Rev. A.E. Smith
and Eight Men Speak |

The recent publication of Eight
Men Speak and Other Plays from
the Canadian Workers’ Theatre
(New Hogtown Press) recalls the
involvement of the head of the

Canadian Labor Defence League,
the late Rev. A.E. Smith.

In his autobiography, All My
Life (temporarily out of print) he
describes his role in the defence of

Tim Buck and others jailed under
Section 98 of the Criminal Code,
and how his protest against the
banning of Eight Men Speak re-
sulted in his own arrest. These

Jean Paré’s clear, rumbling
voice will no longer be heard in
.the halls, and councils of the
trade union movement of
Canada and Quebec. On July
11 at the Sacre Coeur Hospital
in Montreal, Jean Paré died of
cancer.

Vice-president of the United
Electrical workers (UE), an
executive member of the
Montreal Labor Council, a
member of the provincial
council of the Quebec Federa- &
tion of Labor, and long stand-
ing member of the Communist
Party of Canada, he was univ-  ~
ersally recognized as an out-
standing working class fighter

dent trade union movement.

our union.”

Communist Party.

memory will remain ever green.”’

Death of Jean Pare
an irreparable loss

for peace, the unity of the working class in English-speaking
and French Canada, and for a sovereign, united, and indepen-

The UE described his passing as a “‘great loss suffered by
our union and the working class movement .
he served UE, (1945-77) he never waivered i in the struggle to
defend the union against the reactionary Duplessis regime in
Quebec and against those in labor’s ranks who sought to
destroy us. Jean’s long and faithful service will always be
remembered by the National officers and the membership of

.. Inall the years

Sam Walsh, president of the Parti Communiste du Quebec,
of which Paré was a member of the national committee, said
his death was ‘‘a terrible loss for the working class and the
trade union movement of Quebec, and a severe blow to the

The Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party
of Canada sent condolences to his wife noting, ‘‘Jean will be
sorely missed in the councils of the working class movement in
our country, particularly Quebec, for his deep understanding
of the problems facing the working people, and his militant and
courageous leadership. A real son of the working class, an
outstanding fighter for a just and lasting world peace, his

excerpts are reprinted by permis-
sion of the publisher (Progress
Books):

“TI had spoken at a meeting in
Hygeia Hall on January 17 (1934).
I told the story of our delegation
to Mr. Bennett (the prime minis-
ter) on the shooting of Tim Buck.
I told how Mr. Bennett received
us and what he said. I charged his
government ‘ with responsibility
for this attempted assassination of
the leacer of the Communist Par-
ty. Detectives Nursey and Mann
had given a report of my speech.
Somewhere a decision had been
made to charge me with sedition.
It was an attempt to silence our
campaign. The ‘Red Squad’ had
deliberately distorted my words.
Apparently with an eye to the sed-
ition charge, they quoted me as
saying that Mr. Bennett had per-
sonally arranged the shooting.

‘*This public meeting had been
called to make a protest against an
action of the Henry Provincial
Government. They had
threatened the Strand Theatre
people on Spadina Avenue with
loss of their license if they permit-
ted a second performance of a
play called ‘Eight Men Speak.’
The play had brought out an
overflow crowd. Strong demands
were made for a repeat perfor-
mance. In the meantime the
police commission in Toronto, in
its supreme wisdom, asked the
‘Red Squad’ to make a report on
the character of the play. With
qualifications that would not ena-
ble them to examine a horse’s
mouth, these new-found drama
critics handed in a report saying
the play should be banned.

*‘Later on in March the truth
definitely came out that Mr. Ben-
nett had received a copy of this
play through the R.C.M.P., and
had made no effort to keep the
Toronto authorities from know-

The late A.E. Smith, head of the Canadian Labor Defence League. ©

ing how indignant he was to think
that they would permit it to be
staged. The ukase addressed to
the theatre owner was the result.
So the Progressive Arts Club was
denied the use of the theatre.
‘But the. personal role of Mr.
Bennett did not stop there. The
unfolding of events left no doubt
of his influence in my indictment

**Hardly was the ink dry on the
indictment than the workers’ or-
ganizations across Canada roused
themselves into action. Protest
resolutions and telegrams poured
in to the government . Inva
month some of the’ largest mass
rallies ever seen in Canadian labor
history were taking place ...

‘*Speaking at the packed Mas-
sey Hall meeting of February 4, I
declared: ‘Tonight I stand before
you indicted for sedition because
I undertook — and I will continue
to undertake — to press insis-
tently for an open, penetrating in-
quiry into conditions at Kingston
Penitentiary where an attempt
was made to shoot Tim Buck in
cold blood. Mr. Bennett hides be-
hind the dicks who are sitting in
this hall tonight trying to catch me

in words that can be twisted 10
their purpose. Who is the great
Caesar in Ottawa that he orders
the imprisonment of this one and
the deportation of that one?
“« Why, man, he doth bestride thé
narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty
men -
Walk under his huge legs and
peep about
To find ourselves dishonorable
graves.

. Now, in the names of all thé
gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this on
Caesar feed
That he is grown so great?’

“These lines of Shakespeafé
evoked. thunderous applausé
They expressed in irony thé
people’s challenge to the Bi
Shot.”

The A.E. Smith defence wa
one of the rare occasions, #
Canada when a mass _protes!
movement was sparked by. the
banning of a play.

A.E. Smith was acquitted by a
jury. Later the same year, Tif
Buck and his seven fellow
prisoners were released.
ee oF

More on the Soviet constitution Pe By ALFRED DEWHURST

In this 60th Anniversary Year of the
October Socialist Revolution, the
Soviet people are discussing the draft of
a new Constitution of the USSR.

This being the fourth constitution ina
period of 60 years, editorial scribes of
the capitalist press are making much
ado about the ‘‘non-permanency”’ of
Soviet constitutions, as compared with
the ‘“‘permanancy”’ of bourgeois con-
stitutions. What these bourgeois de-
tractors are really complaining about is
not this at all.

What they are really deploring is the
very existence of a developed mature
socialist state, and the existence of a
growing community of socialist states.
They would prefer a no-growth situa-
tion for socialism that would have no
need of new constitutions to record
new plateaus of all round socialist
development and of socialist democra-

. cy. In fact, they would wish socialism
away if they could.
* *

*

What changes have taken place in the

USSR in the past 40 years that warrant
a new constitution? We will single out
the chief changes in Soviet society that
make it necessary to update the
constitution.
Firstly, agieveloped mature socialist
- seciety has been built in the USSR.
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JULY 22, 1977—Page 6

Marxism-Leninism in Today’s World —

This has brought about fundamental
changes in all areas of social life.
Socialist forms of ownership have
triumphed over the entire country,
which is an integral, federal multi-
national state formed on the basis of the
voluntary union of 15 equal Soviet
socialist republics, having the right
freely to secede from the USSR. The
single economic system is developing
steadily on the basis of combining the
achievements of the scientific and tech-
nical revolution and the advantages of
the planned economy of the socialist
system.
Ok * *

Secondly, Soviet society has becomé
much more homegenous. The differ-
ences between the principal social
groups — the working class, the collec-
tive farmers and the people’s intellec-
tuals have narrowed considerably. The
country’s many nations and
nationalities have been drawn closer
together as a result of socialist
development. A new historical com-
munity of people — the Soviet people
— has emerged.

Thirdly, with the building of mature
socialism, when all strata of the popula-
tion were won to the ideological and

political positions of the working class ©

as a result of the political guidance of
the Communist Party, the Soviet state
which began as the dictatorship of the
proletariat evolved into the state of the

whole people.

Fourthly, the capitalist encirclement
of the USSR no longer exists. Socialism
has become a world system and a
mighty socialist community has
emerged. The positions of world
capitalism have been weakened con-
siderably. Many new states, former
colonies, are now in the anti-imperialist
camp. There now exists a real possibil-
ity of averting a third world war.

All of these basic changes are elabo-
rated and codified in the new draft of
the constitution.

* * *

Based on these fundamental changes
in Soviet society and in the world, the
new draft further expands and develops
socialist democracy. The rights of
Soviet citizens (men and women alike),
including their economic rights and
freedoms are enshrined in the
constitution.

All citizens are guaranteed the right

to work, to rest, to health protection, to

maintenance in old age, sickness, disa |.
bility or loss of breadwinners, the right
to housing, to education and the use 0
cultural achievements. They have th¢
right to take part in the administratio#
of state and public affairs, to submit t0

‘state bodies and public organizations

proposals for improving their activity;
to criticize their shortcomings in work.

The exercise of rights and freedoms
are declared inseparable from the
duties of citizenship. Citizens shall bé
obliged to observe the constitution:
Soviet laws, to work conscientiously:
safeguard and fortify socialist property:
to respect the national dignity of othe!
citizens, to fortify the friendship of na
tions and nationalities of the Sovie
multi-national state.

_ The draft states that it is the intel
nationalist duty of citizens of the USS
to further the development of friend
ship and cooperation with peoples of
other countries, the maintenance and
‘consolidation of world peace.

* * *

There can be no doubt that the new
Constitution of thé USSR will show thé
world how the socialist state develop®
by establishing socialist democracy?
and will vividly demonstrate wh® |
socialist democracy is like and what itS |
essence is.