ania F

This photo shows a group of
Japanese actresses collecting
signatures in front of the Tokyo
station early in June against
ratification of the Japan-U.S.
“Security Treaty.”

The wide popular movement
against the pact embraced peo-
ple from every walk of life.

Thousands of Japanese intel-
lectuals, actors and actresses,
teachers, university professors
and government employees
joined in the greatest move-
ment Japan has seen to stop the
Kishi government from making
a U.S. military base of Japan.

Anniversary of O. Henry

marked around world

The 50th,
American short story writer O.
Henry is being celebrated this
Month in many countries of
the world. In the Soviet Union,
Where 4,500,000 copies of his
Works have been published,
tribute was paid to him by
Writer Valentin Katayev. He
descrived O. Henry “as a man
of deep, observant and truth-
ful mind.”

Here Rosaleen Ross writes
about the man and his times.
* x *

It is the fashion in literary
Circles, at least on this con-
tinent, to dismiss O. Henry as
Cutmoded, as a mere word
Spinner, and master of the
“gimmick” ending. It is true
that he was not one of the
“giants” but he made never-
theless g unique contribution
to the art of the short story.

any of his stories were in-
€ed pot-boilers. He was a
Working journalist, at one time
Under the necessity of turning

anniversary of,

State prison. It -was_ while
there that he began to write
in real earnest, and it was
there that he adopted his pen
name.

O. Henry lived in the time
of the ‘robber barons,” in the
epoch of the development of
American capitalism, and
while he was in no sense a
crusader, his stories show that
he was well aware of the ruth-
lessness of the system and its
terrible effects upon the ordin-
ary working people. “I’ve got
some of my best yarns from
park benches, lamp posts and
newspaper stands” he is quoted
aS saying and he undoubtedly
did capture the tragedy and
irony of everyday life in the
United States of the early part
of the century.

Says one of his characters:
“Andy had too much imagina-
tion to be honest. He used to
devise schemes of money-

financial that they wouldn’t
have been allowed in the by-
laws of a railroad rebate sys-
tem.” Or again: ‘“ ‘There are
two kinds of grafts’, said Jeff,
‘that ought to be wiped out by
law. I mean Wall Street specu-
lation, and burglary,.”’

O. Henry was part of the
great tradition of American
story tellers and very much a
part of the America that pro-
duced Mark Twain, Bret Harte
and Jack London and his deep
compassion for the sufferings
and loneliness of the people of
the great city alone ensure him
a lasting place in the literature
of this continent.

All of O. Henry is certainly
not worth re-reading, but a
great deal of it is. Some collec-
tions of his stories, of which
there are over 200, are avail-
able in the public library, and
there is at least one paper back
which gives a fairly represent-
ative selection.

OPEN
NEUTRALITY

E. Rodgers, Vancouver

of being neutral, or of being
unengaged in disputes or con-
tests between others. The state
of taking no part on either
side.

“The world is in tumult.
Millions are engaged in a life
or death struggle to throw off

oppression. The time is here
now as never before, when
Canadians should and will
want to take sides.

nation and as individuals. That
is, Canadians will, if not led
down a blind alley lit only by
bourgeois
parties of the people.

“Neutrality a pale,

the .sand, and Mr.
“positive neutrality is surely a

positive about neutrality?

has said, regarding

Canadians have been
washed” by the outrageous lies |
of the reporters. Bourgeois|
propaganda and ideology is a|
most potent weapon. To make |
the necessary decisive turn in|
our thinking as a nation, at!
this crucial time is to break |
away from apathy and subser-|
vience to the US. |
“Is neutrality the tool? I'|

getting so fraudulent and high-

AREA

B |

ut one story a week for the],

€w York World in order to
€ able to eat and pay his rent, '

Ut the best of his stories still |

Wve today, have been trans-
ated into almost all languages
"Nd continue to delight new)
8€herations of readers,

_>: Henry was born William
Sidney Porter in North Caro-|
lina in 1862 and died just fifty

es ago—June 5, 1910. His

a
Cessively drugstore clerk,}
Cokkeeper, draftsman, and:
.2nk teller, from which last

€ was fired and accused

a embezzlement. He finally |*

a8 found guilty and served a
Tee year sentence in Ohio
Se ene Dt

HELP BUILD
PACIFIC TRIBUNE
p CIRCULATION !
488 this issue on to your
heighb

“rmal schooling stopped at the, .
Se of 15 and he became suc- |

, . TES:
tional conference of Advanced Educationa
Gilad Workers was held in Peking on June Ist, attended
by over six thousand delegates from all parts of the
country. In the centre of this photo is Mei Lan-fang,
famous actor of the Peking Opera which will perform in

Vancouver this summer.

think not. Independence, yes. |
Will neutrality provide the in-|
spiration which will activize |
millions of politically apathetic |
Canadians? Is this the policy|
of dynamic socialism, which is|
to stir the imagination and/|
kindle the temper and move!
the heart over massive wrongs? |

“The very air we breath |
poisoned by radiation, the!
threat of atomic war and anni-|
hilation, the war mongering|
and perfidy of the U.S. govern-|
ment and its mad military |
clique. Independence only will!
provide the impetus to formu- |
late our own domestic and/
foreign policy to be the first!
step to forge a nation. |

“Or has the liberal conven-}

--YES OR NO?
... What do you think?

writes: “Neutrality? No. Neu-}
trality, the state or condition |

the yoke of colonialism, na-|
tional and foreign tyranny and |

Morally, |
intellectually and with econo-|
mic and political pressure. To|
make a choice and act as a’

clap trap by —the|

| There’ will

cold; points of common interest to

colorless thing at home in the! unite sections of all classes on
shadows of rocks or hiding in|

Mowat’s| peace, but not under the ban-

| ner of neutrality.
contradiction in terms, a dan-|

gerous pacifist lure. What is}

South America recently accus-|
ed Canada of indifference and/|
apathy. Roy Jacques of CKWX |
Mr. |
Khrushchev and the press con-!
ference at the Summit that!
“brain|

FORUM _

| The Pacific Tribune here
presents a letter from a
reader. We have printed it
‘in full despite its length
|because of the important
| question it raises.

| The Pacific Tribune does
not agree with the writer’s
opinion of neutrality. The
stand of this paper is to
support neutrality as the
policy which corresponds
best to the present need of
disengaging Canada from its
Suicidal military entangle-
ments with the U.S.

We invite the readers of
our paper to send in their
opinions. Because of limita-
tions of space, please keep
your letters within 200
words.

be many vital
the road to independence and

“It is now the time for the
clarion call of an independent
Canada, to stir the people out
of their shells to discuss, think
and take part in government
policy and decisions. The shock
of the Summit collapse has
stirred Canadians and all
people everywhere to a wide-
awake consciousness of the
issues at stake — annihilation
or peaceful co-existence and
disarmament, the greatest chal-
lenge to civilization.

“This stirring and awaken-
ing — is it to be Opiated with
the soothing syrup of neutral-
ity? The Canadian people will
respond to the call for inde-
pendence as shown clearly by
the mass of comment and dis-
cussion aroused by the crisis
of the U-2 spy episode and the
Summit collapse.

“Independence of cour se
isn’t the answer in total to the
immense problems facing Can-
adians today, but is the next

| necessary political and histori-

cal step forward. In working
for this advance we must ne-
cessarily, through education
and correct strategy, create a
political and social conscious-
ness needed to recreate our
future.”

Publish Burns’ work

in Ukrainian
An edition of the works of

tionality of the past, and sit | Robert Burns, translated into
on the fence and do nothing! Ukrainian, has come off the
attitude poisoned our ranks so | press in Kiev. The collection
that we are afraid to take a|contains 119 songs, ballads,
positive virile stand, but must | epigrams, and: long and short
mime the first rebellious plati-| poems which the great Scottish
tude uttered in protest by| bard wrote at various periods
bourgeois non-conformists?| of his life.

June 24, 1960—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5