The ADVO CAT

FOR PEACE, PROGRESS AND DEMOCRACY

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VANCOUVER, B.C., FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 1940

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OVIET-FINN PEACE SIGNED

NEW YORK, NY.---The stock market here reflected | the ‘regret and disappointment’ with which news that a Soviet-Finnish peace pact had been signed was re- ceived in Washington, London and Paris. Information that the pact was about to be signed sent stocks tumb- ling from the new high reached only a few days earlier when, as it was later revealed by Prime Minister Da- ladier, French and British troops were only awaiting the word that would send them to intervene in the Soviet- Finnish conflict. |

Treaty Hailed As Victory For Socialist Policy

A new victory for Soviet policy was recorded this week when, on Tuesday, a peace treaty be- tween the Soviet government and the Finnish White Guard regime was signed at Moscow.

At 11 a.m. Wednesday fighting throughout Finland ceased, with the Red army in full posses- sion of the shattered seaport of Vipurii it occupied

Four Arrested In Vinnipeg, Warrants jut For Two Others

‘7 WINNIPEG, Man. — John Weir, editor of the Mid-west

3 ier, business manager.

Saarges laid by Winnipes city ze and RCMPolice against the 5-, arrested in raids on the pa- Bs offices Tuesday of last week Sn papers. and records were eeed, are “that on Feb. 17 they ia} unlawtully publish, print, cir

Sorts or Statements intended or mi ly to be prejudicial to the effi-

icy to section 39a of the Defense ’Canada regulations.

\Veir and Tuomi have been re- sed on bail set in two sureties FS$1000 each. The two women Bre also been released on bail of 50 each.

(he Mid-West Clarion is the -frd militant Canadian labor @ekly to come under attack since S-break of war. Clarte, Montreal, Ss banned last October during §: Quebec provincial election, and —: Clarion, Toronto, was banned

(sion, labor weekly published here, William Arnold Tuomi, “=f ulation manager, Edna Gertrude Shunaman and Bertha (iia Smith, office assistants, are facing charges under the 9 ence of Canada regulations, while warrants have been issued 5 the arrest of John Magnus Clarke, co-editor, and Annie S.

in November, following raids car- ried out by Ontario provincial po- lice.

The attack on the Mid-West Clarion followed the speech oppos- ing the war made in the Manitoba legislature by James Litterick, Communist MLA for Winnipeg, a week earlier,

Litterick’s statement that the Ganadian people would haye op- posed Canada’s participation in the war had they been given a chance to express themselves, drew fire from several members, including John Queen and H. FEF. Lawrence, CCF members, who continued to interrupt throughout his 1%4-hour speech.

Despite repeated interjections and questions from Liberal, Con- servative and CCE members alike, Litterick succeeded in placing his position before the House.

(Gontinued on Page 2) See WINNIPEG

#Pointing to the Annual Review the Employment Situation in janada during 1939, Mayor Tel- izd showed that Vancouver's em- joyment situation had slumped 47 3.5 percent while figures given yx the province were 6.6, nearly juble those in the city.

On a dominion-wide scale there an improvement in employment { 41, but these figures mean very ttle to British Columbia, and the far, with its enrolment of man- lswer into the fighting forces, to- ther with war orders, ‘which fere expected to absorb a large Simber of men into these war in- justries, have not made any warked decline in unemployment, ne mayor stated.

telief Budget Slashed, }ut Employment Drops

Slashing of $160,000 from relief appropriations as shown in = Vancouver civic budget while unemployment remains a ajor social problem, still showing an upward trend both in the ity and throughout the province, despite the fact that there is dslight improvement in the country as a whole, was condemned

, Mayor J. Lyle Telford in an interview with the Advocate

While relief appropriations are being pared down, living costs are rising. Wiholesale prices in Nov- ember were higher than at any time during 1938.

Hood prices alone advanced, ac- cording to index figures, from 8.07 percent in September, to 8.77 per- cent in December. Living costs as a whole increased from 16.93 to 17,72 in the same period.

A few months ago the BC House- wives’ League and Consumers’ Re- search Council were instrumental in having the city re-establish its committee on profiteering, but to date it has not functioned because, as Mayor Telford claimed, “No eases of profiteering have been brought to its notice.’

Candidate

LESLIE MORRIS, Commun- ist candidate for Winnipeg North,

Sitdown Staged

MURRAYVILLE, BC. — Urgency of the need to increase relief allow- ances was demonstrated for the second time within a month here on Monday when about 70 members of Langley Ratepayers and Work- ers Association staged an all-night sitdown in the Langley Municipal council chambers in protest against the council’s refusal to grant the demand.

A petition signed by local mer- chants supporting the organiza- tion’s claim was rejected by coun- cil and was promptly followed with the sitdown protest.

The association contends that a 10 percent increase agreed on by council is inadequate to meet in- creased living costs.

Last April the association cir- culated a demand for a uniform relief scale of $18.75 a month for a married couple and $4.75 for each child. Rates for single men were $12.60 and 50 cents a day for single women.

Mayor To Speak At Jobless Rally

Mayor J. Lyle Telford will speak pn problems affecting the unem- ployed and the high cost of living Monday, March 18, in Denman street auditorium in support of the Unemployed Joint council’s cam=- paign for continuation of the Municipal Improvements Assist-

to provide work for unemployed

citizens.

ance act and other works projects’

10 Run On |

Communist Platform —

Candidate Named To Oppose King In Prince Albert

Among the 672 candidates contesting the 245 parliament- ary seats in the federal election on March 26 are 10 Commu- nists, a survey of final nomi- mations this week disclosed. Communists are contesting 1 seat in Quebec, 2 in Ontario, 1 in Manitoba, 4 in Saskatche- wan, 1 in Alberta and 1 in British Columbia.

In Montreal-St. Mary, Evariste Dube, whose wife was recently fin- ed $500 with the alternative of six months imprisonment for distribut- ing peace pamphlets, is engaged in a four-cornered fight against Dr. H. Deslauriers, Liberal member in the last House; G. Fateaux, Na- tional Government (Conservative) ; and T. Prezeau, CCE. Dube was the lone Communist candidate in the Quebec provincial elections last fall.

Tim Buck, general secretary of the Communist party, is the Communist candidate in Hamil- ton East, where he is opposing A. A. Brown, National Govern- ment, Conservative member in the last House; T. A. Ross, Lib- eral, and R. Aindow, CCF. Last week police arrested Robert Keays and Victor Guy, of Toren- to, and Grace Fugler of Hamil- ton, well known Canadian artist, in Hamilton, and claimed to have seized 50,000 anti-war elec- tion leaflets. Because of the de- gree of repression Buck did not appear personally to file his nom- ination papers. Instead, the papers were filed by his wife.

The other Communist nominee in Ontario is Stewart Smith, for- mer Toronto alderman who in the civic elections this year polled 20,- 000 votes for control board. Smith is a candidate in Toronto-Spadina where his opponents are Sam Fac- tor, Liberal member in the last House, and G. G. Blackstock, Na- tional Government.

MORRIS OPPOSES HEAPS

In Winnipeg North, Leslie Mor- ris, the Communist candidate, is opposing A. A. Heaps, CCF mem- ber in the last House, who is out- spokenly supporting the war. Oth- er candidates in this constituency are GC. S. Booth, Liberal, and Percy

(Gontinued on Page 2)

See CANDIDATES

in a final offensive two hours before the official

armistice.

By the terms of the treaty—terms which ensure that Fin-

land will not again be used as

a base for armed intervention

against the USSR—the Soviet Union obtains:

i. The entire Karelian isthmus “sith the town of Viborg (Vipurii) and WViborg bay with its islands, the western and northern shores of Ladoga lake with the towns of Kexholm (Kaksalmi), Sortavala and Suojarvi, a number of islands in the Gulf of Finland, territory east of Markajarvi with the town of Kuolajarvi, part of the penin- sulas of Rybaachi and Sredni”

2. The right to lease at “an an- nual pjayment of 8,000,000 Finnish marks the peninsula of Hanko and the waters surrounding it in 4 radius of five miles to the south and east and three miles to the west and north of the peninsula and a number of islands adjoining it,’ for creation of a naval base.

3. The right of transit of goods between the USSR and Sweden, “and with the aim of developing this transit along the shortest rail- road route, the USSR and Finiand find it necessary to build, if pos- sible, in the course of the year 1940, each party on its own terri- tory, a railway line connecting the town of Kandalaska with the town of Kemijarvi.”

In addition, Soviet citizens are to have the right to free transit across the Petsamo region, from which Red army troops will be

withdrawn, while the Finnish gov- ernment undertakes “in accordance with the peace treaty of 1920, to refrain from maintaining in waters along her coast of the Arctic ocean naval or other armed ships, except- ing armed ships of less than 100 tons displacement, which Finland has a right to maintain without restiction, and also not more than i5 naval and other armed ships with a tonnage of not more than 400 tons each.”

The Finnish government also undertakes not to maintain sub- marines and aircraft in Arctic waters or to establish military forts or naval bases on the Arctic coast.

The treaty provides further:

i. That “both contracting parties undertake mutually to refrain from any attack upon each other, not to conclude any alliances and not to participate in any coalitions against one of the contracting parties.” z

2. That “when this treaty comes into force, economic relations be— tween the contracting parties will be restored, and with this end in view the contracting parties will enter negotiations for conclusion of a trade treaty.”

to prevent our government from

(Liberal member of parliament),

Anti-Soviet Policies Hit By British Intellectuals |

LONDON. England.—Issued last week, an open letter, signed by leading British intellectuals declared there was ‘grave and imminent danger’ of an attack by the British and French governments against the Soviet Union, and urged the public to “use their utmost efforts

taking this ruinous action.”

Signatories included the Dean of Canterbury, Sir Richard Acland

George Bernard Shaw, Professor

J. B. S. Haldane, Sybil Thorndike (iamous actress), Lord Listewel, Sir Charles Trevelyan (former minister of education), Sydney and Beatrice Webb (most famous writers on labor sujects in the country).

Commenting on conclusion of the treaty, Pravda, Soviet Communist party organ, declared:

“Not only the entire Soviet peo- ple but the working people of the whole world will welcome with tremendous satisfaction this new triumph of the Soviet policy of peace.”’

Pravda charged that “British and French imperialist circles incited Finland, as previously they did Poland and other states, to war against the Soviet Union, promising ‘guarantees’ and support in this war and spreading the illusion that fortifications built with the as- sistance of Great Britain and France were impregnable before the Red army.”

It continued: “Three months of hostilities were sufficient for these illusions to vanish without a trace. The valorous Red army destroyed the strongholds of the Karelian isthmus (the: Mannerheim line) which British and French experts declared were impregnable,” and in conclusion asserted: ‘Plans of the British-Mrench imperialists to fan war all over Europe also fell flat. Weither their dubious sallies in the League of Nations nor threats nor bribery were of any avail.”

The capitalist press on Thurs-

day was speculating over Otto

Kuusinen, head of the Finnish Peo- ple’s government who, according to a British United Press despatch, “negotiated with the Russian goy- ernment and gave the Soviets whatever they asked.” The des- patch added, “He was not heard of again.”

Hearst's International News Serv- ice in a Stockholm despatch on Thursday announced- that “Otto Kuusinen, exiled Finnish Com- munist who was set up as the head of a puppet ‘people’s government of Finland’ at the beginning of the Russian war, and his entire ‘cab- inet’ have been executed in the Kremlin, according to unconfirmed reports here tonight.”

Yet last Fridays editions of Komsomolskaya Prayda and Trud carried an article by Kuusinen un- der the headline, ‘Adventure of Mannerheimites Doomed to Gol- lapse.’

Kuusinen declared in the article that the Finnish White Guard re- Zime had counted on two things when it rejected Soviet proposals Jast year—the Mannerheim line and British aid—but both had failed.

He asserted that the British gov- ernment had ‘promised 100,000 troops from Canada,’ but added that ‘the Ganadians preferred to remain

at home.”