-SINKIANG a

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MANCHURIA
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>A het
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- Change sweeps over
. China’s grasslands .

PEKING

‘WO days’ ride over the rough

mountain path to the north-
west of Yenki, chief town of
the Baingol Mongolian Auto-
nonomous Chou in the centre
of Sinkiang Province, brought
me to the snow-capped Tien-
shan range which cuts the pro-
vince in two.

Between the range on which
I stood and another parallel
range far away in the dis-
tance lay a huge expanse of
grassland, verdant and beauti-
ful. The Kaitu wound its lazy
course through and around a
maze of lakes, large and small
. .. Yiver and lakes all fed by
melting snows from the moun-
tain ‘slopes. White swans and
wild geese with lovely plum-
age flew above the waters, or
floated idly upon them. ~

The mountain ranges on both
Sides of the plain are thick
with pines and cypresses.

The grasslands are called
Rainbloc by the five thousand
Mongolian herdsmen and hun-
ters who live there. Beside the
lakes and the river the yurts
are dotted, with the smoke
from their chimneys hanging
like greyish pennants in the
blue. -And, even more thickly,
the grassland is dotted. with
countless cattle. and sheep.

ata

When I came down to the
grasslands, I found it was the
beginning of Takru, the har-
vest festival. It is held after
the snows havé melted, when
the grassland has put on. its
green mantie, the cattle have
ealved and the sheep have
dropped their lambs. see

Yurts and stalls have bee
erected in rows in such a way
as to form several “streets”.
At the “commerical hub,” as it
were, I found the tents of the
state trading company, private
shops, restaurants, barbers,
shoemakers, tailors and what
not, all doing a brisk business.

Oj

The whole area lives mainly
by its herds and by hunting. In
1950, just after liberation, there
were 170,000 head of livestock
in the whole of the country

.

By TING HO

district. By 1954 it reached
over 300,000.

The people’s government has
taken a number of measures
to help the herdsmen increase
output.

For example, in 1953 the gov-
ernment lent them 40 Sinkiang
rams and also set up an arti-
ficial insemination ¢entre at
Balutai, free of charge, to cross
this strain with the local’ ewes.
The government also lent stud-
stallions and pedigree bulls.
These measures have done
much to improve the herds.

The state trading company
has established a network all
over the region. Mobile “shops”
make periodic visits to every
part of the grassland with
flour, cloth, sugar, tea and oth-
er necessities
tities and at reasonable prices.

How the people’s livelihood
has improved is best illustrated
by Atuhai, a typical herdsman
with whom_I talked.

’Ahuhai had spent the best
part of his life roving the grass
land. He had worked for a
cattle-owner for years without
ever acquiring any cattle of
his own. ;

Then, in 1953, the people’s
government gave him 44 ewes
and two cows, and he began
to lead a settled life. A year
later his ewes had produced
31 lambs and the cows were
in calf. For him it was a
dream come true.

Then there was Yinkai, the
hunter. Before liberation he
had one nondescript horse of
his own. He made a living,
such as it was, by tending the
horses of others. He ate what
he could get, which wasn’t
much, had a shabby cloth coat
to wear and an ancient sheep-
skin for a bed.

Now he owns 19 horses and
two dozen yaks. On the pro-
ceeds of his hunting of beavers,
wolves and foxes he makes en-
ough to keep his whole family
the year round in flour and
meat. Last year, too, the peo-
ple’s government awarded hi

a handsome money prize for

catching 14 wolves. aes
I was struck by the quality
of the suit he had’ on when I
met him. Seeing as much in
my look, he grinned and said,
“Yes, in the past you wouldn’t

in large quan-.

have found the chief in our —

clan wearing one like this!”

O

Around the bookstall at. the
fair I found crowds of people,
all buying books, pens, pen-
cils, note-books and paper.

In the grassland the age of

-ignorance has gone by. Once,

if a herdsman needed to have
something written; he might
well have to make a one or
two-day journey to find some-
one to write it for him.

Now there are two primary
schools in the grasslands, from
which a number of the pupils
have gone on to Yenki for sec-
ondary education.

In the midst of the crowd, —
I noticed a middle-aged couple.
The man had on a brown wool-.

len suit and long boots. The
woman was wearing a blue
gown of flowered weave, and
silver ornaments in her hair.
The man was carrying a
plump, jolly little girl, and the
woman stood by, playing with
her.

I got into conversation with
them, and learnt that they had
been married for 14 years and
had seven babies, but the little
girl was the only one who had
survived. All the others had
died, victims of the dreaded

hereditary syphilis which had ©

been endemic among the peo-
ple of the grassland for genera-
tions. - {¢

In the fall of 1952, when the
woman was carrying her sev-
enth child, a health centre
came to the grasslands. She

went there for an prenatal ex-

amination. The trouble was
diagnosed, and she was cured.
Next spring she bore a child,
the first-fruit of their marri-
age: it was the daughter they
new held in their arms.

The happy parents and the

bonny little girl, the herdsman

and hunter celebrating, the fes-
tival, the general air of grow-
ing prosperity—these are only
a few indications of what it
means for people to become
their own masters, able to de-
cide their own destiny. And
if they have done so much
in a few years, who can even
guess what the future of the
grasslands will be?

SUB SCORE

1,500
112

TARGET:
_. RECEIVED:

*

LAKE COWICHAN
SHOWS THE WAY

Dear Keader:

I’ve just returned from Lake Cowichan, and if the
example set by our press supporters in that district
is any indication of what is going on in other provin-
cial points, then the success of our drive for 1,500
new subs and renewals is assured. ; ¢ ¥}
The score for Lake Cowichan is 14 NEW subs and |

“8 renewals in the first week of the circulation cam-_

paign. With 22 subs on a target of
35, and five weeks to go, members |
of our Lake Cowichan press club
are out to double their quota before
November 1.

How did they get all those new
readers? That is an interesting story, _
and Y’ll tell it so that other places —
can try the same idea.

For several weeks press club mem-
bers in Lake Cowichan have been
mailing sample copies of the Pacific Tribune to a selected
list of trade unionists and progressive people in the
community. When I arrived to give them a hand,
they were all ready with a plan of work. In company —
with various press club members, I visited 15 potential .
readers who had been on the sample mailing list— .
and 14 of them became subscribers on the spot!

Most of our new readers said something like this:

“Thank the people who introduced the paper to
us. The first couple of weeks I didn’t read it very
thoroughly, because it seemed quite a bit different
from the other papers. Then I found myself becoming
more interested in what the. Pacific Tribune had to —
say, and now I feel I wouldn’t want to do without it.”

In Duncan, also, four-new readers were signed
up, and some renewals obtained. ne

This weekend V’ll be on the road again, heading —
north on Vancouver Island for Campbell River and
other centres. I hope the results will be as good as
in the Lake Cowichan. district.

Meanwhile things are beginning to get rolling in
Greater Vancouver, with about 60 subs turned in.
Tempo will have to increase in the next few weeks to
top the, city’s target of 800 subs, however.

If EVERY supporter of the progressive press
would make an effort to sign up ONE new reader our
circulation would show a decided jump. . Perhaps the
premium offer printed below will be of some help.

Sos Rita Whyte |

PREMIUM OFFER
Fill in ae form
(PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION OFFER)
(Expires November 1)

Circulation Dept., Pacific Tribune
Room 6, 426 Main St, Vancouver 4, B.C.

PLEASE SEND ME (Indicate Your Choice):
(0 False Witness

[] He Wrote For Us

And one year’s subscription to Pacific Tribune

INES Gee ee een Sey Se ee ee
ig: Cee aoce tessa 22 Same aL ere man ee Seren aes
I enclose $3.50
(1) CHEQUE (1) MONEY ORDER CASH

- PACIFIC TRIBUNE — SEPTEMBER 23, 1955 — PAG

E 0