Fight for children of the world The PT’s sister paper, the Canadian Tribune, recently carried the following featitre article by MICKEY MUR- RAY in honor of International Chilren’s Day. Due to last week’s issue being an eight-pager we were unable to publish it at that time, but are pleased to reprint it below. > hae 1 is International Child- ren’s Day. The question that keeps recurring to my mind is: what of our children? As women and mothers are we doing all we can to provide for our young a present that is rich and meaningful and a_ future beckoning with the promise of fullfilment and accomplishment? No, I cannot say that we do. In South Vietnam children, along with adults, suffer the agonies of an unjust war, includ- ing the effects of chemical ma- terials being used by the U.S+ ~ Diem faction contrary to inter. national law and humanitarian- ism. Are we protesting this cruel action? Yes, but not in suffi- ciently large numbers nor yet in sufficiently loud voice. Do we, from the comforts of our homes, take pen in hand tc voice at least our moral support to these tortured mortals half a world away? Do we make it a point to bring to the attention of those with whom we come in contact the _ situation as it exists in Vietnam? Do we, indeed, call and call yet again for an end to this war, for the withdrawal of Americar troops, for the right of all na- tions to work out their owr problems without outside inter- ference? Yes, some of us do — but not yet all. * * * In Cuba children are still made the innocent victims of the mad counter-revolutionaries. Do we protest to those who encourage these cowardly acts? Do .we ex- press our sympathies to the grieving parents and the heroic Cubans? Maybe we mean to, or intend to, but in practice seldom do we carry it through. Our thoughts and intentions, however good they may be, can help no one By BERT WHYTE PT Correspondent NCE American troops withdraw from South Viet- nam the way will be opened tor ademocratic coalition admin- istration to take power and institute a policy of peace and neutrality. South Vietnam to- gether with Cambodia and Laos will form a neutral zone in Indonesia. This perspective was put for- ward at a press conference here by Nguyen Van Hieu, gen- eral secretary of the South Vietnam National Front for Liberation. Answering a series of ques- ‘tions put by newspaper cor- respondents from a dozen dif- ferent countries, he revealed that: PEOPLE’S SUPPORT ® Liberation forces control almost the entire countryside in South Vietnam, and have the Overwhelming support of the people—peasants, workers and intellectuals. ® More than 10,000 - U.S. : army officers and _ soldiers plus one di- vision of U.S. aircraft are taking part n the ‘‘unde- clared war’ against the Vietnam e s e€ oy we people. © In 1954 there were only six military airports in South Viet- nam; today there are 96, three of them built specially for the use of jets. There are 11 mili- tary wharves and numerous strategic military highways. ® Only direct U.S. military support keeps Dinh Diem and his family clique in power. In Diem regime has carried out 32,000 large and small ‘‘mopp- ing up” operations, killed 140,- 000 people. arrested nearly one million. Today there are 350,- 000 people in jails, among them 6,000 children. ® The U.S. scheme is to “use the Asians to fight against the Asians’. There are hundreds of Chiang Kai-shek military the past eight years the U.S.- - i — Vietnam wants peace men and Japenese, Philippine and South Korean military ex- perts in Saigon. TEST FOR USS. “The war waged by the U:S., imperialists in South Vietnam is intended to be a test of the effectiveness of suppressing na- tional liberation movements all over the world through terror- ism,”’ said Nguyen Van Hieu. “But although our people long for peace, we will never sub- mit to violence. Ours is a pat- riotic struggle, a just struggle of self-defence. We will certain- ly win the final victory should U.S. imperialism insists on continuing the war of aggres- sion.” Professor Ngyuyen Van Hieu ‘is a member of the Radical Socialist Party. As a patriotic intellectual and journalist he took part in seizing power in the revolution of August, 1954 in Ca Mau province. He was active in the war of resistance against the French, and since 1958 has been work- ing in the countryside. He led a South Vietnamese delegation to the World Congress of Gen eral disarament and Peace in Moscow. He described how the peo- ple, in response to an appeal by the National Front for Lib- eration, have destroyed more than 600 U.S.-Diem ‘‘strategic hamlets” — disguised concen- tration camps. Although the Diem plan call- ed for the establishment of 17,- 000 ‘‘strategic hamlets” in 1962, less than 1,500 were set up and half of these have been de- stroyed. Purpose of the Liberation Front is to ‘‘strengthen unity : among the entire people, re- solutely struggle against the aggressive and war-seeking U.S. ~ imperialists, overthrow the Diem ruling clique, achieve national independence and de- mocracy, improve the people’s life, restere peace and realize neutrality, advance towards the peaceful re-unification of the fatherland, contribute to safeguarding peace in Indon- esia, Southeast Asia and the world.” unless expressed in the right places and at the right time. Bo ok * In Alabama, little Negro school children are jailed and threatened with expulsion from school. Why? Because they courage- ously man the battle line along with their parents in the fight for integration. Even first graders are sent to jail by an insane authority. Brave- ly these children face vicious dogs and fire hoses while the women and mothers of the world silently cheer them on. But why silently? Better a let- ter to Robert Kennedy, to the governor of the state, to the White- House, expressing condemnation of these actions and thus taking an active vart in the battle for the preservation of civil liberties and human rights. Why not a letter of moral support to the Rev. Martin Luther King and the other valiant lead- ers of the Negro people? In many areas of the world children are underfed, underclad, uneducated and_ subjected to hard work at tender years. Do we, women and mothers, think © of them and, when the occasion arises, express our opinions and views on the causes of their plight? * * * Closer to home there are also many problems affecting our children in an adverse way. In a rich and lovely country like Canada, must there still be many children who, winter after winter, lose their lives through fire? Who are these children who die so tragically? Every case that I have read about has con- cerned the children of working people. They live in very mod- est quarters, very often with un- reliable heating systems and, I am sure, the very best home the worker could afford for his fam- ily. : These children need not have died! Across Canada thousands of families are being reared in In Latin America... we A poor mother in Guayaquil, Ecuador is watching her sick son lying in the street for she cannot afford medical treatment. ... and in new Cuba Since the Cuban revolution, a large number of creches have been set up to take care of children. Photo shows a nurse in a creche in Santiago changing clothes for a child. Footwear and clothing for children are supplied at state expense. _ dwellings that are fire traps. To protect our chijdren against fires, as well as other hazards, would not a better housing plan by the federal government be the thing to call for? * * * Every day our newspapers cite eases of mere children, 12, 15, or 16 years old, getting into ser- ious difficulties with the author- ities. One’s heart goes out to them for one realizes that they are not solely responsible. It is we, the adults and the present so- ciety which create the situations and the environments in which these youngsters find themselves and with which they cannot cope. Such cases, of course, are not in the majority, but there are still far too many, which war- rants serious thought by all who are interested in children. Last, but far from least, our children and young people are being cruelly exposed to con- stant emotional stress by the ever- present threat of nuclear war. This has created an atmos- phere which leaves youngsters ‘confused, uncertain. and afraid of the iuture. The present gener- ation has no anchor, no goal—for how can there be a goal when there may well be no future? Are we women and. mothers doing all we can to stabilize their present and assure their future? They look to us. Let us not disappoint them. * * * On June 1—International Child- ren’s Day—let us rededicate our- selves to the fight to preserve life, to the fight against war and to the fight for eventual total disarmament of all nations. Let us pledge to write, write, and write again on all issues which may threaten the preser- vation of peace, on all issues af- fecting the rights of the people, on all issues affecting the very lives of our children. 2 Let us write to Prime Minister Pearson letting him know how we feel about his policy of accept- ing nuclear arms for Canada. Let -us write our MP’s and the party leaders in the House and urge our friends to do likewise. Let us write the United Nations on the Vietnam war and other issues. Let us write, protest, encour- age, condemn, commend—which- ever the situation demands. Ontario CP girds for coming vote Behind the slogans ‘Break the Big Business Grip on Ont- ario,’’ ‘End U.S. Control’”’ and “Strengthen Labor’s Voice at Queen’s Park’”’ the Communist- Party of Ontario is preparing for the upcoming provincial elections in that province. A Provincial Committee meeting, held in Toronto June 1-3, decided to nominate cand- idates in several constituen- cies in the large urban centres. The meeting issued a state- ment which charged that ‘“The Ontario Tory party, in power for twenty years, is the politi- cal instrument of the U.S.- Canadian monopoly’ groups who dictate the policies at Queen’s Park’ and that the Liberal party . . . is an echo of the same monopoly inter- ests.”” The statement urged work- ing class support for Com- munist candidatcs where they will be running, and for NDP support in all other constituen- cies‘as ‘‘part of the process of struggle for independent work- ing people’s political action.” June 7, 1963—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 7. ~