pch 8, 1940 THE ADVOCATE Page Five [Mo vine q : af W kit now the situation is chang- ) The Indian National Con- iss, no longer confined to the irgeoisie, has declared that it ‘ot in favor of this war. The Sants are more and more be- ling organized. A working- ‘S Movement, with militant ‘te unions, has grown up in fr conflicts. A revolutionary ‘kKing-class party exists, the imunist party of India, which, sough banned by the govern- it, gives a lead to the strug- — - Ad, ‘he first great action inside the Jiish empire against the imper- st War was led by the Indian amunists, who called a one-day ‘tical strike in Bombay. After bree weeks’ campaign in Sep- #iber, through enormous ob- eles and difficulties, 90,000 mbay ‘workers responded to call and came out in protest unst the war and war meas- S on Oct 2. tt the great strike meeting the folution passed contained the ir statement: That the war between Wazi many and British imperial- } is born out of imperialist riv- 7, and that British imperial- is neither defending democ- ¥y nor the independence of na- as. This meeting, therefore, of the opinion that loyalty to an freedom demands resist- e to war on the part of the ian people.” he meeting could rightly im to speak not only for the eking class. The secretary of Provincial Peasants’ union ike there and said: “We, the tr peasants, liye in small iso- sad villages, but we, too, are ying your example. We also rted resistance against war.’ HINK what this means: think of the alliance of workers h poor peasants in the Rus- n revolution, of how the work- class was able to give a lead the peasantry; and then pon- | these words addressed from | peasants to the Bombay 4 rkers— We too are copying ‘ir example.’ *Vhat this can lead to was inted out at the strike meeting the mover oi the resolution, 9 ssid: “If the Russian work- could effect a revolution dur- the the last world war, tne lian worker can also rise to the ne heights now. They say the r will last for three years. have sworn today to resist oerialism, and within the three [rs we are sure of bringing it | dust.” Seantime, the conflict between ». viceroy and the Indian WNa- mal Congress was developing to that point where the re- al of the viceroy to meet the .2ress' demands was followed decision of Congress to with- / ow the ministries and not to ticipate in the war on the side British imperialism. Since then all the Congress nistries have resigned (they d office in eight out of eleven ‘vinces), and what is most gali- > for the British imperialists, their organ, the London mes, and their agents in India, 5 come to pass. {Despite the jloudly-advertised adu-Moslem rivalry, the Mos- i 5 ~EES tas in most of the provincial fsemblies voted for the Con- 23s motion against the vice- rs statement. HE influence of Gandhi, who alone dissented from the In- in Wational Congress’ decision, id who, in the war of 1914-18, ipported British imperialism, -s been exerted for compromise, d for preventing or, retarding head-on collision between the CHUNGEING. tAPTURE of WNanking, for- f mer capital city of Kwang- province, situated not far from e frontier of the French col- y of Indo-China, is a note- orthy victory for China. Through Nanning passes one of e roads linking China to Indo- dina. Japanese operations in is sector pursued the aim of ndering contact between China id the outer world. However, e Japanese offensive came up tainst stubborn resistance from e Chinese troops. The Chinese command, maneu- ring skilfully, undertook a unter offensive. The Japanese oops fell back on Nanning and, dling to hold out in the city, are mtinuing to retreat in the direc- on of the coastal zone. j Thus, at a given stage, opera- ons in the south of China widely anned by the Japanese com- “and, have ended in complete lure. Military initiative is in- easingly slipping out of the ands of the Japanese command. ‘Events at the front bear wit- “ss to the correctness of the rategy carried through by the inese people in the war of eration. A protracted, long By R. PAGE ARNOT government jof India and the Congress. Since then the vice- roy has made his tour around the principal cities and areas, endea- voring to find support for British imperialism. But no matter what efforts he made to defer a sharper conflict, the pressure of events, of the De— fense of India Ordinance, of the worsening conditions of the masses, will impel the people of India along the path of struggle towards the goal of independ- ence, For over 20 years that struggle has been developing. Its roots lie in a century and a half of subjection. — @ . HE first expression of the lib- eration movement took shape with Tilak in the first decade of this century. But it was the Amritsar massacre of April, 1919, which opened the eyes of large hmhumbers of Indians to the reali- ties of British imperialist rule. What happened at Amritsar? According to the report of the committee appointed by the gov- ernment of India to investigate the disturbances in the Punjab, General Dyer, on the morning of April 13, issued a proclamation forbidding meetings or proces- Sions, The proclamation was “in- Sufficiently promulgated,” and the number of people who could have heard it ‘is put down at 8 000 to 10,000 people” out of a city population of 160,000 to 170,- 000 which was swelled by country people who had come for “an important religious festival’; and “there was also a cattle fair.” In the afternoon General Dyer “learned that a big meeting was foinge to be held at Jallianwala Bagh” (@ large but completely enclosed space) and immediately “made up his mind to go there with troops and fire.’ He inrend- ed to use machine-guns, but the entrance to the Bagh proved to be too narrow for his armore cars. : “When he reached there, he saw a large meeting of people squatting on the ground and be- ing addressed by a person from a small platform.” The number was afterwards put at between 15,00 and 20,000. “Without giving any warning or asking the people to disperse, General Dyer immediately open- ed fire’; and his troops continued firing till the ammunition for the rifles owas exhausted. There were at least 379 killed and about 1,200 wounded” The general “jmmediately left the place with his troops and did not do any- thing to see that either the dead were attended to or the wounded received help.” In the inquiry, General Dyer admitted that he could have dis- persed the people without firing; but he gave as his reason his de Sire to strike terror throughout the Punjab, General Dyer’s attitude was highly approved in Britain by an overwhelming majority of the house of lords at the time; now it has passed out of the General's remembrance. But the Indians have never forgotten. INCE April, 1919, for nearly 21 years the movement for liber- ation of India has grown, and ex- tended, over the whole country. Ten years ago the Indian Nation- al Congress declared for Indian independence, and the steps it took to secure it resulted in Scores of thousands being impris- oned, under the Labor govern- ment of Britain in 1930-31. On Independence Day, 1940, not only the Indians themselves but the working class and working peo- ple throughout the Empire cele- brated the struggle for the in- dependence of India. CLEINA MARCHES ON drawn-out war is increasingly ex- hausting Japan; at the same time the Chinese forces are gathering Strength. Increasingly wide sec- tions of the Chinese people are being drawn into the struggle against the foreign invaders. The economic base of a new China is becoming consolidated. In the rear of the Japanese army Partisan war is assuming an in- creasingly menacing character for the invaders. The high cost of living and the shortage of pro- ducts is giving rise to disorders in the big towns occupied by the Japanese. The national forces of Chine continue to rally together. This is having its full effect on the strengthening of the fighting ef- ficiency of the Chinese army. The national policy of China, recently. decrared by Chiang Kai-shek, re- mains unchanged — to continue armed resistance. The govern- ment of China will develop a counter-offensive and will aim to win back the lost territories. Dis- agreements between the puppet authorities in the occupied re- gions of China reflect above all the confusion in the camp of the Japanese forces of occupation. FICHE FOR FREFDOM 7) HE first world war of 1914-18 brought into existence India’s vast movement for liberation. This second war has placed the y, full independence of India on the order of the day. Twenty-five years ago the working-class movement had not taken "pe. There was neither a revolutionary working-class party nor wide peasant leagues, while the bourgeoisie and the intel- 3 uals in the Indian National Congress gave their support to their British imperialist masters. CONSCRIPTION 1917 Following table, omitted from Hal Griffin’s article “Con- scription in Two Wars’ in our last issue, shows conscription figures to Dec. 1917, indicates clearly the widespread oppo- sition in Canada during the last war. a 1 5 3 = 3a = gs zZ mae A £= Reg nae 8 Be SH ve) al 63 as Ao ee Ses 28 Z2 Os, no no up 3m a = a6 es Hes Hee Os S28 eee Bo ee site fee Province Be =e oe DOHA OA <4s3 Ontario 125,750 118,128 94197 19,148 4,783 21,276 Quebec 117,104 115,707 89,575 3,711 22,421 27,683 Nova Scotia _ 26,354 23,831 16,158 3,774 4,899 2,815 New Bruns. — 17,065 15,629 40,181 2,524 2,924 2,034 P. BH. Island 4,425 AAT6 3,648 332 196 348 Manitoba — 22,879 20,858 44,241 5,221 1,396 3,982 Saskatche'n —. 46,733 44,203 25,138 5,783 13,282 2,359 Alberta _. 28,105 25,069 18,093 4560 2,416 4,503 Brit. Gol, .. 15,821 12,824 7,548 3,815 1,471 2,122 Mukon === 159 85 Wo cases heard - - = Canada _ 404,395 380,510 278,779 47,868 53,788 67,122 A PEOPLE’S ARMY ACQUITS ITSELF al ees Red army has passed the most difficult battle tasks in Finland with flying colors, Army Commander O. Goro- dovikov, Inspector of Cavalry Forces of the Red army and second-in-command under Marshal Simeon Budyenny during the civil war; declares in an article on the war in Finland. Gorodovikoy emphasized that both the men and the material equipment of the Red army have performed wonders in defeating the Finnish White Guards in the most difficult of terrain and weather conditions. He had espe- Cial high praise for the leader- ship of the Red army units. Highlights of Gorodovikov's ar- ticle follow: “It is in Finland now that the Red army is going through its severest test An endless chain of forests, marshes, rivers and lakes comprises the Finnish theatre of war. It may be confidently asserted that no other big army in the world could fight in such difficult conditions, amid cold spells that bring temperatures of 50 degrees below zero, in snows that reach above a man’s waist A cold snap of from 5 to 15 degrees above zero has been sufficient on the Western Front to bring opera- tions, negligible enough as they are, to a standstill “Even the stern conditions en- countered in Finland have not prevented Soviet troops from waging offensive operations. he various Men and commanders of . the Red army are pressing the enemy, disregarding the bitter cold, and are breaking through the most difficult defense lines. @ “ARMS and equipment of the Red army are standing the test as successfully as its person- nel. The Soviet airplanes, wnich blazed an air route across the Worth Pole, have proved equal to the low ceilings and tempera- tures of 50 and 60 degrees below expanses of Finland. “Reigning supreme in the air, they have compelled the Finnish White Guards themselves to ad- mit that their operations have completely disorganized war in- dustry and transport in Finland. Although the Finnish air force, Which enjoys the support.of for- €ign states, constitutes a force to reckon with, it has been obliged to quit the air. Well-trained and accustomed to the severe weath- er conditions of the North, the Finnish friers, among whom are a number of distinguished pilots, decided after the first few en- counters with Soviet airmen, to avoid meeting them in single combat, ‘Many foreign military experts had cherished the hope that the Soviet armored car and tank forces would not be of use in the Worth, because of the cold, the snow and the forests. They were grievously mistaken. Acting in co-ordination with the infantry, Red army tanks are operating Successfully against the Finnish White Guards. Soviet tank men are overcoming both natural and artificial obstacles. “Soviet artilery is also show- ing its mettle: Together with the air force it is smashing the White Guard Finnish fortifications, “The pioneer troops have found useful and reliable ways to de- Stroy the mine fields that have been laid everywhere by the en- emy, : | “Supporting the activities of the land forces, the Red navy has proved its worth. Soviet subma- rines are operating successfully against enemy vessels in spite of furious storms and bitter cold. “PAH Red army has been tested in different theatres of war and under various climatic con- ditions, It has fought in the arid step- pes of Mongolia, in the swamp- land of Lake Hassan (Changku- feng) and in the West Ukraine and Byelorussia. Now it is bat- tling amid the grim ice and snow of Finland. “The most valuable result gain- ed in these severe tests of the fighting forces of the land of socialism has been the demon- Stration of the high combat ca- pacity of the Red army. The mil- itary operations of the Red army during the past 18 months have proved that no other army in the world has such cadres (offi- cers and other leadership). “The battles that have been Waged and are being waged by the Soviet army have revealed the fine qualities of its men — their courage, endurance, con- scious discipline and ability to find their bearings and make de- cisions, “The Soviet government has shown its appreciation ‘of the heroism displayed by the Soviet fighters. Thousands of men and commanders who have distin- Guished themselves in battles against the Finnish White Guards have been decorated with orders and medals by the presidi- um of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Many of them have earn- @d the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. ‘We heed have no doubt that, should the Red army ever have the occasion to defend other frontiers of the land of socialism, it will fight no less valiantly to preserve the territorial integrity of its country and will defeat the enemy on his own territory.” THE CCF DOES ITS BIT “My honorable friend, the member for Rosetown-Biggar (M. J. Coldwell) was kind enough to come to my office, where he informed me that unfortunately his leader was far away, but that he himself wished at once to express his appreciation of the situation. He asked me to realize that when cooperation was necessary in So great a cause I would find the members of his party ready to do their part. “There was no commitment so far as any of these gentlemen were concerned with respect to any particular policies. All I wish to convey at the moment is that there was, on their part, a very sincere expression of appreciation of the government’s position, and of their desire and the desire of their parties to see that when parliament assembled, what in their minds would be most effective as a na- tional effort should be undertaken.” —RT. HON. W. L. MACKENZIE KING in the House of Commons on Sept 8, 1939, as reported in Hansard. SHORT JABS by OF Bill Heart Throbs. of insulting them. If the intelligence of the readers of these newspapers was as low as the drivel they dress up as news would make us believe, the human race would certainly be in a deplorable state. Wot being able to supply its readers with desirable news in its so-called objectively written character, the capitalist press is using the heart-throb style They insult us, but fortunately we can pass up their insults and laugh at their fruitless efforts. We are not supposed to know anything about history, geography or physics. So Harold Denny of the New York Times writes that an alleged battle at Suomussalmi will rank with the battle of Poictiers, where Charles Martel defeated the Moors, as one of the decisive battles of the world. Poictiers is the name of a battle fought between the English and the French in the Hundred Years War, not the battle that decided the fate of Europe in the Highth century. The fight between Charles Martel’s Franks and the Saracen Moors was fought at Tours in the same part of France, but the names signify two entirely different events. This places Denny as an authority on military matters and indi- cates just how much weight his opinion about decisive battles amounts to, The little lady who wrote about the humor of trying to get warm in a burning building a few days ago, Virginia Cowles of the London Times and the North American Newspaper Alliance, comes back with another story from a place about two degrees above the Arctic circle. “Since there was no shelter,’ says this mistress of hyperbole, “sg sentry led us across the road to a small bridge about two feet above a frozen lake. He told us to crawl under. Unpleasant as it was, there was an element of humor in seeking safety, lying on the ice in the middle of the Arctic circle, in the dead of night.” ‘Lying’ is right. And the middle of the Arctic circle, we might inform Virginia Cowles, is the North pole. Smoke Eaters? Another dead of night story is offered us by “ Lord Beaverbrook’s Daily Express special cor- respondent, who writes, “Some of the Red units have been scattered among the pine forests, where, in the sub-arctic darkness, they are picked off by the light machine guns of the Finnish guerillas.” One English iconoclast remarks that it is no doubt the lightness of the machine guns that enables the guerillas to see in the sub- arctic darkness. And, if you ever studied elementary physics at school, answer this one. One newshawk—which one TI just forget at the moment—told of a ghostlike Finnish guide taking him to the headquarters at the Worthern front. On the surface there was nothing to be seen but snow and an occasional tree. which was not visible more than a few feet away. Outside, the temperature was 40 below. In the dugout, it was 30 above, which temperature was maintained by great roaring wood fires. The clever newsman described the men sitting round getting warmed up to slaughter another Red division. He saw and wrote about the wet clothes hanging by the fires to dry. And he asks us to believe this’ without telling us where the smoke from the fires went. Maybe —_— the Finnish Paul Bunyans ate it. They entered through a hole in the ground During the next few weeks the aspirants for political jobs will be telling us how intelligent we are. Let us show them that we are. Helping The Enemy. Trade unionists, like Vancouver Trades and Labor council, who haye been foolish enough to vote money to help the Mannerheim regime in Fin- land, can have but little knowledge of the years of terror lived through, by the real trade unionists in Finland since Mannerheim imposed his bayonet rule on that country. Anyone who contributes to the so-called Finnish civilian relief, which has all the earmarks of becoming a racket, is helping the enemies of the Finnish trade unions and this is proved beyond any doubt by the bloody persecution, kidnapping, deporting and imprison- ing of the genuine trade union leaders during the last twenty years and particularly at the time when unemployment was at its worst, 1930-1931. At that time the genuine trade unions of Finland were subjected to the most ferocious attacks by the fascists who have been the real rulers of the country since 1918, hiding behind the mask of democracy —the Mannerheim clique, which is the same today with the addition of some Social Democratic leaders. Representatives of 1200 Finnish trade unions, the leaders of the movement, were placed on trial and jailed. Outstanding leaders were kidnapped and deported ‘to Soviet Karelig and Sweden, including the first president of Finland, StahPbergs. The Trade Union Council was dissolved. Trade union funds, a quarter of a miillion dollars, were confiscated. Trade union halls were seized as ‘donations’ by the fascist party. Why? Because they put up a fight for the workers and poor peas- antry of Finland at a time when 40,000 out of an industrial population of 170,000, were out of work, when grinding poverty was so wide- spread that even the poorhouse at Kuolojarvi was sold for taxes, They had also expressed sympathy with the Russian revolution. Making A Job For Mannerheim. What was left of trade unionism in Fin- land was a mere shell, easily made amen- able to the wishes of the reactionary rulers ; by the corrupt leadership. It was not any more reactionary, however, than the other bodies affiliated to the Amsterdam International Federation of Trade Unions which links it up with Bill Green and the AFL. it is not surprising, therefore, to learn that the allesced Finnish trade union movement which sends out appeals for help for the Man- nerheim government has asked the Swedi trade unions to take the ban off the Manne the Finnish trade unionists in 1918 and “this is the wish of the Finnish workers.” Another story about Gone With The Wind has been released which has not received much pub- licity in the capitalist press. ton, DGC, premiere, at the s GWTW Again. Sh and other Scandinavian rheim scabs who slaughtered to stop persecuting them as With its Washing ame time as it was being shown at Atlanta, the management of the picture palace where it was being shown petition to give it a boost thought it would be a £00d moy e to have-a com- They offered a prize of $25 to the individual who most resembled Lincoln. The decision was to be the Great Hmancipator, Abraham made from photos and the the show during the interval. prize was to be presented on the stage of It was a Jim Crow show. No negroes were allo i i : I : : wed in. There is a big nesro population in Washington, and they put a picket ling at the boxoffice on the opening night. On to of the competition, then man who was m to claim his prize he proved to be a negr district The judges had not been p of this, when the winner ost like old Abe, showed up o lawyer from a neighboring able to detect it from the Photo but the white chauvinist management knew the moment he appeared to col- $25 but not on the stage. True to lect his prize. They paid him the the spirit of the picture! Being Well- Posted. Book, is attached to th fense in an advisory capacity. If he had kept his ey he would have learned how the Mannerheim line smithereens by the Red army and will be able to go and act in an advisory smash the Siegried line. ORANGE HALL Gore Ave. at Hastings MALCOLM BRUCE Speaker SUNDAY, MARCH 8, at 8 P.M. W. BENNETT Chairman SILVER COLLECTION A British retired naval officer, Captain N. CG. Moore, DSO, MVO, who served against Russia in 1919-23, according to the Statesman’s Year e Finnish ministry of de- es and ears open was smashed to : back to England capacity to Chamberlain if he ever wants to 3