Dr. Rendar Bethune

Saga of a great Canadian

November 13, 1969 marked the
30th anniversary of the death on
the fighting front in China of
Norman Bethune as a partici-
pant of the great struggles of
the Chinese people for liberation
and socialism.

As a surgeon, Dr. Bethune is
famous for his contribution to
Canadian medical practise, and
his invention of new surgical de-
vices. He was a member of the
Communist Party of Canada and
in that fact may be found the
roots of his special contribution
to the cause of Man, and his
greatness as a doctor. He used
his profession in the revolution-
ary cause of humanity’s eman-
cipation. He understood the his-
toric role of the working class,
joined it and contributed his
talents to it.

Mayakovsky put it in words:

“All

my thundering power of
a poet
is yours,

my class
waging rightful battles!”

In the same sense, Norman
Bethune said: All my creative
power as a surgeon, is yours,
my class.

It is in Dr. Bethune’s writings

that his humanism is blended
with his communist convictions.
The essay “Wounds,” written by
Norman Bethune in 1939, is full
of compassion and love for hu-
man beings, combined with
hatred for the exploitive capital-
ist system.

He asks, in anguish, “How
can that heal? How can those
muscles, once so strong, now so
torn, so devastated, so ruined,
resume their proud tension? How
beautiful the body is; how per-
fect its parts; with what preci-
sion it moves; how obedient,
proud and strong. How terrible
when torn. The little flame of
life sinks lower and lower, and
with a flicker, goes out .. .”

Every life to him was sacred
so that “sleep will not come.”
He pin-points the cause of “this
cruelty, this stupidity” in a con-
demnation of capitalism:

“What do these enemies of the
human race look like? Do they

wear on their foreheads a sign

that they may be told, shunned
and condemned as criminals. No.
On the contrary they are the
respectable ones. They are hon-
ored. They call themselves, and
are called gentlemen. What a
travesty on the name, Gentle-

USSR, Turkey improve
good neighbor relations

By BERT WHYTE

Extensive coverage was given
in the Soviet press to the first-
ever visit of a head of the
Turkish State to the U.S.S.R.
Confidence is expressed that
talks with President Cevdet
Sunay will help develop friendly
relations between the two coun-
tries. :

At a luncheon in honor of the
Turkish President, Nikolai Pod-
gorny noted that trade and eco-
nomic ties between the U.S.S.R.
and Turkey are developing suc-
cessfully and some progress has
been achieved in political rela-
tions.

“The Soviet Union and the Re-
public of Turkey have a long
ground frontier which should
remain a frontier of peace, tran-
quility and mutual coopera-
tion,’ said Podgorny. “The
shores of the U.S.S.R. and Tur-
key are washed by the waters
of the Black Sea. It can be said
that this sea does not separate
but it unites our neighboring
countries.”

Replying to Podgorny, the
President of Turkey - observed
with satisfaction that on certain
questions “our viewpoints are
similar or close to each other...
Turkey is willing to maintain
good relations with countries
surrounding it, particularly with
its great neighbor, the Soviet
Union.”

An article in Pravda by its
Ankara correspondent notes
that in the past three years
Soviet-Turkish trade turnover
almost doubled. A big metallur-
gical complex will be built with
Soviet assistance at Iskenderun.

Turkish newspapers hail the
“summit visits’ of heads of
State. The paper Ulus_ says:
“Under the trade and economic
agreements the Soviet Union
will build in Turkey a number
of industrial enterprises and
will give Turkey long-term cre-

dits on easy terms for this pur-
pose.”

Other interesting develop-
ments took place this week in
the field of Soviet trade and
foreign relations. The Soviet
Union signed an agreement to
sell Algeria more oil-drilling
equipment and train Algerian
workers to operate it. A Soviet

government delegation flew to

Guinea for talks on further ex-
tension of economic and techni-
cal cooperation.

- The Soviet Union and Ecua-
dor confirmed their readiness to

elevate their missions to ‘the

rank of embassies.

In Moscow an agreement on
widening trade relations between
the U.S.S.R. and the Sudan was
signed. The Soviet Union is ex-
porting tractors, trucks, chemi-
cal goods, fabrics and watches;
it imports cotton and other agri-
cultural products from the
Sudan. :

men! They are the pillars of the

state, of the church, of society.

They support private and public
charity out of the excess of their
wealth. They endow institutions.

In their private lives they are :

kind and considerate . .. But
there is one sign by which these
gentle gunmen can be told.
Threaten a reduction on the pro-

’ fit of their money and the beast

in them awakes with a snarl...
Such men as these must perish
if the human race is to continue.
There can be no permanent peace
in the world while they live .. .”

Dr. Norman Bethune belonged
to that generation of Canadians
who were caught up in the
mighty swell of the Marxist
movement in the 1930’s, when
the Communist Party of Canada
introduced the new CAnBEDIA of
that day.

He is a part of eavaaian his-
tory. He is part of the glorious
tradition of class struggle for a
better world—for socialism. His
contribution and his works reach
out across the decades to the
passionate and dedicated strug-
gles of Canada’s working class
and to the surging youth, who
are struggling in the tradition

’ that he helped to create.

CONCERN

FOR YOUTH

“The Communists certainly

‘take more care of their stu-

dents than we do,” said Mr.
Real Caouette when speaking
in the House of Commons on
November 12 in the debate on
the government's proposal to
authorize banks dnd credit in-
stitutions to loan up to $115
millions to Canadian students.
~Mr. Caouette emphasized
that in communist countries

. not only is education open
to all students but they also re-
ceive a monthly salary.

“If tomorrow a war were to
break out,”’ exclaimed the Cre-
ditiste leader, “the govern-
ment seated in front of me
would find billions of dollars to
enlist the youth because it
would consider that an emer-
gency situation.”

—La Presse, Montreal.

that country on the spot.

conform to reality.

idea of us.

Come see for yourself

In addressing the editorial board of the World Marxist
Review, comrade Gustav Husak invited fraternal Commun-
ist parties to go to Czechoslovakia to study the politics of

“I wish to add that any fraternal party,
has any-unclarity on the position in Czechoslovakia, we
are always willing to invite delegations from fraternal par-
ties to study things on the spot, to see what the position is
really like so that the Party membership shall not be under
the influence of capitalist propaganda. Such delegations
can directly convince themselves what line the Party is pur-
suing; how it goes about its work; See the wide range of
democracy in our society, and whether or not our words

“T think such a frank approach would be right, especial-
ly in the case of fraternal parties having doubts of any kind
about Czechoslovakia. Let them dispel their doubts with our
own help, by discussing them with us. Let them talk with our
working people and visit our factories so that they could

- orientate correctly their own parties ‘and have a correct

"he said, “if it

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 21, 1969—PAGE6 >.

Communist hero Bethune
was true internationalist

On the 30th anniversary of the
death of Norman Bethune, who
died in the front lines in China

“on November 13, 1939, the Com-

munist Party of Canada honors
one of its hero members.

Doctor Norman Bethune,
Montreal surgeon, was an ex-
ample of true working-class in-
ternationalism. He went. to
Spain to join the Loyalists in
their struggle against fascism.
His unique contribution was to
take a blood transfusion unit,
for the first time in the history
His contribution pioneered many
of warfare, into the front lines.
of the processes that are used
today to prevent unnecessary
deaths in warfare.

In 1938 he returned to Canada,

and crossed the ‘country in a
dramatic tour in which he arous-
ed the conscience of many thou-
sands of Canadians to defend
Spain against the fascist aggres-
sors, warning that Spain’s defeat
meant that another world war
might be inevitable. .

Back in Canada only a few
months, ‘Doctor. Bethune, inspir-
éd by the heroic struggles of the
Chinése people for liberation and
socialism, journeyed to that
country. He undertook the task
of attending to the wounded in

the front lines. He trained medi-

‘munist hero is becoming

cal teams, and set up mili?
hospitals. ;
In the course of his ne
work he operated without Pr |
equipment, contracted bl Jood P”
soning, and died. chit
In Canada, Spain and qo
he gave everything he had endl’
knowledge, strength al 1
rance to the cause of
tional and social liberation os 6
gave his life so that ® gj
might live in peace, freedo™
democracy, which to him é the
meaning unless linked ° det
cause of socialism. He
took his duties as a Comm
He died a Communist. Hi
lives as a Communist.
’ During his lifetime thé veel’
mass media suppressed on a ‘
stood and died for. In mo ns
cent history, the legend ° )
life has become more cot ft
that more and more the

a
Ze 3
Se US

Canadian hero, wn
In tribute to an outstinn
Canadian and outstanding 7 ay |
munist, we keep alive aM pl ‘
sure Norman Bethune’s & alist
of patriotism, internation 0
and selfless dedication vial! |
cause of national and s0°
beration. ‘
—Central Executive coms, ,

Communist Party of

Retired Canadian officers met
for a reunion dinner in Toronto
Nov. 14 and regaled one another
with reminiscences how — with
Ottawa’s “unofficial” blessing—
they acted as spies for the CIA

and the U.S. military while os-

tensibly serving as United Na-
tions peacemakers in Vietnam.

Telegram staff reporter Robert
Sutton told the story in a front-
page story on Nov. 15 captioned
“Canadian ICC officer dealt with
CIA”:

“A former Canadian brigadier

“told last night how he passed

information to the U.S. Central
Intelligence Agency while seyv-
ing with the International Con-
trol Commission in Vietnam.

“Thirty-three retired Canadian
Officers, veterans of the ICC
peacekeeping operations during
the past 15 years, met for a re-
union dinner at the Royal Cana-
dian Military Institute.

“If the External Affairs De-
partment knew officially that I
talked with the CIA they would
have been angry about it,’ said
Brig. Donald Ketcheson. ‘But
they knew unofficially, and look-
ed the other way.’

“He was senior Canadian ICC
officer in 1958-59, before the first
major U.S. involvement.

_but very often they chos

ip.

A joke?! Canada’s part } Hy
‘on the evidence of the ™ opr
charge themselves, w45~ to!

“Brig. Ketcheson -said ,
agents would approach cont
claiming ‘an entire Viel jo
corps was in a certain os
when I knew from our % st YO)
that only a brigade at mos
there.’

“TI would tell the cIA © ‘
strength we knew to

lieve their own spies,’ hé

The Telegram quoted
Eric Snow as confessing:

“We in the commissiO? oy
partially responsible to some ie
tent for the war that is P the
ing fought in that part
world.” ait!

Major Larry Tucker iS qu Oe
as saying that the ICC was eft
coming a joke” before
Vietnam. i ;

plicity in the rape of a ® pe
and mass murder of a pry j
And how about the feder@ cial:
ernment that “knew und’, |
and looked the other way ’ nett

Is the Trudeau ae rot
going to compound the

now with a Canadian *
force” in Vietnam?

ES WNBA ds