= loan of Arc’ mm Frenchwoman, known nd the borders of her sy as a leading anti- peen murdered by- the ie was Danielle Casa- iful 30-year-old bru- ishe has died of slow Ik@i starvation in the no- coneentration camp | in Silesia. fasanova Was a modern 2.” Intelligent, charm- 5,She began her fight 1m. when she was still = rose to be leader of alles de France which, dreds of thousands of same one of the -pil- sople’s front. .e took part in the Peace Conference in -d earlier she was an wb of Soviet leaders in Nazis overran France; janova waS one of = ped to organize Com- m2rground resistance, ; home—her husband ler of war—and her - order to carry out mis work more effec- ally the Vichy police -and in Mareh 1942, ver to the Gestapo. 10 kept her in France ?@a0nths, torturing her ito obtain information ‘Se crsround movement. inf ae still refused to tell s| was taken to Ger- iy erned at Auschwitz? ssanova is the seventh * uds of the Gestapo. “qN ITED _ u YATES SAAN Martin Dies’ Ution of the ClO Po- A Committee was de- ae week by Sidney Hiil- pil! zel ae o their crimes by ‘enehwoman to have ‘man, chairman of the committee and Amalgamated Clothing Work- ers’ president, as “an attempt to stifle the political rights of the ~American people and a threat to National unity.’ Declaring that Dies “has earned the title of ‘America’s No. 1 smear imaster’,” Hillman said: “dn=these eritcial days, when the firmest national unity is essential to vic- tory, Dies’ incitement of hatred and intolerance is a weapon de- liberately calculated to divide and weaken the nation.” Hillman pointedly remarked that Dies had “earned and received blessing and praise from such characters as Fritz Kuhn, impris~ oned Nazi Bund leader, William Dudley Peiley, imprisoned Silver Shirt leader, the Ku Klux Klan and other home-front fascists.” “Lhe Cil© Political Action Com- mittee was organized for the pur- pose of mobilizing members of ‘organized labor, their families, friends and all American citizens for progressive political action,” he declared. “It is our purpose to bring the issues in this crucial year to the attention of the Ameri- Can people—issues of speedy vic- tory and establishment of a serene. and lasting peace. It is high time someone in America challenged Martin Dies’ abuse of his congres- Sional power.” — Hillman stated that his commit- tee had already submitted all its books and papers to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but has refused the Dies Committee in- vestigator access to them. LATIN AMERICA Lopez Draft. HE. popular movement for the return to the presidency of Columbia of Dr. Alfonso Lopez, initiated by the Confederation of Colombian Workers (CTC), this week continued te gain support not only from labor but also from — influential newspapers and politi- cal leaders. It is widely believed in Bogota that when Dr. Lopez took a leave of absence as presi- dent on November 26, 1943, he was forced te do so by the reaction- ary and anti-labor group within his own Liberal party. Dr. Dario Echandia, who is now acting-presi- a of Warsaw’s ghetto pack a streetcar marked for @el_use try by Star of David. Jews from every fied country in Europe are crowded behind stone pare. dent, is understood to have refused to go along with the attempts of this group to prevent Lopez’ reas- sumption of office. Support for the return of Lopez to power has been given added impetus by the continued anti- government activity of the Gonser- vative Party and its leader, Laur- eano Gomez, who also edits the pro-Falangist El Siglo. Topez re- turned to Columbia from the U.S. recently following attempts to overthrow the government. Gomez, a former minister to Ger- many, has been one of the leading supporters of Hitler and Franco in this country. Following his most recent attacks on the government, especially through EI Siglo, crim- inal charges were made against him on February 10 by Minister of Government Alberto Lileras Ga- margo. When he refused to be examined, Gomez was charged with centempt of court and held in jail overnight. ee immediate mobilization of his followers throughout the- country was ordered by the other Gon- servative party leaders. What fol- lowed amounted to a virtual at- tempt to provoke Civil war. El Siglo went so far as to advise its readers “to be alert in order to fulfill” strictly the orders which will be dictated in the course of a few hours,’ and proclaimed Col- ombia “on the border of revolu- tion”? Armed supporters of Gomez attacked the buildings housing El Tiempo, El Espectador and El Liberal and plundered government warehouses. : Although unprepared for such action, the democratic sectors of public opinion, mobilized by the CTC, took steps to prevent the demonstration from developing into a fascist coup d’etat. Jointly with the Liberal and Communist parties, the CTC called demonstra- tions in support of the government in Bogota, Barranquilla, Cali, Bu- caramanga, Manizales, Medellin and other cities. In Bogota, where the largest democratic concentration took place,the supporters of Gomez at- tacked the meeting, but after vio- lent battle were forced to take refuge in the offices of EI Siglo. Among government supporters most seriously wounded was Pe- dro J. Dias, Communist leader, ‘who was shot in the face. Gomez’ followers remained in the EI Siglo building all night under heavy po- lice protection. Le Medical Benefits i pee the strong objections of employers and so-called in- dependent unions, the Mexican Workers (C2M), has put into op- eration the medical department of the new Social Security Institute, bringing medical benefits for the first time to approximately 1,000,- 000 workers and their families. So far the department has been set up only in the larger industrial areas, with extension into the countryside following as soon as facilities can be arranged. An inspection of the center in the Federal District by Owen Roche, Allied Labor News’ Mexico City correspondent, disclosed that a long step has been made toward supplying medical aid to work- ers and their families who before either had gone unattended ~ or spent long hours waiting for treat- ment were lavish in their praise of the new service.” Independent unions, most of them employer-controlled, . had protested the’ application of so- cial security benefits on the grounds that they invalidated ben- efits avalable to members of these unions under the terms of em- ployer-union contracts. Social Se- curity Director Garcia Tellez( how- ever, declared: “Those employers who at pres- ent provide stipulated security benefits to their employees as a result of contract provisions, shall continue to do so without in any Way discounting the wages of their employees. “Commenting on opposition to the benefits, CTM General Sec- retary Fidel Velasquez said: “The employers have launched a ser- ies of attacks, misinterpreting the provisions of the law and at- tempting to discount the salaries of their employees, so as to pro- voke them into protesting social security. Certain persons expelled by organized labor have carried On an agitational campaign to- gether with the employers.” Under present arrangements, medical service is available to every social security beneficiary in case of accidents on the job, professional and non-professional ailments, illness of wife, child or dependent under 16 and in the case of pregnancy. Pre-natal treat- ment and medical attention up to six months after giving birth is available. In addition, beneficiaries are guaranteed a chance for occupa-~ tional readjjustment after illness or accident and preventive educa- tion to avoid diseases and acci- dents is given. Social security medical services now functioning in the Federal District cover: children’s diseases, heart ailments, eye troubles, stom- ach disorders, nervous ailments, ments, skin diseases, tuberculosis, gland disorders and cancer: AUSTRALIA Federal Powers ROPOSAL of the Australian Labor government this week to inerease federal powers has won support of trade unions throughout the country. Warning of the extremely difficult prob= Jems that Australian workers will faee after victory, union journals voice the opinion that only a central government, armed with full powers, can successfully over- come them. The Australian com- monweaith is organized on a fed- eral basis, with certain rights constitutionally reserved to the states, in much the same manner as the United States. fhe governments proposal, in- troduced as a “powers bill” by Dr. Herbert V. Evatt, attorney general and minister of foreign affairs, provides for transfer of four powers from state govern- ments to the commonwealth gov- ernment for a period of five years after the war. It comes up for national referendum in June. Large business interests and “state’s righters,’ arguing along similar lines as opponents of a federal ballot for servicemen in the U.S., are vigorously opposing the “pewers pill. Typical of labor’s attitude is the statement made by the na- tional council of the Amalgamated Irenworkers-Munition Workers which, after stressing the primary importance of “subordinating everything for victory over tas- cism,” outlined a program for greater social security after the War in iine with government pro- posals. : “The unity achieved at Teheran and the advance of the armies of the United Nations on all fronts will have tremendous influence in . the postwar world;”’ the council declared. “The violence of the class struggle is being dissipated through wars of bloodshed and suffering. This suffering is not yet ended, but the chance is given for peaceful development after the war, towards the higher form of society sought by the workers.” Passage of the transfer of pow- ers bill will mean action on: @ Jobs for Australia’s 800,000 servicemen and servicewomen @ Building of 300,000 additional homes @ Effective control over trusts, combines and monopolies @ A ‘system of roads, canals, soil erosion control and other na- tional works = @ Making the country’s railway system uniform @ Heaith protection ® Aviation planning @ Protection for the aboriginal peoples of the continent. Short Jabs _—--by OV Bill.---4 Bible Reading 4 pee provincial government pro- : poses to inaugurate bible reading in our schools. This is a far ery from the consistently lib- ‘eral policy of this province in the past. Political leaders of all parties have invariably refused to agree to the mixing of education with religion. School trustees held the same view point, particularly in earlier days of our provincial history. It was not an anti-relig- ious attitude but a pro-education one. The present government apparently wants to change this policy. It is not a progressive move. The schools, we haye always Maintained, are for education. Religious training is the busimess of the church. A few weeks ago a loeal clergyman, Dean Swanson, bewailed the fact that, although he had degrees in six or Seven universities, ‘in this province he was classed with Indians, crimin- als and lunatics.” This was be- cause as a clergyman, he is barred _from being a school trustee. This law shows the attitude of the people of British Columbia to religion and education. : And that is just as it should be, while the policy of the preachers remains as our experience proves it to be. Wnless the preacher agrees to put education before religion he has no right on a school board. We have enough evidence of this in the low educational stand- ards of the Indians here. The education of the Indians has been left- to -various religious denomin- ations. When the Indian youth leave the schools they have a very extensive religious vocabulary, but they know little or nothing about mathematics. Their edu- cation begins in reality after they leave these alleged schools. In- dian friends of mine call it a seandal. This situation will not be made better by spreading it to the rest of the population. Already some protest has come from secondary school teachers. This is not enough. It shold jome from everybody interested in the bet- ter education of our children. The matter of religion is a priy- ate matter of the individual and no government has a right to im- pose definite religious instruction in schools over the protests of the teachers and perhaps a great number of the pupils. The par- ents of the students have this responsibility of attending to the religious devotions or otherwise of their families and ‘there are plenty of agencies that today Carry on religious instruction without school teachers haying to undertake this task. It is possible that there are teachers who donot believe in religion. That too, is their own business and a matter of private conscience and they should -not be forced to teach something they do not agree with. British Columbia has been the leading province in popular edu- cation, as it has in all social legis- lation. Let us see that it main- tains that honored position. Keep the schools for education and the church for religion.