a

CAAT

THE PEOPLE

MArine 6929

Published every Saturday by the People Publishing Company,
Room 104, Shelly Building, 119 West Pender Street, Vancouver,
British Columbia, and printed at Broadway Printers Limited,
151 East 8th Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Telephone

EDITOR: HAL GRIFFIN
ASSGCIATE EDITOR: AL PARKIN

sn AAA

Defeat the Offensive
| Of Reaction

(Cae and the other United Nations countries face the

bloodiest and toughest months of the war—a period in
which the Allies will be called upon to match in effort and
Sacrifices the triumphs _of the Soviet Union.

With the coming of victory, this country will face decisive
months and years, the results of which will tell whether we
shall be able to realize the fruits of that victory in jobs for
all, social security, the extension of the people’s wellbeing and
freedom and the further building of the country—or return
once more to the horrors of unemployment and rampant
political and economic reaction.

In clearcut terms, the issue becomes this: Shall we speed
the victory and with it take our place in the new world for
which we are fighting and whose shape has been indicated in
the Atlantic Charter and the Moscow Declaration, or shall
these great ends be subverted by unscrupulous groups, bring-
ing disorder, poverty, unemployment, suppression of democ-
racy and the danger of new wars?

[= number of danger signals pointing to just such a devel-

epment can be seen in the recent wave of reactionary
propaganda spread across the pages of most Canadian news-
papers, all initiated by that group of monopoly capitalists in
Canada which is the parent of fascism.

All the wolves are howling—Conservative Leaders Bracken
and Drew, Justice Minister St. Laurent, “Padlock Law’? Du-
plessis, Premier Manning of Alberta. Their cynical outery is
ostensibly directed against Socialism, but that only covers
an attack aimed at the heart of Canadian democracy and the
war against fascism!

In addition, the continued disregard of labor’s rights by
the federal department of labor, as well as the open assist-
ance given by the department of justice to pro-fascist groups,
create the conditions for the black crusade of reaction.

All the while the forces of defeatism and opposition to pro-
gress are preparing their coup in our country with slander
against our Soviet ally, and with outrageous provocations and
forgeries such as Duplessis’ anti-Semitic crusade and Glad-
stone Murray’s talk of “revolutionary plots.”

AA those who stand for cleaness and honesty in Canadian
life, everyone who is for victory in the war and demo-
cratic progress in the peace, must rally to the struggle today
to ward off the offensive of reaction.

Unity of the trade unions, unity of the entire labor move-
ment, is the basic need for such a struggle to be successful.
And it is regrettable that the CCF official policy of opposition
to labor-farmer unity has helped open the doors to the at-
tacks of reaction.

There are some sharp lessons for the CCF in recent de-
velopments should its leaders care to study what is happen-
ing. Take the case of Harold Winch and his now-famous
speech at Calgary. His remarks were of course sheer dema-
gogy, shrewdly aimed at the workers in this province, but
that did not stop the anti-reform forees from launching a red-
baiting attack on the CCF itself. despite the fact that the CCF
continues its red-baiting against the Labor-Progressive Party.

Reaction has here taken advantage of the split in labor
ranks to extend its labor-hating crusade in every direction.
That, coupled with the CCF splitting tactic of demanding that
CCF members alone can represent trade unions affiliating to

“their party, is directly helping to block war and post-war re-
forms, and is preventing the very establishment of a CCF
government after the next general election.

The Canadian people want the reforms contained in the
program of the CCF, for victory in the war and post-war
democratic progress. But they need unity of labor, the farmer,
socialist and all progressive forces to achieve those reforms,
a united front that is best realizable now through a broad

federation within the CCF.

Rocket Planes
In This Century :

by PROE JB:

Ss: laALDANE

lps Nazis are reported to be using a rocket-driven bomb
against our ships. This seems to be a kind of miniature

airplane, perhaps controlled by radio.

The Stalingrad film

showed most impressive volleys of rockets fired by the Red

Army.

The rocket was ,the first type
of self-propelling mechanism in-
vented, probably in China, and
it is remarkable that men had
actually got something to fly
through the air before they could
make one run along the ground.

O FAR the difficulties in rocket
propulsion have been two-
fold. One is the difficulty of
keeping the rocket on its course.
If the gas comes out at a very
slight angle the rocket swerves,
and I have known a life-saving
rocket come back at the coast-
guards who fired it. This can be
overcome if the rocket is steered
by a pilot or by radio. At least,
it can be overcome in theory,
though in practice this may. be
harder.

The second difficulty is to get
the material which generates the
hot gases to burn evenly. The
same problem occurs in making
propellant explosives for small
arms and artillery.

If the cordite in a rifle cart-
ridge exploded as rapidly as
possible, like guneotton or dyna-
mite, it would smash the breech.
Tf it went off slowly, like fire-
work composition, it would go
on burning long after the bullet
had left the muzzle and most of
its energy would be wasted.

Rocket-propelled cars were
tried out in Germany in the
nineteen twenties, but, though

they made some successful trial
runs, the composition occasionally
exploded too fast and several of
the inventors were killed.

Perhaps this is why rocket-
driven airplanes have not yet
been used. The rocket-propelled
bomb may blow itself up or
Swerey uncontrollably into the
sea once in ten times. This does
not much matter, for most bombs

miss their target anyway. But

such an accident rate would be
impossible with airplanes.

The inefficieney of the first
stage of rocket propulsion is
overcome, in the case of rockets
launched from planes, by the fact:
that they start with the speed of
the plane. And I got the im-
pression from the Stalingrad
film that the Soviet rockets were
started off by a small propellant
charge, which would not need a
heavy mortar to contain it.

)

FeCcket propulsion has two
great theoretical advantages
for airplanes. The first is that it
is quite efficient at great heights
where the ait is thin. Indeed, it
would work best in the complete
absence of air and has been sug-
gested as a means of reaching
the moon or Mars.

The second is that propellors
become inefficient when they
move as fast as sound. .For
sound consists of pressure waves
in the air, so compressed air piles
up in front of anything moying
with the speed of sound waves,
and the resistance to its motion
increases enormously.

So it is sure that rocket pro-
pulsion of passenger-carrying
planes will be tried. Many in-
ventors have designed machines
in which petrol is to be burned
rapidly, and the exhaust gases
shot back at great speeds. Coal
dust might also be used. But
such methods, like the internal
combustion turbine, have not yet
worked , and no one knows
whether they will.

Certainly it would be safer to _

fiy in a plane whose fuel was
merely combustible, and not ex-
plosive, but it may take a long
time to make it. Nevertheless, I
woud bet fairly heavily that
rocket-propelled planes using a
non-explosive fuel will be im use
this century:

AANA TTT TTT TT

Books and People

by KAY GREGORY.

NACA TTT TT

Soe of the new books published in Britain look very at-
tractive and it is to be hoped that they will eventually be
reprinted in Canada and the United States.
One I would particularly like to have is The Crocodile
Album of Soviet Humor, a selection of short stories and draw-
ings from the Soviet magazine, Crocodile, famous for its satire

and humor. The collection is
edited by Ivor Montagu and Her-
bert Marshall.

Hundreds of men and women,
many even little more than chil-
dren, have fled to Britain by
circuitous and dangerous routes
to escape Nazi slavery in Norway.
The story of these refugees who
are now aiding their country by
other means, is told in Sons of
the Vikings by R. B. Nyquist, pub-
lished by authority of the Royal
Norwegian Government Informa-
tion Office.

A satirical book by “Cassius,”
The Trial of Mussolini, seems to
be very popular in Britain. Plenty
of witnesses come to Mussolini’s
defense Austen and Neville

Chamberlain, Rothermere, Simon,
Hoare, Duff Cooper, Hore-Belisha
and many others. In each case
Cassius quotes the actual histori-
cal words these people spoke.

The one-time Dictator’s accus-
ers are effectively shown in an
ordinary Abysinnian, a Spaniard
and an Italian. <

e

pease people are also read-

ing about the labor scene in
the U.S. American Labor, by
Ernest Davies, which gives the
early history of the labor meve-
ment, telling of the IWW and its
influence on British and French
militants for a period, and con-
eluding with an account of Iabor’s
part in the war.

man has no place in a —#

Sen,

Short,
Jabs

—by OV Bill_

Stool Pigeon

Jr is a notorious fact that 4

pigeons, private deh
agents and other canaille of
kidney, to prove the necessi{ }
their existence, manufs
erimes and pending crimes —
of whieh reach the stag
“eause celebre,’ like the’ |
mous Harry Orchard case y_
almost sent three innocent
Haywood, Mayer and Pett -
to the gallows in Colorado;
forty years ago.

The mentality of these p,
and their technique is not
ited to the riff-raff of the
fession! The same thing ca
found in the actions of son
the higher-ups in political —
among people who purport |
respectable around the lobbi |
parliament and in what is k ”
as clubland.

Major Gladstone Murray w 4
one time general manager a |

SRN yee Ee

Canadian Broadcasting Cor |
tion. He proved so inefficie
the job that parliament hz
remove him. But being a ~
heeler for the administrati
new job was found for him.
now “publie relations coun
In this capacity he no ;
feels the urge to make good- }
the stool pigeons referre -
above. So this week we
treated to a melodramatic t
“revolutionary conspiracy” }
would have made Baron
ehausen or Major Hoople
into a skunkhole for shame i

“There is in existence § |
says Murray, “a complete pl; }
a general strike in. Canada ff
after the war.” A plan of  f
fessional agitators with a y }
interest in disruption and § 2

. for purposes of reyol
ary action.”- It is a moyemer ~
“outside the trade unions an
CCE

This is not a statement; ~
an accusation. Murray
not, even by inference, foisi
a conspiracy onto the Lik
We do not believe his class jt
ings would allow him to fas’ %
on the Tories. His romantic }
eliminates the CCF. He °:
mean the fascists (since he qj
be in their inner councils). }
the fascists in Canada ca}
more call a general strike j
they could defeat the Red | |)’

That leaves only the Com 7
ists and this inference is sur ¥
ed by a previous cock-ant §
yarn invented by Murray the |
Reds attempted to get cont
the CBC to broadeast Ge
War news in the early days ¢ §:
war. . E
If he does mean the Com)
ists, then I can brand the §
here and now as a lie. if
what Prime Minister Chu #
ence referred to as “termir |
jeal inexactitude,’ but down |
unadulterated falsehood. St¢@

position where he can us |
influence to disrupt na
unity.

He even earries his dece
the point of attempting to
fuse people into the belief
there is no difference hel
Germany and Soviet Russia. !
ray was a failure in the CBI®
will also fail in his presen’ #
for he certainly is no arti
mendacity. i