Continued from page ! and the Soviet Union should not Y€ normal and based upon the ‘mutual interests of both. _ The period of bad relationship 8fose out of long-standing anti- _ Soviet attitudes of Canadian gov-' €rnments. It must be remember- €d that the Liberal and Tory gov- €rnments since the Russian Rev- Olution of 1917 have had a par- ‘Ueularly bad record as concerns diplomatic recognition of the _pP0viet government. ore Ottawa recognized the So- _ Met Union in 1942, Even the ‘ S. record is better: agreement to exchange ambassadors was - Teached in 1933. _ Canadian recognition and the €Xchange of ambassadors came about only when it became clear _ that the powerful assistance of the Soviet Union and an anti- ltler alliance alone could save _ Canada, Prior to that time, the prem- €ts of Canada, Bordon, Meighen, ‘Ing and Bennett, pursued a Vigorous anti-Soviet foreign poli- = Canadian troops were sent 10 Siberia in 1919 to try to de- Stroy the new government of. he Russian people. Bennett Clamped an embargo on trade, With the Soviet Union in the ‘Ungry *thirties when we sorely , Reeded that trade. Mackenzie “Ing publicly wished that Ger- | Many and the Soviet Union’ auld exhaust themselves in the >€Cond World War. | fter the victory over Hitler. acism, in 1945, the King gov- | ‘tment actively intrigued with! Attlee, Churchill and Truman in Making the switch” from alli- ance with the Soviet Union to panty towards the Soviet Union at preparations for a new war Ab do what Hitler had failed to AY Panes the “spy scare” of 1946, 7& atom bomb “blackmail” that “tmetanged and the subordina- tain to the U.S. policy of “con- nee” which led to the North ‘Atlantic Treaty Organization. = he Liberals boasted, second- it by the Tories, Social Cred- €fs and CCF MPs, that Louis t. Laurent fathered the NATO Cheme. And now it is the "ght CCF’ers who denounce €arson’s visit, as witness the -Sutburst of Larry Sefton at the L convention. I Is anti-Soviet policy 4 met defeat after defeat, dur- mil; Which Canada’s economic, ey and diplomatic subord- ; lon to U.S. foreign policy | HUB HUMOR ze 5 failed. "Aw right! Can the comedy and etseatl" 8 pistomers like our FREE CREDIT tant because it’s free from red a and easily arranged. For sent next suit or topcoat use this nsible way of buying it. ‘HASTINGS | _, iWenty-five years went by be-}| became almost complete. And ‘it could*not be otherwise, for if Canada’s foreign policy is based on NATO (which is not a dip- lomatic tea party but a military alliance directed against the So- viet Union and the People’s De- mocracies) and because there could be no NATO without the |‘ dominant role being played by the U.S... then Canada’s foreign policy in effect is Washington’s. The NATO line is not work- ing, and cannot work. It comes bang up against the new de- mocratic forces, ine the world, the peaceful socialist diplomacy of the Soviet Union, the col-, onial upsurge as expressed in the Bandung Conference, and the irresistible pressure © of world public opinion for peace. in- Job applications in B.C. creased by 3,000 from the middle of August to the middle of Sep- tember, when the official figure was given at 28,804. The list of unemployed is still growing. Nearly 4,500 fishermen (two- thirds of the gillnet fishermen and about 2,500 seine crewmen) lare out of work in what United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union describes as “the worst year for unemployment we can remember.” t & x Thanks to the Electrical Work- ‘ers Women’s Club for a lettér correcting an error which ap- peared in a PT story dealing with George Gee’s fight for his right to work. : ‘ “Our organization was men- tion in the last paragraph but was not portrayed entirely cor- rectly,” says the letter from the EWWC secretary... “It said we organized to help Brother Gee in his fight. This was only part of it. against discrimination of any kind in our union. There were several other cases at the same time Brother Gee’s came up and we found ourselves concerned with the effect this had on many wives and children. Our aim is to aid in the good and welfare of any family in Local 213, IBEW. “We are very pleased to be recognized as a bona-fide group and thank you for being interest- ed enough to mention us. How- ever, we feel we would appreciate it if you print some kind of a correction.” J xt iOeetesaret “One of the most obvious things to the delegates who participated in the just-ended TUC conven- 7 tion was the way the press dis- torted the reports of it,” ¢om- ments The United Worker, organ of the Ocean Falls Pulp, Sulph- ite Local 312 and Paper Makers Local 360. “Most of these accounts were what appeared to be deliberate misstatements, or else were so badly garbled as to be complete- ly misleading to anyone who was not at the convention. “Tt makes us wonder if the vaunted freedom of the press 1s not interpreted by the press as freedom not to tell the truth.” PATRONIZE Cr ARON E Ee 5 COFFEE SHOP 410 Main St. Operated By ‘ GEORGE & WINNIFRED Jin the face. We got together to fight: en still further around the ques- GIBBONS MORRIS ON PEARSON’S VISIT Hence Geneva and the Gen- eva spirit. Pearson would not have accepted Molotov’s invita- tion to visit Moscow unless the Geneva Conference had taken place. It would have been un- thinkable a year, or even ‘six months ago. 4 There is no doubt that Pear- son could have gone to Moscow on a diplomatic mission at any time if Canadian government policy had not precluded it. The fact that he went at this time is clear proof that there are some “second thoughts” in Ot- tawa about Canadian foreign policy and the consequences of the NATO strong-arm line. After all, a policy has its own logic and leads somewhere. NATO foreign policy is leading Canada into greater difficulties, which we can get out of only if we accept realities and look facts. Facts are “cheils and dinna wing” and are even penetrating the heads of some of the domin- ant circles in Ottawa. The machinations in Washing- ton, Ottawa, London, Paris and Bonn will not serve to stop the advance of social progress. The Soviet Union, People’s China and the People’s Democracies are here to stay, and were the pro- ducts of profound and implac- able social forces. Any renew- ed attempt to destroy them by imperialist bombs will fail as Hitler’s failed, and bring about the destruction of the remaining imperialist world. _ The path of wisdom and realism is, to live with the so- cialist world and to enter into peaceful co-existence with it, and engage in peaceful compe- tition with the socialist way of life. It is very doubtful that the, wing of the Canadian cabinet which strongly supports Pear- | son’s visit draws full conclusions from the facts. Yet, it is more than likely that there is a grow- ing division of opinion in the top circles of the Canadian gov- ernment around these questions and that another look is taken! at the consequences of U.S. for- eign policy. Ottawa doubtless reflects the deepening conflict in the ruling circles of the U.S. which Gen- eva has further aggravated—and which the foreign ministers’ meeting on October 27 will deep- tions of European security, dis- armament, Germany’ and so on. The Canadian government’s de- cision to send Pearson to Mos- cow indicates that at the moment the main direction of policy in Ottawa is to press for continua- tion of the Geneva line, and to that extent Pearson’s visit is:a criticism of the hard policy sym- bolized by John Foster Dulles, and in favor of Eisenhower’s “second thoughts” on _ foreign policy. © This can only be welcomed. At the same time, it must be em- phasized that one swallow does not make a summer, and one visit by the Canadian foreign minister does not change Cana- dian foreign policy to the extent that Geneva is put into practice and the Geneva spirit assumes real substance around those mat- ters still outstanding. A very god step in the di- rection of putting Geneva into practice would be the recog- nition of People’s China and the speedy establishment of normal diplomatic relations with the giant of Asia. Pear- son is on record favoring the establishment of such relations and stating that this develop- ment is inevitable. This is the time to do it. It is still not too late for Pear- Hopes for Canadian-Soviet contribution to peace were voiced by External Affairs Minister L. B. Pearson (above) on his eooperation as a constructive visit to Stalingrad. “For us Canadians this city has become not only a symbol of victory but also a symbol of post-war the defeat of the enemy. rehabilitation,” he said. “Here at Stalangrad, the enemy was stopped and a counter-offensive began which, together with the counter-offensive launched in Normandy, in which the Canadian troops also took part, led to We recollect with pleasure our friendship and cooperation during the war. I hope that co- -operation between the USSR and Canada will be expanded and by a trip to Peking, on his way home from the Far East.” Canadians must press for ac- tion on the reduction of arma-; ments, for without such a reduc- tion the danger of war will not be further lessened, and social reforms in Canada will not be carried through. The $2 billion annual arms budget is crippling Canada. Canadians will welcome the visit of a Soviet trade delegation to Ottawa and the extension of | ‘the most-favored nation tariffs treatment to the Soviet Union, which Pearson apparently has. agreed to. The possible visits to— Canada of members of the Su- preme Soviet of the Soviet Union, ' and of Canadian MPs to the So-! viet Union, will be widely greet-' ed in Canada arid the Soviet Union, as will the exchanges of artists now mooted. In short, Pearson’s visit to Mos- cow was a good beginning. Ten- |; sions between Canada and the' Soviet Union have been lessen- ! ed. ~e Canadians will benefit from’ the current increase of informa- | tion about the Soviet people and their way of life and will be- come convinced of ‘the truth of what they have long suspected — that the Soviet government and its people did not “wear will be a constructive contribution to peace.’ horns” as the rabid anti-Soviet- eers shout, but are pioneers of the advance of civilization. Let us have an exciting and challenging ‘‘competition of ideas” with the Soviet people. Com- munists have no doubt about the. outcome of that historic struggle. It is reported that Molotov, Kaganovitch and others. told Pearson that Canada is not an insignificant country, but a power; not “the ham in the sandwich” that Pearson suggest- — ed we are, but a “bridge.” Excellent advice. Canada’s position in world affairs is grow- ing. The trouble up to now has been that the long historical struggle from the earliest days of settlement to create and pre- serve an independent Canada, has been:set back by the St. Laurent-Pearson cold war poli- cy. : If that disastrous line is now changed because of the demand of the people for lasting peace, we can look for new stages of the struggle for Canadian in- dependence and the building of a peacetime economy. The lessening of world tensions and the retreat of the war danger will bring to the fore the basic questions of Canadian indepen- “dence : ‘ Plan reception for son to follow his visit to Moscow BEN SHEK / tend returning delegates The British Columbia progressive youth movement will officially welcome back its delegation to the recent World Youth Festival in Warsaw at a reception dance and smorgas- bord this Friday evening, Octeber 21, in Pender Auditorium. Guest of honor will be Ben Shek of Toronto, leader of the Canadian delegation. ~Shek, former editor of the progressive youth paper Champion, and now Toronto organizer for National Federation of Labor Youth, will speak at the rally: He is now making a tour of B.C. centres on his first trip through western Canada. The reception also marks a high point in the current finan- cial drive of the NFLY in this province to raise $500. Money is to be used to sustain fall and winter activities of the organiza- tion, which include dance classes, a basketball school, bowling: league, song and drama groups and education work. “Everyone is welcome to at- the reception,’ said ‘an NFLY spokesman this week. “Come down and shake the hands that shook the hands that shook the world!” _ PACIFIC TRIBUNE — OCTOBER 21, 1955 — PAGE 7