ch Silashe, Fitauri Zande and Khora, formerly on ve continually, have now ,r entrenched themselves in re province of Shoa, in the of Addis Ababa. Abeba Arragai has estab- a regular Ethiopian gov- 1t in Manz. Ministries are . at work there and the ate streaming in from all ms to take up their griev- 2 the Italian occupation in peasants gave one man ich household for govern- ork three or four days a The [Italians force the ; to work four days a week 1, often far from their vil- > that they are unable to eir own land. 3 h aid to the Italians, the at the Italians are per- to get help from neighbor- tish colonies and are ac- recruiting inhabitants of Somaliland and the Su- to the Italian colonial ithout protest, is fanning tagonism of the Ethio- eople to Britain, The declares. F and SOCIAL ’ Saturday Night 8:30 P.M. rizes ye Good Music Good Time! 15¢ LADIES 10c Door Prize ' — WHIST — WHIST ry Thursday Night izes - Refreshments Free Admission 15c , Centre Branch, Ca- Labor Defense League, tastings St. Vancouver. Wand Studio also closely affect the De Valera >»sgovernment which made and Peter Barnes. Army which injured Many inno- cent working people and others, street. sibility for those bombings. It is British repression of Northern Ireland which has sent desperate men to force the Irish issue on the public. British rule in Northern Ire land imprisons men without a trial, does not allow political meetings or demonstrations, maintains concentration camps, searches homes without war rants, sends men to penal servi- tude tor reading papers which circulate freely in England. The Special Powers Act under which these things are ‘legal’ is a piece of legislation as oppressive as any in Fascist countries. That is why there are bombings in Eng- lish cities. CONDEMNED IN PRESS. Barnes and Richards declared they were not guilty of the Bir- mingham explosion, and Tom Barry. an ex-Republican leader, de- clared he could produce evidence of their innocence if the execution were postponed. But the British government hanged the men and banged its own hopes in Ireland. The following extract from the Irish Workers’ Weekly is an in- dication of the reaction of the Irish people: “Ridding the world of Barnes and Richards doesn’t rid British imperialism of the problems con- fronting it in regard to Ireland. Just the reverse. They trod the gallows in a definite and imper- ishable cause — none other than the liberation of the nation. The country which mourns the death of these men has now a very speci- fic job in hand. That is to see that the objective for which these men gave their lives is realized in the speediest possible time. That ob- jective is a united and free Ire- land.” PRISONERS OF WAR. Irish Freedom declares that those men were soldiers in the Re- Publican army fighting for free- dom and should have been treated as prisoners of war. “Similar acts by the Czechs met with universal praise in the British press. The British gov- ernment cannot absolve. itself from the blame for the Birming- ham tragedy, for it has aided the maintenance of despotic rule in Northern Ireland, the overthrow of which has been the motive be- hind the Republican campaign,” it stated. In Northern Ireland there are now more than a hundred Repub- licans imprisoned without trial. In Fritain thousands are protesting against the attempt to conscript them to fight in the war. The Irish- men declare that if Britain is sin- cerely fighting for democracy and the rights of small nations, she will withdraw her armed forces from Ireland and grant the Irish people full independence. Repeal the War Measures Act Weddin? aid All Smportant « PHOTOGRAPHS ON CREDIT BL Mestnés = TRinity 709° such feeble and polite attempts to se- cure a reprieve for James Richards Few here approve the bombing methods of the Irish Republican No one approves -the bombing which killed five in a Birmingham But the fact is that the British government bears the main respon- Karelian affairs parts of eastern Finland, said com- mittees of the working people’s front, composed largely of workers, NORRIE Sess A VIEW of the highway from French Indio-China, Kunlungkuan and on to Chungking. Chinese and J testing control of this vital road for several weeks. China's Vital Supply Route ie P stretching northeast of Nanning to apanese troops have been fiercely con- People’s Committees Formed In Eastern People’s army. In the villages Situated on the north shore remain. As everywhere else on the Finnish White Guards. for instance, all buildings save British property. New Life Commences By G. STANLEY MOSCOW, USSR.—Important changes are being made in eastern Finland, liberated by the Red army and the Finnish the new life which the Red army has brought to the inhabitants of the poor Finnish countryside. Salmi and Suojarvi as yet are sparsely populated. Only those who succeed in hiding from the Schutzcorps men, who forcibly compelled the population to evacuate their native villages, people’s front committees were elected at meetings of all work- ing people in the villages immediately following ousting of the Each rural district has a representative of the people’s gov- ernment who organizes the work of the people’s front committee. And there’s plenty of work to be done. Most of the houses of the workers and peasants were burned. In the town of Pitkaranta, burned. Apparently the White Guard Finns didn’t dare to touch Finland of eastern Finland one can see of Lake Ladoga the villages of territory of liberated Finland, a British-owned factory were The evacuated population left much property behind and the peoples front committee from their inception made an inventory of this property, which they are safe- guarding in order to return it to their owners as soon as they come back to the villages. The people’s front committee in the village of Hauttavaara, not far from Suojarvi, is looking after the cattle left by peasants who were compelled to evacuate the village. The village shops resumed business. Needy families receive assistance from the people’s front committee. Preparations are under way to re- open the schools. In many other villages, schools are already func- tioning. Sawmills at Lensterjarvi and Suojarvi and paper and cellulose mills at Salmi will soon resume pro- duction, Solicitous care for the property left by evacuated peasants and rapid restoration of industry in the liberated districts has impelled Many inhabitants in eastern Fin- land to write letters to relatives still residing in the territory occu- Pied by the Finnish White Guard. Many send these letters for publication in Kansanvalta, cen- tral organ of the peoples gov- ernment of Finland, in the hope that in this way they will be read by relatives on the other side of the front. COMPLETE TOUR. Paavo Prokkonen, minister of in the Finnish people’s government, who recently completed a tour of the populated Poor and middle peasants, had been established in all centers, Driven from villages set afire by retreating Schutzcorps men, the peasants are making their escape from ‘evacuation centers’ in White Guard Finland and re- turning to their homes in areas now administered by the people’s government, “Throughout the populated parts of eastern Finland brisk trade is being carried on. Stores are sell- ing all the articles of prime neces- sity. The inhabitants are amazed at the abundance of goods; they are astonished that they can buy sugar freely and in any quantity,” Prokkonen said. “At present thirty-five represent- atives of the people’s government are working in Eastern Finland. They base themselves in their work on the people, who have boundless confidence in their own govrn- ment, in the people’s army and the friendly Red army of our great nieghbor and friend.” Publish Work MOSCOW, USSR—A hitherto un- published Karl Marx manuscript, Critique of Bourgeois Political Eco nomy, has just been published by the Marx-Engels-Lenin institute here. The manuscript was written in 1857-58. OLAV ELD IN OUGLAS. Apres Electrical Strike Won BROCKVILLE, Ont—More than 300 employees of Phillips Electrical Works here returned to work last week after a short strike which won substantial wage increases for them under a contract negotiated between the company and the CIO United Electrical, Radio and Ma- chine Workers’ union. Male employees received a boost of five cents an hour, female em- ployees three cents an hour. Work- ers also gained improved seniority provisions and changes in vacation and overtime pay clauses in the Previous agreement between the company and the union. Picketing was carried on under severe weather conditions, with the temperature 15 below zero at times. Girl employees won prov- ince-wide attention when they ap- peared on the picket on skis, Leaflets Found CHUNGEKUNG, China—Japanese anti-war leaflets have been Picked up by Chinese soldiers near Lih- siachung in southern Shansi prov- ince. The leaflets stated: “When will this aggressive war finally end? We have lost all hope of its end- ing. Brothers, unite and come out against war.” ritt’s Book Focusses Attention On Anti-Soviet Plans emium Book Proves Popular With Subscribers ampaign For One Thousand New Readers Launched British Opinion Aroused Resolutions From Many Labor Bodies Uphold Soviet Union By PHILIP BOLSOVER LONDON, England—Public attention in Britain has been sharply focussed upon matur- ing imperialist plans for war against the Soviet Union by publication of Must the War Spread?, latest work from the pen of D. N. Pritt, KC, brilliant barrister and militant national executive committee member of the Labor party. This book, issued at a time when the situation is rapidly sharpening, is helping to open the eyes of thousands here to the real issues involved. Pritt declares that powerful in- terests in Britain and elsewhere are forming a common front to crush the Soviet Union and post- pone the spread of world socialism. “I believe the danger of this plan being put into operation in the near future is real and urg- ent, that the forces working for it are powerful, and the number of people unconsciously abetting the plan is great,” Pritt writes, “I also believe—and I feel that mil- lions of people who have no sympathy with socialism and no interest in the Soviet Union equally believe that such a war would be a terrible disaster. “This disaster can only be averted if the great mass of peo- ple in Britain are convinced of the danger, for their opposition is sufficient to deter their rulers from carrying out their plan.” CALL FOR PEACE An increasing number of labor and trade union organizations con- tinues to pass resolutions support- ing the Soviet Union and calling for peace in the European war as opposition to the war mounts. In Scotland, Fife Miners union, representing 19,000 men, has de- clared for action to stop the war. “We call upon the Mine Workers’ Federation of Great Britain to use its organized strength even to the extent of withdrawing labor in or- der to compel the national govern- ment to call a truce to hostilities for the purpose of discussing the re-establishment of peace in Bur- ope,” the resolution adopted stated. Another important move was made when general meetings of London Cooperative Society, by a majority of two-to-one, passed a resolution opposing the war and demanding a fight for cessation of hostilities. The resolution stated that the war was for de- fense of profits, not defense of the people against fascism. The society, which has branches throughout London, has 800,000 members and this action will un- doubtedly have a great effect on the millions of cooperators in this country. At the other end of Britain, in Glaggow, feelings are equally strong. A conference of cooperat- ive guilds representing 48,000 mem- bers in the Clydeside also demand- ed an end to the war. 6 4 é s s p s és 6 4 s 4 6 p 4 4 , 6 6 4 , 4 4 é China Aid Council Suite 16 - 610 JERVIS STREET Phone SEy. 8592M For information and donations 4 enquire at the above address. Baaeaua geBemanunuane awe SBBeBeeweweuenuevnunuuueuncue Pritt, Upton Sinclair ley, Moscow; Adam Miller, Mexico City I wish to subscribe to The The ADVOCATE presents @ Articles by John Strachey, R. Palme Dutt, D. N. Despatches from Philip Bolsover, London; G. Stan- @ Pertinent news and comment on Canadian affairs by leading labor writers Yours for $2.00 a Year Fill in this form now and get a free copy of | D. N. Pritt’s LIGHT ON MOSCOW your advertised rate of $2.00. I understand that this entitles me to receive a copy of D. N. Pritt’s book, ‘Light On Moscow,’ without extra cost. Lapin, Washington; Alfred | | r) | Advocate for one year at ~