25 ss to an alltime high, f}he vicinity of Johan- (ee pass laws, but ac- ‘en blocked by the Min- tive Affairs, Major Van So ordered the arrests. @ent which rose when a Seport of three African sf the government com- prestigating facts behind a wave’ was suppressed, trapidly. The Council of Trade Unions, repre 000 workers, has wired liscriminate arrests will improve matters. it the expense of the the whole African la- ent, and all progressive iS, are urgins the abol- the Pass Laws in the tional unity, and recog- guent. Race Riots his protests to those 2ial minorities in the t to President Roose- n organizations in De- iting attacks on Nesro in an additional state- fl for the appointment grand jury to “investi- ises of the riots and re- able indictments.” *, largest union in the ; been uncompromising 5s of economic equality ips, regardless of race. efore significant that ly directed riot mobs, ‘troit police, were tak- ‘egro and white work- ed working amicably }%S in the country’s lar- soduction center. | irican trade unions by ~ Toledano Scores ‘Zoot-Suit? Lies Reports from Mexico ‘City last week offered further evidence of labor’s strong anti-fascist attitude towards race riots. Vicente Lombardo Toledano, president of the Confederation of Latin American Workers, agreed with American labor leaders that the “zoot-suit” riots in Los Angeles were “a deliberate attempt to de- stroy unity and friendship of the Americans living in California, and the Good Neighbor Policy which President Roosevelt has been pur- Suing with great success,” The scandalous events in Los Angeles, stated Toledano, ~ have been made to appear the result of the undesirable conduct and char- acter of Mexicans living in the United States and the inevitable consequence of the evils inherent in the Mexican race. This was done with the same arguments employed by the Nazi Party in Germany to win support for its race prose- cutions. On behalf of the CTAL, Toledano called upon President Roosevelt and President Camacho of Mexico to repair the damage already done and to further the work of hemisphere cooperation. Ireland A Calamiteus Division _the recent election in Ireland, in which De Valera’s party failed to gain a majority, has had little effect on the basic po- litical problems of a country which is being stirred to the core by the war. Both Northern Ire land, which is in the war against fascism, and neutral Southern Ire- land are affected by the war's events, and new political develop- ments are looming. The Northern Ireland government has been com- pletely reorganized. J. M. Andrews is now ex-premier and with him have gone the most reactionary members of his cabinet, who were totally incapable of guiding the destinies of the people in the strug- gle against fascism. - They were associated with the Unionist Party prior to the last war when Asquith’s Home Rule for ireland bill was defeated by re- action, and had a lot to do with that defeat. The sour fruits of the seeds planted then are being plucked today because Ireland, in- stead of being in the war as a whole is only one-third officially at war and two-thirds neutral. In Southern Ireland, the war has played havoc with the economy,. and as a result, with the popularity of the government party: It has been clear for some time that De- Valera has not been able to carry out a policy that meets the urgent needs of the day. The division of Ireland into two separate states stands out -as a calamity—not only for the Irish people but also for the democratic front against fascism. Traditional- ly the Irish have been front-line fighters against oppression and for democratic rights. Yet today Ire- land for the first time is not play- ing its full part as a nation in the present struggle. The reason is not hard to find. Ireland has been kept out of this struggle by the past policy of re- actionary British imperialism which has stubbornly resisted Ire- land’s right to determine its own destiny. British imperialism forced a division of the country, and has struggled to maintain that division to the present time. in spite of the obstacles, however, Some 120,000 men from southern dreland are serving in Britain’s armed forces, and another 300,000 have emigrated fo take up war work in Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The De Valera gov- ernment is statedly neutral in the war—though it is a friendly neu- trality toward the dem*scracies— and Trish labor has consistently pressed the British government to cultivate this friendliness, increase the volume of trade and lay a baSis for real neighborly relations. The shipping position is critical. Apart from cargoes brought in -by British ships, full dependence is Placed on Irish Shipping Limited and three other small companies. Prior to the war the number of ships owned by these companies Was small. Now this number has been reduced to six. As a result full - supplies are running slow. Wheat and butter stocks are barely suffi- cient and tea is so scarce that a week’s ration barely suffices for two days’ needs. The full burden of the crisis hag fallen on the working class be- cause of low wages and mass un- employment. It is they who suffer by short food supplies and have to do without a fire at home. The tationing system has been intro- duced but in practice this works out that those who are able to pay are able to obtain all they require. Those who cannot do without. Belle Under the benevolent gaze of “Mission Belle,” Pvt. Stanley Seaman and Cpl. Dean Thirkill repair the ignition system on a Flying Fortress somewhere in the Southwest Pacific. idea that Russia is a democracy! And after all the trouble the Tele- gram has gone to in order to prove otherwise! This latest act of sabotage of unity among the United Nations is no surprise te those who know the infamous history of the Telegram. Its foreign policy is that of British imperialism, not that of Churchill, It cheered Mussolini in Ethopia, waved a flag for France in Spain, and wept bitter tears over the So- viet “rape” of Finland. The Mos- cow ttials formed the piece de resistance of its editorials for months, until it became obvious that even the most gullable section of the public was beginning to see through the fascist “terrorist trials™ line. After June 22, 1941, the Telegram appointed itself the editorial de- fender of the “save Europe from Bolshevism” group. The following quotations are from the editorials printed in the Telegram the month following the INazi invasion: “The gangster governments, re- cently partnered for a brief period, come to grips. For the British people there is some satisfaction in that spectacle.” “The Soviet government is a gangster government of the same stripe as the-Nazi government and though it is now fighting our enemy, it is no more to be trusted than the enemy.” “How long this struggle will last nobody knows. . = The longer the better.” The Telegram policy at the present time is to sabotage unity between the Soviets and the rest of the United Nations; to ridicule the idea of a second front; to slander Soviet officials, while attributing. the valor of the (Russian people to some mystical “quality”; ;to sabo- tage the Canadian Aid to Russia Fund; and above all, to warn against winning the war too much. If we really defeat Hitler, the Telegram is afraid, he won’t help us fight Russia. To make the editors and owners of the Telegram happy, all Churchill would have to do is to agree to sit back and let the Russians and Germans kill each other off, as the Telegram feels sure they would. All the Chinese peogle would have to do is declare that it isn’t Japanese fascism they are fighting against, but the fact that the Japanese are little yellow men. All Roosevelt would have to do is forget this silly business about lend-lease and So- viet friendship. It is doubtful, of course, that any- thing the editors of the Telegram print about the new Council for Canadian-Soviet Friendship will carry much weight. On the other hand, the editorial Policy of the Telegram, Canadians feel, should be studied by the RCMP, and checked against the Defence of Canada Regulations, which forbids an publication to “print any writing intended or like- ly to prejudice His Majesty’s re- lations with foreign powers.” The fact that the Telegram is al- lowed to contiue publication is not only an insult to the Canadian citi- zen’s intelligence: it is an insult to a heroic ally. The Labor Board Begins to Act Nationa! First concrete evidence that briefs presented by unions at National War Labor Board hearings were bringing results was revealed in a judgment handed down by the Board this week. it) talks to L. S. lia, following his firing Marquis of The Quisling Press in Canada As soon as plans were announced for the formation of the Council for Canadian Soviet Friendship, an organization launched to better understanding between the two powerful allies, citizens wise to the workings of the fifth column press began to look towards the Toronto Telegram for blasts of condemnation. They didn’t have long to wait. Shortly after some of the best known Canadian anti- fascists and patriotic organizations had voiced approval of the idea, and immediately after a huge public meeting was held in Toronto with Mackenzie King, Soviet Ambassa- dor Fedor Gusey and Hon. Joseph Davis as principal speakers, the nazi Telegram girded its editorial Joins and launched its attack. Russia, blasted a Telegram edi- torial last week, is not a democracy. Russia has no right, it continued, to the Ukraine or any section of Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, or Esthonia. Having got that off its chest, the Telegram went on to explain the “dangers” to which the Canadian public are exposed through setting up of the Council. The public, fears the Telegram, might become “confused,” and might even get the Practically all briefs read at the hearings asked -for the establish- ment of a national minimum wage of 50 cents per hour. This week, in answer to applications for in- creased bonuses and wage rates for laborers and other employees of the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company, the Board recommended that the basic minimum wage should be increased to 50 cents an hour. The new rate will be retro- active to the first pay-roll subse- quent to March 19, the date of ap- plication. The Board further reported that a general survey is now being made of wage rates, cost of living, and other relevant conditions in Cana- dian shipyards. The report added, however, that in view of the Do- Mminion-wide survey it could not deal at present with an application on behalf of all employees of the Ontario shipyard, which asked that the bonus be increased from $2.70 to $4.25 weekly. It said that this and other matters would be dealt with later on the basis of the gen- eral survey. In its reference to laborers? wages, the Board said that its in- _terim finding was “subject to any. §eneral conclusion which we may. subsequently arrive at with respect to shipyards in general or any sec- tion of them.”