THAT, MY FRIEND, 15 THE QULWARK we, Se hel 4 (to . -§ to express my the P.A. I es- iwith profit and ecolumn “Short il. My very kind- » Comrade Bill I had the pleas- pog im Victoria a nearly a decade a -eally been com- t= by the perusal fe 9th inst. issue I am referring © tion from a Mr. . old and crusty, rh but Mr. Ulin- to the CCF Pro- = aS that August akened my long ies for the en- mor! Maybe I fatter all! ses for the suc- . whose articles _@ -t-living farmer, AT DOUGAN. e ‘= 10ns ns to you and ve nent on the Pa- ' launching the 20 the “People” a Advocate.” I 2d the first issue 4 fthusiastic about £ ‘ould contribute forts for a world birine wars and sity and happi- "= lot of the Ca- hubt that in the nt period of our yy, the voice of ach an ever in- E of people. Sor international pity, and its work Peat of a coali- onary elements detour Canada b£ progress, will ftribution to the 7 every service- iteturm to. Good your work. Pines, JURICH RUSH Army Overseas. PAT DO YOU THING? Youth Dear Editor: I wish that more young peo- ple had been able te attend the second annual convention of the Labor-Progressive Party and heard the constructive, down- to-earth discussion of problems concerning every young person in B.C. today. Such things as free text books, vote for the 18-year olds, vocational training, social hy- giene education to combat ju- venile delinquency, are issues which the youth movement has been fighting for during the past number of years and which are all included in the LPP pro- gram for B.C. These are things of which the youth are im need, and it is encouraging to know that the ILPP is as genuinely concerned about these problems as much as all other social and economic problems facing the people of this province. This is a political program whieh will appeal to all sections of youth, whether worker or serviceman. From the record of the LPP in the past, I know that such a pro- gram will be fought for, just as this party has campaigned for better rehabilitation allow- ances, particularly the cloth- ing allowance for discharged servicemen; school lunches; im- - proved nurses residences at the General Hospital: Those of us who are active in the youth movement are now responsible for “making this program a living: reality im our respective communities, for only by bringing this program to young people can we ever hope to have it fulfilled. BETTY DUNBAR. AGS IN Ee NEWS DESK THE FIRST STORY TO APPEAR IN AN AMERICAN : NEWSPAPER UNDER A BRUSSELS DATELINE AFTER so GERMAN OCCUPATION WAS DICTATED IN A J ' BRUSSELS CAFE CROWDED WITH GERMAN SOLDIERS ST FOR G17 ON SILK Looms WEIGHTED with STONES TO WEAVE GANVAS AND WITH METAL JOINTS CUT FROM U.S. GASOLINE GANS, THE CHINESE MADE 5000 CoTs FoR U.S. GIOS IN CHINA Z ‘ ELS. THE F.A-F. HAS SCATTERED LEAFLETS OVER EUROPE AT THE RATE OF 1200 A MINUTE [TOR NEARLY 4 YEARG of warh student, . Saturday, December 16, 1944 — Page 5 : ‘SECPASUAYAANERUSUENUSUERTUALULENSTECATAGRUECEUCLLATALTARCLEVIELELIGy secs ELUALLTCLITELIVELLAyAAYCALTEIELALTE Short Jabs by ov til WAxASUAAUSSANRINAECURENUSEEUCSOCLOSOENSECOCSTEUUELANGELNGUCHCSOLEESELELELITUGLSETTUCEL ICES EDFEDELATIELERSALELETE A Voice From the Past LAWZERS, as a class, are hidebound by precedent and tradition. They. have a trade language which ‘Separates them from the mass of the people. That language is derived from one spoken by the ruling class in England when that country was bi-lingual. It differed, however, from the bi-lingualism we know in Canada where both French and Eng- ‘lish-speaking peoples have equal political rights, because one of the — ae languages was the tongue of a ruling class, Norman French; the other was that of a conquered and enslaved people. This lawyer jargon, for that is what it has degenerated into, seems to have a psychological effect on many. who engage in that profession. They take unto themselves, perhaps partly because of it, the ordering ‘and direction of our lives, they assume part of the function of the state and they place or consider themselves, outside of, over and above society as a whole. The entire class of lawyers, witha few brilliant excep= tions, have left this impression on the layman who is interested in social progress. : : When they leave the schools with the parchment that empowers them to interpret the law (provided they join the lawyers’ union, which is a closed shop), and to advise and guide the innocent and unwary masses through the mazes and complitations of the multiplicity of laws, restrictions, prohibitions, orders-in-council, musts and must-nots, they are faced with the problem of making a great decision—either to become men oy lawyers. y Some, sensng the realities of life, seeing the miserable existence to which the majority of the people are condemned through oppressive class legislation, renounce all the privileges granted them by their possession of a degree of doctor of law. They throw away the parch- ment and fall in step with the forces that make for progress, the people who are marching forward to a better life. Marx and Lenin are only two such. There were many others. Others elect to become lawyers. Success, that is, to their way of thinking, the acquisition of wealth, from then on, is a matter of shrewd-' ness and cunning. Those who can outsmart their fellows become cor- poration lawyers. The less shrewd are graded off right down to the ambulance chasers. Amongst the least shrewd, some try ,the other road, polities, of making laws that nobody can understand. If they fail in that, the decision in that case being made by the people, they are ele- vated to the judiciary, and there justify the old Irishman who was a witness in arlawsuit. The same stairway. in the courtroom led up to the witness box and the judges seat. The Irishman took the wrong turning where the stair- way divided and was right up alongside of the judge before he was noticed. When the judge woke up sufficiently to grasp the situation, he thundered, “How, now, Moriarty, is it a judge you want to be?” To which the old peasant replied, “Well, your honor, I’m an ould man now, and its mebbe all I’m fit for’ ; The first group of lawyers link their fate with progress; the second with reaction. In the present attorney general, we have one of the ‘latter group. .« Franchise for East Indians (pees demand for the extension of the franchise to East Mmdians, the agitation for which is being earried on by the Khalsa Diwan Society, represented the Sikh population of B.G. does not meet with his approval. He issued a statement a few days ago, after an interview with a delegation from that body. According to Maitland, this question has been settled in this province for 50 years. “The Fast Indians,” he is re- ported to have said, “are advancing an argument different somewhat from those of the past.” That, of course, in the eyes of the reactionaries, is a heinous crime. To speak differently, to aet differently, to think differently and to expect different reactions, to the speech, and action and thought of 50 years ago, is beyond the understanding of a fossilized, legal mind, par- ticularly, when it is possessed by. the individual who occupies the high- est law post in our province. If our Hast Indian fellow citizens find that the arguments of 50 years ago, or even of last year, were not convincing enough to win support for their request, why should they not advance new arguments, if they have any? Only a mind trained to legal ‘quibblinge could find a reason why they should not. Only a hidebound, reactionary tradition could give any one the immoral courage necessary, to advance such a reason. Fear of scorn and contempt would prevent any one else from -so doing. Maitland discourses at meetings of lawyers—bar associations and so forth (not bar with the brass rail). On these occasions, as he did once at Portland, Ore., he claims that the lawyers have a saered duty in their keeping—to preserve liberty. ; Actions speak louder than words. The East Indians are British subjects. The Indian army, of several millions, is doing a noble part of the task of destroying fascism. Indian soldiers have been decorated with all the rewards of merit which may be won by soldiers of the Hmpire, including the Victoria Cross. While men and women of that race here, are deprived of political rights possessed by others, Mait- land’s “liberty” is a frothy-mouthed, Tory jade and his claim to be a defender of liberty is so much hypocritical cant. : “But the claim of the East Indians, that they be allowed to vote and have equal status politically with the people amongst whom they live and work, is supported by an increasing number of people, people who are not living in the past of half a century ago. Tabor unions, church bodies, Canadian Legion spekesmen and countless others recog- nize the justice of their demand. It was endorsed at the Provincial convention of the Labor-Progressive Party last week-end alone with that of the Native Indians. It will shortly become a fact in spite of the efforts of Tory reaction headed by the attorney general.