\ Fast for peace Nearing the end of a week-long fast against the H-bomb, members of the Fast for Peace Committee sit silently on the steps of the Pentagon Building in Washington. : 7 Australia will become war base under secret agreement with U.S. The Mane: adden government is preparing a new act of national betrayal by concluding a secret deal with American imperialism, that will reduce Aus‘ralia to U.S. dominion status and tum it into an occupied county little better than Westem Germany or occupied Japan. « front page story by the Tnbune, left wing labor weekly here. Under terms of the sell-out agreement Australian territory at Manus Island will be ceded to U. S. forces, the U.S, will get naval and air bases in North Australia, and a naval base capable of sheltermg the largest units of the U.S. Pacific fleet will be constructed at Moresby. This, the Tribune claims, is what lies behind the Spender Plan (Spen- der is foreign minister in the ‘Liberal-Country coalition govern- ment) for a Pacific Pact and the reference in the Governor General’s speech to Australia’s defenses be- 11. SASHA KUZNETSOV AT SCHOOL Soviet children get full opportunity for education What are the Soviet schools like and what methods do they follow? In this article—eleventh in a series describing the life of a typical Moscow family—Ralph Parker writes about the educational system in the USSR. Parker, formerly Moscow correspondent for the London Times ‘and the New York Times, now represents the London Daily Worker in the Sov-‘et capital. “T chose my room today,” By RALPH PARKER r MOSCOW 12-year-old Sasha Kuznetsov told me when he came back from school. Then, seeing that I didn’t catch on, he explained. He'd been with one of the hobby circles to the Museum of the Reconstruction of Moscow to see the huge model of the new university building now being - built on the Lenin Hills southwest of Moscow. And he’d made up his mind which room he was going to occupy in the residential Bisck= where, ac- cording to plan, there is to be room for 6,000 students, each with his or her own room, Whether Sasha, who has four more years to go to school, will go to the university or one of the institutes connected with it after-. ‘wards, depends on his final exam- ination results and, of course, his inclinations. He will be 17 then and it’s early to tell whether he is likely to get the gold or silver medals which would qualify him to pass on to a higher education establishment without further examination. ~ Sasha would need five marks— ‘the top grade-—in all subjects for the gold medal, and he would not get the silver one unless he had fives in Russian language and lit- erature. 2 If he didn’t reach those standards he'd have to take an entrance ex- amination, With the proportion of Ahe total school children staying on till the end of 10 years’ schooling ‘rising each year, competition for higher education is becoming keen- er and standards, too, are rising. But then the number of places in universities and institutes is also being expanded. : Sasha, anyway, takes it for grant- ed that the way to the highest -€ducational opportunities lies gs ‘to him. He knows perfectly well that nothing but merit is required to _ et him there. Literally nothing. y backing, money, influence cam do nothing to give a child | _ &1 unmerited advantage. Like- wise, lack of money, or any other handicap would not be allowed to. hold a bright child back. | The only special schools in the Soviet Union are those for children. who are handicapped physically | or ' mentally. Incidentally, the term “packward” hever used in the USSR to de- i Scribe such ‘children, just as a home or orphans is: never called. an. or- | Sing This is a sign of the extra- read tact used in dealing with children Se oy * Be: SERINE : 6 Not che ago I sat in at a couple final examinations .at, Moscow jee one for boys, the. other for It jg a big, airy, light room, desks ar Plastic inkpots, walls” lined with maps. Every now and then one of the boys waiting goes up to the table and takes a random card with a number on it. This lets him know which of the 40 or so questions on history he will have to answer orally. He has. known the full list of questions several weeks ahead. They cover the whole year’s work. But, of course, he hag not known which he would be called on to answer, He has about an hour to work out his answer and can take notes and refer to them during his reply. Each question consists of three parts: roughly, to test mem- ory, powers of exposition and in- genuity or common sense. The boy with well-pressed grey trousers and a silk shirt, sunburnt fair wavy hair, wearing a metal wristwatch, is asked to describe the decisions on collectivization taken at the 15th Party Session and the liquidation of the kulaks; the so- cial movement in Russia during the thirties and forties of the 19th century; the significance of the American Civil War. ‘His replies take about half an hour. He is also able to use a map to illustrate them. At the end a few searching questions are put up by the examiners, Then he leaves. The result is made known at the end of the examination period. Sasha Kuznetsov wag keenly in- terested in every detail I could re- call about these examinations. He was to start physics the next school year, and to him, as to most Soviet children, boys or girls, it was a subject that fascinated him: But he will not begin to spe- cialize in any single subject. or group of subjects until his 10 years’ schooling is finished. Though Latin has been reintro- duced in certain faculties of the university —it is compulsory in the foreign language institutes now—there is no division into a modern or classical side in So _ Viet schools. ; And what subject Sasha will ev- entually study, should his ambitions to reach the university be fulfilled, it is still too early to tell. The So- viet educational system sets its face an age. U.S. places huge arms orders to rearm Japan “HONGKONG. The *U. e: epseamneat is ordering huge’ quantities, of War, equip- }ment from Japanese war industry. The armament company, Mitsubishi Dzukogye, will produce for the Americans long range guns of and light arms of all types, while the company's, dockyards have al- ready started to repair 86 war- ships” belonding to the Japanese Navy. The Ninsoue Kiryaku Seidze con- cern has received an American order for the production of gun- powder, explosives, mines and for chemical products. The Tsikavadsima Kokuki. com- pany. has received a large order for the ‘mass ‘production of heavy and light tanks and armored cars. The new arms that are being produced are destined, on the one the heaviest caliber, anti-tank guns hand, for the néw Japanese army; whose one million cadres are now} assembled by. the Americans. in} the so-called _ “police-corps”, and on the other hand for the armies of the U.S. ‘satellites in the puppet ‘states of Southeast Asia. - ; “Phe chaste with: which Ameri- cans insist on the fulfilment. of the..orders can be explained - ‘by the circumstances that during the first half of this year it will -be necessary to arm 450,000 members against specialization at too early. SYDNEY This: sensational charge made m ing “codrdinated” with those of the U. S: Groundwork for the agreement ‘was laid long before the federal elections, when Menzies visited the United States, It is no secret that Wall Street dollars helped finance’ the ‘Lib- eral” election .victory and that the “anti-socialist” propaganda drive was planned and executed by a Yankee advertising agency. The nefarious scheme was brought nearer to finality when chief of the U. S. Air Force in the Far East, Lieut. General G. E. Stra- temeyer,. visited Australia at the end of last month. General Sratemeyer is recogniz- ed as one of the United States’ leading Far -Rastern intelligence experts and strategical planners.* Both American and Australian authorities tried to shroud his visit in secrecy. When the news leaked out he was said to be paying a purely “courtesy” call with no_ special significance. But he is known to have had several long conferences with Au- stralian defense chiefs. The Tribune quotes this) news- paper report ey substantiate its charges: “Observers believe he will out- line the new U.S. air strategy for the Far East following the Com- munist victoty in China. .“They expect that he will ask Australia to coordinate her aerial. strategy to meet these plans.” “Coordinate” was the exact word used in the Governor-General’s speech outlining the Menzies gov- ernment’s program to parliament. “British and U.S. experts regard Australia as the key to the entire Pacific defense system of both the British Commonwealth and the United States, . “They see Australia as the sup-j. ply base and springboard for a vast network of zonal defense strong-points reaching from Japan to Pakistan . . “Australia’s suggested role will be a supply and ee base. “Australia. would also probably. be Used as & super long range bomber base ... “Strategic aerodromes, capable of caicying the world’s largest | 5 eae 2 _ “Australia:in the event of a war}: would be expected to provide her|--: own security forces and supply Allied troops operating in the Per Eastern theater.” . “These war, pheparations clearly directed against the colon- ial liberation movements in South East’ Asia, the. People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union.’ “Tt is to serve these reactionary aims and not.to defend Australia’s security and national independence that ‘the Menzies ~government. is preparing to conscript thousands -of Australian youths. “Because it fears the wrath, of the ‘Australian people’ when they ‘learn’ the full extent of its treach-| wage ‘ery, the Menzies government. is striving to ‘silence criticism and ‘are | British labor rebels over wage freeze LONDON British organized workers are tired of watching living costs soar while wages remain frozen.