“SAZILIAN FOLK DANCE. Young men and women

L: Wn in a native dance. Their country has been thrown
i to turmoil by machinations of the U.S. State Depart-
if]. "4 Which is determined to prevent this largest country.
"Latin America from following an independent neutral

Need Diapers and

Pencils

f° there a woman in Canada
yy. specially if she is a mother
a will not feel an urge to
The Provide pencils for those
%.. are so anxious to read and
; tte, and diapers to help pro-
Infants’ health? :
€re are no facilities for the
Nufacture of diapers in Cu-
, Hitherto they have been
4 ported entirely from the Un-
,. States. Because Cuba is
Pical island, and families
large, protection against
Communication of disease
°ng babies is vital. Keeping
l€s clean is a necessity,
pore diapers are indispen-
°w President Kennedy, hav-
failed in the attempt to in-
© Cuba, is waging war
Mst babies. The export of
Pers is prohibited.
© story of the need for
Sils is quite different from
Of diapers. It is one of
© and promise. The people,
Cuba have decided to over-
bes their present widespread
Iggy 2CY before the end of
tone] In response to the per-
: appeal of Fidel Castro,
00 young men and women
1 Unteer teachers are going in-
~£ countryside to live with
the, P°asant families, sharing
Vhite work and their lives
€ teaching them to read
Write. But, to rearn to read
ty Write they need pen-
hed Paper. The sudden in-
= of the number of stud-
Meat more than 3,090,000,
2 Sa demand for pencils
tui Paper, far beyond the cap-
Y of the country to supply

WORTH
_ READING

}QUESTION OF NATIONAL
tine AND PROLETARIAN
Ug, = R NATIONALISM, by
“thy 85c, As Canada is a
tq ~8tion state and confront-
i thy, vith a National problem,
} Ooklet will help in un-
Standing the’ problems of
‘ational Liberation move-
» Self-determination of na-

and Proletarian Interna-
“lism, |

the @llable at People’s Co-
3 ve Bookstore, 307 West
c.

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN
HELP CUBAN PEOPLE

‘| pers

immediately.
* ac «Oo

These two needs, diapers
and pencils, so elementary and
yet so vital, can be made into
a solid link between the wo-
men of Canada and the mothers
of all the children of Cuba.
This is not to suggest that only
women _ should feel most
strongly the urge to initiate ac-
tion now. :

The actual method of this
collection is up to each individ-
ual. In general it depends up-
on the conditions in the local-
ity. In some places the most ef-
ficient method is to ask every-
one working in a given estab-
lishment to contribute the cost
of one diaper, one pencil or a
dozen of each and then purch-
ase them at a wholesale price.
Such collections should be or-
ganized on a regular and per-
iodic basis.

In other places the most ef-
ficient method will be to ask
people to give the actual ar-
ticles. There is no need for any
standardization. What the bab-
ies need are diapers and they
will not mind whether they are
of the most expensive variety
or cheaper ones. The same is
true of pencils. . :

Naturally, collections will b
on a much larger scale wher
entire organizations throw
themselves into the work. But,
let me say again, not one of us
need wait. Every diaper and
pencil collected now is of tre-
mendous value.

When the delegation repres-
enting the Cuban Women’s
Federation visits us in October,
we should be able to present
to them the shipping manifests
for thousands of diapers
and pencils that we will have
shipped to Cuba before their
arrival, and to be able to as-
sure them that the stream will
not only continue but grow.

(The Congress of Canadian
Women has invited two Cuban
women to visit Canada. A tour
of Canada will start Oct. 15.)

This is our opportunity to
show, by deeds, our solidarity
with the heroic people of Cuba.

The Pacific Tribune will he
publishing. more . news about
this gathering together of dia-.
and pencils for Cuba.
What is most important is to
get started in making the col-

lections, SP SUNP a yas. Bee

By STANLEY RYERSON

UBLIC. discussion about

Marxism is on the increase in
this country. It could scarcely
be otherwise, with the latest
stupendous scientific achieve-
ments of the socialist world,
and the impact of the publica-
tion of the Draft Program of
the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union.

One sign of the times is the
fact . that, within the world
setting of the debate between
‘socialism and capitalism, there
is a growing inclination to
recognize the Marxist chal-
lenge in terms of its relevance
to Canadian problems. One
indication of this is the way
the intellectuals around the
New Democratic Party, in
their symposium Social Pur-
pose for Canada, find them-
selves impelled to polemize re-
peatedly in economics, politics
—and ethics.

With the widespread and
lively interest that has grown
up recently in matters of Cana-
dian history, there were
grounds for some curiosity as
to the likely reception of an

effort at a Marxist interpreta-|

tion of our country’s past. The
outcome is curious. The book
pages of all the main daily
newspapers reacted to the ap-
pearance of The Founding Of
Canada with wondrously syn-
chronized total silence.

Without undertaking here
any full reply to the criticisms
by “learned journals’ across
the country, I‘d simply like to
comment on their approach.

.

HE University of Toronto

Quarterly complains of the
book: “Its conclusions agree
with its premises”. Meaning,
apparently, that what set out
to be a Marxist interpretation
ended up as. ..a Marxist in-
terpretation. But tell us, re-
spected critic: Do the facts pre-
sented in the book bear out
the book’s conclusions, or do
they not? Or do facts exist that
are not presented, that. would
refute the conclusions of the
book? Of this, not a single
solidarity word. _

The same journal, like the

Ryerson answers critics
of “Founding of Canada’

Dalhousie Review, which
“found little that was new” in
the book, objects that “it sim-
ply follows the lines familiar
in» most histories of the
period.” It is true that I resist-
ed the temptation to write it
backwards, starting with the
present and moving happily in
reverse to the Stone Age and
beyond: a method seriously
suggested by some U.S. educa-
tional experts as a means of
livening up the teaching of his-
tory. It is also true that I claim
no more, from the outset, than
to indicate very roughly the!
lines of a new approach. But
the critics owe their readers at
least some smattering of evi-
dence to back up their asser-
tions.

STANLEY RYERSON

The fact of the matter is,
that there IS a bit that is new,
at least as compared with past
treatment of the subject by
Canadian bourgeois historians.
The evolution from primitive
communal to slave-owning so-
ciety, the emergence of capi-
talist relations in New France,
the relation of the English,
American and French revolu-
tions to Canadian develop-
ment, the treatment of the
War of 1812 and of class forces
in relation to national identity
in early Canada; all pointing.
to a different appreciation of
the role of the people, and first
of all of the w°rking people in
shaping history. If this has
been already dealt with else-
where the critics should say
so, and say where. (Since they
do no such thing, the practical
effect of their telling readers
“There’s nothing new’ is not
much different from _ the
silence of the press, alleging

_points of
analysis. To mention but three

that the book does not exist). ©

In any event, the nub of the
question is this: does the
Marxist view of the “natural
process” of one social system
following another, born of
struggle, based on labor—does
this enable one to grasp in a
new way the WHY of Can-
ada’s founding and develop-
ment? This question, as yet is
simply evaded by the learned
critics.

e

N marked contrast with the
| rather facile evasions here
referred to, the extensive (and
generous) review that appear-
ed in Questions of History
deals seriously and concrete-
ly with a whole number of
interpretation and

of them: it raises questions
about the evaluation of Samuel
Champlain — the relation be-
tween his humanist passion for
“widening man’s knowledge of
the. world” and his role as
initiator of the policy of ruth-
less subjugation of the native
Indian peoples; and of. the

‘Quebec Act (1774) as directed.

against the Canadian settlers
and not only . against. the
threatening revolt in the Thir-
teen American colonies. I
hope to return to some of these
points of substance and also-
to some points regarding the
War of 1812, the emerging na-
tional element in Canada in its
larger imperial framework. I
mention them here to illus-

trate the importance of con-:

creteness, for any serious dis-
cussion.

To further the debate on this’
particular sector of the discus-
sion of Marxism — and inter-
est in this historical sector is!
bound to grow as we approach
the Centennial of Confedera-

tion — two things seem needs:
ful.
One is vigorous discussion

in left circles of a wide range
of fundamental Canadian prob-:
lems; the other is a conscious:
effort on the part of the Left
to “break through” to wider
circles, to enter into debate on’
all manner of questions of our
present, past and future.

NDING a career of over

half a tentury on the stage,
China’s. greatest actor, Mei
Lan-fang, passed away on
August 8th at the age of
sixty-seven years, a victim of
heart disease.

One of the greatest person-
alities in the development of
the world-famed Peking Opera,
Mei Lan-fang was noted for
his exquisite acting, melodious
singing voice, and bold re-
sourcefulness in the realm of
opera and Chinese folk stage.
To many who mourn his death,
Mei Lan-fang was the “Sheake-
sneare of China’, the master
artist who created as well ‘as
preserved the beauty, social
content and simplicity of the
Chinese stage. EES

From the age of 8 years
until his death: Mei. Lan-fang
dedicated his entire life to the
stage,’ and upon ‘which. he
blended and preserved the cul-
tures of ancient China with the
new. Throughout his years
with the Peking Opera Mei
Lan-fang always played the

Famed Peking Opera

Ses
delicate and difficult role of
female impersonation. Very
few, and’ least of all non-
Chinese audiences would ever
have imagined that the beauti-
ful. and graceful “prima don-
na” of the Peking Opera was
the 60-year or, over .Mei ,Lan-
fang. 5

During the 8 years of Japan-
ese occupation and Kuoming-

tang oppression the master

Star Dies

female impersonator grew a
mustache and flatly refused to

| give any performances to the’

Japanese invaders or their
Koumingtang allies.

Following Liberation and:
the creation of the new Re-
public of China, Mei Lan-fang
returned to the stage and gave
of his great artistic talents to
the people. Despite many

| pressing calls on his time in

the Peking Opera perform-
ances, much of his “spare”
time went into the training of
newcomers to opera and stage
art.

At the time of his death Mei
Lan-fang was a deputy to the
National Peoples’ Congress
(Parliament), a leading direc-
tor and artist of the Peking
Opera, president of the Chin-
ese Opera Institute and vice-
chairman of both the Union of
Stage Artists and the Federa-
tion. of. Literary and Art
Circles. Mei. Lan-fang was also
a highly honored and active
member of the Communist
Party of China. T.McE.

September 8, 1961—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5~

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