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.

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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

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