Warsaw | Drary A Canadian writer reports from the World Peace Congress WARSAW, November 16 OTHING can stop the decisions of the Second World Con- gress of the Defenders of Peace from spreading across all the frontiers of the world. This was the keynote sounded at the impressive opening of the Congress tonight by its presi- dent, Frederick Joliot-Curie, the famous French scientist. “We will impose the will of the people every time peace is threatened,” he declared. plan war was greeted by This challenge to those who the most thunderous applause. . ~ . . . es joliot-Curie denounced strongly the action of the British government in sabotaging «plans to hold the Congress in Sheffield, but .he added that though the site of the conference may be important, the subject— peace—is far more important. In other words, in our indignation over the deeds of the Labor gov- ernment, we must not lose sight of the fact that the fight for peace transcends the issue of Sheffield. Indeed, he put the events at Sheffield in their proper perspec- tive when he said, “by trying to stifle the voice of peace, they (the Labor government) have exalted the efforts of those who fight to impose peace.” : Joliot-Curie paid tribute to “our British friends’ who, he said, had been betrayed “by a government which was ready to falsify the Congress or to render it impos- sible.” He charged that by mask-~ ing its intentions the British gov- ernment had practically banned the Congress. His reference was to the manner in which Prime Minister Attlee had assured the Defenders of Peace he would not ban the Sheffield meeting and then sought to accomplish that very end, underhandedly, by ban- ning the delegates. Incidentally, the Warsaw papers today pub- lished the full text of a letter Attlee sent to all British missions abroad as long ago as last August giving them instructions to assist in sabotaging the Congress. “Our ,indignation,” said Joliot- Curie, “is that of all people who eonsider peace their greatest treasure.’ ’ He remarked that the presence of all the delegations—more than 2,000 persons in all—in spite of the obstructions placed in their way “proves that all of us here understand our responsibilities and nothing has prevented us from demonstrating this.” He thanked the Polish and Czech people for the tremendous job they had done in bringing all the delegates to Warsaw and the Polish people in particular for the amazing organizational job they had accomplished in scarcely no time at all. He said they were able to do this “because all citi- zens of these countries, headed by their governments, are deeply attached to the cause we are de- fending.’ ee Arrangements for the Congress are simply incredible. It is being held in a brand new building which, when the Congress is over, will become the largest printing plant in Europe and the home of the Polish Word, one,of Warsaw’s 13 daily newspapers. space is at least equal to the whole of Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens and far bigger than the Exhibition Forum in Vancouver. There is row after row of pin- new desks each fitted out with earphones over which one may hear the speakers in any one of eight different languages. Interior decorations for , the Congress, prepared in two days, are magnificent. Along the walls - are huge plaSter statues of god- like men and women and in the outstretched arm of each is a dove of peace. All one wall of the building, behind the vast plat- form for members of the World Committee, is festooned with the national flags of the 74° partici- pating nations. Across the center of the build- ing is a huge glass decoration ~with the word peace written in German, Polish, Russian, English, Italian and French. It reads: “Paix,” “Mir,” ‘‘Paz,” ‘“Pokoj,” “Prieden,” and “Peace.” «In; the maze of lobbies there are photo- graphic displays from almost every nation. A veritable mus- eum of international friendship -and understanding. But perhaps the exterior was an even more impressive sight. The building stands on a large square and this was decorated with flags, bunting, peace doves and several large statues, all specially made for the Congress. In large letters across the top of the building is written, in several languages, “Second World Cong- ress of the Defenders of Peace.” And the entire. spectacle is light- ed with great spotlights, and mas- sive brass urns holding flares. There were ‘huge crowds — al- most the whole of Warsaw—on hand to cheer the delegates as they entered and as they left.” e a ay November 17 A clear-cut proposal that all the great powers reduce the pre- sent strength of their armed for-_ ces by one half during the next two years —. making the reduc- _ tion by stages and under strict international contro] — was made today by the Soviet delegation to the Second World Congress of he Defenders of Peace. ~ The proposal, which would “be a sure guarantee of lasting peace if accepted by the West, was made by Alexander Fadeyev, au- thor,. chairman of the Peace Committee. Obviously, Fa- deyev’s. statement may be taken The floor ~ Soviet. . By RAY GARDNER as meaning the Soviet govern- ment would ‘accept such a plan. His proposal also called for the banning of atomic and bacterio- logical weapons and other arms of terror and mass destruction, controlled by the United Nations. In a-voice ringing with convic- tion and sincerity, Fadeyev pro- posed that the Congress demand that the great powers proceed during 1951 and 1952 with ‘the uniform and progressive reduc- - (Inset, above Dr. Leopold Infeld. \ tion of all armed forces on land, sea and in the air to one half of their present number. There should be established in the UN Security Council international control of arms to see that this disarmament project is strictly adhered to by all nations. He emphasized that the con- trols must be effective and that these would permit investiga- tions to be made of any suspi- cion of arms production in any country. au The Congress, recognizing the tremendous importance of the proposal and Fadeyev’s obvious sincerity in making it, demon- strated its approval by cheering and clapping for several minutes. e “The proposal is ‘as simple as it is sweeping. It obviously con- tains no special advantage for the Soviet Union, other than it, along with all other countries, would share in the peace that such a reduction of arms would ensure. Undoubtedly, the Western Pow- ers will try to discredit the pro- posals, but in reality, they will not have a leg to stand on. In effect, the Soviet Union: says: “We will slash our ‘armaments by half over the next two year's if you will agree to do the same. We, along with you, will sub- mit to international controls to .see no one breaks this agree- ment. And we're prepared, if you are, to allow on-the-spot inspection whenever fear arises that the bargain is being broken.” What could be more clear and reasonable than that? With great passion Fadeyev exposed and denounced the war plans of the U.S. government and its lesser partner, the Labor government of Britain. The Labor government, he said was becoming so aggressive that it was now frightened of the famous scientist Professor Joliot- Curie and the composer Shos- takovich. But the people of Britain want peace no less than the people of other countries, Fadeyev said. The difficulty is that the people of Britain do not all realize how aggressive their government has become and how it is leading the people into war. “Hirst and f--?most. the Labor government is afraid of the /peace-loving aspirations of its own people,” he declared. “The Stockholm Appeal had been a great success because it proved that people of different outlooks can actually reach agreement on conerete proposals for world peace.” Agreement could be reached on concrete issues of peace with the people of Ame- rica, England and Canada, he said. A new world war is knocking at the door, he emphasized, but ‘of the United States he made it clear the Defenders of Peace could and must find measures to prevent the outbreak of war. , He expressed his and the Con- gress’ indignation over the mur- derous attack on Korea. A country of 30 million people had been reduced to a heap of ashes, its cities scorched and trampled on, its land flooded with the blood of its children. The crimes of the Nazis have come to life again, he said. And why had the small coun- try of Korea been raped by one of the ‘world’s most powerful nations? ‘Maybe Korea has tried to seize the territory of the United States?” he asked, with biting scorn. And then answered himself with an in- dignant “No”. ‘ Without mentioning ‘him by name, Fadeyev said that Truman, the president of the country which had committed this mon- strous crime, had called it his greatest contribution to the causé of peace. Fadeyev suggested that the U.S. bring five Korean women to the U.S. and let them tell meetings at schools, universities and factories of what they have seen with their own eyes. “It will be even better if MacArthur would appear,” he said. “Every adult and child would rather believe the Korean people than the entire propaganda machine govern- ment.” He criticized the U.S. for re- fusing to hear the representa- tives of the Korean people, for refusing to listen to China and for refusing to listen to any proposals for ending the conflict, regardless of their source. But even so, America’s stay in Korea has been no picnic. “Now it is clear,” he said, “that Ame- rican aggression could not be- come a short pleasure drive over the cornses of the Korean peo- ple.” “The aggressor is stuck in Korea and his victory is doubt ful to say the least,” he said. Korea, as any other state, has: a right to an independent exis- tence, he said. The UN could and should promote a peaceful settlement in Korea. But, Fadeyev continued, re- militarization of Western Ger- many is a greater threat to peace and could lead to another world wide catastrophe.’ “It is not necessary to be a statesman but only to be able to read or write a little to understand this,” he said. He said *the overseas partners in the Atlantic Pact were. not anxious to send soldiers to fight in Europe but were planning to have German, Belgium, French and other European soldiers to do their fighting for them and shed their blood in the interests of American , monopolies. To gain this end, they were holding out the prospects of a comfort-. (Continued on next page) Two years ago this Canadian youth delegation received a warm reception from the people of Warsaw. ¢ PACIFIC TRIBUNE — DECEMBER 1, 1950 — PAGE 4