Inter-Sectional Strife in Canada Weakens War Efforts
McINNIS, GRACE
Inter-Sectional Strife in Canada Weakens War Efforts Socialists Urge Complete Industrial Nationalization By GRACE McINNIS parliamentary Secretary of the Cooperative Commonwealth...
...fa- connection with subversive activities, the Ontario conven-'wt of the CCF, meeting the week-end of May 25, passed a reso-knon roundly condemning action in such cases by self-appointed P»ps of citizens and contending that only the regular police •euld have any jurisdiction over them...
...alternative to the prosecution of the war than they areof the academics of Socialism with which they tried to regale the House of Commons: when the formation of 'the new Government was under consideration...
...Developed political differences with the Communist Party...
...It would be easy to think of a number of objections to this policy...
...and his family were refused exemption from enemy alien restrictions...
...Accusations were made in the Communist press that The New Leader was pre-natally prej-4 udized—and promptly we were smeared...
...The most sensational police activities were the wrests a few days ago of the Canadian fascist leader Adrien Areand and some of his followers...
...The rank and file I.L.P.'ers are more impressed by Mr...
...GF members are endeavoring unsuccessfully to get the Government to -finance this war on a pay-as-you-go-basis—making ™08e who can afford it do the paying...
...To: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt The White House, Washington, D. C. "As an Italian immigrant and naturalized American citizen, and as one who has fought against Mussolini's fascist regime since its inception, I wholeheartedly congratulate you on your masterly speech this week condemning Mussolini's criminal war against democracy...
...That it must be made now seems to be the cpinion of the vast majority of the people of this country., PIENCH-SPEAKING members from the province of Quebec, no nutter whether they are Liberal or Conservative in political allegiance, are quite frank about their outlook...
...many in anti-Nazi activity...
...IXj*7isrn, the purest brand of Socialist pacifism...
...During the period when there were still prospects of an alliance between Russia and the Allies, the Communists provided the Czech War Office with a list of prominent anti-Stalinists who should be arrested in the event of the Red Army entering Czechoslovakia...
...Was a Communist journalist'in Germany and leader of the Marx-Engels Institute in Frank-furt-ori-Maih...
...appeared before Aliens Tribunal, he was vouched for by A- Greenwood, M.P., E. Thurtle, M.P., and Miss Storm Jameson...
...In Britain's little Communist organ justification can be found for the Nazi invasion of Norway and Denmark, and now in a recent issue they quote with approval the Russian "Izvestia" justifying the German invasion of Holland and Belgium as a defense measure...
...The Minister of Justice promised to W oat the reason for the raid...
...By John Davis Glasgow City Councillor British Pacifists Back War as Reich Armies Sweet Continent ¦: /~*LASGOW, Scotland.—American readers of war news might reasonably wonder how the latest Nasi effort at blitzkrieg in Luxembourg, Belgium and Holland has affected the people of Great Britain...
...Went to Lithuania after Hitler's coming to power and edited anti-Nazi "Ostsee Beobachter...
...prior to any discussions of peace...
...He could prove , that , circumstances were against him, that Hitler- had - betrayed him, or that it wasn't so bad as it had been described...
...The more decisive Jhe decision, the more snarling and bickering we get from our Nazi-Com fellow-travelers throughout the party- i. -r-V Jt But to indicate how truly representative this decision to join the "Win the War Cabinet" was, I might refer to the decision of the Cooperative Congress, which speaks for more than" eight and one-half million British citizens...
...Etna has been a teacher of languages in this country since 1937...
...Prfcyia*' (the London Daily Worker), reporting the Labor Party Conference and the Cooperative Congress, exaggerated -the interruptions •and stop-the-war' slogans that *a feV' of their dupes engaged-in at these gatherings, f In none of their reports do they provide the final figures showing * how the delegates voted.-' ' • And this dishonest reporting has so sickened erstwhile enthusiasts for Communism that John Strachey has sent a long indictment of the pro-Nazi attitude of the "Daily Worker" to a national weekly...
...Ordinary activities, domestic affairs seem almost meaningless in the face of the European situation...
...Gollancz, on the other hand, takes our revolutionary puppets of Moscow to task for claiming that...
...The CCF group in the House of Commons is advancing that position now...
...Another condition agreed upoft is that forces which comprise the new national government shall not merely conduct the war hut consider the terms of peace when the fighting is ended...
...Acted as editor of anti-Nazi "Aero Press...
...W. U. and general secretary of Local 89 of that union, which contains 40,000 Italian-Americans, sent the following stirring telegram to the President applauding the Charlottesville speech this week...
...i 'last fall the CCF National Council took the stand that Canada's best contribution to the war could be made through supplying mns and materials to the Allies, rather than by sending an over-leu force...
...The easygoing, tolerant, democratic people has suddenly stiffened its resolve to see a job done, and all its previous traditions and customs must be modified to suit the need of the moment...
...Finally he and his family escaped to Poland and got visas to England...
...It Was only this summer that she began to associate1: with Communist Opposition elements in Britain-- The Communist Party then issued - a warning against her, first as being "unreliable" and afterwards as being a Gestapo agept She was arrested the day before war was declared and kept - in prison for 20 weeks whilst the Home Office Committee investir gatfd a "denunciation" that she wad a Nazi spy...
...The vote in favor of joining the Churchill Cabinet was 6^6.23,000 against 638,000...
...He was hated by Communist Party because of his criticism of Moscow trials and was included in list handed to War Office...
...Traditionally the British labor movement is pacifist...
...I have particulars of ten cases, of which I give examples below...
...IV H-J...
...In the changed circuihrtMfc^^IJ^^ Mid die ton and Prestwich (Lancashire) by ^election has been withdrawn and a SefrsMphr* pUmti '.meetiirg organiser has failed to get a speaker from the I.LJ...
...There is some difference ia emphasis as to why Canada should put every effort into the mr...
...In fact, the very limited number of speeches from French-speaking members this session to date indicates acquiescence with the present policies...
...But more vitally important that this remote possibility is the immediate danger of German bombing attacks on the cities and towns of Britain...
...The old world of party politics and> abstract pure political principles has gone into the limbo of momentarily forgotten things...
...Chamberlain and not Hitler was responsible for the war.' Other former "Popular Fronters," like Harold Laski...
...The British people had become tired of listening to the list of excuses fpr every failure...
...Against this, however, is the criminal attitude of the British Communis^ rpness...
...They keep up a steady barrage of questions about individual arms contracts and details of Government policy, beneath which is a constant . agitation for a National Government with a new Prime Minister, and in which they would participate...
...Worked with * Communist Party in Ger...
...This is approximately 12 to 1. And when we remember that the affiliated societies voted on the matter in some cases before the invasion of the Netherlands, when indeed American commentators were describing the Etmopean struggle as a "phoney war," it is a remarkably high percentage in favor...
...The judge appears afterwards to have placed a proper value on the "denunciations" received, as...
...Already the party politics game in face of the present danger is a thing of the past...
...Many of the Anti-Stalinists who were betrayed in this way fell into the hands of the Gestapo, but some escaped to Poland...
...x "J*US living conditions of Canadians are receiving attention largely ju...
...were two of the **• earlier cases to go before the Tribunal...
...Investigation gave some startling results...
...The accompanying article reveals what happened in Czechia, and later in England after Tribunals were set up to separate pro-Nazis from refugees' and Socialists...
...Britain...
...When H.W...
...It has had an electric effect...
...Club, was one of his witnesses...
...Recently the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided the offices of the Montreal Youth Council, a proceeding which brought a question to the Government from the only woman member, Mrs...
...Is fact, as M. Picard states, to most of them Canada means Quebec...
...The evidence is abundant that the Cummunist Party influence in the Czech Committee was used to prejudice the position of the anti-Stalinist socialist refugees and that it went so far as to denounce them to the authorities as Nazi spies...
...I live in the City of *T Glasgow, which is the ceftfefo...
...forfeits the right to call Itself Socialist AFL Survey Cites 1 Employment Gain The American Federation of Labor survey, appearing in the May issue of the American Fed-erationist, reports that 1,100,000 more persons were at work in March 1940 than in March 1939...
...Europe still seems a long distance away and, in their hearts, most French-Canadians believe that Canada can remain in isolation from the rest of the world, even from the rest of America...
...English-Canadians, when speaking of / ' Canada, think of the British Empire, and do not dissociate in their minds the country they should consider as theirs 'from Great Britain and the other countries of the Common-srealth...
...Checked but not chastened by the defeat, the critics go around narking and criticizing everybody...
...We can now expect a flood ' of this kind of thing throughout the branches of the Labor Party...
...Chamberlain could always make a very plausible excuse .after every, defeat, military or diplomatic...
...The vote alone shows how much they represent the heart and mind of the general membership/ As empty tins make the most noise, so small groups offering empty criticism usually dominate the conference with their loud clamor...
...In support of the effective prosecution of the war the labor movement of Britain is more solidly united than at any other time in history: British Stalinites Denounce Refugee Socialists as "Nazis" to Jail Them By FENNER BROCKWAY fONDON (Passed by the Censor...
...Before coming to England she-had been an active anti-Nazi...
...of the German Military Espionage.'" ¦ After investigation ; the judge decided that Z. was genuine antiNa^j, and'he was released from restrictions...
...Despite this, the judge was convinced that both HJ...
...This list was drawn up by Koenen, former Communist M.P...
...The remarkable thing about the overwhelming vote for Labor participation in the Government is the noisy clamor of the left wing on just this subject...
...This list was not used, for its original purpose, but when the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia it was used instead by the* Communist Party members, who manned the key positions in fhe Central Refugee Committee in Prague, to prevent anti-Stalinists from securing visas...
...Maxton's admission that he can find no...
...The instantaneous conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus is nothing compared to this wave of determination on the part of the British people...
...The significance of this decision is that it represents a definite break with pre-war politics...
...I'HE demand of the Labor Party Executive that Cham-* berlahr must go expressed a wide feeling amongst .the general.electorate...
...There is considerable difference of opinion as to how this effort should be made...
...And the most zealous exponents of party views, and the most jealous guardians of political principles—the British Labor Party—is today almost unanimously pledged to take their part in a national government of all parties...
...Even pacifists who, up to last week, urged the cessation of hostilities are today agreed that Hitler must be stopped...
...Disagreed with Stalinist methods and returned to Prague after nine months...
...Nielsen of Saskatchewan...
...Emigrated to Prague, 1933, and accepted invitation to Moscow with his family...
...i ii< . But the one thing he could not do -was to avoid defeat, and this led to the demand for his resignation...
...Until the vote is taken, they are everywhere, as energetic as a squirrel in a revolving cage, and just as futile, they denounce as traitors those who lead the party and as simpletons those who do not agree with them...
...The group pressed for the closing of the private grain exchange' "oVthe marketing of all wheat by the Government...
...Small but vociferous minorities always appear to he on m the eve of a great success—until the final vote is taken...
...President, that the first declaration of war was made by Mussolini, in 1922 against the Italian nation whose freedom and happiness he destrojjW...
...Members of ¦j opposition groups attacked the Government's wheat-marketing "iWation, which makes it possible for private elevator firms to ^Pete against the Wheat Board and the cooperative Wheat •""Is, being guaranteed against loss by the Government...
...The Youth Council in Montreal it known to be dominated to a large extent by the Young Com-mnust League...
...V Ho other party is prepared for this stand, which is in line . with the recent measures taken by the British Government and which had been advocated by the Labor Party for years as a permanent peace-time r^""r-'*-- ' ^ng the resources of the country to meet the needs o? its EeOfil&J IffTH COLUMN activities are assuming alarming prop^&ns in the minds of some people...
...and his wife were genuine anti-Nazis, and they were freed from anti-Nazi restrictions...
...It was summed jpty L P. Picard, a Liberal, in these words: ¦ ' "The majority of Frencb-Canadians...
...The ^Communist technique is directed at jailing Socialists and other anti-Stalinists by informing the police that they are Nazi spies...
...Committee went Into every detail of the "denunciation.'* Finally, they were satisfied that eveky charge had been met, and Erna Liesegang was released from Hollo way Prison...
...as a Nazi agent Dr...
...Here is a quotation from Mr...
...I make one comment only: a party which "denounces" fellow-Socialists to the authorities as Nazi spies...
...Went to Prague, where the Communists sabotaged his efforts to get visa to England, but, escaping to Kattowitz, got visa...
...Staging on*hehaht pt^iajfa: thousand members of this organ*-, zatioa, J'jtm confident that the great bulk of Italo-Americans will foliow .your leadership...
...A Communist Party member on the staff of the British Consulate at KattoWitz, prevented anti-Stalinists from seeing the British officials whenever he could...
...They will'remain, In peace or war, loyal and faithful to the United States of America, . During the past year the Com-' munis t Parties of Czechoslovakia and Norway have openly cooperated with the German forces of occupation in those unfortunate nations...
...a by-product of the war discussion...
...Went' to Prague, 1933, and disagreed with Communist Party -policy...
...The local peace lovers, who do not get their, politics from another country, are honestly -worried about the possibilities of a Hitler victory,'and...
...I had known her fiance, Wolf Nelki, a member of the Communist Opposition, for several years...
...Vot by" invasion but through local pjenetration a home-grown nriety would spring up...
...Even there the Communist Party did all in its power to prevent them from getting visas...
...v I AM not in a position to publish * my evidence in this particularcase, but I am sure, as in the cases cited above, that the "denunciation" came from a Commu-| nist Party source...
...H G.B., journalist...
...as a Nazi spy...
...So far the realization of the Government's difficulties is harmonizing the widely-differing viewpoints across the counfey has kept this element in the party from becoming v6ry vocal...
...Hh trial will occasion the greatest interest throughout Canada...
...I am writing just after the capitulation of the Dutch forces involving the surrender of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague, and the whole of the coast line of Holland...
...For some years M. Arcand htf been following closely in the steps of the Fuehrer and has *e*h doing his best-to get the French-Canadians to do likewise...
...Be victory of fascism in Europe would-bring fascism-in America...
...Farmers' buying power has been above 1939 by $215,000,000 in the first quarter, or 12 per cent, of which $100,000,000 was due to increasedx farm benefit payments...
...I -have a list of the officials, both German and...
...It did appear to the outsider that whatever else might be permitted,'such a sacrifice of independence would not be tolerated...
...t vi Finally, I give the case Erna Lieaegang, whose case led me to make this investigation...
...Owing to Communist Party obstruction he could not get visa and hid in Prague for two months after Nazi invasion, always hunted by Gestapo...
...came into conflict with Communist Party policy...
...saving , that ,tbe' "Aero Press" was subsidized . by the Nazis...
...But here for the first time in this country is a list of ¦ case histories of persons who were turned over to the police by the Communist Party and.its agents The article is by Fenner Brock-way, one of the leadVl #"uf ^e -British Independent Labor Party, which can hardly be accused of being pro-war — and which a few short years ago advocated organic unity with the Communist Party...
...The first indications that Communist Parties were using their influence against Socialist refugees with anti-Stalinist views came at the time of our efforts to rescue comrades from the Nazi terror in Czechoslovakia...
...So far they have offered no alternative policies...
...We might have haggled for conditions which would have eliminated some of the more objectionable personnel and practices of the predominantly Tory Cabinet...
...I was in close tou|h with this case and was impressed by the thoroughness with which Mr...
...these cases indicate:— III W.S...
...Chance...
...When war broke out, the Czech R e f ug e e Trust Fund stopped financial support and would riot see him, but afterwards this was explained as a "mistake" and support was renewed...
...there-are nine of these So- 1 i cialists in the local council and they have been continuously opposed to all "militarist" developments in the city...
...Among the officials was Katz, the German representative of the Comintern...
...In the Cana-(jjjn Parliament there is the same tension, the sam* iftttehing gad waiting...
...He was given a good letter...
...Their former leader, who was defeated in the) general elections last March, pledged the I Conservative Party ¦ to oppose conscription...
...His Yum for England was sabotaged by Communists, but he escaped to Poland and'Came to England...
...These critics are affecting horror at the suggestion of cooperating with political opponents of other days, but in the light of immediate experience their sensitivity is considered as finicky by the vast majority of Labor people...
...British, associated with the Communist Party...
...The Labor Party has by this vote said to the world that the natural fears and misgivings with which it has regarded several members of this friew government must not be allowed to interfere with its paramount duty in the present struggle...
...At the Tribunal a letter was read from an official of the Czech Fund...
...But facing the reality of war at opr.own doors, even the most ardent pacifist has to take stock of his views...
...But the same official who gave him this letter wrote privately to the Tribunal, denouncing...
...only the sternest realities would make us depart from peaceful ways...
...By fifteen to one, or in actual figures by 2,413,000 to 170,000, the Labjor Party conference endorsed the National Executive's proposal to take its full share in the government of the country...
...With this viewpoint, Quebec is more than satisfied with the war effort of the Liberal Government...
...to the Tribunal and told the judge the troth about these- "denunciations...
...Many of these are Conservatives who s'ee the British Empire's break-up as the worst possible consequence to be feared...
...R. War Stand Luigr Antonini, state chairman of the American Labor Party, first vice president of the I.L.G...
...This letter was read in the presence of...
...Enemy aliens are the most ob-rions suspects, and the House has heard of a number of them...
...Inter-Sectional Strife in Canada Weakens War Efforts Socialists Urge Complete Industrial Nationalization By GRACE McINNIS parliamentary Secretary of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation OTTAWA.—On the main street of Canada's capital is a nem-' ' U paper bulletin board...
...You said that on June 10th, 1940 Mussolini's dagger stabbed a neighbor in the back...
...In this article it has not been possible to reproduce all the evidence collected, but if there are any doubts about the facts', I would be prepared to submit it, with the names of all the persons concerned, to a genuinely representative working-class . committee for investigation...
...I_I W., author...
...he was a Gestapo agent and he was placed under enemy alien restrictions...
...Workers' buying power in the first quarter of 1940 has been atbove last year by $519,000,000 or 4.9 per cent, and this with increased farm buying accounts for the highest level of retail sales...
...We are in a serious life and death struggle where failure will mean that all the democratic rights of a century's struggle will be thrown into the ashcan of history...
...But this is a feature of all Labor Party conferences...
...Q. D. H. Cole, Stafford Cripps, Frank and Winn if red Horrabin, Raymond Postdate, Ellen Wilkinson, etc., are ' running a pro-war weekly called the "Tribune" in which they attack the Communists for running away from the anti-fascist fight . -. < In short, the new Government, which most Labor people would alter radically, represents a united nation...
...IJ W. and G.B...
...The aliens who are judged enemies of the British state are interned, the others permitted to live where ever they have set up home...
...H.W...
...Among those on the list were Taub and Jacksch, Socialist M.P.s in the Czech Parliament, Willi Schlamm, editor of "Weltbuehne" /.a refugee paper) and Erich Wollenberg, a----former official of Comintern...
...Within the ranks of the Liberal - Party there are those who share this fiewpoint...
...pie British JJaily...
...THERE is another attitude' among Canadians which finds its Ijfcoise ia Parliament in-.the -Cooperative Commonwealth Federation <?CF), the Socialist Party, j This growing opinion holds that "tjsr greater issue is at stake in Europe than the fate of the tash Empire, that is the fate of democracy for generations to one which is being battled out on the other side of the Atlantic...
...Norman Birkett and the...
...But'today all of them admit that "if Hitler breaks through and overwhelms France, the possibility of anything less than concentration camps for pinks and Teds and any other kind- of Socialist is Temofi...
...Its members are demanding the complete nationalisation of Canada's financial and key economic resources...
...Janet Chance, of the Refugee Authors' Bureau of the P.E.N...
...4 i " -But In the-spirit of generous service to the British and allied peoples at war with Hitlerism, all personal and political prejudices were dropped in face of the urgent need to win the war...
...we must admit, when speaking of Canada, think of Quebec, their province, the land 'settled by their ancestors which has become since 1769 their ate and only country...
...the same dagger which on June 10th, 1937 stabbed the brothers Carlo and Bruno RosselLi, whose only crime, ' as in the case of Matteotti, was to op pose "fascism and fight for a free Italy...
...He wiis denounced in a letter from Czech iFund Official, as in the service...
...But a letter was sent to the Tribunal by a member of the staff of the Czech Refugee Trust Fund (I know The name of the writer, as I do in all the cases cited below) denouncing H.W...
...These actions have been regularly reported in* The New Leader...
...4 But there are those in the Ontario ranks who agitate for sending 'troops overseas on a scale that would inevitably entail conscription before long...
...Before he attended the Tribunal, he asked for a letter of recommendation from the Czech Refugee Trust Fund...
...Never before in my l^e^ time have I seen more unanimity amongst our -people on any-matter than in their determination that the brutal beast of Nazism must be wiped off the face of the .earth...
...Please remember, Mr...
...Mr...
...Victor Gollancz, the founder of the Left Book Chtb, has also offered damaging evidence of the "Quisling" work of his former comrades...
...It is as impossible today to think of political division as it is to return to the old middle ages of porticoes, oriels, and the other spacious and florid architectural designs in our buildings...
...INHERE are still a few narks and critics of this develop-* ment who are peering into nooks and corners to produce a patchwork propaganda against it...
...I hope and pray that while the government and the people 'of the United States, will take the proper steps to stop fascist activities in this" country, they will not stoop to blind prejudice and discrimination against Italian immigrants who cannot be held accountable for the wrongful action of aa enraged dictator...
...fiiMw Parliament opened on May 16, they have given the Government a rough rider charging it with "complacency" and inaction...
...The news "from Europe holds Ottawa in suspense these days...
...AND in fact many of them have...
...On the other hand, the influence of the-less noisy but more thoughtful sections of the party is not so obvious or dramatic...
...Facing this definite threat, the Socialists here are not inspired by the example of Nero...
...Nevertheless, an official of the Czech Fund wrote to the Tribunal, saying that...
...Some conditions were made, the principal one being that Chamberlain, the old man of Munich, would not lead the new Government...
...in the Prussian Parliament, and contained about 80 names, including both German refugees and German Socialists in the Sudeten area...
...Labor might have asked for terms as the "price" of its cooperation...
...Strachey's indictment: "This treatment of the German invasion of Scandinavia is no more than the culminating revelation of an attitude on the part of the 'Daily Worker* which has caused many of its readers to characterize it as not so much anti-war as simply pro-German...
...The giommunist Party again succeeded in placing members<vand "contacts" into key positions on the staff of the Czech Refugee Trust Fund in...
...It is the same dagger .which on June 10th, 1924 stabbed Matteotti...
...The judge postponed a decision for a fortnight and then removed all enemy alien restrictions...
...This gain more' than offsets the increase in - working population, so that unemployment has been reduced from 10,902,000 in March 1939 to 10,348,000 in March 1940...
...ENTIRELY opposite is> the attitude of English-speaking mem-, I bers, especially of those from the other great central province of Ontario...
...they -will de nothing to hinder^ the successful prosecution of the war, however much they feel about their principles...
...Council group...
...Antonini HailsED...
...All day and far into the night a crowd ^hjs in front of it reading the latest war notices...
...Was editor of* "A.I.Z.," the famous Berlin illustrated Communist weekly...
...CCF mem-Da*i too, are the ones who bring trade union complaints about and working'conditions in the war industries to the atten-"00 of the-Government...
...Then jt is seen just how little they do really represent...
...Janet Chance accompanied W.S...
...V . -'• Z., member of German Social Demoera ti c [Party und Trade Unionist...
Vol. 23 • June 1940 • No. 24
