S hi o rt J a las QUAM

nelles. Shame being no part of the equipment of a

Two workers’ governments

HERE have been two overturns in history when

the new governments were thoroughly representa-
tive of the workers. In Paris in 1871, the. Commune
supplanted a provisional government which was carry-
ing on in the spirit, and attempting to make good,
the bourgeois program of the scoundrelly Napoleon the
Third, self-proclaimed heir to the laurels of ‘that
other Napoleon whose inglorious career was climaxed
by St. Helena. The Commune was a government of
the French workers since Paris had always spoken
for France. :

In Russia in 1917, another workers’ government
supplanted another bourgeois government which was
also attempting to maintain the rule of the bourgeoisie.
This new government was the Soviet government which
has withstood for thirty years the attacks of the
whole bourgeois world and still does so.

In both of -these instances, the new governments
made use of the archives and secret documents of
their forerunners to expose their class enemies. The
Commune published the recorded dealings of Napo-
leon the Third with hirelings whom he had in his
pay, whose job it was to line up political support for
his maneuvers and to keep his opponents split into
harmless groups.

One of these hirelings on Napoleon’s list was the
German “socialist” professor, Vogt, whom Marx had
accused of being -in the pay of Bonaparte, fifteen
years before. The record of a payment of 40,000 francs
to Vogt, from Napoleon’s personal account, proved
the correctness of Marx’s denunciation beyond any
shadow of doubt.

When the Bolsheviks came into power in Russia,
one of the first things they did was to expose the
hypocrisy of ruling class politics by publishing the
“secret treaties’ entered into between the Tsarist gov-
ernment and those of Britain and France regarding

bourgeois politician, it did not faze them much but
it woke up millions of lesser people to the criminal
moves that went on behind the golden curtains,

And the Labor government

N 1945, another “socialist revolution” took place

another “socialist government” came into office.
it was a different kind of “socialist revolution” and
a different kind of “socialist government.” It was
a socialist government that’ carried on most of the
Tory policies of the government that preceded’ it.

But according to press reports, they seem to be
digging into the archives too. In 1852, Baron Manteu-
fel, head of the Prussian government, had his police
agents report on the “conspiracies” carried on in
London. The Communist League was the objective of
these investigations. Manteufel’s stools faked every
kind of evidence, forged letters, manufactured minute
books of clubs and organizations. Even the names
they gave of alleged League members were sufficient
evidence of the fongeries. In some cases the names
were of people who never existed, in some cases the
initials were wrong, in others surnames were wrong
and when real names were used, no effort had been
made to copy the handwriting or signature.

Stiebert, the chief snooper of the Prussian govern-
ment, the J. Edgar Hoover of his day, made a
report on the basis of this faked data which read
in part: “This League directs in Germany about 300
to 350 societies of workmen in each of which there
are not above one-tenth members of the League. The
numbers of all the societies is calculated at 50,000
and that of the members completely initiated who
blindly direct the societies at about 100.”

This report was submitted to the British govern-
ment with a request that it take some steps to deal
with the “conspirators.” That government, however,
did not consider it necessary to take any action in the

and
But

If we are to be guided by the press, this “socialist
government” which is not representative of the work-
ers, appears to be digging into the archives too—not,
however, to confound the lords of society but to con-
fuse the workers. Arthur Deakin, Bevin’s Man Fri-
day, says, “We cannot allow the Communists’ at-
tempted infiltration into and domination of the trade
unions to succeed.” No doubt he got his idea of the
“Communist set-up” from Steibert’s report, out of the
British government’s archives.

And why can we not afford this infiltration? Be-
cause, says Deakin, we cannot tolerate “the continual
interference and the launching of industrial programs
on wages and conditions by the Communist Party.”
The real reason is out. The Bevin-type “socialist” ig
not arguing that the Communists will smash the
trade unions but that they will inspire the workers
to fight, for better conditions and increased wages!

The Communist Party has supported the Attlee-
Bevin-Morrison alleged socialist government consist-
ently against the forces of reaction, but when that
gang demonstrates conclusively that their only con-
cern is the salvation of the capitalist system and that
their only interest in the workers is the length te
which they can be used for that purpose, it is natural
that the Communist Party should put forth a demand
for a better labor government.

Thus the resort by a labor government to the
kind of document that even the Whigs were above

the disposition of the loot, particularly the Darda-

matter, so the report was buried in the archives,

using.

.

ment program it proposed for
rehabilitation of the country.

The plan, which criticizes the
Attlee government’s Own plan to
reduce the armed forces to 500,-
000 by the end of this year as
being too gradual to provide the
additional manpower required in
the critical months ahead, actual-
ly challenges the basis of the
present Labor policy.

The government’s stand is that
the dollar crisis compels it to
limit housing plans and restrict
industrial development in order
to free manpower and conserve
materials for the export drive
through which it hopes to pay
for imports. In consequence, the
British pegple are being asked to
work harder and wait longer for
housing and other needed social
measures, and some nationaliza-
tion projects are being shelved
as the political price Britain is
paying for its subservience to
American objectives of the Mar-
shall plan,

The Communist plan, by re-
leasing thousands of men now
in’ the armed forces for con-
struction, both domestic and in-
dustrial, would relieve the peo-
ple of the costly burden of main-
taining the men under arms
and at the same time satisfy
some of the people’s needs and
strengthen the industrial drive.

Prime Minister Clement Att-
lee’s demagogic denunciation of
Russian Communism last week-
end as pursuing “a policy which

threatens with a new form of
imperialism—ideological, economic
and strategic — the welfare and
Way of life of the other nation’s
of Europe,” was scathingly re-
plied to by the Daily Worker,
which commented: “Attlee is
earning his government’s share
of Marshall dollars.”

A front-page editorial declared:
“Democracy in Britain is com-
ing to mean an ever-closer co-
operation between government
and monopolies.”

Arthur Horner, general secre-

British Communists propose
housing, development plain

LONDON—The British Communist Party this week
published a three-year plan calling for a drastic reduction
in the armed forces in order to release the thousands of
men required for the large scale housing and capital develop-

Mine Workers,

declared that for
Britain “there is only one way

HARRY POLLITT
A three-year plan for Britain

.
to improve the standard of life
of the people, and that is by
planned socialist economy, not a
capitalist anarchy.”

Canadians helped
build railroad

Homer Stevens, organizer for
the United Fishermen and Allied
Workers’ Union here, was inform-
ed this week that the Yugoslav
Youth Railway, on which he and
other Canadian delegates to the
World Youth Festival at Prague
worked this summer, was com-
pleted on November 16,. two
weeks ahead of schedule.

The information was contained
in a letter sent by Bracic Peeoric
on behalf of the central’ council
of the People’s Youth of Yugo-
slavia, thanking Stevens as com-
mander of the Canadian Beaver
Brigade and stating:

“Your stay in our country
has been another proof of the
determination of the progres-
sive youth of the world to op-
pose with all their power the
endeavors of international reac-
tion and the propaganda of the
would-be instigators of a new
war.”

The Youth Railway, 274 kilo-
meters long with nine tunnels
and 14 bridges, was built in less
than eight months. More than
211,000 young people worked on
its construction.

New Masses suspends

NEW YORK — New Masses,
which ‘has a considerable circu-
lation in Canada, will discontinue
publication as a weekly this
week and its place as an organ

of Marxist opinion, criticism and
review will be taken by a new
monthly publication, it is an-
nounced here.

heavy rain soaked the family’s
few belongings as the sheriff and
his men removed them to the
basements of friendly neighbors.
Then the family was obliged to
separate in order to obtain tem-
porary shelter, with no prospect
of being able to find another
house.

Mrs. Matheson is a war widow.
Her husband, who was employed
at light work, the only kind he.
could do because of sickness which
followed his “service in the first
world war, dropped dead in June,
1946, and only a few days later
a seventh child was stillborn to
Mrs. Matheson. In the eighteen
months since she has struggled to
rear her family on the inadequate
$85 a month mother’s allowance
she receives. :

On New Year’s Eve, hearing of
the family’s plight, Bert Marcuse,
first vice-president of New Vet-
erans’ Branch 168, Hal . Zlotnik,
president of Branch 178, Canadian
Legion, and Jack Phillips, called
on Mrs. Matheson and some of her
neighbors and then appealed to
Mayor Charles Jones to help them

|find some emergency housing so

CHICAGO Circulation of
struck Chicago dailies, which
normally exceeds 3,000,000 cop-
ies, is dropping off by the thous-
ands as the public struggles
along with papers filled with
news anywhere from 12 to 48
hours old and “printed” by a
hard-on-the-eyes varitying pro-
cess. .

The strike began November
24 when 1,500 members of Local
16, International Typographical
Union (AFL) walked out in a
demand for a $15 weekly wage
increase. Publishers refused to
talk wages unless the union
agreed to sign a contract in
conformity with the Taft-Hart-
ley act, which bans the closed
shop. In reply to ‘thé publishers’

tary of the National Union of
FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 1948

‘'. ‘\

Strike costly to Chicago papers

claimed concern for the law, the
printers point out: —

In Boston the Hearst paper
granted an increase without
handcuffing the ITU. The Chi-
cago Hearst paper declares this
would be a violation of the law.
The Knight paper in Akron, O.,
also waived a contract, thus
maintaining ITU conditions. The
Knight paper in Chicago, how-
ever, takes the same stand as
Chicago Hearst.

Publishers contend’ that the
new process of printing a paper
with typewriters is the next step
it! modernizing the American
press and will enable them to
get along without the ITU en-
tirely. Printers and men actual-

_printers’ demands would add

ly in charge of the new process
retort that the new process is
costly, long and tiresome.

Because this process cannot
reproduce very small type and
requires plenty of white space
to increase readability, the pa-
pers are being forced to use
more newsprint — an expensive
and scarce item. One observer
granting the

$22,500 a week to total payrolls,
equivalent in cost to 250 tons
of néwsprint at current mill
price -of $90 a ton, This amount
is only a fraction of the week-
ly wastage of newsprint result-
ing from use of the varityping
system.

Veterns’ leaders get housing
for evicted widow’s family

By MYRTLE BERGREN

It was not a very happy New Year for 40-year-old Mrs.
Ina Matheson and her six children, ranging in age from two
to eighteen years. On December 30 they were evicted from
their tumbledown home in the South Renfrew

district. A

that the family might be re-
united.

When their first appeal brought
no response they visited Mayor
Jones in his office and this time
they wrung some results out of
the civic administration.

Through the Citizens’ Rehabili-
tation Council, J. I. Chambers, city
social services administrator, was
able to have Mrs. Matheson and
her family moved to Seaforth Vil-
lage, a former army hutment now
being used as living quarters by
veterans and their families.

East Hastings Branch of the Ca-
nadian Legion assisted the family
in moving furniture and other
household goods from neighbors’
basements.

“This is merely ointment on a
sore,” Bert Marcuse told me this
week. “The cure can only be ef-
fected by getting at the cause —
and that means a program to
provide homes for every one.
Until then the more fortunate
citizens in the community will
continue to be affronted by see-
ing the sheriff’s’ men moving the
furniture of families . whose right
to a home is their service to their
country and whose tragedy is
that their country has failed to
live up to its housing promises.”

City Chinese rap
arms shipment

The Chinese Workers’ Protective
Association here, through H. C.
Low, its secretary, has protested
to Prime Minister Mackenzie
King against sale of surplus Ca-
nadian arms and munitions to the
Chiang Kai-shek regime, describ-
ing the government’s policy as
“prolonging the civil war in
China.”

The Min Jong Association here
has also commended the Cana-
dian Seamen’s Union for its stand,
declaring that a firm stand by
labor against the government’s
policy would halt the traffic in

arms to China.
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 5,
i