BOOKS Book casts cold light of reason on hysteria of atom spy trials i the dead of night, on Febru- ary 14, 1946, two and one-half weeks before Churchill fired the epening gun for what thas become known as the cold war, in his Ful- ton, Missouri, speech, 22 Camna- dian citizens were snatched out of their homes by the RCMP. Next day, in Sante Fe, New Mex- ico, 2,000 miles away, a US. gen- eral, in commenting (publicly on the arrests, spoke of “a leakage of atomic energy secrets to the Soviet Union.” Although the total number of citizens placed under arrest eventually reached 26, none was charged with this crime, except in the newspapers. These events are dramatically. portrayed in The Atom Spy Hoax (obtainable here at the People’s Cooperative Bookstore, 337 West Pender, price $3.75), a recent book by the American author, William Reuben, which deals ex- tensively with the Canadian “spy trials” of 1946. Seen in retro- spect, these trials add up to the Breatest hoax ever perpetrated on the Canadian people. e Thirteen persons were named in the interim Royal Commission reports as foreign agents. Six of these were later found not guilty by the courts. In dealing with ‘the other seven, Reuben makes a strong case in support of this theory that they were trap- ped by their own testimony be- fore the Royal Commission. One woman pleaded guilty, un- der the mistaken idea that she was in danger of being shot, and was sentenced to three years in jail. The main evidence of, con- spiracy used against her was an admission that she +had some- times discussed political ques- tions with Fred Rose, from 1935 to 1939. This was enough to con- vict her of violating the Officials Secrets Act, in 1952! John Diefenbaker, Conserva- tive MP, is. quoted ‘as strongly criticising the high-handed man- ner in which these people were detained and interrogated with- out benefit of counsel, on orders of the Royal. Commission made up of two Supreme Court jus- tices. “These people are detained until such time as they say something which implicates them. They are granted no right to have counsel; they are then permitted to face their trial. They are granted. opport- unity of freedom once they con- fess. When that happens, they are withdrawn from the custody of the crown, from this so-call- éd passive internment and again have the opportunity to be at large. As I said before, it is the first time in ‘history that this has happened.” os + mg Reuben throws new light on One of the victims of what Wil- liam Reuben calls the atom spy hoax is Morton Sobell, young American scientist sentenced to 30 years imprisonment on the flimsiest of evidence in the Ro- senberg trial. He has steadfast- ly maintained his innocence and is seeking a new trial. The Col- umbia Law Review, after a re- cent study of trial evidence, agreed with U.S. Appeals Court Judge Jerome N. Frank that So- bell should have a new trial. the conviction of Fred Rose and Sam Carr. One was an LPP mem- ber of parliament and the other a former LPP national organizer, when the case first broke. The conspiracy charge against Rose, for which -he was convicted and sent to prison, hinged on a discussion with a government sci- entist concerning an explosive formula, RDX. It was never al- leged in court that Rose had given this formula to anyone. Reuben states categorically that the RDX formula was not on the secret list and that the Russians could have ‘had it for the asking. Sam Carr, branded in the com- mission report as the main cog in a Soviet espionage ring, along with Fred Rose, went to jail for six years, for a relatively minor offense. He was charged — the pleaded not guilty — and con- victed for conspiring to obtain a false passport fora Spanish war veteran who had lost his origin- al passport. There. are still some people, including certain reactionary la- bor leaders, who like to quote from the reports of the Royal Commission of 1946 in order to make political capital against the left. Personally, I cannot see how any honest Canadian can read Reuben’s book without coming to the conclusion that Canada suffered a very serious miscar- riage of justice in 1946, that cer- ‘tain people were defamed and persecuted because they had been chosen as pawns by the cold war . organizers. As Reuben points out, the Ot- tawa trials were the opening guns for similar trials in the United States and Britain, and were part of the same trend that led to the execution of the Rosenbergs ‘and the incarceration of Morton So- bell for 30 years. Time and the spread of truth will, 1 am certain, bring general acceptance of Reuben’s view- point. In the meantime, the very existence of the book makes it possible to spread the process. JACK PHILLIPS a Disney. finds things in common with Jules Verne in new movie APTAIN NEMO, the mad genius of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, in the year 1868 has discov- ered atomic energy, electricity, ‘the technique of submarine con- struction, the principles of the modern diving suit and how to knock together a tasty three- course lunch. from filet’ of sea snake, braised blowfish and un- born octopus pudding. ‘He cruises round the world in’ nis submariné, the Nautilus, car- aying on a one-man war against -French imperialism. He. plans to use a captured French ‘professor to get the world to disarm and a ‘his atomic” discoveries for peace, but a ‘brash’ American sailor upsets the scheme. In its simple way this Walt Disney live-action picture, though tricked out with performing seals and comic songs, does well ‘by Jules Verne, the 19th century Frenchman who was the father of all science fiction writers. Disney shares with Verne a. wonderful respect for the ‘excit- ing facts of the world we live in and a zestful imagination. His technicians have made it a labor of love to recreate Verne’s Nautilus in all its lushly equip- ped yet practical solidity and send it, with James Mason in com- mand, nosing among the under- water reefs of Nassau, in the Ba- hamas. Most of the action takes place under water, in and out of the Nautilus, and all this, complete with sharks and giant squid, tech- nicians and cast. manage admir- ably. (Mason is very much in his eéle- ment as the mad captain, Kirk Douglas, as a singing, brawling . American sailor I. found almost as tiresome as does Captain Ne- mo, but Peter Lorre is excellent as the professor’s shifty assistant, and Paul Lukas has the blend of dignity and culture proper to the French Academy. — cette tt Womenfs World shows Clifton Webb as an auto magnate who invites three of his district man- agers and their wives to New York so that he can pick from among them a new general man- oger, having regard to the fit- “ness of wife as well as husband for such exalted rank. Van Heflin; Cornel Wilde and Fred MacMurray are the candi- dates. Arlene Dahl, June Ally- son and Lauren Bacall are their respective wives. : This is a slick, amusing pro- duction in which the starry-eyed appoach to big business manage- nent is blended with sardonic humor. It left me, as such movies al- ways do, with a strong impres- sion of the dreariness of life among the tycoons and a wonder- ing horror at their taste in in- terior decoration. Whether or not the exclusive reserves of the rich are a wo- man’s, world, the women contri- bute most of this picture. Far and away. the best performances come from the warm, simple humor of June Allyson and the cool intelligence of Lauren Bacall. THOMAS SPENCER 200th anniversary Prot Mncdions In a summer-long celebration, Nova Scotia is marking the 200th anniversary of the expulsion of the Acadians in 1755, the British exported some 6,000 French-speaking settlers A centre of the celebration is the village of e Pre with: its statue of Longfellow’s “Evangeline” (above) ae Lovisiana. RADIO-TV CBC to celebrate Canada’ s Birthday amare aa _ birthday will ked in different ways on ee and TV.on July 1. ae On CBC Trans-Canada (7:30- ‘8:30 p.m.), in a special program of music and readings, a group of Canadian poems will be heard providing lyrical glimpses of the various regions west; on TV (7:30-8:00 p.m.) there will, be a scenic tour of the country. The radio ‘show will include performances of a concert suite ‘from the ballet, Shadow on the Prairie by Robert Fleming of Ottawa, given .by the Toronto. Symphony Orchestra under Sir, and a_ suite Ernest MacMillan; called Images du Canada Fran- cais, by Claud Champagne of ' Montreal, with a CBC chorus and orchestra under Roland Leduc. There will also be a reading by Tommy Tweed from Donald Creighton’s ‘biography, John A. MacDonald: The Young Politician -— a description of how the first Dominion Day was celebrated. The — east-to-west- poetic se- quence will include Nee by such poets as E, J. Pratt, A. M. Klein and Earle Birney. The TV film (with narration by Thom Benson) will be a leisure- ly tour of the highways and by- ways of Canada,_ showing what- ever catches the cameraman’s eye as he roams the country — villages and big cities, inland fish- ermen and industrial workers. There will be views of Prairie wheatfields, the tall forests of New Brunswick and the great Rockies; the surf riding over the coastline of Newfoundland, dock- workers on the Toronto water- front, weavers in a tiny Quebec community, the gardens of °Vic- toria, and Confederation Cham- ber in Charlottetown. % Re ioe Olympics 1956, a film program scheduled for Channel 2 on Sat- PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JUNE 24, 1955 — from east to, ‘Something Cool. fo Grand i urday, July 2 at. 9:30 oi ot views the showings made PY adian’ entries in previous ny with a view to sugeestine on ada candidates to represeh mes ia at the next Olympic Australia ‘and Italy. 4 Commentators Steve inter and Thom Benson will Betty Whittal, Canaaith edals: af mer, who won two g0 ay Ga mee the last Pan-American be. Also on pand will at, Percival, track and field ©? grat CBC’s Sports College fet of and Ken Harmer, pres! the Canadian Olympic | hem tion, who will talk abou t nding © lem of financing the §