GUIDE TO GOOD READING

Renegade’s choice

ABOUT THE ONLY MERIT that can be ascribed to
Igor Gouzenko’s book, This Was My Choice (J. M. Dent)
is that it shows the depths to which anti-Soviet slander can

really descend.

It is a disgusting collection of lies and

half-ruths, based on fabricated orders-of-the-day by Stalin,

“secret” (and non-existent) anti-
Semitic laws and directives in
the USSR.

The author, a deserter from the
Red Army, argues that the Red
Army wouldn’t fight in 1941, that
it disgraced Russia, that the at-
roecities committed by the Red
Army were as bad as those of the
Nazis! From the book one would
think that the Nazis won the war.

But this collection of lies and
nonsense is edited under the sup-
ervision of employees of the gov-
ernment of Canada, published by
a reputable firm, and is being
touted by Willson Woodside of
“liberal” Saturday Night and the

Toronto Globe and Mail as though
it were an enduring contribution
to Canadian literature instead of
the sorry example it is of propa-
ganda conceived for no other Pur-
pose than to foster hatred and il-
will.

Gouzenko is the ostensible au-
thor. The “credit” for rewriting
_ the book is given to a Montreal
hack-writer, Andy O’Brien, sports-
writer on the Montrea] Standard,
organ of J. W. McConnell, arch-
reactionary publisher. O’Brien, in
a recent article in which he boosts
his own book, says that he was
eontacted for the job by Robert
W. Keyserlingk, white - Russian
- managing director of the a
United Press.
O'Brien tells of secret inter
views with Gouzenko in Dominion
government buildings, with RCMP
always present. O’Brien is the
cultural expert who arranged the
publicity stunt last year in Mon-
treal around Gouzenko’s work as
an artist. Now he acts as the in-
tellectual stooge for Inspector Leo-

pold and the Special Section of
the’ RCMP. Leopold is jealous of
the fame achieved by Kravchen-
ko, the pet of the FBI, with his
best seller I Chose Freedom, so
Gouzenko must become an author
too.

The choice that Gouzenko made
may be related less to the lofty
ideals he claims than to the
wretched depths he descended to
grub for more material considera-
tions.

With the example of other
renegades before him, he coolly
calculated how to capitalize on
his desertion. So far his conver-
sion has brought in the follow-
ing returns: a) $100 a month for.
life from a wealthy reactionary
Ottawa businessman Frank
Ahearn; b) a reputed $50,000 from
Hearst’s Cosmopolitan for a ser-
jes of articles; c) an unknown
sum for the interview with New
World Magazine (part of which
he had to retract); d) an un-
known but very large sum for the
movie rights to the series of ar-
ticles; e) royalties from the sale
cf his book — these should be
small.

It would be worth knowing’
how many ways he has to split -
this take. A lot of money is in-
volved.

Gouzenko’s status as a accurate
critic of the USSR may be gauged
by his observations on Canada.
In 1945 he was impressed with
the hundreds of homes being
built for Canadian veterans, and
with the fact that every Canadian
worker has his own car. And
then the quantities of lovely,
lovely food. All you had to do was
go in and buy it. Gouzenko, of
course, didn’t have to worry about
the price—FRANK WILLIAMS.

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Reply to Jack Scott

Editor, Pacific Tribune—

Sir: Thanks to Jack Scott for
his column in the Vancouver Sun
on July 7. Here's why.

Sometimes in his column his
tone cf voice “is so garrulous”
and loud that I thought perhaps
he “belongs to the idiots” of the
left. That error is flow rectified
because he declares himself to be
in the odd position of being “as
critical of the communist propa-
ganda as of the free enterprise
propaganda.”

That position however, is far
from unusual. It is taken by all
who figure that a classless view
of+«society gives them the best
opportunities and at the same time
a fake halo of fairness and square
shooting on their heads. They are
“opportunists” (cliche or not,
Jack Scott.)

Front line men in the never-
ending struggle between progress
and reaction do not envy that
position. It is devoid of all feel-
ing of accomplishment, of bitter-
ness in defeat or joy in victory.
Neither is it our fault that we
have to “talk down” to people

ia Yous ut Depattnent

who spend half, their time side
by side with us. and the other
half sabotaging our efforts or in
neutrality.

Scott is proud of his paper
never committing the cardinal sin
of “mixing news with editorial”
opinion.. Quite right! The news
and opinions are neatly separated
in the Sun: one or two pages of
news, a great deal of which orig-
inates from “unconfirmed sour-
ces” and so on; and up to 44
or more pages’ of opinion, editori-
al or otherwise, silly and gro-
tesque to the point of insulting
common sense

Why does the Sun with all its

space and money never print a
complete statement by any So-

_viet leader on any controversial

question such as atomic control,

’ Berlin, Palestine, or the Marshall :
Plan? Because that would dispel :

plenty of anti-Soviet antagonism
and, relieve the tension. This is
not the purpose of the Sun. In so
doing it would also make people
think of the possibilities of build-
ing a better social order (social-

ism), switch them over to build- E
ers of that new system, and au- [

SPEAKING OF CIRCULATION

tfle : : q e
Selling on the job.
- ERNIE KNOTT TOOK OVER the circulation column
this week. The big logger from Nanaimo blew, into the

office on his way to the IWA district council meeting and
proceeded to get a lot off his chest on the question of how

to sell the Pacific Tribyme.
He didn’t know when he was

talking that he’d be appearing in

this column, but what’s been hap-

pening in Nanaimo is something”
all our readers should hear about, .
_so here it-is:

“Tt’s easy to sell the Pacific Tri-
bune, and the easiest place ofall
is on the job. That’s where it’s
most important too—if you can’t
win the labor movement for pro-
gressive policies, who are you
going to win?

“There’s about 400 men in the
operation I work at, and 45 copies
of the paper go into that one op-
eration. There could be more too.
In a mill with 100 workers about
30 of them have been getting the
paper.

' “But you don’t only have to sell
the paper on the job, you have to
sell the paper on the street and
to the neighbors too. When you
put out your special seamen’s ad-
dition we put it right out on the
main street. One chgp sold 42, an-
other sold 40, and a woman who
was out for a short while sold 28.

“But when you're selling on the
street it’s best if there’s more
than one of you out doing it. It
increases people’s respect for the
paper when they see a group of
people fromthe community right
out in the open with it,

“There’s about 12 people right
in my block that buy the paper
off me every week too, I’m pretty
sure most of them will take out
a subscription after a while. If

they do I can move on to another |

block.

““In fact that’s the best way to
get subs, whether it’s on the job
or anywhere else. Sell them a
single copy of the paper every
week and pretty soon you'll be

’ able to sell quite a few subs. Some

of them will maybe evén ask to
subscribe.

“In addition to all this we've
had Jimmy Phillips selling 100
papers
time.
“Once people get involved even

«

every week for a long

in a small way in selling the Ppa-.

per they’ll realize the possibilities

and what it can mean to the la-

bor movement. :
* Bum ee «

“THERE’S ANOTHER ANGLE
I think a lot of local press com-
mittees completely overlook,

“That's
the Pacific Tribune gives on
bundle sales and subs. We make
$2 on each bundle of 100. That’s
over $8 a month, and $104 a year,
Some committees would want to
turn that back into the paper,
but if I know the left wing in most
districts there’s always a big fin-
ancial drive going on for one
project or another and this offers
a darned good way of raising
funds and boosting the paper at
the same time.”

f Ernie’s got something there and

it’s well worth the consideration
of any local committee that has
not already done so.. There’s 50
cents commission on a year’s
subscription and 25 cents on the
half-yearly subscription for those
who want to use it.

We think Ernie’s got the right
idea when it comes to develop-
ing circulation, and it’s easy to
see that here’s one reason why
Mayor Muir’s anti-labor drive
isn’t doing so well in Nanaimo.
It made us feel good to hear from

him and we're looking forward to +

getting similar stories from round
the province.

The other thing that’ made us
feel good this week is that 15
workers are now taking bundles
on the job in Vancouver, In ad-

dition, loggers sold 100 on the

skidroad. That’s just a begin-

_ning—FEL ASHTON.

the commission that

al You Pleate.

tomatically change the places of

the Pacific Tribune and the Sun

in influence. That is no wishful

thinking Such changes have al-

ready taken place in France, Italy ‘

and many other countries. ;
Until such a development oc-

curs here we of the left have to

stay ‘“idiots’—not sporadic. a la

Scott—keeping up a constant fire

wherever reaction rears its head, ,

and printing in the Pacific Tri-

bune all the statements, news and

progressive opinions that Scott’s

mighty newspaper boycotts. With

such an undertaking it is under-
stood that our editors have very
little .room or time for writing
about seagulls andi pleasure trips.

V. VESTERBACK.

Aldergrove, B.C.

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JULY 23, 1948—PAGE 10