2 Just like Vancouver LONDON Princess Elizabeth recently visit- a new housing project ~ near London, Local officials prepared feverishly to welcome her. Work- *s paved a short stretch of muddy toad leading to a building she Was to inspect. Then, the day after 'zabeth was shown around, the Workers came back, carted away the paving and put back the mud. GATES AIRS FACTS SUPPRESSED BY PRESS —WASHINGTON Millions of people got their first chance to learn the truth about the conviction of the 11 American Communist leaders when heard John Gates, Daily Worker editor, over Mutual’s Meet the press program : recently. Gates, one of the defendants, stressed in his straight from the shoulder answers over the air, the fact that the Foley Square trial was a prosecution of books, thought and ideas.. The 85 year old veteran of two wars, who fought Hitler-Franco fascism in Spain and again in the European and Pacific theatres in World War II, gave a powerful reply to the charge that the Com- munists plot ‘force and violence” against the government. Asked if he had not used vio- lence against the Spanish govern- ment, Gates quickly replied that he had given his services in Spain to prevent that country from being they |’ “Eleven’ convicted “overthrown by force and violence” by the same Hitler and Mussolini fascism which he later fought in World War II. Gates established in reply to questions that even the justice de- partment had not charged the de- fendants with any overt acts against the government. They were charged and con- victed in the district court of “conspiring to advocate and teach the overthrow of the govern- ment by force and violence,” Gates said. Of this they were aiso innocent, the editor of The Daily Worker, ‘said, but the very nature of the charge showed the the intent of the trial was the suppression of what the government considered “dangerous thoughts.” For many of the several million radio listeners throughout the: na- tion, this probably came as qa reve- lation. ; From the manner in which the trial was handled by most news- papers and from statements issued from the justice department, the Greek democrats still fighting, teiterate call for just peace ‘ LONDON There has been no cease fire in Greece. Thisfact clearly emerges from a study of recent procla- "ations issued by the Greek Provisional Democratic government. On the contrary, the proclamation declares that “‘thousands of our fighters are defending and con- linuing the defence of their lives and the lives of the people from the trickery of the Athens hangmen and their firing squads.” These fighters, it says, are in Sumeli, Thessaly, Epirus, Pelo- es, Thrace and Macedonia; the islands of Samos, Euboea, Crete, Kephalonia, Mytilene and learia, Referring to the major battles in Re Tthern Greece in August, how- *t, the proclamation states that Te “the Democratic Army pre- ped to stop the slaughter in a sae to save Greece from total Nihilation, since it puts the in- “rests of the country and the People above all else.” tt Was this reference to ending the big battle in Northern feece which has been misrepre- a) : ot as a general cease fire or- r, 8 The proclamation stresses that ti Democratic Army was not nihilated in these battles and 'S still intact, “Sa ltaly’s economic. blight worsens — ee ROME jg The Italian economic situation of poting worse with no prospects tonjg provement,” Giuseppe Di Vit- Uta, Semeral secretary of the bor an, General Federation of La- Publi IL), writes in an article _- Shed here this month, 1g dustrial production is down Vege tcent as compared with last Dlan and new layoffs are being Ned, he states. - j ae Sailing the De Gasperi govern- Prono for ignoring CGIL recovery ten Sals whose adoption would th d public works and increase | Whig, UtPut of electric power, - Pengiy is insufficient and too ex- Mde, fOr many industrial uses Vittonertvate utility ownership, Di. bo, “lO announced that Italian la- Compe t _call a national economic tion TeRCe to consider further ac- + The Provisional Democratic gov- ernment’s proclamation: @ Called upon the whole Greek people to unite to prevent the ruin of Greece at the hands of the American and British, and to es- tablish a just and democratic peace, @ Stressed the ability of the united people to evade national disaster and the tremendous sup- port for such a peace settlement coming, first of all, from the So- viet Union’s initiative in trying to secure a democratic settle- ment, @ Warned the Athen’s regime that if the ‘terror continued “the people will not bend the knee because they have always enough power to punish those who do not wish to come to their senses,” and told the people that a war against the People’s Democracies and the Soviet Union, would mean for Greece “ten times greater mis- fortunes.” Longshoremen arrested ' Shown being fingerprinted is August L. Goevenlinger, one of 16 Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union members indicted on a “riot” charge growing out.of the Dalles, Ore., “hot” pineapple - _ dispute. The men were Hawaii. picketing scab cargo of pineapple from general impression had been given that the “eleven” were convicted, not for thoughts, but for deeds. Due to limitations placed on Gates’ movement by the prosecu- tor, he could not leave the juris- diction of the court. Therefore, the interview between the news- paper reporters in Washington and Gates in New York was carried on through a two-way hookup. At the press table in the Mutual system’s studio here were Law- rence Spivak, American Mercury editor and sponsor of the program; I. F. Stone, New York Compass columnist; Louis Lautier, Atlanta Daily World; and Elizabeth May Craig: of the Portland (Me.) Eve- ning Express. Spivak, opening the questioning, immediately tried to°put Gates on the defensive with a query involy- ing a familiar old chestnut from Lenin’s Left-Wing Communism”. Did Gates agree with’ Lenin, Spivak use “trickery and deceit”? Gates pointed out that Spivak was quoting Lenin out of con- text. Lenin was dealing with the situation of militant workers un- der Czarism confronted with the problem of retaining union mem- bership and jobs in industry when their labor organization was undemocratic and dominat- ed by reactionaries, ; Spivak then jumped to trial tes- timony which he twisted, in an effort to make Gates a liar. -But Gates with a laugh told him he was the victim of a typogriaphical error and Spivak subsided. Stone asked Gates what acts the “eleven” had been charged with. Gates answered there was neither charges nor evidence of “acts”. “Nor was there the slightest evidence introduced to show that the Daily Worker before or since I became editor ever advo- cated the overthrow of the gov- ernment by force or violence,” Gates said. Lautier, one of the nation’s top Negro journalists, asked Gates whether many Communists had “infiltrated” into Negro organiza- tions such as the NAACP. Gates objected to the word. “Communists don’t infiltrate. They join organizations just like anybody else,” he said. “The Communist party does enjoy the confidence of a growing number of Negro citizens,” Gates said and related the strong showing made by Ben Davis in the coun- cilmanic race, Miss Craig interrupted to say, “but wasn’t the foreman of the jury which convicted you a Negro? How do you explain that?” “I have no explanation of that,” Gates replied, as if to say, “ I don’t hold that against the Negro people any more than I hold the verdict rendered by the white members of the jury against the American working class.” Blocked at this line of question- demanded, that Communists. should |- for their ideas turned again to the offensive. “You don’t mean to tell me- your party has no connection with Moscow,” she said. “Of course I do. There is no connection,” Gates said. “We are advocates of socialism and we favor the socialist policies of the Soviet Union. "Especially do we hail the peace policy of the Soviet Union which is in the ’interest not only of the Soviet ‘people but of the American peo- ple. The USSR has always fought to maintain peace.” Miss Craig is a conservative and her questions, while clearly reveal- ing her bias, nevertheless were questions that millions of Ameri- cans might in good faith ask. But Spivak never permitted such inter- changes to proceed very long be- fore he would toss in one of his loaded trick questions. At this point he asked: “Would you defend this country if a Communist group tried to overthrow it with force and vio- lence?” : Gates said this premise was phony but that insofar as his wil- lingness to defend his country was concerned, he had given plenty of evidence of that in two wars. “Do you consider this a demo- cratic government?” Spivak asked. “Yes, it is a democratic country but under ‘a reactionary govern- ment,” Gates replied. He said he would like to replace it with a pro- gressive government and eventu- ally with a socialist or communist government by democratic means. Lautier wanted to know what as- Surance the Negro people could have that the Communist govern- ment will continue to fight for Ne- gro rights, “Judge us by our deeds,” said Gates. “We plead guilty to fighting for the rights of the Negro people. It would be a good thing if other political par- ties were similarly guilty.” Lautier asked whether the rights of the Negro people could be won “without overthrowing the govern- ment.” Gates said it was possible to abolish jimcrow laws now but the ultimate establishment of complete political, economic and social equa- lity would be achieved under socia- lism. : ‘If Communists are to be judged by their deeds they don’t amount to much,” said Miss Craig. “They haven’t got very far.” “On the contrary,’ said Gates. “One hundred years ago, there were a handful of Communists. Today 800 million people are fol- lowers of communism. No other system has made such progress in the last 100 years.” Stone attempted to ask another question and Spivak cut in to sneer that the Compass columnist was “trying to get Gates off a limb.” “T am not on a limb,” Gates re- ing, the nimble-witted Miss Craig plied. . —LONDON Edward R. Morrow, of the New York Times, was one of the trou- ble-makers who started. the dis- turbance over the “weeping virgin miracle” in Lublin Cathedral, Pol- and, Morrow went to Lublin and wir- ed that the “miracle” had actually taken place—that an image of the Virgin Mary had been seen to weep actual tears. ed Comments the Soviet journal New Times: “It is pretty clear just who was interested, and for what purpose, in getting people to leave their work at ‘the height ‘of the harvesting season to see the mir- acle, Now American press even has pipeline into Heaven broke through the cathedral rail- ing, crushing a 20-year-old girl to death and badly injuring 40 others.” Morrow not only vouched fon the tears but was able, on special information ~ (presumably from Heaven itself) to say why they were shed. : The reason, of course, was the “oppression of the church in Cze- choslovakia” (that is, the seizure by the Czech ‘people of Archbishop Beran’s castles and estates). The explanation _ is sceptically received in Britain, where it is thought that Heaven is much more likely to be shedding tears over the lies told by the American press than over anything happening in - “Roused-to fanaticism, the crowd:{-Czechoslovakia: PACIFIC TRIBUNE — NOVEMBER 25, 1949 — PAGE 3