____By JIM SAVAGE CORK, Ireland — Politicans’ Sensitivity to people’s real needs lines after an election. Little Ae Te eC cee | le ann Ireland faces housing crisis government, used a vote-winning gift of £1,000 to first-time buyers of new houses, but this is not the crock of gold it was a year ago. high prices. The building indus- deposits and pay exceptionally try, notoriously cyclical, may have been thrown out of gear just OPPOSITION TO SHAH HEIGHTENS IN IRAN TEHRAN — Mass demonstrations and fierce opposition continue in Iran despite the imposition of martial law by the Shah’s regime. Latest reports indicate that hundreds of demonstrators have been killed by the Shah’s troops. The Tudeh Party (Communist Party) has stated that “the struggle of the Iranian people has struck serious blows at the dictatorship. The continuation of the struggle can overthrow the Shah’s regime and bring to power a government which will ensure the independence of the land, democracy and well being of the people.”’ The imposition of martial law followed close on the heels of an official visit of Chinese leader Hua Kuo Feng. when its contribution to employ- ment is most needed. The course being followed by thé present government is not likely to succeed. Borrowing has been increased in the 1978 Budget and is now at a record 13% of Gross National Product. A coun- try in the short term, might sus- tain a level of high borrowing if it Earlier this year the average gross Moré than a year ago the promise price of new houses passed the of the new government was to Make it easier for young people to y houses, and make it more at- active for builders to build them, and thereby employ more labor. The reality now is that house Prices have soared, mortgages are M critically short supply, and there are reports of building slow- == SS Se YS A ing down or even suspending ac- . lvity on some schemes. - Fianna Fail, who are now in Sagan military head Lt. Gen. F.W.K. Akuffo has Come head of the Supreme Military Council of Ghana. In a Peaceful change Akuffo assumed leadership in July of this year. Akuffo announced that basic foreign policy tenets of the new 80vernment would remain the Same. He called for friendly rela- tions with all countries based on Mutual respect for each others in- dependence and sovereignty, and ¢ Non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations. In matters affecting Africa, he stated that. i Ghana’s existence is inextricably | linked with the independence of ) all Africa. He pledged full support i for the Organization of African Unity and for the liberation movements in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa. Elections will be held in July 5, 1979 to install.a civilian. govern- ment. prices is not to be blamed entirely upon the beyond the general inflation rate, and must surely be due in part to the sudden availability of this extra deposit money. The minis- ter’s proposed remedy for the situation is to ask the building societies to put a limit on the size of mortgage allowed to any one borrower. But building societies are in business to make money, not to help people. Should they try to get the minister out of this tight spot this temporary measure may help at this stage where people, particularly young people, desperately anxious to buy houses, have no hope of a mortgage. Buy why no drastic ac- tion before now? Many have suffered hardship over the past three months, either through not, getting mortgages at all, or through having to find large were specifically for capital de- velopment and job creation. On ~ the contrary a great part of the 13% being borrowed is to finance the current accounts side of the 1978 Budget. Ina year or two when this gov- ernment has to reduce the level of borrowing to a more acceptable level it will result in mass un- employment and substantially in- creased taxation on workers. No amount of juggling with figures or with definitions such as “jobs created’’ or “‘jobs filled”’ will solve the real crisis for any person who cannot find a job un- less to continue on the dole queue. The present unemploy- ment figure in the republic stands at 140,000 (population about 32 million), which is a warning of the danger to democracy if real and full-time jobs are not created for the many young people seeking work. An educated electorate will no longer accept emigration as the easy way to solve this problem. If the government refuses to accept this challenge and solve the terri- ble problem of unemployment among youth, then the future of _Ireland..and..democracy..here.is Qazvin® ° Kara} © TEHRAN bleak. g : CHINA TO CANCEL TREATY WITH USSR PEKING — Vice-Premier Teng Hsiao-ping of China has announced that the Peking regime will cancel its 1955 military treaty with the Cullen plans program to accept ; Soviet Union by next April. Teng also said that the Peking leaders will ). announce the cancellation of the 1950 Soviet-Chinese Friendship Tre- y A ti iti / a aty at the same time. . argentine porntica PTISOMETS _sevecooyens or soviercneex nerations rocesns / The Minister of Employment | One hundred prisoners. is a ly. Prisoners hands and feet are MOSCOW — “Great potentials exist for the development of rela- tions between the Soviet Union and Greece,” said Foreign Minister and Immigration, Bud Cullen, announced recently the Canadian 80vernment would embark on a Special immigration program to bring one hundred political pris- Oners and their families to Canada from the jails in Argentina. __In announcing the program the inister implicitly acknowledged the serious violations of human tights in Argentina today, and the Precarious situation of thousands’ of political prisoners, who are small number in face of the thousands of prisoners in Argen- tina’s jails. Pressure must be applied to increase the size of the program and the program itself scrutinized to ensure that it oper- ates to help those persons most in need of assistance. The Canada/Argentina bulletin issued by the committee quotes the Manchester Guardian which described conditions in the con- centration camps: ‘‘men and women are kept in conditions of chained most of the time. ‘Dangerous’ prisoners are per- manently chained to stakes driven into the ground and lie in their own excrement.” In July the military interventor in the Argentine National Labor Centre called for a meeting in ‘‘his office’’ and told trade union lead- ers present ‘‘ ... may I remind you that all trade union activities including public meetings, strikes and collective bargaining are strictly prohibited in this country, - Gromyko of the USSR at a Moscow luncheon honoring Foreign Min- ister Georgeos Rallis of Greece. ; Commenting on the seats of tension in the area Gromyko stated, ‘The tension in Cyprus has existed for a long time. It is an open secret that outside interference is the source of this tension. We stand for a solution of this problem, a solution that would not damage the inde- pendence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cyprus. The Soviet Union is prepared to give every possible aid to this.”’ CAMPAIGN GROWS TO SAVE SOLOMON MAHLANGU PARIS — French president Giscard D’Estaing has intervened in an effort to stop the execution of South African freedom fighter Solomon Mahlangu. He issued instructions that diplomatic representations be made to save Mahlangu’s life, it was announced at the International Cone for Action Against Apartheid held in Geneva earlier this month. Anti-apartheid groups from France, West Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, the U.S., Ireland and Britain will launch a joint campaign Sept. 20 in the mounting effort to save Mahlan- gu: from now on any meeting has to be authorized by the military government and its repre- sentatives have to be present...” tri _ The government will be send- Ing a special immigration officer to Argentina to process the appli- Cations of prisoners. Once the immigration official has received information that a prisoner wants to come to Canada he will inter- view that prisoner to see if he qualifies under the program. However even if the prisoner is accepted by the Canadian - BOvernment he must still hope t the Argentine authorities will Telease him from jail. The Emergency Committee for Argentine Political Prisoners and efugees greeted the program with favor. This committee was Set up to coordinate action in Canada on behalf of political pris- Oners and refugees in. Argentina. af They see the program as long | Overdue but only a first step achieved as a result of mounting pressure. ae detained without charge or degradation and terror. They are blindfolded at all times ... only collaborators or those chosen for execution are allowed to see free- 4 vt ap {5 d Y af 1 | 4 Cy 7 of v6 BIKINI ABANDONED AS RADIATION REMAINS ~~. BIKINI — The last child born in Bikini was carried by its mother toa waiting ship Aug. 30 as the final step of the evacuation of the 139 residents was completed. Used by the United States as a nuclear test site in 1946, scientists recently found that radiation has poisoned the ground, water and coconuts and that it will take decades before Bikini » is again safe for habitation. Critics of the tests have charged the U.S. ‘military knowingly used the Islanders as guinea pigs in its technical- 4 scientific research on the effects of radiation on humans. DR. SPOCK ARRESTED IN NUCLEAR PROTEST SEABROOK, N.H. — Dr. Benjamin Spock, world-known chil- dren’s doctor, was among 11 persons arrested last week during a protest against the construction of a $2.3-billion power plant here. He "was arrested, along with the others for civil disobedience at the site where four other anti-nuclear demonstrations have taken place over the past month. Police in Argentina PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 22, 1978—Page 9