to the U.S. consular staff.

U.S. ires British with

Hongkong

HONGKONG

The British-owned China -Mail,
largest circulation English paper
in Hongkong, last week called for
Strong British ‘government pres-
Sure on the United States to stop
“sross and intolerable’ interfer-
ence” with British trade with
China.

American efforts to deny. the
Charges made against the U..S. in
the British House of Commons re-
cently by Harold Wilson, Labor MP
and former president of the Board
of Trade, “are not convincing,”
the paper said.

“Mr. Wilson’s comments on Am-
erica’s attempted coercion cannot
be denied,” it wrote.

In many cases “not only have
firms been designated (blacklist-
€d) without any reason given but
In the case of one firm its clients
in Hongkong have been warned
_ hot to trade with the company un-

der pain of being designated
themselves.” : :

Dealing with Wilson’s other
charge that American consular of-
cers in Hongkong were “spy.ng
On British trade,’ the paper com-
Ments:

“The fact that Atnericans pos-
sess apparently complete, ac-
Curate, and up-to-date details of
the activities of Hongkong busi-
nNessmen suggests that they have
been fairly thorough in their in-
Quiries.” ’

In his recent statement Wilson
Said that U.S. officials “are being
Used for economic warfare pur-
Poses and for attempting to en-
force an entirely illegitimate block-
ade of the traditional trade be-
tween Hongkong’ and China.”

Wilson noted that one in every
eleven of the Americans living in
Hongkong belong to the consular
Staff,

He had no evidence they were
being used for anti-Chinese espion-
age, :
“But the evidence available
does show that in time of peace
they are operating all the pan-
Oply of economic warfare con-
trols designating, blacklisting,
Combined with indirect econ-
Omic pressures against British
traders.”

A view of Hongkong where, according to Harold Wilson,
British Labor MP, one in every eleven Americans is attached

blackmail

Wilson gave one example of U.S.
pressure methods.

He cited the case of ‘‘a reputable
British firm in Hongkong, which,
in accordance with the wishes of
the British government, attempt-
ed to maintain its establishment in
China.” j

The firm found that when it d:d
so its New York banking account
of $500,000 was frozen.

The firm’s customers in Hong.
kong and in at least one other Brit-
ish colony were warned by An.etri-
can authorities that they should

British dockers win
big strike victory

Striking dockworkers in eight British ports have gone back to work after a 26-day strike
that ended in the biggest victory in dockland in 50 years.

LONDON

The “‘dockies’’ voted to return to the jeb after port employers in London, the largest
centre affected, had caved in and agreed to the men’s demand that overtime should be voluntary
and not compulsory. Negotiations to extend this concession to the other ports are now being

carried on.

At its height, the strike involv-
ed 43,500 waterside workers in
eight major ports—London, Liver-
pool, Birkenhead, Manchester, Hull,
Southampton, Garston and Ro-
chester.

Strikers were members of three
unions — the small Stevedores’
and Lightermens’ unions and water-
front workers in the huge Trans-
port and General Workers’ Union.

The 7,500 stevedores and the
4,500 lightermen had the official
backing of their oganizations. But
the more than 30,000 TGWU mem-
bers were on strike against the
orders of their top leaders.
by general. secretary Arthur Dea-
kin, TGWU officialdom tried every
means to break the dockers’ solid
front, and failed.

The walkout started in London
among members of the Stevedores
and spread rapidly to other ports,
being joined by members of the
other groups on the docks until it
involved more than half of the
ecouniry’s waterfront workers.

The strike was marked by un-
precedented solidarity between
the traditional rivals — holders
of the “blue” cards of the. Na-
tional Amalgamated Stevedores
and Dockers and holders of the
“white” cards of the Transport
and General Workers Union.

The rank-and-file stood firm

not trade with the company in

question “under pain of becoming) against attacks from the govern-

designated or redesignated them-.
selves.”

In London, the Daily Worker
asked editorially last week:

“What is the government going
to do about the Americans in
Hongkong?

“Harold Wilson has done a great
service to Britain by exposing the
activities of the US. consulate
there.

“They are spying on British
firms trading with People’s China
and employing financial blackmail
to try to break this trade.”

The paper adds:

“These American upstarts seem
to think that they are above the
law and can do what they like.

“These activities have no-:
thing to do with normal U.S. con-
sular business in Hongkong.

Those responsible for the appar-

atus of coercion should be clear-
-ed out of Hongkong now — back

to the United States.”

In a written reply to Harold
Wilson in the British House of
Commons, R. H. Turton, Foreign
Office undersecretary, refused to
protest to the U.S. government
about the activities of its consular

ment and big business press and
from the right-wing leaders of the
Trades Union Congress. They re-
jected back-to-work movements or-
ganized by Deakin.

Widespread support for the
dockers’ case from the labor move-
ment prevented the Churchill goy-
ernment from sending in troops to
move cargoes as was done by the
Attlee government in a previous
dispute.

Road transport workers refused
to deliver goods through dockers’
picket lines. In other ports like
Glasgow where voluntary overtime
is established, waterfront workers
would not handle cargoes diverted
from strikebound ports.

Dockers in continental Europ-
ean ports also clamped a ban on
working ships normally handled
in British ports.

From all over Britain — from
shipyards, factories and mines —-
came donations to strike funds.
The unions opened a food distribu-
tin centre in a room of a vicarage
in London dock area and gifts

officials in Hongkong.

were sent in from sympathizers.

Times, Worker share prize

LONDON

First prize for newspaper design
has been won by the London Daily
Worker in competition with all
other British daily newspapers.
The paper shares the prize that is
given for “typography, layout and
the use of illustrations” with the
famous London Times, long recog-
nized as a leader in typographicai

design.

The award was given to the
London Daily Worker by judges
Brooke Crutchley, CBE, printer to
the University of Cambridge; J. M.
Richards, member of the Royal
Fine Art Commission and archi-
tectural writer; and W. Turner

Berry, librarian of the St. Bride
Technical Library and famous
typographical scholar.

Led,

Scenes reminiscent of the great
General Strike of 1926 took place
in London’s Hyde Park as dockers
from all the striking ports march-
ed to endorse their leaders’ con-
duct of the strike and to express
their determination to win.

7,000 men paraded from the Em-
bankment to Hyde Park Corner,
carrying banners borne in many
a struggle, alongside fresh new

posters stating the case of the
workers. :

A little girl bore a poster half
as big as herself, neatly summing
up the significance of the whole
strike — “My dad has got to have
more leisure time to spend with
me.”

In course of the strike, Harry
Pollitt, gencral secretary. of the
British Communist party, issued a
statement repudiating charges by

x g =

Deakin that the strike was result
of “a Communist conspiracy to
creaie chaos and confusion.”

_ Poilitt gave his party’s support
to the dockers’ fight to get volun-
tary overtime, but at the same time
took issue with those members of
the Transport and General Work-
ers Union who were breaking away
from their union because of dis-
satisfaction with its policies.

“We are not in favor of march-

ing away from the TGWU,” Pol-
litt said. “We are in favor of
every member of it marching
into its branch meeting and tak-
ing a full part in trying to
change its policies and its lead-
ers — such as Mr. Deakin.”

The Communist leader challeng-
ed Deakin to defend his stand be-
fore members
unions.

of the striking

Hanoi welcomes People’s army

Soldiers

of the Vietnamese People’s Army

received a

tumultuous welcome from the people of Hanoi as they marched
into the city last month. TOP: A mechanized unit rolls through
the centre of the city. BOTTOM: School children disolay a port-
rait of Ho Chi Minh, president of the Democratic Revublic of

Viet Nam.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — NOVEMBER 5, 1954 — PAGE 3

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