THE ADVCGOCATE

Page Five

j

‘5 final estimate is possible as
W of a gathering which will
l€se its mark on the political
fe during the months to come.
*s plain enough, however, that
‘ts quest for jobs, peace and
ci liberties the Youth Congress
lSnoving into irresistable con-
/ with the president and his
ries. ‘

3 the same time, it is moving
yard closer cooperation with
ar, farmers and other progres-
#3) political leaders. Political ob-
fers here did not miss the
fé. that the delegates gave their
atest ovation to John L. Lewis
S3. that one of the major steps

en by the national assembly
#\ to accept the offer of the
Z) leader for collaboration on
leslative matters with Labor's
Wi-Partisan League.

jor the thousands of delegates
tk Citizenship Institute was ex-
aiy what its name implies — a
Sf00] in national politics and in
tasks of you people as citi-

‘ut the Institute was no or
ary class room in which the
lents listen meekly to the lec-
+s of their elders: It was a
jat arena in which political
FG es and leaders clashed. And
© delegates were actual partici-
pits helpin= to Shape the future.
j C)

URING the past few years the
Youth Congress had been one
Hthe large progressive organiz-
S:2ns which formed the loose
S ular coalition around the ad-
puistration. While the AYC had
Says asked for more aid for
= th than the president gave, it
ported the inadequate social
fislation which the New Deal
{ offer. Mrs. Roosevelt was
Mminently known as one of
@se who supported the aims of
—E Youth Congress. 5
fore recently many young peo-
» had begun to turn against the
sainistration as they saw the
is in aid for youth, the expan-
#1 of armaments and the trend
@rard participation of the Unit-
& States in the war in Europe.
= is equally true, however, that
Say others did not yet fully un-
= Stand the role of the Roosevelt
= Qinistration in the new world

iaticn.

“hey. knew what they wanted

ut they did not realize how
mapletely their wishes and as-
ations clashed with the poli-
3 of the president.
Jelegates to the Institute know
w if they did not know before
nd they will take the word
4d: to millions of young people
their communities,

e

THEN the delegates marched
single ._ file into the White
ise grounds they came to hear
at reply the president would
<e to their insistent demands.
Sducation, vocational train-
employment at a living wage
all, preservation of the civil
srties proclaimed in the Bill
Rights—peace—these are our
tiple aims,” Jack McMichael,
irman of the Youth Congress,
i as he introduced the presi-
c,
ind the president scolded the
egates as they stood patiently
the pouring rain on the wet,
sey White House grounds be-
ise they made these simple
dest demands.
The president rebuked them
¢ asking for jobs because youns
»ple were unemployed 20 or 30
irs ago as well as today.
de commanded them not to
5S any more resolutions such
the one adopted almost unan-
ously by the New York Coun-
of the Youth Congress against
ir loans to the Mannerheim
vernment in Finland.
(The president chose the occa-
n to make an attack on the
viet Union which aroused the
prst fears of the delegates that
2 administration is moving rap-
yy to war.
What hurt most of the delegates
9st was that the president had

By ADAM LAPIN

challenged their democratic right
to express themselves on legis-
lative and political issues which
closely concern them.

He actually scolded them for
passing resolutions at all — not
only on Finland but on other
matters as well. He told them
sthat the complicated affairs of
national and international policy
are best left to experts of more
mature years.

In short, the delegates were
given no assurances that their
cardinal demands would even be
considered. On the contrary, the
president indicated clearly that
the administration was moving in
the opposite direction.

Some conimentators- have seen
fit to make much of the fact that
a handful of delegates hissed the
president. What was really sur-
prising under the circumstances
was the discipline and selfre-
straint of these young people as
they stood patiently and silently
on the White House lawn and
were scolded and insulted.

HEIN Mrs. Roosevelt answered

questions at the closing ses-
sion of the Institute, she was
More tactful. She went out of
her way to praise the leaders of
the Youth Congress. She did not
seold. The administration is not
asking for a break with the AYC.
But she said exactly the same
things as the president.

@n the question of peace she
went even further than the pres-
ident. When the delegates march-
ed into the White House they
shouted: “The Yanks are NOT
Coming.” Mrs. Roosevelt told
them that they might be coming
very shortly— :

“Today you may be sure you
would never approve of a war un-
der any circumstances,” she de-
elared. “Six months from now
the situation might be so chang-
ed you would see things entirely
differently. Nobody knows what
he may have to face in the future
or how he will act under differ-
ent circumstances.”

T every point the speech of

John L, Lewis conflicted with

the sjseeches of the president and
Mrs. Roosevelt

The outstanding leader of Am-
erican labor told the delegates
that it was the democratic right
of the Youth Congress to keep
right on passing resolutions
“about the Finnish question, or
the Russian question, or the Eur-
opean question, the peace ques-
tion, or any other question.”

If the president and Mrs.
Roosevelt gave youth no assur-
ances against involvement in war,
Lewis urged them to keep on
fighting for peace and to “hold
to strict accountability any poli-
tician or any statesman who un-
dertakes to involve this country
in a war in Europe or a war in
the Pacific.”

Both the president and Mrs.
Roosevelt had been vague about
civil liberties. But Lewis was
specific. He challenged the
‘spanking new’ Supreme Court to
do something about the iniqui-
tous poll taxes which deprive the
Wegro and poor white people of
the south of the right to vote.

On the question of jobs, Lewis
offered the clear cut specific leg-
islative program of the CIO with
its demand for extension of so-
cial legislation and for an ade-
quate WPA and NYA program.

And finally the leader of the
CIO told the Youth Congress
that “While the Republican party
says it doesn’t want to associate
With you and the Democratic
party through its titular spokes-
man says they doubt you know
what you are talking about,” la-
bor would be glad to co-operate
with the youth on a common pro-
gram.

@
HUS delegates had presented
to them two clear-cut alter-
natives. They could either follow
the administration toward war

FADING THE PRESS

Hie; International Workers Order in New York has an-
nounced a new popular pocket guide to reading the
apitalist press—between the lines.
Journalese of foreign correspondents is translated by the
WO for its 150,000 members, as follows:

‘Alleged’: Guesswork.

‘Unconfirmed’: Sheer rumor.
‘Tt is said here’: Picked up anywhere.
‘Hitherto unimpeachable sources’: A tipster who may

ave been right once.

‘Local diplomatic circles’: Small talk at consular or em-

assy functions.

‘A person high in the government’: Someone’s secretary

r assistant.

‘Advises’: Reports in the local press.
‘Authoritative sources’: May or may not be unless they

re named.

‘A high officer’: Strictly private opinion of a military man

F doubtful rank.

Don’t have a ‘headline mentality, the IWO adds, and if
1c events described occur in one country and the dateline
ves a wire office in another country, ‘turn on your doubt

ill blast.’

And remember that photographs can easily be ‘faked.’

and insecurity or they could ally
themselves with labor and the
cio.

Even prior
clash of programs between the
president and Lewis, it was clear
which way the delegates were
heading.

When Attorney-General Robert
Jackson spoke at the opening
session, he was introduced by
Edward Strong, chairman of the
Southern Negro Congress. Strong
reminded the attorney-general
pointedly of the midnight raids
by the FBI on the homes of 18
persons charged with aiding Am-
ericans to defend democracy in
Spain.

Despite the furor in the press
and the demands of various
groups and politicians for a ‘red
purge,’ Youth Congress leaders
stood firm and declared that
Young Gommunists had their
Place in the youth movement.
They warned that a move to per-
secute Gommunists was the first
step in a more general suppres-
sion of civil liberties.

At the Youth Congress assem-
bbly, the attitude of the delegates
as manifested by speeches and
applause, was crystallized into a
coherent program of action.

The assembly made it plain
that “Young America will not be
trapped into war’ and called on
the youth of the world to unite
to stop “the slaughter of our gen-
eration.”

It set aside April 6 as a day for
national demonstrations to Keep
America out of the war and ap-
proved plans for a joint anti-war
congress with the young people
of Latin America. It launched
a nation-wide campaign for pas-
sage of the American Youth Act,

to the dramatic .

WASHINGTON.

“HE president used a bludgeon. Mrs. Roosevelt tried tact and persuasion. Neither succeeded in arresting the trend of
i’ the American Youth Congress away from the administra tion. As more than 5,000 young people were travelling back
+n the capital to their homes in every corner of the nation, this seemed to be the outstanding feature of the colorful and
matie Citizenship Institute and the subsequent meeting of the national assembly of the Youth Congress.

which will give jobs and oppor-
tunities to young people.

The Youth Congress showed its
devotion to civil liberties by re-
fusing to accept the proposal of
a representative of the Young
People’s Socialist League for ex-
pulsion of the Communists. The
setting up of local civil liberties
committees was adopted as a
method of keeping tabs on the
Dies Committee, the department
of justice and other forces which
threaten the rights of the Amer-
ican people.

Finally, immediate negotia-
tions on common action with rep-
resentatives of the CIO and La-
bor’s Non-Partisan League were
initiated and letters proposing
similar negotiations were sent to
leaders of the APL, the Railroad
Brotherhoods and the Farmers’
Union.

)
© CLEARLY had the delegates
to the Citizenship Institute
manifested their will that there
was practically no opposition to
the adoption of this program by
the 92 youth leaders present at

the AYC assembly.

Politicians in Washington may
not like the Youth Congress but
they cannot afford to ignore it.
The delegates to the Citizenship
Institute and toe the AYC nation-
al assembly were speaking not
only for themselves but for mil-
lions of young Americans.

They reflected the new politic-
al winds which are beginning to
sweep America—the growing dis-
trust with both major political
parties on the basic issues of
peace and jobs and civil liberties
and the movement toward inde-
pendent political action on the
part of the masses of the people.

STORM GATHERS
AS IRELAND AROUSED

By SEAN MURRAY

DUBLIN

LL Ireland is incensed over the execution of Barnes and
Richards, for all sections of national labor opinion were

united behind the demand for a reprieve; the Fianna Fail clubs,
the trade unions, the trade councils put forth a united effort.
Dublin Trades council, with James Larkin, veteran labor
leader, at the head of the demonstration, marched to the prem-
ises of the British representative to Hire, Sir John Maffey,
requesting an interview. The Protestant archbishop of Dublin
sent a letter of support to the reprieve committee and the Hire

government made representations to London.

The executions were an effront
to a united nation. All muni-
cipal bodies adjourned as a
mark of respect for the executed
men. A demonstration of 50,000
in Dublin marched Sunday in a
pouring rain in protest.

Simon Donnelly, veteran Re-
publican leader of the fight
against the Black and Tans and
now leader of the Republican ex-
servicemen, delivered a funeral
oration in which he held the parti-
tion of Ireland responsible for all
the trouble and declared that a
united Ireland is the only basis
for peace between Britain and
Ireland.

Ten thousand demonstrated in
the Belfast nationalist area under
the auspices of the Republican
working class. The Craivyagon
government banned the demon-
stration, and the police attempted
to intimidate the people. Speakers
defied the ban, however, and ad-
dressed the crowds from house-
tops. Police made baton charge
and arrested dozens of persons,
who now face prison sentences.

The left Republican and work-
ing class elements want to con-
vert this united movement over
the graves of Barnes and Rich-
ards into a united movement to
end partition.

e
li Workers’ Weekly, organ of
the Irish Communist party,
voices this demand:

“Ridding the world of Barnes
and Richards does not rid Brit-
ish imperialism of the problems
confronting it in Ireland. The
country, which mourns their
death, must now see to it that
the objectives for which they
gave their lives are realized in
the shortest time.

“Can the forces which rallied
round the campaign for their
reprieve from the British hang-
man rally for a common effort
to rescue the country from the
clutches of imperialism, its
wars, pogroms and borders?
That is the acid test of all indi-
viduals and organizations which
mustered round the banner of
the reprieve campaign. The
Same exertions could realize
victory for the aspirations for
which they died.”

The Left wing is now preserv-
ing the demand for the nation’s
claim to unity and independence
and is demanding withdrawal of
the six northern counties @North-
ern Ireland) out of the war. It
insists that the Fianna Fail gov-
ernment act on the national man-

date to end the policy of com-
promise with British imperialism.
e

PPOSITION to the war bur-

dens grows in North and
South. Belfast dockers have

ealled a lightning strike, demand-
ing extra pay to load dangerous
war materials. Though troops
have been called in, they are firm
behind their demands,

Worthern Unionist farmers are
protesting against the shortage
of animal foodstuffs, the destruc-
tion of young pigs and other at-
tacks on farmers’ conditions.

In the Belfast parliament a
strong attack was made on the
Craivagon government by the
Labor and other opposition
parties. There are 85,000 unem-
ployed in an area where 1,250,000
live. Big business is profiteering
from the war. A special trade
union conference under the aus-—
pices of the Belfast trades coun-
cil made a strong demand for ac-
tion against the rising cost of
living and profiteering from the
war. A special trade union con-
ference under the auspices of the
Belfast trades council made a
strong demand for action against
the rising cost of living and profi-
teering. It insisted that those who
profit by the war pay for it.

The weakness of the anti-war
and anti-imperialist movement lies
in that there is no effective lead-
ership of the official labor move—
ment nationally,

The demand of the trade unions
and the Dublin trades council for
a special Trades Union Congress
has been evaded so far by the
labor chiefs. Upper and middle
class organizations have taken no
stand on the international issues,
while the Left wing is working
to overcome this backwardness
among the people.

Skis

I think that I shall never see
An object noble as a ski.

A ski, her curvesome bottom
waxed

Chases the Reds around like sin;

A ski rivalling little “Liza
With feats on ice that would sur-

prise ya;

A ski, her curvesome bottom
waxed

With dough from hides of peas-
ants taxed;

Ready for any sort of capers.

(For full details, see morning
papers).

Loans may be made by Hrank-
lin D,
But only Finns know how to ski

—John Loring.

SHORT
JABS

by OF Bill

On This In the British House of Commons, on Novy. 29 last,

: Sir John Simon outlined what is expected of the wage-
Side. earners in Britain as their chief contribution towards
winning the war. According to Simon, the workers must do “without
rises in wages and not assume that if there should be, as world con-
ditions may bring about, some rises in costs, therefore, automatically
our remunerations must all go up on a Sliding scale.”

A few weeks later, on Jan. 9 at the Mansion House, speaking to a
glittering array of Empire ormaments representing the ‘City,’ the finan-
cial magnates and the commercial and industrial overlords, Chamber-
lain, following up Simon, stated the case in these words: “I do not mean
to imply that there must be no increase in wages, but I do say that it
would be a mistake to tie up wages to the cost of living.”

A few days before that speech, a son of Viscount Hampden, Hon.
R. H. Brand, CMG, managing-director of Lazard Brothers, merchant
bankers; director of Lloyd’s Bank; deputy chairman of North British
Mercantile and Insurance company, and director of the Times Publish-
ing House, opened up on behalf of the poor struggling bankers. In the
columns of the Times, he unburdened himself of a tirade, the gist of
which was, “It is clear that the trade unions should refrain from de-
Imanding increases of wages.”

And the weekly financial organ, The Economist, drove home the ar-
gument with an article comparing wage conditions in Britain and
‘democratic’ Hrance. The Economist said: “Henceforth, it will be in-
creasingly difficult to consider matters of wage policy without con-
stant reference to parallel developments in France - . . Five million
Hrenchmen are mobilized and a proportion of these are employed on
essential manufactures at military rates of pay only. The rest of the
industry of France is being carried on by women, older men and boys,
whose wages are, at any time, below the average level.... The TUC
representatives’ will be unable to escape the conclusion that sacrifices
will have to be made by the British working class before equality of
effort with Hrance is reached.”

And On The objective is quite plain. It is to slash the living

standard of the British workers until they are down
That. to the level imposed on the French workers by the
Daladier government, already far along the road to fascism.

How different, however, when we see how the bond and stock owners

are treated by Simon, Chamberlain and the bankers’ representatives in -

the British House of Commons. An agreement has just been concluded
between the Chamberlain government and the four main British rail-
roads. Under the terms of the agreement, the government guarantees
these roads a profit of £40'000,000 (approximately $200,000,000) annually,
an increase of £6,000,000 .about $30,000,000) over 1938. Besides this there
has been an increase in the value of railroad securities of about $500,-
000,000 due to war business in the past few months,

Increases for the capitalists — but threatened reductions for the
workers. Who rules Britain?

Light On Every move that has been made by the so-called
democratic governments since Nov. 30 is an added
Moscow. ; proof that the Soviet government was justified in its
contention, that the White Finn Manner-Tannerheim clique was being
used as the center for an imperialist attempt to destroy working class
rule in the only Socialist country in the world. .

Wot only has this been the objective of British and French imperi-
alism since Noy. 1939, but it was the basis of their foreign policy since
the day when the Red Army chased the last of their hirelings out of the
Soviet Union.

In Light On Moscow, by D: N. Pritt, this is proved beyond any sha-
dow of doubt After a short outline of the twenty years between Ver-
sailles and the outbreak of the present stage of the World War, Pritt
described and makes a masterly analysis of the political jockeying
and maneuvers of the assassins of democracy who have imposed their
will on the trusting citizens of the democratic countries.

What is happening today, the absence of anything that looks like
War in the principal war zones and real war in other places where there
is no nominal war; the search for ‘new fronts,’ the massing of troops,
the pressure on neutrals and the efforts to spread the war to new
scenes; all these things may be understood for what they really are

by a reading of this masterly work of Pritt. A

It is not so much a Light on Moscow as a Searchlight on Moscow’s
Enemies. Don’t fail to read it!

Ni 3 “A great deal of interest is being shown in Canada in
i = I

nety five the group of patriotic business men who are placing
Cent Man. their experience at the disposal of the government
for a nominal wage plus expenses (up to $20 per day).

Before W. C. Woodward went back East to take up his duties on
the Federal War Supply Board, he made a pep talk to his employees
in the auditorium at the Abbott and Hastings store.

Undoubtedly it was a proud moment in his bourgeois life when he
smilingly informed his hearers that he was a dollar-a-year man.

But his pride might have been staggered somewhat if he had heard
one of the store girls in the audience remark to her neighbor, “Surely
he must be making a mistake about being a dollar-a-year man. He
must mean a 95-cent man.”

‘You Know Bene: intimate with great men whose names are
5 news’ is part of the job of a news hawk. A go-getter
Me, Al newspaperman must not only be a member of the
‘I knew him when’ club, but of the ‘I know him now’ club, too. Mem-
bership in the latter club puts him in better standing with the boss.

One of them who is very successful in this respect today is A.
¢€. Cummings, who writes for the London News-Chronicle and the
Vancouver Province, According to his own say-so, Cummings is very
intimate with Stalin. He has never seen, met or spoken with Stalin.
He is separated by 1535 air miles of space and three hours of time, but
he knows just what Satin is thinking at any moment. This is the only.
explanation that will account for the yarns he writes in the Province
newspaper. 428)

He says, Stalin ‘realizes now’ he has been fooled. Stalin “would
like to call off the war”; Stalin was “fooled by Communists in Fin-
land.” Stalin was also ‘assured’ by Soviet army heads that they would
have a picnic march into Finland that would last only a month. But
Stalin ‘realized’ this blunder and “changed his plan.” And Stalin “cer-
tainly will make some pay for the mistakes that have been committed.”

I think you will agree with me that Cummings must know Stalin
very well to be able to write so intimately about his innermost thoughts.

Stalin apparently did not tell him who is going to pay for the mis-
takes that have been made. Well, I can tell him, and I am not an
intimate of Stalin at all. The fascist White Finn-Social Democrat
scourges of the Finnish workers will pay,—whether they are too late in
leaving Finland or whether they escape the workers to become poverty-
stricken refugees in the slums of their capitalist allies, like the White
Russian emigres in Paris and Harbin.

PUBLIC MEETING

GRANGE HALL

Gore at Hastings

SUNDAY, FERUARY 25th, at 8 P.M.

Speakers:

FERGUS McKEAN and MALCOLM BRUCE
Subject:
“LABOR FACES THE ELECTION”
W. BENNETT, Chairman

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