J. L A R K I N , T . D .

Larkin s call to Labour

By o u r P o l i t i c a l C o r r e s p o n d e n t

T H E decision of Or. Noel Brown®, 1 T.D„ former Minister »f Health in the Co«litioit Government* and Dr. fJrench-O'GrtTOil, independent T.D. lor S.w. Dublin, to join the Fianna Fail Party and thus greatly strengthen • the Government, has caused agitated stirrings of the poli-tical doveootes in Ireland.

Dr. Browne created a sensation in t » t when ft* d r aMt t to f t f re-signed from the QMIwin Govern-ment over their refusal t o pa t s his Health Bill, and Hit subsequent ex-posure of the behiiwMhe-eoenes machinations of Mr. Seen McBride played a decisive part in breaking up the Clann na PoWachU Party. The Catholic Hierarchy were also seriously disturbed at the way In which their opposition to a f ree Heafth Scheme was exposed to the pubHfc. Dr. Browne, in fact, by rousing the hopes of the Irish people thpt they would get an adequate health service and by his stalwart refusal to be intimidated by powerfui vested interests, became thft "whlte-hatrdd

the Labour Party and put now life and idealism into that moribund body. TACTICAL SUCCESS

Now Fianna Fall -have scored a striking tactical success by winning two much needed votes In the Ball, and also toy demagogically purport-ing to show to the electorate tha t they are the "party of the L o f t " Labour has boon left high and dry, without popular leaden, except Lar-kin, and without any dynamic appeal, either of personality or poiioy. The realisation of their loss of prestige a t a time when political currents should be moving in their favour forood the BiiWin Labour Party last month to oaM a special aggregate meeting of members to discuss these new developments. In a statement issued a f t e r the meeting, whieh was attended by Jim Larkin, T.D., and T. Kyne, T.D., Chairman of the Labour Party, It was urged that all progressive ele-ments, especially trade unionists, should reoognlse that the way for-ward lay m a strong Labour Party pursuing an independent policy. This statement, which is in dk-eot contradiction to the Coalition policy of William Norton, T.D., has be<n widely welcomed by many sympa-thisers in Dublin who have been perturbed by the reactionary pro-Fine Gael policy of the Labour leadership during recent years.

LABOUR'S POLICY The "Irish Workers' Voice," In an important editorial announcement regrets that Or. Browne has Joined Fianna Fail, but points out tha t the fault lies as much at Labour's door as with Dr. Browne. "If l a b o u r Party spokesmen had been lesa oon-oerned to keep up their alliance with Fine Gael," says the "Irish Worfcars' Voice," "they would havo helped to attract to the Party the progreeslve elements among the Independents." "The job before ail Ut t t t iSwhrk-ers," concludes the "Voloe," "tie-mains to win the Labour Party for a militant, worklng-classpoilcy. Suc-cess In this fight will help to bring forward new, sincere, and competent people to the i ship ef the Party, ana with

and tho proareeslve elements or the

TH IRISH C R A T

No. 108 (N.S.) D E C E M B E R , 1953 ' Fou rpence

PROTESTS AT LIAM KELLY'S ARREST

M.P. ON SEDITION CHARGE JUDAS' CRY AT SCOTS

TRIAL "Irish Democrat" Reporter

T ^ H E r e c e n t , t r i a l i n Ed inburgh of f o u r ' y o u n g Scot t i sh Republ icans c h a r g e d

with consp i r ing t o over th row the G o v e r n -m e n t a n d possession of explosives h a s cre-a ted widespread in t e re s t a m o n g I r i s h people in Br i ta in . T w o main conclus ions a re d r a w n by t hose w h o have followed t h e tr ial closely, and r e m e m b e r s imi lar even t s in I r e l a n d .

F i r s t ly , t h e r e h a s been the in f i l t r a t ion of S c o t t i s h Repub l i can organ isa t ions by openly acknowledged police agents . T h i s use of a g e n t p rovoca teu r s did no t su rp r i se I r i sh observers who h a v e been accus tomed to s imi la r tac t ics u sed aga ins t t h e I r i s h Repub l i can Army. I t h a s i l lus t ra ted once aga in h o w vulnerab le secret poli t ical a n d mi l i ta ry conspirac ies a r e aga ins t spies a n d stool-pigeons.

T h e contempt of the Scottish people for such methods was shown in the Edinburgh streets, when, after the trial was over, a large crowd assembled to •shout "Judas,*' "Police spy," "Down with the swine" and "Lynch" h im" at John Cullen, chief prosecution witness.

Dummy gelignite D u r i n g t h e t r ia l it was officially ad-

mi t t ed t h a t Cul len a n d another a g e n t h a d acted on police ins t ruc t ions , and ac tua l ly del ivered d u m m y gelignite to t h e de fend-an t s .

A n o t h e r aspect of t he case wh ich h a s caused widespread commen t was t h e com-para t ive ly l ight sen tences passed on t h e d e f e n d a n t s , Rober t W a t t (22), Malcolm Maca l i s t e r (24), O w e n Gil lan (27), and R a y m o n d Forbes (23). The accused were found gui l ty of possessing illegal explo-sives, a n d sen tenced to one year ' s im-p r i s o n m e n t , bu t were acqui t ted on c h a r g e s of consp i r ing to coerce or over throw the G o v e r n m e n t .

I r i sh Repub l i cans h a v e not been slow to poin t ou t t h a t in a recent similar case in-volving illegal possession of a r m s t h r e e I r i s h m e n were s en t enced to eight yea r s in jail.

WELCOME HOME A huge crowd gathered in College Green, Dublin, last month to welcome home the released unemployed

prisoners.

SIX-CO. REPUBLICAN IN COURT " I R I S H D E M O C R A T " R E P O R T E R

THE ARREST BY THE TORY SIX-COUNTY GOVERN-MENT ON CHARGES OF SEDITION OF MR. LIAM

KELLY, REPUBLICAN M.P. FOR MID-TYRONE, HAS BEEN WIDELY CONDEMNED IN BOTH IRELAND AND BRITAIN.

Protest meetings have been held in many parts of the Six Counties, and messages criticising the Government's action have been pouring into Stormont.

T h o u s a n d s of people took p a r t in a p ro te s t demons t ra t ion in Pomerov , the T y r o n e vil lage n e a r w h e r e Mr . Kel ly lives. Mr. W. Kel ly , f a t h e r of the a r r e s t e d M.P. and himself a wel l -k n o w n Republ ican , appea led to t he people to be calm and discipl ined. "Do not , " he said, "be p rovoked in to any ac t ion ."

In Be l f a s t and N e w r y col lect ions have been made en behalf of the pr i soner ' s defendants , and publ ic bodies in Dublin, Cork and L imer i ck have sha rp ly condemned the Gove rn -men t ' s act ion. London organisa t ions

1 CHAUCER A CATHOLIC! : - - v-; / G E O F F R E Y CHAUCER'S poem, : "The Prioress's Tale," is Catho-: lie propaganda, and should be re-: moved from Northern Ireland • schools, according to Mr. J. O'Regan. : Chairman of the National Union of : Protestants.

Mr . Norman Porter, M.P., dlrec-: tor of the union, at a meeting in : Omagh calling for the prohibition : of the story, said he was prepared : to raise the matter at Stormont.

FELON-SETTING by "Standard"

"Irish Demoorat" Reporter " l ^ E L O N - S E T T I N G " is general ly con-

J s idered by Ir ish people of all c lasses and opinions as about t h e lowest of poli-tical cr imes . Deliberately to set t h e police on the t r a c k s of a hun ted man , or to pub-licise t h e views of a political opponen t so t h a t h i s employer may dismiss h i m is re-garded by decent people as t h e lowest fo rm of behaviour . T h e word " in fo rmer" in Ire-land h a s about the foulest r epu ta t ion t h a t could apply to anyone.

Yet t he r e is in Dublin a newspape r which specialises in denouncing individual t r ade unionis t s and Socialists, no t wi th the purpose of exposing thei r poli t ical opinions, but with the implied suggest ion

( C o n t i n u e d on Page E i g h t )

such as t h e W. London branch, Con-nolly Associa t ion, and Uni ted I r i sh-men h a v e s e n t protests .

Condemn arrest In a m e s s a g e to Lord B r o o k e -

borough, Union i s t P r i m e Minis te r of the Six Count ies , the Connolly Asso-ciation C h a i r m a n , says:

"I s t r o n g l y condemn t he a r r e s t b y your G o v e r n m e n t of Mr. L iam Ke l ly , newly-e lec ted M.P. fo r mid T y r o n e . For over t h i r t y yea rs your G o v e r n -ment has ru l ed by a cunn ing m i x t u r e of force a n d f r a u d . Police i n t i m i d a -tion, an t i -Ca tho l ic pogroms, a n d g e r r y m a n d e r i n g of electoral con-s t i tuencies w e r e used in the 1920's and 1930's to bojs ter your pol i t ica l ly b a n k r u p t r eg ime . Dur ing the- Second World W a r you in te rned R e p u b l i c a n s wi thout t r ia l , and imprisoned t r a d e unionists a n d Communis t s . N o w y o u proceed to a r r e s t a M e m b e r of P a r l i a m e n t democra t ica l ly e lec ted b y the people of T y r o n e only last m o n t h .

" I a m conf ident tha t before l o n g a i l progressive people in N o r t h e r n I r e -land, P r o t e s t a n t a n d Catho l ic a l i k e , w i l l u n i t e t o d r i v e your r e a c t i o n a r y G o v e r n m e n t f r o m office."

Fenian tradition Mr. L iah i Kel ly w a s a r re s t ed on

November 19th. He was sent f o r t r i a l in D e c e m b e r f r o m Omagh C o u r t on two coun t s of sedit ion in r e spec t of meet ings held in his cons t i tuency on October 21st and 23rd. Police e v i d e n c e was to t h e effect tha t he m a d e speeches advoca t ing the use of fo rce . It was a l l eged tha t he said: "I w a s reared in t h e Fen ian tradi t ions, a n d I believe in t h e Fen ian method."

Co-op. manager Mr. Kelly is thir ty- two, marr ied a n d h a s

three ch i ld ren and lives a t G o r t n a g a r n , Pomeroy.

He is son of Wil l iam John Kelly, a former officer of the 4th Northern Divi-sion of the I.R.A. and grandson of Wil-liam John Kelly, a comrade of Thomas Clarke, one of the executed 1916 leaders. He was a r r e s t e d and interned in C r u m -

lin Road jai l du r ing World War Two a n d , on being released, became m a n a g e r of Sixmilecross Co-operative Society and , later, m a n a g e r of Co-operative s t o r e s a t Tempo.

He is a f luen t Gaelic speaker.

BIG IRISH RALLY IN MANCHESTER

iTHE biggest Irish rally for years took -*- place in Manchester on Sunday, Novem-ber 15th, when the Chorlton Town Hall was packed for a Manchester Martyrs Com-memoration meeting organised by the Con-nolly Association. A message of support was received from Mrs. Terence McGwlney, widow of the martyred Lord Mayor of Cork, and the main speakers were William' GaJla-ot the , and

2 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT December, 1953

SIX-COUNTY ELECTION FARCE

ONLY ONE VOTER IN SIX BELFAST

HOUSING SCANDAL

Bv a Six-County Correspondent

I T is a p i ty t h a t t he R e g i s t r a r - G e n e r a l ' s f ina l r e p o r t on t h e 1951 C e n s u s fo r t h e

C o u n t y B o r o u g h of Bel fas t w a s n o t issued u n t i l a f t e r t h e e lect ion—six d a y s precisely.

I t would h a v e been a k e e n w e a p o n in t h e h a n d s of o p p o n e n t s of U n i o n i s t policy fo r t h e r e p o r t s h o w s one or t w o o m i n o u s t r e n d s a n d is a n i n d i c t m e n t of t h e Six C o u n t y T o r i e s ' h o u s i n g a n d b u i l d i n g pro-g r a m m e .

The report indicates that emigration has effectively kept Belfast's population down, although the city and its suburbs hold almost 480,000 people. Unt i l 1901, in-flow of migrants to the city exceeded ifut-flow, but the opposite has been the case ever since.

O V E R C R O W D I N G O v e r c r o w d i n g in t h e city is l a m e n t a b l e

a n d t h e d e n s i t y of popu la t i on is cons ide r -ably h i g h e r t h a n for c o m p a r a b l e Br i t i sh ci t ies ( w h i c h a r e supposed t o be a l r eady ove rc rowded) .

T h e d e n s i t y in Bel fas t in 1951 was 28.9 p e r s o n s pe r a c r e , compared w i t h 14.4 for E d i n b u r g h a n d 16.8 for Br i s to l .

Be l f a s t h a s f ive t imes as m a n y people as 100 y e a r s a g o . and the a r e a s w i th Re-pub l i can s y m p a t h i e s are a m o n g t h e wors t housed .

As ton i sh ing dens i t i es pe r a c r e were re-corded in C o u r t W a r d (158.6), S m i t h f i e l d (113.3), S t . G e o r g e ' s (110.8) a n d Dock (80.3).

T h e r e a r e m o r e t h a n t w o p e r s o n s per room in S m i t h f i e l d .

CONDEMNED I t is s h o w n t h a t 9.2 per c e n t of Be l f a s t ' s

people a r e l iv ing in h o u s e s c o n t a i n i n g m o r e t h a n t w o pe r sons t o e a c h r o o m ; 8.5 pe r cen t w a s t h e figure in 1937. I n addi-t ion, 8,000 h o u s e s in t h e c i ty a r e u n f i t fo r h u m a n h a b i t a t i o n a n d h a v e b e e n con-demned .

But, with the air raids taken into ac-count, the number of private houses in Belfast increased between 1937 and 1951 by less than 7,000. Each year the situa-tion worsens and, over 20,000 people on the waiting lists for homes wil l never be housed under the reactionary Orange clique which dominates Belfast.

BACKED UNIONISTS from Brian F. Murray

T H E Genera! Election is now past history, but the Government would * be wel l advised to drop the word "general" on future occasions when

they decide to go to the country, for it implies that all the people of the Six-Counties were given the opportunity of exercising their democratic right to vote. But instead we find that out of the 48 constituencies (exclud-ing the four University seats) only 23 divisions had a contest. This means that more than 50 per cent, of the present House of Commons were returned without any mandate f rom the electorate.

I n B r i t a i n , a c o m p a r a b l e pos i t ion would r e s u l t in over 300 M.P.s be ing r e t u r n e d w i t h o u t a fight, whi le in t h e S o u t h 76 T .D . s would find t hemse lve s in t h e Dai l w i t h o u t a con t e s t . T h e s e figures will a c t a s a m e a s u r e of t h e d e m o c r a c y t h a t ex i s t s in t h e Six C o u n t i e s .

T h e u n i o n i s t s c l a im t h a t t h e m a j o r i t y of t h e people of t h e Six C o u n t i e s s u p p o r t t h e m , bu t h o w c a n t hey tell w h e n over 50 pe r cent , of t h e e lec tora te h a d a s m u c h t o say a t t h i s Elec t ion a s h a d t h e people a t t h e N o r t h Po l e? Even i n c o n t e s t e d s e a t s t h o u s a n d s d id no t vote.

Out of an approximate total electorate of 87C.000 only 256,348 votes were cast.

Of t h e s e 121,535 voted in f a v o u r of t h e G o v e r n m e n t p a r t y . T h i s m e a n s t h a t only 15 pe r cent , of t h e Six C o u n t y e l e c t o r a t e

| RECRUITING FLOP

• •

• »

• HTHE Civil Defence recruiting drive « : * in Northern Ireland is going : • from bad to worse. Despite three : : weeks of intensive campaigning in • : Armagh the target for the area is : • not even within sight. After the first : 5 week of bands, cinema shows, and • : a mass meeting the Territorial • • Army reported three recruits.

j In Carrickfergus the campaign • : also flopped. It was stated that not • • one single recruit was obtained for : • the Territorial Army, Auxiliary Fire : : Service or Home Guard. : • •

: It would seem that the people of j • the Six Counties agree with the • • veteran Labour member of Armagh J : Council, Paddy Agnew, when he : • said: "This is only a glorified re- j • cruiting campaign for the British • : Army." : • • • •

Erne Scheme shows need for

Unity A N example of t h e co-opera t ion be tween

the two g o v e r n m e n t s in I r e l a n d is t h e scheme t o h a r n e s s t h e r i ve r E r n e . T h e job will cost £1,000.000 a n d t h e s c h e m e is covered by l eg i s l a t ion in t h e P a r l i a m e n t s of t h e two G o v e r n m e n t s . T h e s c h e m e will r e su l t in t h e i m p r o v e m e n t of d r a i n a g e on t h e Nor the rn s ide , a n d the use of t h e flow of wate r for g e n e r a t i n g e lec t r i c i ty on the S o u t h e r n side.

T h e s e a c t s of co -opera t ion s h o w t h a t desp i te w h a t S t o r m o n t s ays t o t h e con-t r a r y a u n i t e d economy is n e c e s s a r y fo r t h e well-being of t h e I r i sh people , N o r t h a n d Sou th of t h e border .

IRISH WORKER IN VIENNA T W O months ago I was chosen by building workers on the Percy

Bi l ton site in C iapham, London, to represent them at the third Congress of the W o r l d Federation of Trade Unions. The Congress was held in Vienna, and there were 819 delegates and observers representing 88,000,000 trade unionists. Workers from all parts of the wor ld , of vary ing races, colours and creeds, were present, but the Congress theme was one of unity and solidarity. The slogan was: " W e are olass brothers, we have common, problems, let us unite for f reedom, wel l -being and peace."

I have never k n o w n such a spirit of friendship as existed at this Congress, and though we could not always speak each other's language we made up w i t h smiles and handshakes. I learned of the 200 mi l l ion people of A f r i ca being robbed by monopolists whi le their wages are the lowest in the world. Ninety per cent, of the popula-tion there cannot read or wri te, but the workers are fighting back, forming trade unions in spite of victimisation and suppression.

I N V I N C I B L E

I was told of Cuba where sugar workers are employed for only four months in the year , of Puerto Rico where one-fourth have no work , of India and Japan where unemployed number tens of mil l ions.

I t was reported that : "More than half the people of the world a r t >1111 l iving at levels whioh deny them reasonable freedom from dfuase , a diet adequate to physical well-being, and a dwel l ing that meet* basic needs."

S i x t y thousand Viennese workers took part in a huge demon-stration at the aoncluslon of the Oongress. As I watched the colour-fu l banners, flags and slogans I thought how powerful the workers « f Mia whole wor ld wou ld be once they were united. There are

Ir ish people in Br i ta in , and If they join w i th their British for national f reedom, peace, and social progress they w i l l

P. MAHONEY be Invincible .

voted official u n i o n i s t . NO ELECTION SINCE 1921

I n t h e Mid -Down c o n s t i t u e n c y n o one h a s ca s t a vo te in a S t o r m o n t e lec t ion s ince 1921. T h i s a lso app l ies to S o u t h A n t r i m , whi le D e r r y S o u t h a n d Mid, C e n t r a l A r m a g h a n d Wes t T y r o n e h a v e on ly once gone t o t h e polls s ince 1925, a n d in m a n y o t h e r a r e a s people h a v e only h a d t h e o p p o r t u n i t y ol exerc is ing t h e f r a n c h i s e tw ice in 23 y e a r s . In t h e r e c e n t e lec t ion on ly one o u t of seven s e a t s in A n t r i m w a s con te s t ed , o n e of five T y r o n e s ea t s , n o n e of t h e t h r e e F e r m a n a g h , a n d n o n e of t h e fou r A r m a g h sea t s were l o u g h t .

On ly t h e d i s u n i t y of t h e L a b o u r move-m e n t a n d i ts f a i l u r e to p r e s e n t a c o n c r e t e Soc ia l i s t policy des igned t o u n i t e t h e w o r k e r s in t h e i r fight for a h i g h e r s t a n -d a r d of l i fe p r e v e n t e d m a n y s e a t s f r o m c h a n g i n g h a n d s . T h e people a r e f e d u p w i t h U n i o n i s m a n d i ts o u t - d a t e d a n d ou t -w o r n c a t c h - p h r a s e s ; they d e m a n d t h a t t h e G o v e r n m e n t t a k e s s teps to p r e v e n t un -e m p l o y m e n t a n d provide h o u s e s f o r t h e people, schools fo r t h e ch i l d r en , p e n s i o n s fo r t h e aged, a n d social jus t i ce f o r al l . I t is t h e du ty of t h e I r i sh L a b o u r m o v e m e n t to leave as ide p e r s o n a l q u a r r e l s a n d p e t t y d i f fe rences , a n d u n i t e to bui ld a s t r o n g m o v e m e n t to g ive a lead to p e o p l e who h a v e shown t h a t t hey a r e look ing fo r a new deal. Will t h e Labour m o v e m e n t t a k e to h e a r t t he lessons of t h e E l ec t i on a n d r e m e m b e r i ts g r e a t t r a d i t i o n s a n d g r e a t f i g h t e r s of t h e p a s t ? Will t h e L a b o u r m o v e m e n t r e m e m b e r the Soc ia l i s t t e a c h -ings and idea ls of its f o u n d e r J a m e s Con-nolly, or will it f a i l t h e people o n c e a g a i n ?

(Continued f rom Nrxt Column) c a u s e d the s h o r t a g e s of t h e s e a m e n i t i e s , a n d p ro t e s t s s t r o n g l y a g a i n s t a n y a n d every d i s c r i m i n a t i o n based on race , colour , or rel igion It cons ide r s t h e way t o avoid d i s c r i m i n a t i o n is t h e un i t ed s t r u g g l e of B r i t i s h a n d I r i s h workers for a be t i e r B r i t a i n .

* * * Peace

T h i s C o n f e r e n c e nij/Us wi th s a t i s f a c t i o n t h e s l acken ing ol .World t e n s i o n in 1953 a n d supports a ' Rctions des igned to pro-m o t e a p e a c e f u l world atmosphere , wh ich it holds can only be based on the principle o l t+tf • . l i t ion of the right of, ry nat ion i se l f -determination and Its <ywn way of life It favours the idea <A h pact a m o n g the major powers, to be fol lowed by d i sarmament and the evacuation of extra-territorial bases, including Northern Ire-land.

Irich organisations T h i s Conference favours t h e growth of

collaboration and unity a m o n g Irish Orga-nisat ions in Britain, and Instructs the new E C . to seek ways or promoting it, on the principle tha t when any person or group takes any progressive step, w e are pre-pared to take tha t s tep w i t h t h e m , al-though other parts of their programme m i g h t be unacceptable to the Associat ion.

C.A. Resolutions

PARTITION CAUSE OF

CRISIS T H E fol lowing r e s o l u t i o n s w e r m i a n i -

mous ly p a s s e d at t h e A n n u a l C>infer-enee ol t h e C o n n o l l y Assoc ia t ion :

This Conference reaffirms the un-alterable opposition of the Connolly Association to the present unjust and iniquitous Partition of Ireland. It holds that unemployment, emigration, and other economic and political problems in Ireland, as well as the present disunity of the National and Labour Movements, are in large measure traceable to Parti-tion. When Partition is ended, Ireland will be free to advance in the interests of her people. It therefore asks the Bri-tish Labour Movement to adopt as an essential item in its programme, the policy of complete and unconditional withdrawal of British forces from Ire-land, so that Irish National Unity may be achieved and a united Ireland take the road to prosperity in friendship with her nearest neighbour, Britain. It in-vites the Labour and Trade Union Move-ment to join in demanding that the policy of ending the enforced Partition be put into effect without delay.

* * * Ireland

T h i s C o n l e r e n c e e x p r e s s e s i ts s u p p o r t fo r a l l p rog re s s ive m o v e m e n t s in I r e l a n d , wh ich a re s t r u g g l i n g so va l i an t ly in a diffi-cul t s i t ua t ion , a n d m a k i n g h e a d w a y in t h e face ol g r ea t p r o b l e m s ; it expresses t h e hope t h a t t i m e will see t h e s t e ady g r o w t h of t h e i r s t r e n g t h a n d un i ty , a n d , cons ider -ing t h a t t he p r i n c i p a l a s s i s t a n c e w h i c h c a n be r e n d e r e d f r o m B r i t a i n is t h e w i t h -d r a w a l of all B r i t i s h t r o o p s a n d o t h e r in-t e r f e r e n c e in I r e l a n d , p romise s t h e m t o r edoub le i t s e f f o r t s in t h a t d i rec t ion .

I t looks f o r w a r d t o a t ime d u r i n g t h e l i f e t ime of t h i s g e n e r a t i o n w h e n I r e l a n d will be a u n i t e d , i n d e p e n d e n t , d e m o c r a t i c republ ic , in w h i c h t h e p r inc ip les of Con-nol ly a n d P e a r s e t h a t t h e "People sha l l be lord a n d m a s t e r , " will h a v e been pu t in to effect . It u n d e r t a k e s t o m a k e k n o w n in B r i t a i n t h e i d e a s w h i c h insp i red t h e s e g r e a t pa t r io t s , a n d by app ly ing t h e m t o m o d e r n c o n d i t i o n s , t o s t i m u l a t e t h e s t r u g g l e for t h e n e w I r e l a n d of t h e f u t u r e . * * *

"Irish Democrat" T h i s C o n f e r e n c e r ecogn i se s in t h e ' I r i s h

D e m o c r a t " a n i m p o r t a n t f i g h t i n g weapon of p rogress ive I r i s h peop le in B r i t a i n , a n d calls on all m e m b e r s a n d s u p p o r t e r s to p r o m o t e a g r e a t c a m p a i g n in 1954 t o r a i s e i ts c i r c u l a t i o n to 25,000 a n d t h u s ens i l r e t h a t t he I r i s h c a s e is h e a r d by t h e m o s t progress ive s e c t i o n s in B r i t a i n . I t i n s t r u c t s t h e new E x e c u t i v e Counc i l t o e n d e a v o u r to give a t t e n t i o n t o t h e possibi l i t ies of " I r i s h D e m o c r a t " g r o u p s on bu i ld ing jobs, etc.. a n d to f o r m n e w b r a n c h e s of t h e Con-nolly Assoc ia t ion w h e r e v e r possible, m a k -ing t h e " I r i s h D e m o c r a t " t h e c e n t r e of t h e i r ac t iv i ty . * * * Trade unionism

T h a t t h i s C o n f e r e n c e recognise - t h e vital pa r t p l a y e d by t h e T r a d e U n i o n s in d e f e n d i n g i h e c o n d i t i o n s of t h e w o r k i n g people, a n d s y m p a t h i s e s w i th t h e a i m of t h e T r a d e U n i o n M o v e m e n t to s ecu re 100 per c e n t o r g a n i s a t i o n . I t t h e r e f o r e u r g e s all I r i s h m e n in B r i t a i n t o jo in t h e i r a p p r o -p r i a t e T r a d e U n i o n a n d to be ac t ive m e m -bers a n d good T r a d e U n i o n i s t s in every way. T h e Assoc i a t i on is a t all t i m e s open to s u g g e s t i o n s f r o m t h e T r a d e Un ion Movemen t a s t o how it can best e n c o u r a g e s u c h d e v e l o p m e n t s .

# * * Unity

T h a t this C o n f e r e n c e holds t h a t t h e unity of the working c lass movement , both in Britain and in Ireland, is in the inter-ests of the peoples of both countries. T h e new Executive C o m m i t t e e is instructed to seek out ways of contribut ing to such unity, such a s are appropriate to the character of t h e Association, and to examine particularly the possibility of encouraging c loser relat ions between sec-t ions of the Labour Movement in Britain and their brothers In Ireland. » • *

Discrimination This C o n f e r e n c e no te s with alarm re-

ports of d i scr iminat ion against Irish people in t h e m a t t e r of Jobs, bous ing and furnished accommodat ion , which it con-siders to arise f rom policies which have

<C«ntimw>d in Pi-rrriUnr Column)

December, 1953 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT 3

IRISH DEMOCRAT Editor: C. D. Greaves

53 Rosoman Street London, E.C.I

PEACE ON EARTH

£ H R I S T M A S is traditionally the ^ season for good cheer and fe l low-ship when for a brief moment a weary world remembers the promise of: "Peace on earth, goodwill to all men."

It i s a sad and sobering thought at this t ime of year, when the voices of hatred are temporari ly stilled, to recollect that for more than twenty years there has been no peace on earth; that, in fact, wars of vary ing degrees of intensity and horror have been waged continuously since Japan invaded Manchur ia in 1931. Abys-sinia, Spain, Austria, Czechoslovakia, the Second Wor ld War, Korea, Malaya, Indo-China, Kenya—year by year the toll of ruin and destruction has spread, engulfing one country after another.

T h e first wor ld holocaust costing ten mil l ion lives (among them 50,000 Ir ishmen) was the "war to end war . " The second wor ld slaughter, k i l l ing upwards of twenty million people and devastating large areas of the globe, was to destroy Fascism. But still the forces of mi l i tar ism and Imperial ism look around for new victims.

Only last month did Field-Marshal Montgomery speak of a possible next world war as a "party." Those w h o m the Gods would destroy, they first make mad.

PEACE CAN BE WON Fortunately, dur ing the last year or

so it has become increasingly clear that the war maniacs (and that is the only word for them) can be checked if only the w r a t h of the peoples of the wor ld can be aroused in t ime. Peace, temporary and fragile though it may appear, has been achieved in Korea. China has refused to be bul-lied and terrorised into submission. Hundreds of millions of colonial peoples are no longer prepared to pro-vide manpower and bases for the militarists.

The overwhelming majority of the people of Europe, despite a barrage of lies and propaganda, are heart i ly sick of w a r burdens, and only wish to be left to the peaceful enjoyment of their national independence and rights. Eire, in striking contrast to Fascist Spain and Tory Britain, has proudly refused to sell her freedom for dollars. - E v e n in McCar thy-ridden U.S.A., where the war hysteria has reached such heights that f r igh-tened people fear an invasion f rom Mars and the Secretary of the Navy Forrestal jumps out of the w i n d o w shouting "The Russians are coming," public opinion polls show that three-quarters of the population would like to see negotiations between the Big Five powers.

WAR PROFITS However , this hard-won respite

must not al low us to relax. The mil-lionaires who make huge profits out of war , the cynical diplomats who play w i th people's lives as though they were chessmen, the tr igger-happy g e n e r a l s and demented Fascists, all these must be exposed and isolated lest as Imperialism dies they drag us all down in their death convulsions.

For Christians and humanitarians everywhere , regardless of politics, race and creed, the watchword this Christmas must again be: "Peace on earth, goodwil l to all men." As the Wor ld Peace Council points out, there is no major problem confronting the statesmen of the world that cannot be settled by peaceful negotiation.

WORLD COMMENT by PAT DEVINE

ROLL BACK WAR CLOUDS r F H E t h r e a t e n i n g w a r c l o u d s w h i c h

h a v e b e e n m e n a c i n g t h e p e o p l e s of t h e w o q l d f o r ' y e a r s a r e b e i n g s l o w l y f o r c e d i n t o r e t r e a t . T h i s i s d u e t o t h e v i r t u a l l y u n a n i m o u s o p i n i o n of p e o p l e in e v e r y c o u n t r y t h a t i t is b e t -t e r t o n e g o t i a t e t h a n g o t o w a r , e s p e -c i a l l y w h e n n o n e of t h e p o t e n t i a l b e l l i g e r e n t s h a v e a n y m a r k e d m i l i t a r y s u p e r i o r i t y o v e r t h e o t h e r s .

S o m e p e o p l e h a t e C o m m u n i s m , o t h e r s h a t e c a p i t a l i s m — i n d e e d , t h e d i v i s i o n o n a w o r l d s c a l e is a b o u t e v e n — b u t s e n s i b l e p e o p l e of d i v e r s e o p i n i o n s a g r e e t h a t a n a g r e e m e n t t o l i v e t o g e t h e r r a t h e r t h a n e n t e r a g r e a t i m p a r t i a l w o r l d s l a u g h t e r is t h e b e s t a r r a n g e m e n t .

Bermuda I t is on th i s b a c k g r o u n d t h a t one m u s t

e x a m i n e t h e B e r m u d a C o n f e r e n c e t a k i n g p lace f r o m D e t e m b e r 4 t h to t h e 8 th , be-t w e e n Sir W i n s t o n C h u r c h i l l . P r e m i e r Lan ie l a n d P r e s i d e n t E i s e n h o w e r .

T h e c u r r e n t c o n f e r e n c e is n o t h i n g l ike t h e o r ig ina l p r o p o s a l of C h u r c h i l l f o r a r o u n d tab le d i s cus s ion be tween t h e h e a d s of t h e Br i t i sh , F r e n c h , Soviet a n d Ameri-c a n g o v e r n m e n t s a i m i n g a t e a s i n g world t ens ion . I t is in f a c t a c a u c u s of w h a t a r e called t h e W e s t e r n P o w e r s a imed , i t would seem, a t f o r c i n g t h e r a t i f i c a t i o n of t h e E u r o p e a n D e f e n c e C o m m u n i t y T r e a t y a l lowing lor t h e s p e e d y r e a r m i n g of Wes-t e r n G e r m a n y ; in o t h e r words, t l i t revival ol Nazi m i l i t a r i sm .

Mr. Molotov. on N o v e m b e r 13th a t a P r e s s Con le rence , s a i d t h a t c o n f e r e n c e s of t h i s sor t wh ich t e n d t o p u t c e r t a i n s t a t e s in opposi t ion t o o t h e r s t a t e s , c a n lead to c o n t r a r y r e su l t s a n d even inc rease in te r -n a t i o n a l t ens ion .

I n t h e per iod l e a d i n g up to t h e con fe r -ence a series of n o t e s h a v e p a r s e d be tween t h e m a j o r p o w e r s on t h e ques t ion of how best t o get t o g e t h e r f o r f r u i t f u l d iscuss ion .

Soviet proposals T h e Soviet U n i o n p roposed t w o confe r -

ences, one of t h e F i v e M a j o r P o w e r s in-c lud ing C h i n a t o d i s cus s e a s i n g of t en -sion all over t h e wor ld . Imp l i c i t in t h i s p roposa l was t h e f e e l i n g t h a t t h e se r ious p rob lems of t h e F a r E a s t cover ing over a t h o u s a n d mi l l i on people a n d a f f ec t i ng t h e whole world, c o u l d n o t be solved wi th -ou t t h e ac t ive p a r t i c i p a t i o n of t h e M a o T s e T u n g C h i n e s e G o v e r n m e n t , cover ing l ou r h u n d r e d a n d fifty mil l ion souls.

Second, a c o n f e r e n c e of t h e Big F o u r t o dea l wi th G e r m a n y a n d o t h e r E u r o p e a n p rob lems a i m i n g t o e n d t h e t h r e a t of G e r -m a n m i l i t a r i s m f o r a l l t ime .

T h e t h r e e W e s t e r n P o w e r s r e j e c t e d t h e Soviet p roposa l s on t h e g r o u n d s t h a t t h e Soviet a p p e a r to w a n t a de fence l e s s Wes-t e r n Europe a s t h e p r i ce fo r p a r t i c i p a t i o n in a confe rence , a n d in f a c t d i d n ' t w a n t a con fe rence a t a l l .

T o this Mr. Molotov said t h a t President Eisenhower was wrong w h e n h e said tha t Russia was opposed to talks.

France in doubt Opposi t ion t o t h e E .D.C. a n d f e a r t h a t

t h e B e r m u d a c o n f e r e n c e will t r y to t ie F r a n c e to s u p p o r t f o r a r e a r m e d Gel-many voiced by e x - P r e m i e r s Da lad i e r , Her r io t a n d G e n e r a l D e Gaul le , h a s fo rced a

F r e n c h Fo re ign M i n i s t r y s p o k e s m a n t o say :—

" W e did no t t a k e t h e in i t i a t ive in s u m -m o n i n g t h e B e r m u d a mee t ing . I t is u p t o t h e o t h e r s to speak ou t w h a t t h e y h a v e in m i n d . F r a n c e lias no c o n c r e t e p l a n s to t a k e t h e r e . She d o e s n ' t k n o w w h a t t h e U.S. S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e , M r . Dulles, m e a n s w h e n he says t h e W e s t m u s t now t a k e decis ions w i t h o u t R u s s i a . " T h e B e r m u d a c o n f e r e n c e shou ld be r e -

p l aced by a c o n f e r e n c e oi the m a j o r p o w e r s a t w h i c h t ree d i scuss ion would t a k e p l a c e on how best to e n d world t ens ion , r a t h e r t h a n p a r t i s a n l ine -ups (it one g r o u p a g a i n s t a n o t h e r .

Kenya—death from the sky After months of imperialist rampage

and murder, in an effort to maintain the rule of the white aristocratic planters, it appears that the Kenya people still don't like it and are not coming to heel as was expected by the Brass-hats. So Lord Alexander, Minister of Defence in Sir Winston Churchill's Government,

'Reality of Empire' " T H E idea that we are w i l l i ng

to barter the 26 counties as a war base in return for fo rmal reunion of Irish territory has been assiduously propagated by people main ly concerned w i t h the strategy of Imperial defence. That idea, if accepted, would destroy the whole meaning of the independence movement. I t would mean that in return for a nominal independence we were wi l l ing to move back into the reality of empire."

GEORGE GILMORE has decided on drastic action. The R.A.F. has been using Lincoln bombers for indiscriminate pattern bombing of the Aberdare Mount Kenya forests. This is "Operations Murder" against non-combatant defenceless men, women and children, i.e., Black and Tan murders k la 1963.

Malaya—the score I n an a n n o u n c e m e n t about h i s success -

ful murder operations, General Templar , the Fuhfer in Malaya, announces t h a t in the past six year 4,600 "bandits" h a v e been killed and 3,900 police, soldiers a n d civi-l ians.

Thi s is the score in what six years a g o was said to be a police action a g a i n s t "a handfu l of bandi ts and terrorists." H u n -dreds of thousands of soldiers, pol ice a n d other imperial ist s tooges have been in con-t inuous action s ince then. But the M a l a y a n people are e n g a g e d in a s t rugg le for nat ional l iberation—and they c a n n o t be defeated.

British Guiana As the full f a c t s of the removal of Dr.

J a g a n ' s democratical ly-elected People ' s Progressive Par ty Government s e e p out, indignat ion a g a i n s t this most o u t r a g e o u s imperial ist ac t ion grows. Newspapers are

b a n n e d , elected M.P . s a r e a r r e s t e d a n d h e l d i n c o m m u n i c a d o a n d w i t h o u t charge , a l l m t h e n a m e of d e m o c r a c y . A n a t t e m p t w a s m a d e to p r e v e n t Dr . J a g a n f r o m tour-ing I n d i a w h e r e h e h a d a n a p o p i n t m e n t w i t h t h e P r i m e M i n i s t e r , Dr . N e h r u .

Labour oppos i t ion t o t h e G o v e r n m e n t a c t i o n is growing in sp i te of off icial dis-app rova l .

It would be interesting to hear the attitude of the Government of Eire on this question.

A l t h o u g h only a smal l c o u n t r y of r o u g h l y 800,000 souls , B r i t i sh G u i a n a l ias become a t e s t f o r all colonial coun t r i e s s t r i v ing lor i n d e p e n d e n c e .

M u s t they a c c e p t i n d e p e n d e n c e on t h e bas i s only of a g o v e r n m e n t s u i t a b l e to t h e imper ia l i s t a g g r e s s o r or c a n t h e y elect t h e i r own g o v e r n m e n t ? T h a t is t h e issue.

A measu re of imper ia l i s t gu i l t con-sc iousness on G u i a n a is s een f r o m t h e r e c e n t a n n o u n c e m e n t t h a t £500,000 is be ing a l located f o r a 1 lous ing p r o g r a m m e l o r t h e suga r worke r s .

France and Faith T h e Papa l N u n c i o a n d t h e F r e n c h epis-

copate , a long w i th t h r e e F r e n c h ca rd ina l s , h a v e recent ly r e t u r n e d f r o m R o m e wi th a new s t a t u t e d e a l i n g wi th t h e ac t iv i ty of "worker p r i e s t s " ; t h e y sha l l e n g a g e in m a n u a l work fo r only a l imi ted period, shou ld not live in isolat ion b u t shou ld be a t t a c h e d to a c o m m u n i t y of p r i e s t s a n d s h o u l d not e n g a g e in t r a d e u n i o n or t em-pora l activity, s a y s t h e S t a t u t e .

At a Congress of Catholic Intellectuals it was reported that among the arrested demonstrators in the anti-U.S. General Ridgeway demonstrations in Paris last year were two "worker priests." It was also reported that during the great strike movement for decent wages last August, "worker priests" publicly de-nounced the Christian trade unions for having ordered the strikers back to work. T h e new S t a t u t e a i m s to r e m o v e t h e

P r i e s t s f r o m t h e s e dange r s . The American scene

According to t h e lady responsible for education in I n d i a n a the famous Notting-h a m hero Robin Hood is suspect. It ap-pears that Robin a imed to he lp the poor by taking from t h e rich. T h a t seemingly Christian principle is un-American. It might set a bad example to t h e American people.

F r o m t h e s ame S ta te we learn that all reference to t h e Society of Quakers must be removed from history books, a l though t h e Quakers played no small part in de-veloping the Uni ted States of Anlferica as we know them to-day. It s e e m s tha t the Quakers are for peace and won't take part in war, a n d tha t evidently h a s become a serious crime in America.

President Eisenhower, ex-Pres ident Tru-man, the U.S. Attorney-General , Mr. Brownell, Governor Byrne, Senator Tom Clark, Senator McCarthy and a flock of other V.I.P.s h a v e been hav ing a real go.

T h e Attorney-General accuses Truman of helping protect a Mr, White, a n alleged "Red spy"; Truman, in a nat ionwide

broadcast, said t h e Attorney-General was a downright liar and knows It; as for McCarthy, T r u m a n said he is jus t a vicious lying rascal who a ims to put a "Red" label on every opponent in the h o p e that he will win political power on a mounta in of falsehood; Eisenhower said he didn't know Mr. White, about w h o m the trouble arose, but the Press say Ike is a l iar a n d they quote news stories of discuss ions he had with White before becoming President.

Well, what do you think of t h a t ?

ACTION FOR PEACE THE fo l lowing statements have recently been made by prominent Individuals' and organisations in

Ireland on the subject of Peace. The extracts are taken f rom a pamphlet entitled " I re land, Neutra l i ty and Peaoe." whioh can be obtained, price 6d., f rom Miss R. Jacob. 17 Ghar lev i l le Road, Rathmines, Dubl in .

M I S S L O U I E B E N N E T T : "Ireland is pledged to support

Christian principles as the basis of civilisation. W a r is a betrayal of them. Therefore she should stand

aside from it and from all pacts and alliances connected wi th prepara-tions for war ."

DR. N O E L B R O W N E , T.D.: "The G o v e n m e n t h a s taken u wise step

in refusing to enter into any c o m m i t m e n t s either on the Eas t or West, and It should do its best to m a i n t a i n the country's neut-rality and economic independence, and to pursue our own l ife in our own way free from outside c o m m i t m e n t s or inter-ference." W I L L I A M N O R T O N , T.D. :

"The Six Count ie s will no t be sold as a condition of our participation in any international mil i tary pact."

C O U N C I L L O R J A C K M c G O U G A N : " The right to the return of t h e S ix

Counties was a definite principle, but so also is the r ight to a Thirty-two County Republic to remain free from mil i tary com-mitments that would embroil us in a future war." R. M . F O X :

War is invariably a disaster to the m a s s of ordinary people, who fight and suffer, who lose their l imbs and lives, but w h o gain little or no th ing from a victory."

S E N A T O R J O S E P H J O H N S T O N : "If we m u s t discover a fore ign e n e m y

to f ight and absorb the surplus output of mature capital is t economies, t h e n t h e r e is no trouble in f inding one. H u n g e r a n d malnutrit ion are the everyday exper ience of 1,500 mil l ion people, not all of t h e m in the undeveloped regions of colonial ex-ploitation."

P E A D A R O ' D O N N E L L : "There is considerable pressure from the

Anglo-American al l iance to h a v e Ireland c h a n g e her pol icy and adhere to the At-lantic Pact . . . if some nat ionwide form of organisation does not arise to expose Redmondism of t h e present day, Irl3h youth will a g a i n be sacrif iced to it. National s e n t i m e n t is for world peace and, fai l ing peace i n t h e world, for neutral i ty . ." D U B L I N & B E L F A S T T R A D E

U N I O N C O U N C I L S : '•Realising t h a t another world war fought

under modern condi t ions wou ld be such a disaster for a l l humani ty t h a t n o possible effort to prevent it must be spared either by governments or individuals , th i s meet-ing of Dublin ( a n d Bel fas t ) Trades Coun-cil calls upon our Government and all those In authority to main ta in the policy of Irish neutral i ty and to m a k e every pos-sible spiritual a n d material contribution to the cause of fraternity and peace."

4 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT December, 1953

Letters to Editor

LIVERPOOL TRIBUTE

Connolly Association Conference in Manchester " WIN LABOUR FOR STRUGGLE AGAINST IMPERIALISM" CALL FOR IRISH UNITY

by P. J. Kilroy TTHE mobilising of maximum unity among the Irish forces

opposing Partition and the winning of the British Labour

movement to a policy of anti-Imperialism were the main themes

of a stimulating Connolly Association Conference in the Chorlton

Town Hall, Manchester, last month.

IRISH DEMOCRAT Paper must have "breadth

ari /- l t n l p r a n r p "

GREETINGS to conference

Delegates f rom Connolly Association branches in London, Not t ingham, Middle-sex, Birkenhead, Manchester, Liverpool, and Greenock were present, and f ra ternal greetings were sent f rom organisations in Dubl in and Belfast. Two observers were

\ \ T A Y S a n d m e a n s of i m p r o v i n g t h e " I r i s h D e m o c r a t " a n d g r e a t l y e x -

p a n d i n g i t s s a l e a n d f i n a n c e s w a s t h e m a i n t h e m e o f a r e p o r t b y t h e " I r i s h D e m o c r a t " E d i t o r . D e s m o n d G r e a v e s .

"We are str iv ing to get the unity of Irish and Bri t ish workers," said Mr . Greaves, "and to win the British Labour movement against Partit ion." T h e " I r ish Democrat" was their main weapon in tha t task, and if the paper's circulation, which had doubled dur ing the previous two years, could be raised to 25,000 monthly its in-fluence would be enormous. The paper was an organiser as well as propagandist.

T h e a i m of t h e Ed i t o r i a l B o a r d w a s t o m a k e t h e p a p e r even more p o p u l a r a n d easy to r ead , b u t t h i s was n o t a s i m p l e job. T h e p a p e r m u s t h a v e " b r e a d t h a n d to l e r ance , " a n d t h u s win t h o s e a l l i e s w h i c h were e s s e n t i a l fo r success,

Eamonn McLaughl in , in a wi t ty speech , sa id t h a t t h e " I r i s h D e m o c r a t " was l ike a good a n d f a i t h f u l wife. We took h e r f o r g r a n t e d , a n d on ly missed h e r it .she w a s n o t t h e r e . H e r e p o r t e d fo r benef i t of o t h e r Conno l ly Associa t ion b r a n c h e s t h a t Wes t L o n d o n m e m b e r s h a d sold 1,000 copies in one week-end .

NO C O M P L A C E N C Y

Fred O'Shea w a r n e d a g a i n s t c o m -placency, a n d s a i d t h a t p a p e r p u t b e f o r e Br i t i sh a n d I r i s h workers t h e t e a c h i n g s of J a m e s Conno l ly .

P. Bond w a n t e d more l e t t e r s in t h e pape r . H e a d v i s e d increased sa l e s o u t s i d e pubs a n d c h u r c h e s .

J. Kavanagh, in a v igorous speech, s a id t h e p a p e r w a s exce l l en t for g e t t i n g I r i s h i n t o t r a d e u n i o n s .

Loretto Kea t ing sugges t ed m o r e w o m e n in t h e m o v e m e n t — a proposa l wh ich w a s wa rmly g r e e t e d by de lega tes .

Molfle Downes, a v e t e r a n I r i s h R e p u b -l ican, a g r e e d w i t h t h i s sugges t ion , a n d quoted t h e n a m e s of Mrs. D e s p a r d , M a d a m e Mark iev i cz , a n d Mrs . S h e e h y -Skef f ing ton .

CAMPAIGN BY UNEMPLOYED

" ' P H E Dublin Unemployed Association has -I gained more sympathy for their cause

among the working class than at any time during the last. twenty years," said Mr. Sam Nolan, Irish Workers' League delegate in Manchester.

The unemployed have taken the teachings of James Connolly from the bookshelf where they have been left so long by our so-called Labour leaders, said Mr. Nolan. This is one reason why the "Standard" attacked the Dublin Unemployed Association, but this attack had broken against, the rock of organised working-class support.

This reactionary newspaper had switched lis attack to the Irish Workers' League, but was failing there also. .

\ L A R G E n u m b e r of g r e e t i n g messages - * were s e n t to t h e C o n n o l l y Associat ion

C o n f e r e n c e . " I h o p e y o u h a v e a success fu l conven t ion a n d ge t t h e s u p p o r t of t h e t r a d e un ions , " sa id Rev. Clarence Duffy, well-known I r i s h - A m e r i c a n pr ies t .

" W e h a v e p l e a s u r e in s end ing you a d o n a t i o n to h e l p y o u r Assoc ia t ion in i t s c a m p a i g n to win I r i s h worke r s for t h e t r a d e unions , a n d w i s h y o u r confe rence every success," sa id Mr . R. Fairley, Secre-ta ry , S toke N e w i n g t o n B r a n c h of t h e A m a l g a m a t e d E n g i n e e r i n g Union.

Mr. Joe Whelan, of N o t t i n g h a m , ex-pressed t h e h o p e t h a t t h e n e x t con fe r ence would be held in a f r e e , u n i t e d a n d inde-p e n d e n t I r e l and .

S A L U T E

Mr. Sean Murray , f a m o u s working-c lass l eader of Dubl in a n d B e l f a s t , wro te :

" I sa lu te you r C o n f e r e n c e a n d wish you every success in y o u r n o b l e work of f o r -w a r d i n g t h e c a u s e of t h e I r i s h m e n a n d women work ing in B r i t a i n . T h e un i ty of t h e Br i t i sh a n d I r i s h worke r s , for w h i c h you str ive, is o n e of t h e f o r e m o s t n e e d s of t he hour , a l ike f o r t h e f u t u r e of b o t h I r e l a n d a n d B r i t a i n .

Your fighf is par t icular ly important at this juncture when forces are actively at work to draw the Bri t ish Labour Move-ment into the camp of opposition to the independence and uni ty of the Ir ish nation. The work of the Connolly Associa-tion can defeat this.

PASSIVE R E B E L L I O N

In Six C o u n t y U l s t e r t h e mass of t h e people in t h e c o n t e s t e d cons t i tuenc ies could no t be m u s t e r e d t o go to the poll in s u p p o r t of t h e I m p e r i a l i s t s in t he r e c e n t election. This passive rebellion against the Union i s t a s c e n d a n c y will ye t become a n act ive one. T h e u n i t y of t h e Repub l i can a n d Social ist L a b o u r t r e n d s of t h o u g h t is not yet in being, b u t t h e g roundwork is laid a n d t h i s o b j e c t i v e of J i m Connolly will Ik- real ised in t h e f u t u r e . Wi th t h e power fu l forces of t h e I r i s h workers in Br i t a in , un i t ed wi th t h e g r e a t Br i t i sh La-bour Movement , a n d al l ied to all t h a t s t r ives for I r i sh l iber ty . N o r t h and S o u t h , I r e l and ' s f r eedom c a n be won and t h e coun t ry t ake i ts r i g h t f u l p lace in t he v a n of t h e n a t i o n s f i g h t i n g t o end Imper ia l -ism a n d es tab l i sh h u m a n b ro the rhood be-tween t h e peoples of a l l l ands .

Success to t h e C o n f e r e n c e ot the Con-nolly Associat ion."

present f rom the Executive Council, National Union of Vehicle Builders, and f rom the Manchester District Committee, Tai lor and Garment Workers' Union. A message of support was received f r o m Walter Stevens, General Secretary, Elec-trical Trade Union, and f r o m Stoke New-ington branch, Amalgamated Engineering Union.

B I G R A L L Y

F o u r h u n d r e d people a t t e n d e d a n e n -t h u s i a s t i c ra l ly in C h o r l t o n T o w n Hal l , fo l lowing t h e Confe r ence . A col lect ion of £ 1 5 was t a k e n , a n d m a n y n e w m e m b e r s enro l led in t h e Connol ly Assoc ia t ion . D u r -i n g t h e week p rev ious of t h e C o n f e r e n c e over 1,000 cop ies of t h e " I r i s h D e m o c r a t " w e r e sold in M a n c h e s t e r a n d d i s t r i c t .

A striking feature of the Conference was the youth and enthusiasm of many of the speakers. T h e political c lar i ty and burn-ing eloquence of some of the young speak-ers made a great impression upon the veterans of the Republican and Labour movement who were present.

S T R E N G T H E N PEACE

O p e n i n g t h e C o n f e r e n c e , t h e c h a i r m a n , F. Campbell, r e c o r d e d br ief ly t h e m a i n e v e n t s t h a t h a d occu r r ed s ince t h e p rev i -o u s C o n f e r e n c e .

T h e forces of peace h a d b e e n s t r e n g t h -ened , sa id Mr . Campbe l l , a n d t h e co lon ia l peop les all over t h e wor ld were m o v i n g i r res is t ib ly t o w a r d s t h e i r n a t i o n a l f r e e -d o m . T h e Soc ia l i s t c o u n t r i e s h a d e n o r -m o u s l y s t r e n g t h e n e d t h e i r economies , whi le t h e B r i t i s h L a b o u r M o v e m e n t w a s a r o u s i n g f r o m its t e m p o r a r y per iod of dis i l lusion a n d a p a t h y . I n I r e l a n d t h e r e w a s growing u n i t y a m o n g t r a d e un ion i s t s , a n d t h e Dub l in u n e m p l o y e d m o v e m e n t h a d given v igour a n d c o n f i d e n c e t o t h e L e f t .

L I T E R A T U R E SALES

Eamonn McLaughl in, N a t i o n a l O r g a -n ise r . gave a n e n c o u r a g i n g a c c o u n t of t h e p rev ious y e a r ' s ac t iv i t ies . M o r e m e e t i n g s h a d been held, m o r e s a l e s of l i t e r a t u r e h a d t aken p lace , a n d m o r e m o n e y col-lected t h a n fo r m a n y y e a r s prev ious ly . " W e have p u t t h e case a g a i n s t P a r t i t i o n of I r e l and t h r o u g h o u t t h e l e n g t h a n d b r e a d t h of B r i t a i n . " sa id Mr . M c L a u g h l i n , " a n d would go on doing so u n t i l t h e Br i -t i sh Labour M o v e m e n t r ea l i s ed i ts r e spon -sibi l i t ies to I r e l a n d . "

Stephen Lally, wel l -known I r i sh R e -pub l i can a n d c h a i r m a n , M a n c h e s t e r Con-nol ly Assoc ia t ion , g ree t ed v is i to rs to t h e C o n f e r e n c e on behalf of t h e M a n c h e s t e r b r a n c h .

Tile ma in pol i t ical r e p o r t ig iven in a d -jo in ing c o l u m n i was m a d e by Patr ick Clancy, N a t i o n a l Sec re t a ry . Connol ly Asso-c ia t ion . O t h e r s p e a k e r s in t h e lively dis-cuss ion wh ich followed t h i s d e b a t e were P. O'Mahoney (London i, E. Smullen (Lon-d o n ! , D. Logan ( fo rmer ly of B i r m i n g h a m * . J. Keating ( L o n d o n i . D. Greaves (Lon-d o n : . Carl in (Greenock >, McGarr ig le (Liverpool) , F. O'Shea ' L o n d o n t . J. Kava-nagh ' M i d d l e s e x ! , a n d Sean McKeoin i N o t t i n g h a m ) .

L. - I. I ' . -1

NEW EXECUTIVE r I 1 H E new Connol ly Assoc ia t ion Execu-

* tive was e lec ted a s fo l lows; P. Bond, C. O. Greaves, F. Campbell,

P. Clancy, E. McLaughl in, F. O'Shea, K. Cullen, J. Delghan, P. Kearney, C. tyac-Liam, P. J. Kilroy, G. Curran, J. Whelan, P. Griffin, T . McKendry, P. McLaughl in , McGarrigle.

| W O U L D l i k e t o p a y a t r i b u t e t o t h e m e m o r y of t h a t g r a n d I r i s h -

m a n , B a r n e y E a r l e y , o f L i v e r p o o l . B a r n e y w a s a p a t r i o t , a n d s o l d i e r

w h o f o u g h t f o r t h e r i g h t of t h e w o r k e r s t o l i v e i n a w o r l d f r e e f r o m c l a s s - d i s t i n c t i o n s . A s U n i o n l e a d e r a m o n g t h e L i v e r p o o l d o c k e r s , h e w a s l o v e d a n d r e s p e c t e d b y a l l w h o k n e w h i m , B a r n e y w a s t h e f a t h e r of t h e a n t i - p a r t i t i o n l e a g u e a n d , h a d k n o w n m a n y I r i s h p a t r i o t s f r o m t h e d a y s of O ' D o n o v a n R o s s a u p t o C o l l i n s a n d d e V a l e r a . I t w a s h e w h o h e l p e d d e V a l e r a t o g e t a w a y o n t h e B a l t i c t o A m e r i c a a f t e r h i s e s c a p e f r o m L i n c o l n J a i l .

T h e w o r k e r s of L i v e r p o o l h a v e l o s t a t r u e f r i e n d . M a y h e r e s t in p e a c e

- a l o n g w i t h t h o s e o t h e r g r e a t I r i s h m e n . J a m e s C o n n o l l y , L i a m M e l l o w e s , a n d D a l y of t h e C o n n a u g h t M u t i n y i n I n d i a .

S T E P H E N L A L L Y . M a n c h e s t e r .

* * * CASEMENT

i *AN n o t h i n g be d o n e t o s ecu re t h a t t h e ^ r e m a i n s of our be loved Roger C a s e -m e n t be t r a n s f e r r e d f r o m t h e i r q u i c k l i m e g r a v e in P e n t o n v i l l e P r i s o n , London, t o h i s b i r t h p l a c e in I r e l a n d ? I s e e t h a t G e o f f r e y B ing , M.P., is t a k i n g t h e m a t t e r u p legal ly w i th t h e H o m e Of f i ce in L o n d o n . I t is t i m e t h a t t h e B r i t i s h G o v e r n m e n t rea l i sed t h a t t h e i r c o n t i n u e d r e f u s a l t o co-opera te in t h i s m a t t e r c a n only l e a d t o f u r t h e r h o s t i l i t y f r o m t h e I r i sh people . T h e Tor ies h a v e a l w a y s b e e n enemies of I r i s h i n d e p e n d e n c e . I t is t i m e t h a t I r i s h Repub l i ca f t s u n i t e d w i t h m e n like B i n g in t h e B r i t i s h L a b o u r P a r t y t o dr ive t h i s collect ion of I m p e r i a l i s t s f r o m office.

" A N T R I M M A N . " London.

* # * PEKING PRIEST

I AM w r i t i n g f r o m P e k i n g to let y o u know h o w t h e C a t h o l i c C h u r c h is

f a r i n g in C h i n a , a n d t o expose t h e " a t r o c i t y " s t o r i e s p o u r e d ou t b.v t h e r e a c t i o n a r y P r e s s .

On N o v e m b e r 7 th l a s t I called on F a t h e r M a i n t h e E a s t C h u r c h , P e k i n g , a n d pu t c e r t a i n q u e s t i o n s t o h im a b o u t rel igion. " W h a t r e l i g ious f r e e d o m d o e s t h e R o m a n C a t h o l i c C h u r c h h a v e i n C h i n a ? " I a s k e d F a t h e r M a . " C o m p l e t e f r e e d o m to p r a c t i c e a n d p r e a c h our re l i -g ion ," he r ep l i ed p r o m p t l y . " W e sti l l r u n p r i m a r y schools , a n d in t h i s C h u r c h t h e r e a r e two da i ly M a s s e s a n d t h r e e on S u n -days . "

T h e C h u r c h d rew i t s r evenues f r o m con t r i bu t i ons , a n d r e n t s of C h u r c h - o w n e d p roper ty , c o n t i n u e d F a t h e r Ma. In t h e coun t ry s ide t h e C h u r c h is no longer a l andlord , as it was n o t e x e m p t e d f r o m l a n d r e f o r m , b u t s i nce t h e C a t h o l i c p e a s a n t s g a i n e d f r o m t h i s r e f o r m t h e y still c o n t i n u e t o give c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o t h e C h u r c h . Dr . M a then wen t on t o te l l me how t h e C h u r c h took i ts - sp i r i tua l l e a d e r s h i p f r o m t h e Vat ican , b u t was financially s e l l -s u p p o r t i n g .

E S P I O N A G E

When I a s k e d why s o m e m i s s i o n a r i e s h a d been expe l l ed a n d o t h e r s impr i soned . F a t h e r M a s a i d : " T h e y w e r e pun i shed , n o t because t h e y were p r i e s t s of d i f f e r e n t C h u r c h e s b u t fo r t h e i r po l i t i ca l ac t iv i t i e s a g a i n s t t h e people , s u c h a s s abo tage a n d espionage . F o r e i g n m i s s i o n a r i e s a re wel -c o m e in C h i n a , a n d t h e r e a r e still a b o u t t w e n t y in P e k i n g a lone . "

F a t h e r M a w a s h o p e f u l a b o u t t he f u t u r e of t he C h u r c h in C h i n a . "Before t h e L ibera t ion I m.vsell f e a r e d t h a t we c o u l d n o t co-exist w i t h t h e C o m m u n i s t s . " h e sa id . "S ince t h e L i b e r a t i o n I have s e e n t h e G o v e r n m e n t i m p l e m e n t t h e C o m m o n P r o g r a m m e w h i c h g u a r a n t e e s l r eedom ot religion W e h a v e f o u n d t h a t love for o u r c o u n t r y a n d love for ou r re l ig ion a re n o t c o n t r a d i c t o r y . "

G E O R G E J E F F A R E S . Peking.

WE REMEMBER CONNOLLY Electricians send greetings

T H E following message was sent to the Connolly Associa-• tion Conference by Walter Steven, Secretary, Electrical

Trades Union: " T h e E l e c t r i c a l T r a d e s U n i o n is g lad to send a message of

g o o d w i l l a n d s u p p o r t t o t h e C o n n o l l y Associat ion 's C o n f e r e n c e to be h e l d a t t h e C h o r l t o n T o w n H a l l , M a n c h e s t e r , o n N o v e m b e r 14th a n d 1 5 t h . T h e E l e c t r i c a l T r a d e s U n i o n has n e v e r f o r g o t t e n the h e r q i c s t r u g g l e s of t h e I r i s h W o r k e r s , led a n d i n s p i r e d by the g r e a t I r i s h Soc ia l i s t a n d t r a d e u n i o n i s t , J a m e s C o n n o l l y . I t r e m e m -bers a lso t h e v a l i a n t f i g h t p u t u p b y J i m L a r k i n in o r g a n i s i n g the w o r k e r s o f D u b l i n . B u t m o s t o f a l l i t r e m e m b e r s t h e c e n t u r i e s - o l d s t r u g g l e o f t h e I r i s h p e o p l e t o w i n c o m p l e t e f r e e d o m a n d inde-pendence f o r t h e i r c o u n t r y . T h e E l e c t r i c a l T r a d e s U n i o n wishes you e v e r y success i n y o u r A g h t to i m p r o v e t h e t r a d e un ion o r g a n i s a t i o n a n d l i v i n g s t a n d a r d s of the I r i sh p e o p l e . "

December, 1953 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT 5

Kilkenny workers discuss emigration Irish food prices

were half U.S. I O O D pr i ces in I r e l a n d in 1952 were only

half t h o s e in t h e U.S.. a c c o r d i n g t o f iuures p u b l i s h e d by t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l La-bour O r g a n i s a t i o n in G e n e v a .

On tire bas i s of t h e food pr ice level in t h e Un i t ed S t a t e s equa l l i ng 100, t h e f i gu re lor I r e l a n d w a s 52. T h o s e for o t h e r coun -t r ies were : F r a n c e . 90: C a n a d a , 85; W e s t G e r m a n y . 85: S w i t z e r l a n d , 83; F i n l a n d , 81; I ta ly . 78: B e l g i u m . 75: S w e d e n . 63; Nor-way. 59: N e t h e r l a n d s . 55; B r i t a i n , 50; Den -mark , 49: S o u t h A f r i c a , 47; Aus t r a l i a , 46; a n d P o r t u g a l , 45.

T h e food i t e m s t a k e n in to a c c o u n t in t h e repor t were s t a t e d to r e p r e s e n t t h e g rea te r p a r t of h o u s e h o l d food expend i -ture in ' h e d i f f e r e n t coun t r i e s .

Prices were c o m p a r e d on t h e bas i s of t he offic:al e x c h a n g e r a t e s .

4 ( COUNTY THREATENED WITH DEPOPULATION"

LONDON IRISH REMEMBER McSWINEY

r j i H E t h i r t y - t h i r d a n n i v e r s a r y of t h e d e a t h of t h e L o r d M a y o r of Cork.

T e r e n c e McSwiney , w a s c o m m e m o r a t e d la.st m o n t h in L o n d o n . A R e q u i e m M a s s was c e l e b r a t e d in S o u t h w a r k C a t h e d r a l , w h e r e t h e body of t h e f a m o u s R e p u b l i c a n , whose epic h u n g e r - s t r i k e a t t r a c t e d a t t e n -t ion f r o m al l q u a r t e r s of t h e world, lay in s t a t e b e f o r e b e i n g t a k e n back t o I re -land .

A m e m o r i a l m e e t i n g w a s he ld by t h e A n t i - P a r t i t i o n L e a g u e in t h e Ho lborn Ha l l where t h e m a i n a d d r e s s was given by Mr . S e a n Lynch , T .D .

A large ly a t t e n d e d c o n c e r t was a l so he ld by t h e U n i t e d I r i s h m e n ' s o r g a n i s a t i o n in t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n T h e a t r e , E d g e w a r e R d . Coun. J . J . Long , a b r o t h e r of t h e M a y o r of S tepney , was t h e speake r .

CASEMENT: M.P. accepts

brief R. G E O F F R E Y B I N G , Q . C . , t h e L a b o u r M . P . w h o is w e l l k n o w n

f o r h i s o p p o s i t i o n t o P a r t i t i o n a n d h i s c a m p a i g n a g a i n s t t h e U n i o n i s t s i n t h e S i x C o u n t i e s , h a s a c c e p t e d a b r i e f o n b e h a l f of t h e R o g e r C a s e m e n t R e -p a t r i a t i o n C o m m i t t e e .

Dr . H e r b e r t Mackey , one of t h e m e m b e r s of t h e c o m m i t t e e , now in L o n d o n to f u r t h e r t h e c a s e the re , sa id l a s t m o n t h : "Mr . B ing a c c e p t e d t h e case a l t e r m y son a n d myself h a d a one-hour c o n s u l t a t i o n w i t h h i m . Mr . B i n g is very c o n f i d e n t of o u r w i n n i n g t h e case, which will n o t c o m e b e f o r e t h e Q u e e n ' s B e n c h Div i s ion be fo re t h e end of t h i s y e a r . "

Dr . Mackey s a i d t h a t t he law o n t h e dis-posa l of bodies is very i n t r i c a t e , d a t i n g back to t h e M i d d l e Ages, a n d t h a t Mr. B i n g will h a v e t o c a r r y out a g r e a t d e a l of r e s e a r c h . " B u t Mr . B ing is in c o m p l e t e a g r e e m e n t w i t h t h e e n c o u r a g i n g legal adv i ce we h a d a l r e a d y secured in D u b l i n . "

G R E A T I R I S H M A N L a b o u r M.P. F e n n e r A. B r o c k w a y , one

of t h e las t p e r s o n s to see R o g e r C a s e m e n t m Pen tonv i l l e P r i s o n t h e n i g h t b e f o r e h i s execut ion , s a i d :

"Roger Casement was not only a great I r ishman, but he was one of the best Colonial governors the Brit ish Govern-ment has ever had. The Bri t ish people ought to be big enough now to recog-nise that Roger Casement's actions were m o t i v a t e d by a genuine Ir ish patriotism." An official s t a t e m e n t h a s b e e n i s sued

f r o m t h e P r i m e Min i s t e r ' s r e s i d e n c e in L o n d o n d e n y i n g t h a t t h e B r i t i s h G o v e r n -m e n t i n t e n d e d m a k i n g a o rde r in Counc i l f o r b i d d i n g t h e r e m o v a l of C a s e m e n t ' s re-m a i n s f r o m P e n t o n v i l l e P r i son .

-SAYS LABOUR PARTY "Irish Democrat" Correspondent

I^ILKENNY Divisional Council of the Labour Party recently * " V e i l e d ° rt M V M y-» /-v « ] • W - —» ~ - I — A 1 a conference to discuss unemployment and emigration, reports the Irish Labour Party newsletter, "Flagstaff."

N E G L E C T

Mr. Devoy adv ised t h e C o n f e r e n c e t o press t h e G o v e r n m e n t to p u t i n t o immed i -a t e o p e r a t i o n s c h e m e s of a n essen t i a l a n n a t u r e s u c h a s w a t e r a n d sewerage schemes w h i c h would be p e r m a n e n t a s s e t s to the a r e a s , p a r t i c u l a r l y in t h e r u r a l areas . T h e s e a r eas , sa id Mr . Devoy, h a d been sad ly neg lec ted . R e f e r r i n g aga in t o t he decl ine in t h e popu la t ion , Mr. Devoy said t h a t in m o s t of t h e r u r a l a r e a s w h e r e some y e a r s a g o t h e r e h a d b e e n twen ty or th i r ty f a m i l i e s t h e r e were to-day only two or t h r ee f ami l i e s .

Mr. J. Goss ( S e c r e t a r y of K i l k e n n y B r a n c h of t h e L a b o u r P a r t y ) sa id t h a t i t was a p p a r e n t to everybody t h a t t h e popu-lat ion of K i l k e n n y Ci ty ( a n d t h e s a m e appl ied t o every t o w n a n d vil lage in t h e county ) was a l m o s t h a l v e d w i t h i n t h e l a s t 100 years .

'N.A.T.O. DEAL' p R O F E S S O R

the Irish J. J O H N S T O N told Senate last month

that cer ta in remarks made by the Minister for Industry a n d Com-merce, M r . Lemass, implied that the Irish Government would be pre-pared to "do a deal" a n d exchange the reunif icat ion of I reland for membership of the N.A.T.O. Pact.

Thfs was a policy wtiich he and most of the Ir ish people on both sides of the Border should oppose, said Prof. Johnston.

CRISIS IN BRITISH EMPIRE T H E cr is is o f B r i t i s h I m p e r i a l i s m is

fast a p p r o a c h i n g , said M r . P a t r i c k C l a n c y , N a t i o n a l S e c r e t a r y , C o n n o l l y Assoc ia t ion , p r e s e n t i n g t h e m a i n re-por t to t h e A s s o c i a t i o n ' s A n n u a l C o n -f e r e n c e i n M a n c h e s t e r last m o n t h .

E v e r y w h e r e t h e b a s i s of I m -p e r i a l i s m w a s b e i n g a t t a c k e d b y a g r e a t n a t i o n a l u p s u r g e of t h e p e o p l e , w h i l e in B r i t a i n i t s e l f , a s t h e L a b o u r P a r t y C o n f e r e n c e h a s s h o w n , t h e w o r k i n e p e o p l e a ? e i n c r e a s i n g l y a n x i o u s t o b r e a k w i t h t r a d i t i o n a l i m -p e r i a l i s t p o l i c y .

T h e b r u t a l m e t h o d s emp loyed by t h e Tory G o v e r n m e n t will fa i l to s t e m t h e growing t i de of oppos i t i on . S u c h b r u t a l m e t h o d s m u s t n o t be m i s t a k e n a s a s ign ol s t r e n g t h b u t r a t h e r a s a s ign of t h e decl ine ol t h e who le bas i s of impe r i a l i s t re la t ions . T h e e x a m p l e ol B r i t i s h G u i a n a a n d K e n y a s h o w h o w t h e Tory G o v e r n -m e n t is p r e p a r e d t o s toop to m e t h o d s which even H i t l e r could n o t i m p r o v e upon . W h e r e t h e oppos i t i on t«o I m p e r i a l i s m is s h a r p e s t , . u c h a s in M a l a y a a n d K e n y a , tiie Tory G o v e r n m e n t h a s r e t a l i a t e d w i t h Mich b a r b a r i c m e t h o d s as t h e po i son ing of crops. A l t h o u g h in s o m e semi-colonia l coun t r i e s s u c h a s E g y p t a n d P e r s i a t h e people": - t r u g g l e h a s been b e t r a y e d by t h e b a n k e r s a n d l a n d l o r d s who des i re only to exc l i ang" B r i t i s h d o m i n a t i o n for Amer i -can. t h e p o p u l a r m o v e m e n t c o n t i n u a l l y : ecks a n d f i n d s f r e s h m e a n s ol expres-sion

A M E R I C A N D R E A M S I M PER IA L I S T policy in t h e colonies m a y ' br ing t h e w e a l t h y ol t h i s l a n d va luab le

d iv idends , b u t i t s u p k e e p is c h a r g e d upon I lie c o m m o n peop le w h o a r e foo t ing t h e bill in tiip l o r m of r i s ing pr ices , t h e t h r e a t ol h i g h e r r e n t s , a n d t h e r e s t r i c t ion of housing, e d u c a t i o n a n d ( u l t i m a t e l y ) ol em-ployment . a s well a s A m e r i c a n d o m i n a t i o n ol Br i t i sh a f f a i r s . T h e B r i t i s h impe r i a l i s t s a r e t h u s t h e e n e m y of t h e B r i t i s h as well a s of t h e I r i s h a n d co lon ia l peoples.

The crisis of Brit ish Imperial ism is being further aggravated by the Inroads made into Brit ish spheres of influence and in-terests by the Uni ted States. America dreams of a system of world power where the older imperial isms of Europe will play sccond fiddle.

U n d e r t h e h y p o c r i t i c a l c l a i m of d e f e n d -

Says Connolly Association Secretary fo r a policy ing democracy , A m e r i c a h a s b e c o m e t h e

m u r d e r e r of p o p u l a r m o v e m e n t s fo r n a t i o n a l i n d e p e n d e n c e a n d social a d v a n c e . T h e A m e r i c a n imper i a l i s t s h a v e financed a n d a r m e d t h e B r i t i s h a n d F r e n c h I m -pe r i a l i s t s t o c r u s h t h e m o v e m e n t s fo r n a t i o n a l i n d e p e n d e n c e . Amer i ca h a s a l l ied herse l f wi th t h e g r e a t e s t e n e m i e s of d e m o c r a c y t h r o u g h o u t t h e w o r l d — C h i a n g -Ka i -Chek , S .vgman Rhee, F r a n c o a n d S a l a z a r . In A m e r i c a i tself , t h £ d e m o c r a t i c fo rces a re fighting a s t u b b o r n r e a r g u a r d ac t ion a g a i n s t M c C a r t h y ' s i nqu i s i t i on .

D R I V E FOR C O N Q U E S T T N h e r dr ive lo r world c o n q u e s t Amer i -' c a n I m p e r i a l i s m h a s forced h e r sa te l -

l i tes in to a m a d a r m a m e n t s r ace , a n d f u r t h e r by d e n y i n g t h e m t h e r i g h t t o t r a d e w i t h t h e n a t i o n s of the i r choice, h a s re-su l t ed in p l ac ing ever inc reas ing b u r d e n s on t h e work ing people . T h e e f f o r t s of t h e peoples of all c o u n t r i e s to p r e v e n t o u t b r e a k ol a new world war , a n d to res i s t t h e a r m -ing of Nazi G e r m a n y and F r a n c o S p a i n , a r e wor thy of t h e fu l l suppor t of t h e I r i s h people. A m e r i c a n I m p e r i a l i s m will be de-l e a t e d by t h e peop le of Europe , As ia a n d Af r i ca , t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e g r e a t A m e r i c a n peop le who will be fo re very long p u t a n e n d to t h e d e s p o t i s m which n o w g r ip s t h e i r c o u n t r y a n d will once a g a i n t a k e t h e i r we l l - ea rned place m t h e f o r w a r d m a r c h of h u m a n i t y .

I R I S H P E O P L E A G A I N S T W A R (1) Never b e f o r e were t h e r e s u c h

l a v o u r a b l e o p p o r t u n i t i e s lor t h e I r i s h people to s e c u r e t h e un i ty a n d i n d e p e n -d e n c e of I r e l a n d . NcveV be fo re h a d t h e I r i s h people so m a n y allies a n d p o t e n t i a l a l l ies t h r o u g l m u t t h e world.

( 2 ) Holding that it is by the uni ty and struggle of the oppressed peoples In the Empire that we can smash Imper ia l ism, we call upon the I r ish people in Br i t a in to give their active support to the colonial peoples In their struggle against the com-mon enemy.

(31 F u r t h e r m o r e , as we c a n n o t conce ive of t h e f inal d e s t r u c t i o n of B r i t i s h I m -pe r i a l i sm w i t h o u t t h e ac t ive s u p p o r t of t h e Br i t i sh L a b o u r M o v e m e n t a n d of t h e B r i t i s h workers , we cons ider t h e m a i n t a sk b e f o r e t h e C o n n o l l y Associat ion a n d t h e I r i sh people in Br i t a in is t o win t h e

Br i t i sh L a b o u r M o v e m e n t aga in s t p a r t i t i o n .

(4) T h e I r i s h in B r i t a i n a r e in t h e m o s t f a v o u r a b l e pos i t ion to p e r f o r m t h i s t a s k . Our mi l l ion I r i s h exiles, if u n i t e d a n d a rmed w i t h t h e n e c e s s a r y pol i t ica l u n d e r - J s t and ing , wou ld h e l p t o a l t e r t h e policy of t h e B r i t i s h L a b o u r M o v e m e n t a n d w in it over to t h e s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t I m p e r i a l i s m .

S I X - C O U N T Y D A G G E R (5) V O W more t h a n ever before must it

be b r o u g h t h o m e to t h e B r i t i s h Labour M o v e m e n t t h a t t h e n a t i o n t h a t oppresses o t h e r peop les c a n n o t itself be free. T h e S i x - C o u n t y T o r y r eg ime is a dagger a t t h e h e a r t of t h e B r i t i s h L a b o u r Movement a s well a s be ing t h e g r e a t e s t enemy of t h e I r i s h people . I t s T o r y c h a r a c t e r m u s t be s h a r p l y b r o u g h t out a n d exposed to t h e B r i t i s h people . T h e Six-County T o r i e s s i t t i n g a t W e s t m i n s t e r h a v e for 30 y e a r s c o n s i s t e n t l y vo ted a g a i n s t a l l legislat ion t h a t was fo r t h e i m p r o v e m e n t of t he c o n d i t i o n s of t h e B r i t i s h people. The i r black r e a c t i o n a r y role h a s b r o u g h t a vigorous p r o t e s t f r o m A n e u r i n B e v a n and a r e so lu t ion c o n d e m n i n g t h e Nor the rn I r e l a n d police s t a t e a t t h e Labour P a r t y C o n f e r e n c e a n d f u r t h e r , a call for t h e e n d i n g of t h e p a r t i t i o n of I re-land by t h e S e c r e t a r y ol t h e Tobacco Workers ' Un ion .

(61 It is the duty of every Irish man and woman in Br i ta in to assist this ten-dency unt i l ant i -part i t ion becomes the policy of the whole Brit ish Labour move-ment. This will demand complete unity and solidarity between Brit ish and Ir ish workers, and just as the Ir ish people ex-pect the Brit ish workers to help to free Ireland so the Irish must help the British workers in their demands.

(71 I m p e r i a l i s t s h a v e a l w a y s d r e a d e d the t h o u g h t of a u n i t e d f r o n t between t h e Bri t ish L a b o u r M o v e m e n t a n d t h e oppressed peoples of the Empire, for such would mean t h e final doom of Imperialism. T h e age-old weapon of Imperial ism "divide and rule" has been success fu l far too long. Recently we have seen examples ol th is in t he Mid lands and to a lesser degree elsewhere where the employers put up the notice "No Irish need apply." Derogatory r emarks about the Irish were made bv a i

( C o n t i n u e d o n P a g e S i x )

T h e ma in problem was an economic one the people did not just leave the i r towns because they liked to go away. T h e y could not exist without work and wage* and so were compelled to emigrate.

I t was e s s e n t i a l , t he r e fo re , t h a t w o r k shou ld be p r o v i d e d to keep ou r p o p u l a t i o n in t h e c o u n t r y .

"Labour , " s a id Mr . Goss, " w o u l d wi l l ing -ly co -opera te in a n y scheme o r s c h e m e s d e -s igned t o r e m e d y t h e twin evils of U n e m -p l o y m e n t a n d E m i g r a t i o n . " ( " F l a g s t a f f " m a y be o b t a i n e d f r o m t h e

I r i sh L a b o u r Pa r ty , 20 E a r l s f o r t T e r -race. D u b l i n ! .

* * *

Fight unemployment r P H E vigorous campaign launched by the

Dublin Unemployed Associat ion las t summer aga ins t the increase in unemploy -m e n t in Eire h a s already stirred t h e Dub-lin Trades Council and Ir i sh Labour Party into act ion on behalf of their out -of-work comrades. The movement t o com-pel the Government to create n e w sources of employment is spreading t h r o u g h o u t t h e country.

A one-day strike in support of the un-employed was proposed at a meet ing of the Dublin Trades Council last month. I t was also agreed to send a deputat ion to the Lord Mayor, the City Manager a n d Corporation.

Mr . E. Tucker, trustee, said t h a t every cit izen should be given the r ight to e m -ployment and the means of l ivel ihood. F ianna Fail had promised t o solve t h e problem and the trade unions now shou ld force t h e m to do so by developing to t h e fu l l their agricultural and industr ia l potential . T h e members of the D u b l i n Unemployed Association did not d e m o n -s tra te for fun. They demonstrated to e n d poverty and destitution and they s h o u l d be supported.

Mr . R. Emmet , Assurance Workers, sa id t h a t the reason for unemployment w a s un-der capital isat ion in agriculture a n d in-dustry.

More Schemes Miss E. Caffrey, Women Workers '

Union, urged more drainage s c h e m e s , more building of schools, houses , the im-provement of Dublin roads and streets , and the improvement of parks to create employment .

Mr. W. Carpenter, A m a l g a m a t e d Soc i -e ty of Woodworkers, said more industr ies should be created to supply agricultural n e e d s such as implements.

Mr . M. Merr igan, A.T.G.W.U., said t h e problem could not be solved unti l t h e workers put a party into power tha t would represent them.

Mr. C. Phipps, Workers' Union of Ire-land. said tha t they should declare a 24-hour s toppage as an effective protes t aga ins t the growth of unemployment .

T h e large number of young people leav-ing county Ki lkenny was caus ing cons ider-able alarm, said Coun. Herbert Devoy, Secretary of the Divisional Council . T h e posit ion was gett ing steadily worse a n d there would be n o young people of abi l i ty l e f t unless someth ing was done quickly. Mr Devoy w e n t on to say t h a t t h e ques-t ion of employment for their young people required serious thinking—there had b e e n too much complacency in the matter .

T h e s i tuat ion in the years s ince w e h a v e had our own Government was more t h a n alarming. Six census had been t a k e n s ince 1922 a n d t h e figures taken on e a c h of these occas ions showed a reduct ion i n the total populat ion of t h e County Ki l -kenny averag ing from 2.000 to 3,000 per-sons. That , however, did not give t h e whole storv of the shocking reduct ion i n Kilkenny's population. If they referred t o t h e vital s ta t i s t i c s they would find t h a t t h e birth rate was far in e x c e s s of t h e d e a t h rate over these years : > t h a t in actual fact the population loss In Ki l -k e n n y alone was 3,000 to 4,000 persons e a c h year. .

No county and no oountry could s u r -vive such a dra in on its life-blood.

6 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT December, 1953

FRANCO SPAIN-Land of poverty and prisoners

by Maurice Orbach, M.P. ^ N Y B O D Y uoint 1, to Spa in w i t h a n

u n p r e j u d i c e d m i n d soon l inds out j u s t w h y t h e r e a re so m a n y po l i t i ca l p r i s o n e r s in tha i u n h a p p y "land.

In f e w countries in Europe are the contrasts between rich and poor so glar ing.

W i t h i n a lew y a r d s ol large b l o c k s o! n e w flats, lor w h i c h key m o n e y of a n y t h i n g u u to CoOO is d e m a n d e d aii'i w h o s e r e n t s a r e b e t w e e n Cl~> and C20 a m o n t h , people a r e l i v ing in e a v e s a n d p r i m i t i v e s h a n t i e s .

T h i s is not in t h e c o u n t r y s i d e but in t h e v e r y s u b u r b s of Madr id i t se l f .

f n a walk t h r o u g h the m a m ; i-ets of Madr id i tself , one d e s p a i r s

oi' a t t e m p t i n g to c o u n t the n u m b e r s ol b e g g a r s , shoe s h i n e s and p a t h e t i c b l ind p e o p l e s e l l i ng lo t te ry t i c k e t s .

W h i l e the p a r c h e d c o u n t r y s i d e a r o u n d the cap i t a l c i ty is c r y i n g out for l a rge - sca le i r r iga t ion a n d land r e c l a m a t i o n , p u b l i c funds s e e m to be s p e n t a lmos t exc lus ive ly on t h e e q u i p m e n t , and u p k e e p of an i n f l a t ed a i .my a n d pol ice force , a t o p - h e a v y S t a t e bureauc iac .v . and the b u i l d i n g i f l a r g e new Min i s t e r i a l and Ihi.m-

p r e m i s e s — A N D P R I S O N S .

W I T H i n d u s t r y m a r k i n g t i m e or on t h e dec l ine , wi th the v a l u e ol

rea l w a g e s a b o u t half w h a t t h e y w e r e in 1936, it is not su rp r i s i ng t h a t e v e r y o n e g r u m b l e s a b o u t t h e r e g i m e .

T h o u g h the a u t h o r i t i e s r e a l i s e t h a t it is inrmossible to s t o p t h e g r u m b l i n g a n d d i scon ten t , s t e r n m e a s u r e s a r e t a k e n aga ins t a n y o n e w h o a t t e m p t s t o o r g a n i s e oppos i t ion .

P a r t i c u l a r l y s e v e r e t r e a t m e n t a w a i t s those w h o a r e c o n c e r n e d in t h e c l a n d e s t i n e o rgan i sa t i on of t h e t r a d e u n i o n s (U.G.T. and C.N.T.) or t h e po l i t i ca l p a r t i e s which f l ou r i shed d u r i n g t h e y e a r s of R e p u b l i c a n ru le .

T h e pol i t ica l p r i sone r s i n c l u d e M o n a r c h i s t s , B a s q u e Ca tho l ics , Re-p u b l i c a n s , T r a d e U n i o n i s t s , Socia l i s t s , C o m m u n i s t s a n d A n a r c h i s t s .

In v e r y f e w ca se s a re a n y speci f ic c h a r g e s m a d e a g a i n s t t h e m o t h e r t h a n be ing s u s p e c t e d of m e m b e r s h i p of a n oppos i t ion m o v e m e n t or of m a k i n g c o n t r i b u t i o n s to t h e f u n d s of i l legal m o v e m e n t s .

T h e p a y m e n t of a c o n t r i b u t i o n of 5d. p e r m o n t h t o a c l a n d e s t i n e t r a d e u n i o n is su f f i c ien t t o w a r r a n t a r r e s t , t r i a l by a m i l i t a r y cour t a n d long m o n t h s of i m p r i s o n m e n t .

S o m e p r i s o n e r s about w h o m I e n q u i r e d h a v e b e e n u n d e r a r r e s t fo r a s l ong as 18 m o n t h s w i t h o u t t r i a l .

O t h e r s h a v e comple t ed t h e i r t e r m s of i m p r i s o n m e n t and a r e he ld m p r i son b e c a u s e t hey h a v e r e f u s e d to g ive u n d e r t a k i n g s tha t t h e y wi l l t a k e no f u r t h e r p a r t in po l i t i ca l a c t i v i t v .

| ) U R I N G my s tay . I asked f o r a n d w a s g r a n t e d a n i n t e r v i e w w i t h

G i e g o r i o Lopez R a i m u n d o , g e n e r a l s e c r e t a r y of t h e U n i t e d Soc ia l i s t P a r t y of Ca ta lon ia , a n d one of t h e l e ade r s of t h e M a r c h , 1951, s t r i k e s in B a r c e l o n a , w h o is he ld in t h e w i n g of C a r a b a n c h e l P r i s o n r e -s e r v e d for " d a n g e r o u s " p r i sone r s .

T h e b e a r i n g a n d d ign i ty of t h i s c o u r a g e o u s m a n m a d e a p r o f o u n d i m p r e s s i o n upon m e a n d I w a s to ld bv t h e pr i son g o v e r n o r tha t h e is a mode l p r i sone r .

A s k e d w h y he is still in p r i son a f t e r the e x p i r y of h is s e n t e n c e , Lopez R a i m u n d o to ld m e t h a t he shou ld h a v e been re leased on J a n u a r y 9th. tha t h e w a s t h e n to ld t h a t h i s re lease w o u l d t a k e p l a c e in J u l y but. tha t he had not been g i v e n a n y reason for his c o n t i n u e d d e t e n -t ion.

I m a d e special e n q u i r i e s a b o u t T o n i a s C e n t e n o a n d o t h e r Soc ia l i s t p r i sone r s , s eve ra l g r o u p s of w h o m a r e u n d e r a r r e s t a n d h a v e been he ld for m a n y month.-- w i t h o u t t r ia l .

T h e m e n t i o n of C e n t e n o ' s n a m e i n v a r i a b l y caused a good d e a l of e m b a r r a s s m e n t . I r eca l l ed t h a t his body had been h a n d e d o v e r to h is f a m i l y for b u r i a l f o l l o w i n g his d e a t h in p r i son a n d t h a t the c a u s e of d e a t h w a s official ly s t a t ed to h a v e been suic ide .

T h e m a r k s on t h e body, i n c l u d i n g b r o k e n wr i s t s a n d a n k l e s g ive e v e r y r e a s o n to be l ieve t h a t t h e rea l c a u s e of h i s d e a t h w a s t h e b r u t a l t r e a t -m e n t to which h e w a s s u b j e c t e d d u r i n g i n t e r r o g a t i o n .

T h e r e is no d o u b t tha t b r u t a l i t y is s t i l l used in F r a n c o ' s jails, t h o u g h t h e bu i ld ings t h e m s e l v e s a*> c lean b u t t e r r i b l y o v e r c r o w d e d .

* * * ^ J A N Y S p a n i a r d s to w h o m I s p o k e

fee l tha t it is t i m e t h a t t h e r a n -cour of the Civil W a r shou ld n o w be r ep l aced by a h u m a n e a d m i n i s t r a -t ion of jus t ice a n d t h a t t h e r e s h o u l d be a n end to t r i a l s by m i l i t a r y cour t , t h a t pe r sons a r r e s t e d s h o u l d be b r o u g h t to t r i a l w i t h al l poss ib le s p e e d and t h a t p r i s o n e r s s h o u l d be r e l e a s e d a t t h e e n d of t h e i r sen-t ences .

I w e l c o m e t h e reso lu t ion of the L a b o u r P a r t y ' s M a r g a t e Con-f e r e n c e d e p l o r i n g the pac t b e t w e e n S p a i n and the U n i t e d S ta te s . I t ex-p r e s s e s the f e e l i n g s of w i d e sec t ions of t h e Span i sh people . T h e g e n e r a l f e e l i n g on all s ides w a s t h a t S p a i n a n d t h e S p a n i s h people h a v e n o t h -ing to gain f r o m th i s t r a n s a c t i o n .

I a m conv inced t h a t t h e s u p p o r t w h i c h we give to those in S p a i n w h o a r e c a r r y i n g on the diff icult a n d d a n g e r o u s s t r u g g l e fo r a r e t u r n to d e m o c r a c y will be g ree t ed w i t h en-t h u s i a s m by t h e g r e a t a r m y of S p a n i s h p a t r i o t s w h o ga ined our e s t e e m and g r a t i t u d e by t he i r t h r ee -y e a r u n e q u a l l e d b a t t l e f o r f r e e d o m .

SAVE THIS PATRIOT SI N C E the return from Madr id of M r . Maurice Orbach, M.P., in

October last, a campaign has been launched in Britain by the Internat ional Brigade Association and Friends of Republican Spain to save the life of the veteran anti-Franco fighter, Wilson Battle, who has been condemned to death by a Barcelona court. The cam-paign also demands the w i thdrawa l of the death sentence demands which a r e to be made by the Franco authorities against Telesforo Torres and Luis Arrebal ; together w i th Oipriano Gonzalez, general secretary of the G.N.T., and Emil io Quinones, chief delegate to the C.N.T. centre in emigration. Seventy Members of Par l iament and of the House of Lords have 9igned telegrams to the Spanish Minister of Justice urging clemency for these Spanish democrats. You can help save these lives by sending a protest to the Spanish Embassy, 24 Belgrave Square, S.W. 1, and by raising their case at your trade uflion branch meeting w i t h a call for action on their behalf.

Mr. Maurice Orbach, Labour M.P. well-known to Irish workers in N.W. London, has recently paid a visit to Fascist Spain. Here are some excerpts taken from an article he wrote in the

"Daily Herald" of October 15th.

S ['ii i r, Itinlcr l-'a seism is n html <</' r>nsi>ns. Here are II /, ic l>i tin-Hum mi this llnlI' ill /•Yam''/ jails.

CRISIS OF EMPIRE - c

Alec Digges

Pub l i c R e l a t i o n s Officer in re la t ion to con-d i t i o n s m lodgings . T h e Connol ly Asso-c ia t ion m co -ope ra t i on w i t h t h e B i r m i n g -h a m L a b o u r M o v e m e n t h a v e l o u g h t a n d exposed t h i s d i s c r i m i n a t i o n , a n d f o r c e d a n a p o l o g y f r o m t h e Pub l i c R e l a t i o n s Off icer .

U N I T Y

(81 I ' N I T Y be tween t h e B r i t i s h a n d ' I r i s h a n d a h u n d r e d pe r c e n t ,

t r a d e u n i o n i s m a r e t h e su re s t g u a r a n t e e a g a i n s t d i s c r i m i n a t i o n .

(91 T h i s C o n f e r e n c e dec la re s t h a t t h e w i n n i n g of t h e B r i t i s h L a b o u r m o v e m e n t for I r e l a n d ' s n a t i o n a l d e m a n d , u n i t y a n d i n d e p e n d e n c e , a n d fo r u n i t y a n d s o l i d a r i t y b e t w e e n I r i s h a n d E n g l i s h workers in de -f e n c e of l iv ing s t a n d a r d s , a n d l o r t h e d e f e a t of t h e T o r y G o v e r n m e n t , m u s t be seen a s t h e m a j o r t a s k s before t h e I r i s h people in B r i t a i n . T h e f a i l u r e of t h e L a -bour G o v e r n m e n t t o fu l f i l t h e p l e d g e s of t h e L a b o u r P a r t y to t h e I r i sh peop le w a s b e c a u s e t h e m a j o r i t y of t h e r a n k a n d file Of t h e L a b o u r m o v e m e n t were u n i n f o r m e d on t h e I r i s h ques t ion , or have been g iven a c o m p l e t e l y la l se p i c t u r e by t h e Tory-P r e s s a n d were t h e r e f o r e no t c o n v i n c e d of t h e j u s t i c e of our d e m a n d . W e d o n o t possess a p o w e r f u l P r e s s to reply t o t h e Tory d i s t o r t i o n s , but we h a v e w h a t c a n be even m o r e effect ive, a mil l ion I r i s h people in B r i t a i n , of w h i c h t h e o v e r w h e l m -ing m a j o r i t y a r e w o r k i n g people.

if this million Irish were actively parti-cipating in the Labour mowment of this country we could not only reply effectively to the Tory lies and present the truth about partition, but we could play a tre-mendous part in changing the policy of the Labour movement.

B r i t i s h Labour h a s a f ine t r a d i t i o n of s t r u g g l e aga ins t t h e employ ing c l a s s in-s ide B r i t a i n i tsel l , bu t because of l y i n g i m p e r i a l i s t p r o p a g a n d a , t he m a j o r i t y ol t h e B r i t i s h worke r s h a v e no t ye t b e e n ab le t o see t h a t it is t h e s a m e c lass w h o h a v e p a r t i t i o n e d I r e l a n d , a n d w h o a r e m u r d e r i n g and r obb ing the c o l o n i a l peoples , w h o a r e r e s i s t ing t he i r own leg i t i -m a t e c l a i m s a n d r; t h e r e f o r e t h e c o m m o n e n e m y of US all.

GLORIOUS STRUGGLE

I E T it no t npw be said of t h e I r i s h . ' J a f t e r our g lor ious s t rugg le a g a i n s t

I m p e r i a l i s m , t h a t we a r e fa l l ing b e h i n d . The c o n d u c t i n g ol a vigorous c a m p a i g n

in t h i s c o u n t r y , d e m a n d s above all u n i t y a n d o r g a n i s a t i o n a m o n g s t t h e I r i s h peop le t h e m s e l v e s . T h e Connol ly Associa-t ion h a s c o n s i s t e n t l y appea led to al l I r i s h a s s o c i a t i o n s in B r i t a i n who are g e n u i n e l y opposed t o Imper ia l i sm, a n d its p a r t i t i o n -ing of I r e l a n d to come t o g e t h e r fo r t h e ob jec t of p r e s e n t i n g a un i t ed f r o n t f o r t h e e n d i n g of t h e border . We believe t h a t now t h a t t h e i n t ense crisis of B r i t i s h im-p e r i a l i s m is developing such p o w e r f u l fo r ce s in oppos i t ion to it,, t he q u e s t i o n ol u n i t y a m o n g t h e I r i s h people in B r i t a i n is of t h e u t m o s t u rgency ,

ont inued f r o m Page Five (.10) D iv i s ions a n d c o n f u s i o n a m o n g s t

us only b e n e f i t s t h e imper i a l i s t s a n d t h e r e -lo re one of t h e t e s t s of t h e s ince r i t y ol a n y I r i s h o r g a n i s a t i o n is i ts a t t i t u d e to-w a r d s t h i s q u e s t i o n of un i ty .

C O N S C R I P T I O N OF I R I S H M E N d l i ' r [ ^ H E B r i t i s h G o v e r n m e n t b.v con-

s c r i p t i o n of y o u n g I r i s h m e n in to t h e B r i t i s h a r m e d forces t o fight i ts r e a c t i o n a r y co lon ia l wars , or even to oc-cupy t h e i r own coun t ry , is a n a d d i n g of insul t to i n j u r y . W e c o n d e m n o u t r i g h t t h i s i n j u s t i c e to i P i s h m e n a n d cal l fo r t h e m o d i f i c a t i o n of t h e law g o v e r n i n g con-sc r ip t ion so a s t o r ecogn i se t h e consc ien-t i ous o b j e c t i o n of people w h o s e c o u n t r i e s a r e occupied by i m p e r i a l i s t forces..

(121 T h e f u l f i l m e n t of t h e a i m s se t out above d e m a n d s t h e ex i s t ence of a power-f u l C o n n o l l y Assoc ia t ion w i t h b r a n c h e s in every t o w n in B r i t a i n . T h e c a m p a i g n we h a v e c o n d u c t e d s ince l a s t M a y a n d in w h i c h we h a v e he ld a l m o s t 300 m e e t i n g s p u t t i n g t h e c a s e f o r I r e l a n d ' s i ndepen -dence is a n e x a m p l e of w h a t c a n be done a n d could be i n c r e a s e d a h u n d r e d f o l d by d r a w i n g h u n d r e d s ot I r i s h m e n a n d w o m e n i n t o t h e l i le a n d work of t h e or-g a n i s a t i o n .

We must make the Connolly Association an organisation that will command the respect and support of the British Labour movement and at the same time be feared by the British imperialists.

T h e o r g a n i s a t i o n is open t o a l l w h o a r e g e n u i n e l y op^gsed to p a r t i t i o n a n d des i re a u n i t e d a n d i n d e p e n d e n t I r i s h republ ic . T h i s C o n f e r e n c e a p p e a l s to I r i s h m e n a n d w o m e n to jo in t h e Assoc ia t ion a n d m a k e it t h e p r i n c i p a l fighting o r g a n i s a t i o n of t h e I r i sh in B r i t a i n .

POWERFUL WEAPON / \ U R p a p e r . " T h e I r i s h D e m o c r a t . " is " ' t h e m o s t p o w e r f u l w e a p o n in the h a n d s of I r i s h people in B r i t a i n ; it must be deve loped a s a j o u r n a l t h a t is both 1 ea red a n d r e spec ted . I r i sh m e n a n d w o m e n s h o u l d r e g a r d it a s t h e i r own p a p e r : see t h a t t hey no t only ge t it regu-larly e a c h m o n t h , bu t m a k e s u r e t h a t it. is sold 011 t h e job w h e r e t h e y work, a n d f u r t h e r sec t h a t it is suppl ied wi th regulai news a b o u t t h e ac t iv i t i es ol t h e Ir ish people in B r i t a i n , pol i t ical ly, cul tural ly a n d social ly.

T h i s C o n f e r e n c e sends g r e e t i n g s to t he Labour a n d N a t i o n a l i s t o r g a n i s a t i o n s in I r e l a n d a n d wi shes t h e m succes s in the i r e f fo r t s to e n d t h e imper ia l i s t d o m i n a t i o n ol t he i r c o u n t r y , a n d in t he i r s t r u g g l e s t.o improve t h e c o n d i t i o n s of t h e I r i sh people p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e work ing people . We h a v e w a t c h e d w i th a d m i r a t i o n t h e s t r u g g l e ol t h e Dub l in u n e m p l o y e d w o r k e r s a n d the d i sc ip l ined way in w h i c h t h e y c o n d u c t e d t h e i r s t r u g g l e in t h e face of every I n t i m i d a t l o n T h e I r i sh G o v e r n m e n t a n d the monopo ly of cap i t a l i s t s , w i th t h e i r hypo-c r i t i ca l c l a i m s abou t C h r i s t i a n pr inciple were exposed be fo re t h e whole I r i s h p e o p l e a n d t h e who le world. W e p l e d g e ourselvc In t h i s c o u n t r y to do e v e r y t h i n g in our power t o get t h e s u p p o r t , financially a n d

December, 1953 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT

I? M 11 p 11 Oi Books in brief fcwan JVIctolI — rolk dinger CHANTICLEER

MUSIC AND DRAMA FOR THE PEOPLE ' H A N T I C I . E E R la Warwick Pk

1.!•>•.iton. w J i; i m a n o t , w i th t'. and shrill -iiund.nu throat, awake I

M A N Y iv,i t h e fi.-ii

;s his \v;i; "ve n v l

M

s w i l l IX Uinni i . i i - w i t h J J UK I .M l III.' \ears m wh;eh Hit lei K\v; tn M. -Cn l l as hi- a n d Mussolini's t a n k s a n d p l a n e s

• siii>l I ' : n ; u : : . P e r h a p s u e n > m u r d e r i P t : t h e S p a n i s h R e p u b l i c n in ( J l a s u c u . L i v e r - a , M l C h a m b e r ! : ai wa • busy se l l ing out

Czechos lovakia to I've Nazis, E w a n was ac t ive in " T h e a t r e U n i o n " <a p r e - w a r fore -

iiuenci would shap< polit ieal

Atom b o m b a n d u n k i n g in t lie

ijoi.i, s i t t ing asli ido a reverst d chair, hand on cheek, s inking his son^s in a rln/.on dia le- ts .

E w a n h a s m a d e a m a g n i f i c e n t per-sonal c o n t r i b u t i o n in recen t y e a r s in k i l l ing t h e m y t h t h a t o u r o w n fo lk-songs a n d ba l lads a r e du l l , o u t d a t e d and fit. on ly l'or t h e k i n d e r g a r t e n or t h e midd le -c l a s s d r a w i n g r o o m a f t e r S u n d a y tea . M o r e o v e r he h a s been to the f o r e f r o n t in c o m p o s i n g n e w songs in t r a d i t i o n a l s ty l e a n d e n c o u r a g i n g our y o u n g folk to d e v e l o p t h e use of fo lk - song as a w e a p o n in t h e h a r d fight to k e e p a l ive o u r c u l t u r a l he r i -t age a g a i n s t the t e r r i f i c o n s l a u g h t of A m e r i c a n c o m m e r c i a l " c u l t u r e . " * * *

j ^ U T to Ewan , t h e songs a n d the s i n g i n g a r e o n l y p a r t of t h e

s t r u g g l e f o r a p r o g r e s s i v e c u l t u r e in these i s lands ; p a r t of t h e f ight a g a i n s t the old cond i t i ons tha t took root in his b r e a s t f r o m the d a y lie b e g a n to u n d e r s t a n d the r ea sons w h y his p a r e n t s l e f t the i r P e r t h s h i r e h o m e in t h e d a r k ' twen t i e s in s e a r c h of w o r k . I l i s f a t h e r was an i r o n m o u l d e r by t r a d e ; a mi l i t an t t rack 1 u n i o n s t w h o f o l l o w e d the b a n n e r of t h e g r e a t J o h n M a c l t ^ f e + l a n y of E u an ' s songs h a v e b e e n lniTf^rited f r o m his p a r e n t s ' j o in t co l lec t ion of ove r 300 !

E w a n f e l t his way t o w a r d s t h e t h e a t r e t h e h a r d way by m i x i n g h i s a c t i n g a n d s ing ing w i th work ing s o m e t i m e s a s a bu i ld ing l aboure r a n d a t o t h e r s a s a wire worker . By 1930 he h a d jo ined a g r o u p of s t r ee t p e r f o r m e r s a c t i n g s k e t c h e s a n d s h o r t p l a y s in t h e Lanes , co t t on towns . L a t e r , w i t h a p rogress ive g r o u p cal led " T h e a t r e of Act ion" he took p a r t in a pro-d u c t i o n of " W a i t i n g for L e f t y " a t a c rowded house a t M a n c h e s t e r only eleven d a y s a f t e r t h e New York p r e m i e r e of t h e play !

r u n n e r of " T h e a t r e W o r k s h o p ' >. M a n y r e a d e r s will r e m e m b e r "Las t E d i t i o n " - an

P WAN McCOLL is famous throughout Britain for

his plays, folk-songs and acting. In this profile,

Frank Fletcher describes some of the activi-ties of this remarkable man who has brought n e w vigour and gaiety into the Labour movement.

McCoIl will appear in

"Songs of the Iron Road,"

at St. Pancras Town Hall,

London, on December 27th,

and plans to produce a spe-

cial Irish concert in January.

His "Ballads and Blues"

concert was a great success

in the Theatre Royal, Strat-

ford, last month.

u p - t o - t h e - m i n u t e " l iv ing n e w s p a p e r " p re -s e n t a t i o n of e v e n t s p r o d u c e d by t h i s g r o u p a n d p layed t o w o r k i n g c lass a u d i e n c e s t h r o u g h o u t L a n e s .

I m m e d i a t e l y fo l lowing t h e e n d of t h e war " T h e a t r e W o r k s h o p " was l a u n c h e d by a s m a l l g r o u p of p r e - w a r c a m p a i g n e r s . Serv ice g r a t u i t i e s were pooled a n d t h e n e w

' g r o u p s t a r t e d on t h e i r t r a v e l s w i t h a p r e s e n t a t i o n of E w a n ' s play " J o h n n y Noble ." M e a n w h i l e E w a n h a d been busy-w o r k i n g oil " U r a n i u m . . ." a n d t h i s w a s first p r o d u c e d a t Newcas t l e a t t h e e n d of 1945—some t i m e b e f o r e m a n k i n d in g e n e r a l awoke to t h e d r e a d f u l conse-

* * * I ' RAN I U.M ' had an explos ion a l l ol

i t s own. It was played to t h e t r o o p s in G e r m a n ) a n d l a t e r to ho l iday m a k e r s at B u t l i n ' s Filev c a m p . E w a n l ikes t o tell t h e s t o r y of how " T h e a t r e W o r k s h o p " r o u t e d t h e cynics a t Filey bv e n t h r a l l i n g a u d i e n c e s ol up to 1.200 people a g a i n s t t h e c o m p e t i t i o n of all-in wres t l e r s , we igh t -l i f t e r s a n d a ga laxy of B u t l i n ' s show m e n !

T h e r e fol lowed a t o u r ol Czechos lovak ia in 1938. Or ig ina l ly p l a n n e d fo r t w o weeks t hey h a d to r e l u c t a n t l y pull t h e m s e l v e s a w a y a f t e r seven weeks of p a c k e d houses . Next . S w e d e n a n d a n o t h e r five w e e k s of p l a y i n g t o t h e a t r e s c r a m m e d lu l l of en-t h u s i a s t i c aud iences a n d w i t h P r e s s no t i c e s t h a t would m a k e Wes t E n d pro-d u c e r s weep for joy !

* * * L J A C K m M a n c h e s t e r t h e y a c q u i r e d a n d * c o n v e r t e d a Pos t Office v a n a n d com-m e n c e d a r o u n d of o n e - n i g h t s t a n d s p lay-ing " P a r a d i s e S t ree t , " " T h e L o n g S h i f t " a n d " H y m n to t h e R i s ing S u n " a s well a s p lays f r o m the c o m p a n y ' s n o w well-e s t a b l i s h e d reper to ry t o d e l i g h t e d work-ing c l a s s aud iences in S o u t h W a l e s . And so t h e s tory goes on ; t h e E d i n b u r g h Fes t iva l , a f u r t h e r 1 uli. \-booked t o u r of S c a n d i n a v i a , aud iences of u p t o 3.400 in t h e S c o t t i s h coalfields a n d all t h e t i m e E w a n wr i t ing new plays in b e t w e e n ac t -ing l e ad ing roles, s ing ing , co l lec t ing a n d c o m p o s i n g songs, a n d b r o a d c a s t i n g ! * * *

1 \ U R I N G the past twelve m o n t h s . " T h e a t r e W o r k s h o p " h a s f o u n d a

h o m e a t t h e old T h e a t r e Roya l in E a s t L o n d o n bu t l ife is n o less hec t i c f o r E w a n a n d t h e group. If you h a v e a n y d o u b t s a b o u t t h i s t h e n m a k e a p o i n t of going a l o n g t o S t r a t f o r d to see t h e c u r r e n t pro-d u c t i o n of E w a n ' s new plav, " T h e T r a v e l -lers ." Y o u will no t only receive a pol i t ica l e d u c a t i o n w h i c h you will e n j o y b u t you will h e l p E w a n a n d t h e g a l l a n t b a n d of p e r f o r m e r s of " T h e a t r e W o r k s h o p " to keep t h e p rogress ive flag flying on t h e L o n d o n s t a g e a n d f o r w a r d t h e develop-m e n t of a real people ' s c u l t u r e w h i c h is E w a n ' s vision.

m>d of D a \ . least, of t h e

In t h e c a n aic \ ••><•> Sinn

bin there ambit ion

( lit s sue . 1 stone;.,

is the p romise , a; to do so. Vol. 1 No. 3 i t h e : . T h e P h o t o g r a p h . "

by D e n e s Val Baker , a n d "Reve la t ion . " by Rhvs D a vies, which a r e indeed good a n d w o r t h y of no te . Such, however, c a n n o t be said of m o s t of the verse, "lone t h o u g h t s t e m p t e d t o paper . " for t he re is l i t t l e of B lake ' s d e f i n i t i o n " imag ina t i on , t h e d i v i n e vis ion" a b o u t them. T h e y a re p l e a s a n t t o read bu t no t of t h e qua l i ty which d e s e r v e a s econd r e a d i n g .

An e x c e p t i o n m i g h t be R o b e r t O ' D o n o g h u e ' s "The E n d of t he Af fa i r . " It, h a s a s t a s t e of T. S. Eliot in its de ta i l ( " t h e smell of o n i o n s given t o t h e a i r" ) a n d if Cork is t h e city, t h e n t h e line, " the c i t y is a grey r u i n c a s t u p by t h e sea," is a p t .

An a r t i c l e on H e m i n g w a y a n d some n i n e book rev iews , all of w h i c h a re w o r t h r e a d -ing f o r t h e i r own sake, comple te t h i s i s s u e .

C. McL.

STALIN ON NATIONALISM I N t h e ea r ly sp r ing ol t h i s y e a r a m a n

d ied w h o h a d e a r n e d in h i s seventy-odd y e a r s t h e love of m a n y , t h e h a t r e d of m a n y o thers , a n d respec t—if some-t i m e s g r u d g i n g f r o m all. W h a t k ind of a m a n w a s J o s e p h S t a l i n , w h o rose f r o m be ing t h e son of a cobbler t o become the l e a d e r of 200 mill ion peop le? A s p a t e of words filled the n e w s p a p e r s a t t h e t ime : now c o m e s l ight on h i m f r o m a d i f f e r e n t ang le .

STATIN'S COLLECTED W O R K S (Law-rcnce and Wishart, 5 - per volume) a r e being puo l i shed over a pe r iod in t en vo lumes . T h e first t h r e e to a p p e a r con-ta in h i s wr i t ings up to t h e O c t o b e r Revo-lu t ion in Russ ia . T o get a real idea of S t a l i n ' s c h a r a c t e r , ol h i s ideas , above all of h i s a p p r o a c h to a n y ques t ion , one c a n h a r d l y do be t t e r t h a n s tudy w h a t hi' wrote h i m s e l f .

T h e r e is in t he se vo lumes a t e r r i f i c col-lect ion of p a m p h l e t s , speeches , a n d a r t i c l e s wr i t t en fo r p a p e r s . T h e fields cove red a r e so m a n y t h a t only a few can be m e n t i o n e d in a review of t h i s l eng th .

LAND STRUGGLE In t h e l i rs t vo lume he d e a l s wi th the

l and s t r u g g l e , for i n s t a n c e ; he wro te abou t G e o r g i a , t h e s t a t e in S o u t h R u s s i a w h e r e lie w a s born a n d s p e n t his ear ly years . But h i s works m i g h t h a v e been wr i t t en abou t I r e l and . He e x p o s e s t l ie var ious s c h e m e s of compromise t h o u g h t u p t o pre-vent t h e people f r o m g e t t i n g t h e l a n d for t h e m s e l v e s t h e va r ious a n n u i t i e s plans , I tie a t t e m p t s to fob off t h e peop le with part of t h e landlords ' e s t a t e s ; t h e p h o n e y " n a t i o n a l i s a t i o n " a n d " m u n i c i p a l i s a t i o n " of l a n d . etc.

T h e second volume c o n t a i n s m u c h of S t a l i n ' s wr i t ings on t h e n a t i o n a l ques-t ion. W e have all s u n g of I r e l a n d "a

Na t ion once a g a i n " — b u t how m a n y of us h a v e t h o u g h t j u s t w h a t a Na t ion is.

S t a l i n goes in to t h e ques t ion in de ta i l , a n d de t i ne s a n a t i o n as "A h i s to r i ca l l y c o n s t i t u t e d , s tab le c o m m u n i t y of people , f o r m e d oil t h e bas i s of a c o m m o n

J. STALIN l a n g u a g e , te r r i tory , economic l i fe a n d psychologica l m a k e - u p m a n i f e s t e d m a c o m m o n cu l tu re . "

S P L I T T I N G TACTICS He c o n s t a n t l y exposed a n d d e n o u n c e d

t h e dup l i c i ty of t h e bosses a n d t h e i r gov-e r n m e n t , p romis ing concess ions t o s t a l l off revol t , w i t h d r a w i n g t h e m as soon as t hey t h i n k they can ge t a w a y w i t h it. t ry-ing t o spl i t one sec t ion of t h e w o r k e r s f rom a n o t h e r , p r e p a r e d to go t o a n y l e n g t h s t o hold on t o t h e i r source of pro-

f i t s — t h e owne r sh ip o f ' t h e f a c t o r i e s , oil wells, m i n e s , docks, e tc .

S t a l i n shows w h a t shou ld be t h e t a c t i c s of a m i n o r i t y of worke r s ' r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s in a bosses ' p a r l i a m e n t — t o fight con-s t a n t l y f o r t h e i r own a i m s a n d policy whi le a t t h e s a m e t ime u n i t i n g w i t h any p a r t i a l l y . or t empora r i l y p r o g r e s s i v e sec-t ion a g a i n s t t he r eac t iona r i e s .

WORKERS' COUNCILS T h e t h i r d volume dea l s w i th t h e pe r iod

M a r c h - O c t o b e r . 1917. T h e Czar h a d been o v e r t h r o w n , lint t he bosses sti l l h e l d power b e h i n d t h e so-called L ibera l G o v e r n m e n t of K e r e n s k y . T h e y were p r e p a r e d t o in-flict l a m i n e a n d s t a r v a t i o n on t h e people in o r d e r to supnress t he Worke r s ' , F a r m e r s ' a n d So ld ie r s ' Counci ls t h a t h a d s p r u n g up. T h e y were p repa red to m a k e a d e a l wi th G e r m a n Imper i a l i sm r a t h e r t h a n g r a n t t h e people ' s d e m a n d s of Feace , B r e a d a n d L a n d . S t a l i n led a f a n t a s t i c a l l y h e c t i c l ife a t t h a t t ime, sneak ing at end less m e e t i n g s , w r i t i n g a r t i c les in pape r s , etc.. c o n s t a n t l y d e n o u n c i n g these be t r aye r s of t h e people ' s s t r ugg l e . Tile de ta i l s a r e t h e r e to be r ead

a n d r epay reading . ANALYSIS

Above all, what emerges f r o m these w r i t i n g s is S ta l in ' s t h o u g h t f u l , p e n e t r a t i n g a n a l y s i s ol every issue. T h e supe r f i c i a l or ' "a i ry- fa i ry" was n o t for him, n o r ora-tory w i t h n o t h i n g beh ind it. He i n s i s t s on c o n s i d e r i n g each issue a g a i n s t i t s back-g r o u n d , no t in t h e a b s t r a c t . How does it a f f e c t a c t u a l people, in a c t u a l c o n d i t i o n s ? How does a line of ac t ion he lp f o r w a r d t h e people ' s struggle for emanc ipat ion? In t h i s way he m a d e d e c i s i o n s — a n d they w o r k e d !

W h a t e v e r our opinion of S t a l i n ' s poli-t ics. h i s ideas a n d h is p e r s o n a l i t y a r e very well w o r t h s tudy ing .

P. O'S.

RISING TIDE T ) E A D A B L E novels a b o u t t h e l i f e of

o r d i n a r y work ing-c lass people a r e f e w , a n d it is a n even t w h e n a new one is p u b -lished. J a c k L indsay ' s "Rising Tide" ( T h e Bodley H e a d , 12 6) is a very fine book in -deed. T h e s to ry of a y o u n g docker a n d t h e girl h e m a r r i e s a n d t h e i r life in L o n d o n ' s Eas t E n d . it m i g h t well be d e d i c a t e d t o t h a t g r e a t pr inciple . Sol idar i ty .

T h e book covers t h e per iod of t h e s t r i k e of t h e C a n a d i a n s e a m e n in 1949, a n d t h e dockers ' s t r i k e t h a t was provoked by t h e Docks B o a r d ' s ins i s t ence t h a t n o o t h e r ship c o u l d be un loaded before t h e s t r i k e -bound B e a v e r b r a e a n d Argomon t in L o n -don D o c k s . Je f f , t h e docker , and Phy l , h i s young wi fe , become involved in t h e t h i c k of t h e s t r u g g l e , a n d t he i r pe r sona l r e l a -t i o n s h i p s develop, a r e s t r a i n e d a n d t h e n become d e e p e r in t h e course of i t .

S T R I K E Mr. L i n d s a y pub l i shes for t he first t i m e

t h e t e l e g r a m s sent by H a r r y Davis , t h e leader of t h e s t r ik ing C a n a d i a n S e a m e n ' s Union , t e n of whose m e m b e r s were m u r -de red a n d h u n d r e d s bea ten -up a n d a r -res ted a t t h e word of t h e C a n a d i a n s h i p -owners a n d the g o v e r n m e n t t h a t s e r v e d t hem.

A r ea l l y g r ipp ing s tory, the book is a h y m n t o t h e sol idar i ty of m a n and w i f e , of d o c k e r a n d docker , of workers t h e world ove r . "Ye t it never loses t o u c h w i t h t h e da i ly l i fe of its pa r t i c ipan t s , m a n y of w h o m a r e red l people such as Alber t T i m -o thy a n d Dick B a r r e t t , leading C a t h o l i c docke r s in t h e Eas t End .

O u r S t e p n e y r e a d e r s should find t h i s book espec ia l ly in t e res t ing .

P. O'S.

NOTED IRISH PUBLISHER

DIES r l , H E d e a t h h a s t a k e n place in L o n d o n * of M r . George Rober ts , one of t h e

f o r e m o s t I r i s h m e n connec ted w i t h t h e p r i n t i n g t r a d e in I r e l a n d and in E n g l a n d . He h a d b e e n living in E n g l a n d s ince 1926.

Mr. R o b e r t s was born in Co. D o w n In 1872. a n d on leaving school he w o r k e d in the l i n e n t r a d e for a s h o r t t ime H e la ter held a pos t in t he Be l f a s t m u s e u m a n d t h e n , in 1900, he moved to Dubl in . H e had b^en a t t r a c t e d by t h e news of t h e l i t e r a r y r e n a i s s a n c e in Dublin, and h e r e -solved t o t a k e some part in it. In t h e f o l -lowing y e a r s he b e c a m e closely a s s o c i a t e d with m a n y of t h e o u t s t a n d i n g l i terary f igu res of t h e t ime, and soon b e c a m e a firm f r i e n d of J . M. Synge .

He d i d a g rea t dea l to e n c o u r a g e t h e y o u n g w r i t e r s of t h e pre-1814 days by p u b -l i sh ing t h e i r work, a n d d u r i n g h i s t i m e h e p u b l i s h e d works by a lmost all the w r i t e r s in t h e I r i s h movement— inc luding J a m e s Joyce. At the beginning he was a t t a c h e d to t h e firm of Maunsel l a n d C o m p a n y , w h i c h l a t e r became Maunsell and R o b e r t s a n d f i n a l l y George Roberts.

The firm was closed shortly after the Civil War, arid Mr. Roberts then Joined the Talbot Press for two years. In 1926 he came to England wh«?re he remained.

Mr. Roberts was father of Mr. Ruadhin Roberts, Secretary, Irish T.U.C.

* r

I

8 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT December, 1953

ON TO THAT 15 per cent. says GLYN DAVIES (A.E.U.)

T H E claim for 15 increase in engineers' wages is very much in the news just now. The determination of the rank-and-file trade unionists to

win this rise has been generally ignored by the national press.

Now that the engineers are the "bad boys" because of the i r one-day strike it is wel l to look at the position. Most trade union leaders say they can never remember such activity and enthusiasm round a wage claim.

No one can deny that our claim is wel l founded. Productivity has risen substantially since the war , and profits in the industry have never been so high. Certainly the cost of living continues to rise.

JOINT ACTION

Engineering workers of all unions have taken part in jo int actions throughout the British Isles. Factories have held meetings, and stated their claims to their own employers. Huge demonstrations have occurred in all the main industrial centres wi th national trade union speakers.

In Belfast 40,000 aircraf t , engineering and shipyard workers marched in support of the 1 5 % c laim—the biggest trade union demonstration seen in that city for years.

TORCHLIGHT

In Manchester there was a big torchlight procession, and in London a monster meeting attended by tens of thousands in Tra fa lgar Square. Clydeside had its biggest Labour turnout for years, wi th an estimated 250,000 in attendance.

T h e same story can be told of Coventry, Sheffield and Bi rmingham.

A str ik ing feature of these demonstrations has been the support of women trade unionists, who have participated alongside the men. The unity

L O N D O N P O R T W O R K E R S V O T E n o w being built up in struggle wi l l yet win us that 15%. F O R 15^ W A G E R I S E

ii i i i i i i i i i i i i imiii i i i i i ikiim

TRADE POSSIBLE WITH RUSSIA BY O U R P O L I T I C A L C O R R E S P O N D E N T

T H E desirability of increasing trade wi th all countries, irrespective of " their political ideology, was stressed by Mr . Sean Lemass, Eire Minister

of Industry and Commerce, last month. Rep ly ing in t h e Dai l on November 4 t h

t o sugges t i ons t h a t E i re s h o u l d not t r a d e w i t h t h e Socia l is t c o u n t r i e s of e a s t e rn Europe , Mr . L e m a s s sa id t h a i they h a d been i m p o r t i n g goods f rom^beh i r^d t h e so-ca l led " I r o n C u r t a i n " fo r m a n y years .

As f a r as h e was c o n c e r n e d , said Mr . L e m a s s , h e objec ted t o i n t r o d u c i n g ideolo-g ica l ideas i n t o t rade . H e d i d n o t see how w e could s top t he se i m p o r t s w h e n a coun-t ry like t h e U.S.A. was n o t d o i n g so. S o f a r a s was known, t h e r e w e r e no res t r ic-t i o n s in Amer ica , n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g S e n a t o r M c C a r t h y , a n d it was a s k i n g t oo m u c h of t h i s sma l l c o u n t r y to dea l w i t h these m a t -t e r s w h e n o t h e r c o u n t r i e s w e r e no t do ing so.

Mr . L e m a s s p o i n t e d o u t t h a t in 1950, w h e n t h e Coal i t ion G o v e r n m e n t was in office, i m p o r t s f r o m e a s t e r n Eu rope a m o u n t e d t o £ 3 mi l l ions , i n c l u d i n g t im-ber , oil, seeds, fa t , c e r e a l s , f e e d i n g s tuffs , f e r t i l i s e r s a n d i ron a n d s t e e l .

SOVIET ORDER G r e a t i n t e r e s t in t h e poss ib i l i ty of ex-

p a n d i n g I r i s h t r a d e w i t h R u s s i a h a s been e x p r e s s e d in I r e l a n d r e c e n t l y , despi te t h e p r o t e s t s f r o m c e r t a i n ' b a c k w o o d s m e n ' w h o wish t o k e e p t h e I r i s h e c o n o m y d e p e n d e n t u p o n A m e r i c a n c h a r i t y .

A la rge "Soviet o rde r f o r s a l t e d fish was p laced in N o r t h e r n I r e l a n d , a n d inquir ies h a v e been m a d e in D u b l i n d u r i n g t h e l a s t m o n t h a b o u t p r o s p e c t s of e x c h a n g i n g I r i s h beef for R u s s i a n w h e a t . T h e r e h a s been a se r ious s l u m p i n t h e I r i sh d e a d m e a t t r a d e because of f a l l i n g orders f r o m Amer ica , a n d even t h o s e bus ines s c i rc les w h i c h h a v e no t up t o n o w been pa r t i cu -lar ly f r i e n d l y to t h e S o v i e t Union , h a v e shown e a g e r n e s s t o f i n d n e w m a r k e t s for t h e i r s u r p l u s p roduc t s .

T h e a r r iva l of a R u s s i a n ship , t he "S.S. Vo loko lamsk" in t h e L i f f e y w i th a ca rgo of 813 s t a n d a r d s of t i m b e r a roused keen cur ios i ty a m o n g D u b l i n c i t izens las t m o n t h .

| A Merry I CHRISTMAS g and a happy I NEW YEAR

to all our Readers

Fighting Fund WE BELIEVE

t h a t the " I r i sh Democrat" docs a job in your in teres ts — exposing Pa r t i t i on a n d organising t h e joint struggle of Irish a n d Bri t ish workers that will defeat Imperial ism. We held our Conference last month , and it m e a n t a very big s tep forward in this struggle, but it also m e a n t a terrible dra in on our finances and h a s lef t us with liabilities in many directions. T h e need to help our f u n d was never more impor tan t , and never more urgent; so if

VOL" BELIKVK . . . tha t we are doing a ' surpremely impor tan t and wor thwhi le job. as we know many of our readers do believe, send us a donat ion NOW, so t h a t we can pay off our debts and star t the New Year with a clean slate and the new-style, morr a t t ract ive paper we a re p lanning. Make it a White Chr i s tmas fo r us—snow us under with your donat ions; we are conf ident we deserve them.

THANKS Very m a n y thanks to the following; Margaret Larmour CI, G. ('urran 3/-, D.

Smyth 3 -, Pat Dooley t l , .Molly Dowries E2-12-6, D. McVeigh 4/-, I.. Hevy 1/-, M. Kappoport 5/-, John Maguire (New York) tl-14-6, A. Bush t l , C. Meagher 5/-, J.L.K. 2/6, L. H. Wells 1 /-. P. Power 2/6, J. Keehan CI, Ann Waddell 5 Stoke Newington Branch, A.E.U. 10/ , I'. Kearney 10/-, E. McLaughlin 1/-, (1. ('urran 6 -, Trawler Col-lections 3/6, Conal Koe 2 6, Kathleen Roe 2/6, Dernuit and Paul 5 Wm. O'Flynn 2/-, M. Kinsley 16, .1. Gough K'o. Meatli) 1/8, John Botany 1 -, J. McCahill 1/-, I). Bonmir 1 /-, E. Stewart I -, J. Lee 1 '-, David Adams 1/-, P. ( anning- 2/-, I). Waddell 1 -, L. Oliver 1 '-, J. M. Donald 2/6, ('. McGhee 2/-, D. Burnish 1/-, D. Gallai her 2/6, J. McGhee 2/-, I). ( 'arlin 1 /-, J. Tate 5/-, J. Walsh 4/6, J. D. Bernal Cl-1-0, Anon, donors, Stepney 2/-, E. Campbell 5 Prof. E. Thompson CI 1-0, "Belfast" 1 6, Noreen 2/6, Eileen 1/3, John Doherty 1/3, I'. Mclaughlin Cl-2-6, Anon. C5, Manchester Meeting collection C12-15-0, D. <'arlin CI.

Connolly Association

WEST LONDON BRANCH

meets every Thursday

at 8 p.m., in the

" KING AND QUEEN "

Paddington Green, W.2.

FELONS — C o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e One.

t h a t t h e y s h o u l d be h o u n d e d f r o m t h e i r jobs.

T h i s j o u r n a l is t h e so -ca l l ed Ca tho l ic " S t a n d a r d , ' wh ich , u n d e r t h e p r e t ence of d e f e n d i n g re l ig ion , t r i e s t o w i t c h - h u n t L e f t - w i n g e r s in t h e t r ue M c C a r t h y f a sh ion . E n r a g e d by i t s f a i l u r e t o " R e d - b a i t " t h e Dubl in U n e m p l o y e d Assoc i a t i on , t h e " S t a n d a r d " h a s now t u r n e d i t s a t t e n t i o n t o m e m b e r s of t h e I r i sh W o r k e r s ' League .

In a series of articles, the photograph, name, address and place of employment of League members have been published, though in no case has the paper been able to prove that the victims of their smears have done anything unlawful. T h e good s e n s e of t h e I r i s h people a n d

t he i r d i s g u s t a t these f e l o n - s e t t i n g t ac t i c s h a v e f o r t u n a t e l y p r e v e n t e d t h e " S t a n -d a r d ' s " c a m p a i g n f r o m h a v i n g any suc-cess.

! Connolly Association I ^ • ! WEST LONDON \

I BRANCH I • 10th D E C . — j : P. C L A N C Y - ' L e s s o n s of C.A. :

Conference." : • • • •

\ 17th D E C . — | j W. R O B E R T S (N .U .V .B . )— : | "Brit ish Labour." : • •

: 24th D E C . — = : NO M E E T I N G .

| 31st D E C — • N E W Y E A R ' S E V E S O C I A L : ( V e n u e to be a n n o u n c e d ) . ! E V E R Y T H U R S D A Y , 8 p.m. : In the K I N G & Q U E E N ,

| MANCHESTER BRANCH • "Ir ish Democrat" Readers are : cordially invited to the : C H O R L T O N T O W N H A L L

A l l Saints, Manchester

1 F R I D A Y , DEC. 11th, at 8 p.m. j to hear M A L A C H Y B O Y L E : speak on

LIAM MELLOWES • (Republican and Socialist) j and his work for Ireland.

• An O p e n Discussion wi l l follow, j C h a i r m a n : S T E P H E N L A L L Y : Admiss ion 6d.

ROUND & ABOUT with

Gerrard Curran \ I ANY p e o p l e w a t c h i n g L a r r y Moore 's

p l ay ing of t h e bagp ipe mu.-t h a v e wonde red a b o u t t lx origin a n d h i s to ry of t h i s un ique i n s t r u m e n t . T h e f r o w n s a n d snee r s of t h e h i g h b i w s a r c d u e to ignor -ance . "But li is so inflexible. The;-.- :s n o va r i e ty of t o n e , t h r y will p r o t e s t . l i k e t h a t of a n y o t h e r i n s t r u m e n t , t h e mus ic of t h e b a g p i p e can only be fu l ly appre -c ia ted w h e n i t s h i n . u i t i o n s a r c u n d e r s t o o d .

T h e b a g p i p e was p r o p a b l y t h e ea r l i e s t mus i ca l i n s t r u m e n t . It was p l a y e d :n I re-l a n d long b e f o r e t h e h u m m a d e it.- e l egan t a p p e a r a n c e . It w:\ u sed by t h e pre -Mi les ian p e o p l e s . One of t h e m b r o u g h t t h e bagp ipe f r o m Seyihia.

A s imi la r i n s t r u m e n t c a n be seen a n d h e a r d in A r a b coun t r i e s t o -day . W i t h t h e se t t l i ng in t h e coun t ry of t h e Mi les ians , t h e h a r p b e c a m e t h e i n s t r u m e n t of t h e r u l i n g cas te , w h i l e the p ipe w a s u sed to ex-p r e s s t h e joy , f i g h t i n g s p i r i t a n d s a d n e s s of t h e c o m m o n people. W i t h t h e con-q u e r i n g of t h e c o u n t r y by E l i z a b e t h I ' s t e r ro r i s t s , t h e b a g p i p e r e t r e a t e d t o r e m o t e g lens a n d f o r e s t s . La te r i t w a s a p p r o p r i -a t e d by E n g l a n d ' s I m p e r i a l i s t a r m i e s t o h e l p t h e s o l d i e r s to keep i n s t ep .

* * * Pipe Band

I n I r e l a n d , i t c a m e to t h e f o r e a g a i n in 1900 w h e n t h e St . L a w r e n c e P i p e B a n d w a s f o u n d e d i n Dubl in . T h e F i a n n a B a n d c a m e i n t o e x i s t e n c e soon a f t e r w a r d s . T h e n a m e of t h e l a t t e r was c h a n g e d t o t h e Connol ly P i p e B a n d a f t e r 191(>. T o - d a y t h e r e a r e a b o u t 150 pipe b a n d s in D u b l i n . T h e r e a r e a l s o a f a i r n u m b e r in B e l f a s t . T h e " P i u t e " B a n d s h a v e n o Ce l t i c t r a d i -t ion b e h i n d t h e m . T h e y w e r e in f ac t i n t r o -duced f r o m t h e Br i t i sh a r m y .

The famous Blackrock Pipe Band was founded by Larry Moore himself ~ iped by his brother Tommy. White Lair^/wten wishes he were back again wittj ttie Black-rock Pipers, he is anxious to give London Irishmen the benefit of his experience. He is very eager to start a Connolly Associa-tion Pipe Band.

Already w e h a v e five o t h e r wel l -known n a m e s of m e n who a re wi l l ing to t h r o w t h e i r e n e r g y i n t o th i s i m p o r t a n t c u l t u r a l

T h C y a r e Joe O ' F a r r e l l , J a m e s Nolan, Bi l l R ice . J o h n K a v a n n a g h a n d F r e d O ' S h e a . J o h n and F r e d c a n play t h e d r u m s . * * * Famous Air Ace r P H E d e a t h of a brave m a n in war is a l -J - ways a t r a g e d y . I t is a m u c h m o r e

p o i g n a n t o n e w h e n such a m a n was ki l led f i g h t i n g in a n I m p e r i a l i s t wa r . W h y d id C a p t a i n P a d d y Mannock , t h e f a m o u s a i r -ace of t h e first world w a r v o l u n t e e r t o use h is t e c h n i c a l ski l l in f i g h t i n g t h e G e r m a n people? D i d it p lease h i m of I r i s h m o t h e r a n d a fine r e c o r d in t h e B r i t i s h L a b o u r M o v e m e n t t o receive b o u q u e t s a n d ap-p lause f r o m t l i e ru l ing c l a s s ? O n e p e r s o n in p a r t i c u l a r seeks a n s w e r s to t he se ques -t ions a n d t h i s is Miss K a y M o l i n a r i . J u s t be fore h e d i e d . Kay ' s f a t h e r h a d been col-lect ing m a t e r i a l to wr i t e a book a b o u t C a p t a i n M a n n o c k . Miss M o l i n a r i fe l t t h a t some of t h e " D e m o c r a t " r e a d e r s m a y re-m e m b e r P a d d y M a n n o c k w h e n h e was t h e S e c r e t a r y of t h e W e l l i n g b o r o u g h T r a d e s a n d L a b o u r Counci l .

Miss M o l i n a r i ' s c o n t a c t i n g u s was f r u i t -fu l in a n o t h e r u n e x p e c t e d d i rec t ion . H e r fine s i n g i n g was en joyed by t hose wise enough t o a t t e n d our l a s t social in t h e "Lord R a g l a n . " T h o s e w h o h a d t h e m i s -f o r t u n e t o m i s s th i s g r e a t e v e n t will h a v e a m p l e o p p o r t u n i t y of h e a r i n g Miss M o h -n a r i in i h e f u t u r e .

* * * Ilford Nurse A N O T H E R recent r e c r u i t t o t h e Con-

- ' noi ly Assoc ia i i en is M r . P a t K e i g h e r . f rom R o s c o m m o n Pa t h a s long been a n a r d e n t ' D e m o c r a t ' r eade r . He h a s r e c e n t l y le f t h i s j o b a s a b a r m a n t o go back to h i s p ro fess ion of y e a r s ago. P a t is now a m a l e staff n u r s e a t I l ford I s o l a t i o n Hosp i ta l . P e r h a p s , w e will get s o m e long-awa i t ed news of I r i s h n u r s e s now.

* * *

Death of Galway Republican r P H E r e t u r n of P a t a n d M a u r a Ki l roy * a f t e r t h e i r s u m m e r s o i o u r n in N o r t h

Wales is a welcome a d d i t i o n to t h e s t r e n g t h of t h e M a n c h e s t e r Conno l ly As-socia t ion S c a r c e l y h a d t h e y se t t l ed in t h e city a g a i n t h a n they w e r e t o be seen a m o n g t h e I r i s h at All S a i n t s ' a n d t h e "As to r i a . " s e l l i ng t h e " I r i s h D e m o c r a t . "

M a n c h e s t e r Connol ly Assoc ia t ion ex-presses i t s s y m p a t h y w i t h J o s e p h a n d Michae l B i n d o n , of Co. G a l w a y , a t p re -s e n t in M a n c h e s t e r , on t h e b e r e a v e m e n t of t h e i r b r o t h e r , T h o m a s . T h o m a s B i n d o n was a n a t i v e of S t r n d b a l l y , Co. G a l w a y , f a m o u s f o r i t s c o n n e c t i o n s w i t h M i c h a e l Davi t t . l e a d e r of t he I>and League . Printed by Ripley Printing Society Ltd (T.U.), Ripley, Derbys.. and published by the Editor at 53 Rosoman Street,

London, K.C.I.