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THE PEOPLE’S ADVOCATE

April 14, 1939 ~

THE PEOPLE’S ADVOCATE

Published Weekly by the Proletarian Publishing

Association, Room i10, 163 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC. Phone TRinity 2019.

One Year _______-$2.00 Three Months ——--- $ .60

Haif Year —____-..51.00 Single Copy ——-—--- $ .05

Make All Gheques Payable to: The People’s Advocate

Vancouver, B.C. Friday, April 14, 1939

Have You Elected Your Delegates ?

~ AVE you elected your delegates to the Pacific Northwest Embargo Conference yet?”

This question, which has become almost a slogan, is being asked in countless trade union, church, and peace organizations these days 4s hundreds of delegates from Woashinston, Oregon and BC points prepare to head for Vancouver on April 22 to plan a coastwide drive for an embargo on wat materials to Japan.

To say that the forthcoming gathering is of vital importance is by no means an overstate-— ment. Canada, along with the other demo- cratic nations, stands at the brink of a war provoked by the Berlin-Rome-Tokio axis. Together with these democracies, Canada and its people may be called on at any time to bear the brunt of a world conflict that will bring suffering and death to millions.

Yet Canada for years has been loading the guns of the Tolxio end of the axis in particular with the shrapnel that will inevitably, unless we call a halt, be taking a toll of lives in Van- couver and other Canadian cities.

Under these circumstances it is manitestly suicidal for Ottawa to talk of building de- fenses on our coast while we ship millions in nickel and concentrates for war purposes to the military fascist dictatorship over in Tokio.

That’s the reason, then, for the Pacific Northwest Embargo Conference. Along with delegates from across the line, from whom, by the way, we can learn much in the conduct of the embargo campaign, we are going to sit down and work out plans to stop war ship- ments to Japan, to stop the war in China, and ultimately, to guarantee peace. For that is ex- actly the issue at stake.

So we ask again—has your organization elected delegates? If not, see that it does, and join the movement for peace on the Pacific— and the Atlantic.

An Unfertunate Decision

E’VE been accustomed to good news

from Eastern Canada’s labor movement during the recent period, but one news item this week was far from encouraging.

We refer to the annual convention of the Ontario CCF where, despite strong opposition from progressive delegates and stormy scenes, the party voted to prohibit unity “vith all other progressive groups.”

Tt should be noted that the decision covered not only the Communist Party, as might have been expected considering the caliber of the right wing leadership in that province, but every other progressive and liberal organiza- tion.

“Well only fritter away our strength by working with such groups,’ declared John Mitchell, provincial president. “Our task is to continue to stress before the people the meed of socialism as the only alternative to fascism.”

To term such a stand unfortunate is putting it mildly. At a time when the lessons of Spain and France cry out the need of democratic unity against fascsim, when the governments of capitalist democracies are talking of unity against aggression, when even Britain’s Tory diehards are being forced to concede the need of seeking the cooperation of Russia, the right wing in the CCF “can see no need” of co- operating with any other party.

May we warn, as we have warned countless times before, that such a policy may lead to unity, all right, but unity behind the barbed wire of fascist concentration camps.

May Day i939

ANCOUVER will celebrate May Day this year in the midst of one of the worst erises in history-

Europe is mobilized for war as never be- fore. Armies are on the move, navies are putting to sea. Fascist aggression pushes father afield, threatens South America and Wexico, moves in on United States and Canada. e

In these tense circumstances, there could be no more fitting slogan than that which will keynote this year’s parade— Stop Hitler and Save Peace!”

May Day can be made the occasion of a tremendous expression of Canada’s will for peace. When those hundreds of thousands take to the streets from Vancouver to Halifax, they will be voicing the demand that Mac- kenzie King take his place with Roosevelt in challenging opposition to Hitler. The rumble of marching feet will echo the cry: away with “appeasement ; no committments with the Chamberlain government; for a democratic bloc against aggression!

In this period of great crisis the historic day of May 1 is destined to play a greater vole than ever. Participation in the events of that day is required in the very interests of world peace itself!

What’s Chamberlain Doing?

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is the chief Municheer laying the groundwork for some more “appeasement’”’ or is he finally alarmed at aggressor gains? This writer be- lieves he’s straddling the fence temporarily waiting his chance to again aid his friends,

Hitler and Riussolini.

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By HARRY GANNES S FASCIST-CREATED incidents pile up menacingly from Iraq to Patagonia, the anxious attention of the world is concentrated on London. In this highly explosive situation, just what is Chamberlain’s game?

Will the early outcome of his conversations with the shifty Warsaw foreign minister, Joseph Beck, be the handing over to Hitler of Danzing? Or, is the British prime minister really finally alarmed over the Nazi threat to Great Britain, and is he trying to swing Beck and Co. into some form of collective ac-

tion to block Hitler?

We believe that Mr. Chamber Jain has merely moved from Mun- ich to a convenient fence. He is now sitting on that fence hoping for an opportunity to rush bach: to his old position, if he can, and if this is not possible he may be compelled to get off on the oppo- site side.

In moving from Munich to his present fence-sitting, Chamber- Jain has to that extent changed

-his position.

° Ur in thus far refusing any definite commitments and in earrying on suspicious intrigues with Beck, as well as consistently stalling on the Soviet Union’s pro- posal for a conference of all na- tions desiring to halt Hitler,

Ghamberlain has left the way wide open for more treachery.

Events in Irag, where, no doubt, Nazi instigation of anti- British sentiment because of TLon- don’s imperialist control of Iraq’s economy, oil, and government, led to the assassination of the Bri- fish consul at Mosul, will make it harder for Chamberlain to step back into the Munich path.

Also, events in Buenos AUres, where the Argentine government, headed by the pro-British Presi- dent Ortiz, is carrying out a ser jes of raids against Nazis who plotted seizure of the Patagonia province, have I.ondon approval.

This action will have a ten- dency to counteract the British

Tory sabotage of the Lima Conference. At Lima, Argen- tina tried to wreck western

hemisphere antifascist unity-

Mussolini’s preparations for in- vading Albania placed additional obstacles to CGhamberlain’s get- ting off the fence on the Munich Side.

British Mediterranean and Wear PBastern interests are dir- ectly threatened by Rome’s Al- banian adventures. Then, re ports of 5,000 additional italian ¢roops landing in Spain after Hranco’s victory, have aroused alarm in Brance and Great Bri- tain.

In short, the rapid drift of events is away from any easy re- enactment of Mnuinich.

e

Boe Hitler knows his Chamber

lain. The Nazi dictator is threatening a direct, lightning and horrifying attack on Great Britain. Hitler thinks this will give Chamberlain either the op- portunity of “saving the peace” through new forms of eoncession, or create such terror aS may hin- der any genuine British steps to- ward collective security.

Tt is Ghamberlain’s costly delay and conscious muddling that Hit Jer counts on so strongly.

Im the midst of all this, the in- cident of Lord Stanhope’s sensa- tional warning to Britain that the navy was manning its anti-air- craft batteries to meet any sud-

den Nazi attack from the air, is surrounded with mystery.

The first lord of the admiralty made this statement on board a battleship to the papers so they could transmit the information to the British people. The re- port was even broadcast over the British government-owned B.B.C. (British Broadcasting Co.) which makes it official

Then Chamberlain came out, first flatiy denying the truth of the statement, and later relegat— ing it to the sphere of “usual practice in a tense situation.”

Is Chamberlain deliberately cresting a new case of national jitters, wearing out the people’s nerves, as Hitler sets out to do, in order to facilitate another deal?

Or, again, is this a genuine de fense move in the face of a threatened Nazi lightning attack?

°

KNOWLEDGE of Mr. Cham-

berlain and his past would more emphatically point to an attempt to ereate panic, rather than instil confidence that through collective action the Wazis can be halted and kept from striking. :

The authoritative Journal de Moscou pointed out that the chief danger lies in Chamberlain’s pro- erastination, saying:

“In view of the extent of Ger- man agrgession and the existence of the bloc between Germany, Italy, Japan and fascist Spain, the as yet timid measures to en-— force security in certain sectors are powerless to ensure peace.

“Weasures are needed which extend to Europe as a whole and perhaps to the centres of war outside Hurope. Collective secur- ity must be assured.” Z

Similar misgivings over Cham- pberlain’s hesitation and two-sided maneuvers are expressed in Wash-

ington. Even the US State De— partment which has a strong clique sympathetic to Chamber-

Jain has given newspapermen in- formation pointing to new Bri- tish Tory trickeries.

The N.Y. Times printed a story

which was summed up in the headlines this way: Capital Wonders on British

Stand. Question is Whether Firmness Toward Hitler Will Go On or Collapse As Before.

That, indeed, is the question.

Other People’s Money

By ANGUS MUBREBSY

Ape week the fact that the Metropolitan Life Insurance had paid its policyholders half a billion dollars during the past year was featured news in the commercial press.

What was not featured was the fact that the United States senate monopoly committee has discov- ered that the insurance companies constitute the United States’ most powerful monopoly.

Forty-nine companies eontrol $27,000,000,000 of US policyholders’ money. Out of these 49 companies four control 17 billion all by them- selves.

° HESE huge reserves are sup- posedly the property of the policyholders.

Actually it has been established that only one per cent of the policyholders ever get an oOppor- tunity to vote in their eompanies. A handful of Wall Street financi-— ers control the 27 billion and they manipulate these assets at their will and in the interest of the other monopolists with whom they are connected.

In Canada a similar picture can be seen. There are 28 Ca- nadian life insurance companies and, of these, six control 79 per cent of the total assets of these companies.

The four dominant United States companies also operate in Canada and further add to the picture of monopoly.

Total assets held in Ganada by British and United States insur- ance companies amount to $577,- 572,955. Seventy-eight per cent of these assets are controlled by three companies out of the 34 for- eign companies holding assets and doing business in this country.

Assets held by Canadian life insurance companies total $2,135,- 373,567.

° 4 eee 6,41,839 Canadian life in- surance policyholders have no say whatever as to the disposal or investment of these huge as- sets.

This is particularly true of the

3,977,725 Canadian holders of in-

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Insurance monopolies reap a huge profit but pay little back to the policyholders.

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dustrial policies, have an average of $215, and who than 60 per cent policyholders.

The accumulated assets result- ing from the investment of policy— holders’ money never get down to the policyholders. They become the private plaything of a few big bankers and financiers.

Canada’s big shots are to be found well entrenched in the di- rectorates of Canadian insurance

whose policies value, at death, constitute more of all Canadian

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They Say:

Of all human inventions charity is the nastiest. If you do not be- lieve this, watch the Salvation Army break a man down before giving him a five-cent meal; watch your Community Chest destroy dignity before giving aid.

T worked for Hearst once and one of my duties was to distribute food to the poor of New York— baskets—celery, potatoes, a yel- low-fleshed chicken. We took them to the tenements. We were ashamed. We saw the hatred in the eyes of the people who re ceived our baskets. We went back to the newspaper city room and wrote columns on the generosity of Mr. Hearst. . . . I can tell in advance what may happen—a crowd of sullen men expecting charity. They know charity and hate it; the children pressing close, eyes wide, faces expression- less. And now and then a woman erying softly in the background.

Candy and food today—and starvation tomorrow. The chil- dren will be unhappy tomorrow. The gifts will only serve to em- phasize the poverty of the re- cipients.—John Stienbeck, in the American Guardian.

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companies. There they are able to manipulate with the billions which Canadian policyholders have put into their hands.

These two-and-a-half billions of life insurance assets are a PpOW- erful economic lever.

Se

EF USED for the invigoration and expansion of Canadian in- dustry, within the limits which law dictates to insurance com-— panies, Canadian economic recov-— ery could be enormously aided and employment could be tremendous—

ly extended.

But the lords of finance, who are responsible for the sitdown strike of big capital, are keeping insurance funds ‘‘frozen” too.

An outstanding fact in connec- tion with insurance is that a vast number of Canadians who pay for insurance never get it and lose whatever money they pay out

In 1936 for instance, the last year of record, Canadian life in- surance policies to the amount of $220,134,818 lapsed, while policies which were terminated by death amounted to $4,172,718—about one— fifth of the amount of the lapsed policies. es

UGH money was paid in on

these policies that alpsed but

the defaulting policyholders got little, if any, of it back.

Outstanding also is the fact that life insurance premiums — particularly on industrial policies — are far too high.

In the United States thought is being given to the proposition of the government taking over the country’s insurance business.

Tf unemployment insurance, health insurance, old age pensions and other social insurance meas- ures are properly the business of the state, life insurance also comes within the government's functions, it is argued.

Such a step, it is adyanced, would put the huge insurance as- sets to useful public work.

Tt would protect the insurance buyer from loss and, above all, it would put on end to the intoler- able situation where a few men can wield billions of other people’s money as a club.

watch For The Union Label

THANKES FOR YOUR COOPERATION Editor, People’s Advocate: Readers of your paper have surely moticed that many men

and boys have now that appear-— ance of being better dressed or

more prosperous. The real an- swer is that they have gotten away from the sweatshop mer-

chandise that is offered for sale.

Thousands of people, who pur- chased fine and work shirts, over- alls, trousers, and sportswear garments of the sweatshop kind, had unsatisfactory experience with them. They had all round disappointment — poor fit — poor service — wasted money all ne- cessitating buying over again in no time at all.

Did you ever have this experi- ence witha so-called bargain shirt —a pair of pants, overalls or a sports jacket? Better quality in your garments gives you genuine wearing service over a longer per- iod of time—gives you that com- plete all round satisfaction that js remembered long after the price is forgotten.

Our union, the United Garment Workers of America, extends its heartfelt thanks to the readers of this paper for their coopera-— tion in demanding the Union Label on every garment you pur- chase.

Within the short period of one week, three Toronto firms manu- facturing shirts, uniforms, trou- sers, windbreakers and leather garments, joined the family of

union label houses.

Sainthill-Levine & Co. Lid., Craft Sportswear Limited, and Exclusive Leather Sportswear Co. Ltd. are now sewing in the union label into every garment pro- duced in their plants. This Union Label on a garment is your guar-— antee against Sweatshop condi- tions. Demand it when buying, it is your guide to fair merchan- dise.

Our Union will gladly supply you with names of merchants in any community handling a full line of union label and union made garments._sS. LaPedes, Sec- retary-Organizer, District Coun- cil No. 13 (Ganada), United Gar- ment Workers of America, 441 Queen Street West, Toronto, On- tario.

i

SHORT JABS

A Weekly

Commentary

By Ol’ Bill

Do you know Joe Keenan? Not Award Of Worse luck, not enough people Merit know him, for Joe is an inspira- tion to everybody who does know him. He is 2 member in good standing of the original hot-stove league. Wot the leasue of wise birds who congregate around the box-heater in the village store and post office and play over the baseball games with their mouths, but the league of useful members of society who sweat over the cookhouse ranges of the lumber, mining and construction camps of Canada and the United States.

Joe allows himself, he didn’t have much schooling. is education was acquired in the university of hardnocks, from which ancient seat of learning he has graduated with the highest degrees as he proves daily.

Since the age of twelve years he has battled his way through a full generation of time and life across the continent from the Ottawa River to Wome, Alaska, filling out his education so he could be useful to his fellows — the others who had to batter their way through life like himself.

Before his education had progressed far he had learned that the laborer has to be on his toes if he desires to make life more liveable for himself and that he can only win and hold on to necessary improvements in conjunction with his fellows.

At sixteen he tangled with the labor movement and although fortune-telling cooks and other wise- acre friends announced he would soon get sick of it, Joe is still on the job. Today he is flipping the hotcakes at the Cariboo-Hudson Mine at Barker- ville.

His education has taught him to A Good know the destriiction which Education threatens democracy today from the onslaught of fascist reaction. Anything that he ean do to prevent Nazi barbarism from plungings the world into another Dark Age; anything in his power that will preserve what progress the race has already made, he will do.

This is why he has been contributing liberally. of his meager bankroll to the financial support of the Canadian boys who were defending Canadian democracy in Spain. Not only has he personally shouldered part of this burden, but he has organized the help of his fellow workers to the same end.

A couple of months ago he sent in a fivedollar donation to the Friends of the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion. When the receipt got back to him he used it to get some more of the stuff that helps erippled fighters. He secured the help of the ac- countant at the mine, who typed a subscription list for him and headed it with a two-dollar donaticen. Joe pinned his own receipt to this list and went round the camp with it. Of the whole crew, only seven failed to recognize their duty to the demo- eratic institutions under which they live. Everybody else put up their ante, and a total of $71 was raised and sent to the Mac-Paps.

This is a demonstration of initiative which might well be copied in other camps. It only needs an alert and enthusiastie individual like Joe Keenan to make every mining camp in BC as good im their support of democracy as the Cariboo-Hudson and the vet- erans of the Spanish struggle would have things easier today. Hospital treatment would be surer and artificial less and arms, so much needed by some of the boys, would be sooner provided.

Let Joe Keenan be an inspiration to all of us!

When the tourist newshawk, Gor- Another don Sinclair, stepped off the Ori Prophet ent liner at Yancouver last week,

he gave a statement to the press which justified a description of himself by a Chinese sampan-man of whom he wrote in one of his syndicated stories jin the Vancouver Province a month or so ago.

The sampan-man called him a “dirty spy’ accord- ing to his own say-so, and the statement he made in the press interview that “the Chinese are licked now and Japan has won the war,” Soes a good way to prove that the sampan-man was right.

The weeks, or was it days, he spent in Japan- occupied Chinese territory could not provide him with sufficient knowledge of the military situation to make an unprejudiced appraisal or place him in possession of the Chinese side of the case.

For instance, what did he learn of the Fourth Revolutionary Army, operating in the Japanese occupied territory in which he spent his holiday? Does he even know there is a Fourth Revolutionary Army? I don’t think so; for his Japanese friends

would not provide him with any information about it. -

About a year ago, the 8th Route The Fourth Army, the Chinese Soviet Army, Army organized the Fourth Revyolution- army Army for service behind the enemy lines. For this new army the front is in the rear of the enemy. It lives and operates in the midst of the Japanese forces of occupation. Its soldiers do not wear uniforms or engage in military marches and counter-marches. It does not engage in big battles but it does not give the enemy a moment's peace. Tt is assisted- by all the Chinese people from the poorest peasant to the richest landlord.

In the first ten months of its existence it fought over two hundred battles. It captured over 100 machine guns, thousands of rifles and killed off about 3000 Japanese soldiers. Four military trains were blown up on the WNanking-Shanghai railroad. It operates in the districts of Wanking, Siauncheng, Anking, Luchow, on both banks of the Yangtze River. All the communications around Wanking are under its control.

Political work, too, is carried on by the Fourth Army among the civilian population. Agitators inspire the peasants and give them leadership. Im these ten months, there is not one instance of a2

Fourth Army agitator, hason-man or partisan being”

betrayed to the Japanese by the people among whom they do their work Japanese prisoners of

war also help by writing leaflets, proclamations and:

slogans for circulation among the Japanese soldiers.

This partisan warfare has defeated the Japanese in one war already. They were driven out of Siberia in 1920 by the Soviet partisans. giums and the war academies cannot devise any

counter-strategy because it is not “according to the

book.” .

Tt is a line of strategy growing out of revolutior and even if Chamberlain should come to the aid oii his Japanese fascist friends with a “non-interven- tion plan” for China, the Japanese militarist cliqu is sure to be defeated, for even the Japanese war- lords discovered in Siberia that ten partisans are the equivalent of two hundred trained regula? soldiers. b

These were the tactics proposed by the Chines¢ Red Army leaders before the war started and if they had been followed from the beginning the war migh? have been over now.

Japan cannot avoid defeat in spite of the state ments of the peregrinating pressman, Sinclair.

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