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contents

reactions set in motion by the Vatican during that fateful year and thereafter.

Fruits of 1933 “Holy Year*

In his papal allocution before the Vatican Conwlstory on March 13, 1933, Pope Pius XI set forth in dark ecclesiastical language what the Hierarchy's aims were for that year. First denonncing the enemies of the Church in the strongest terms, the pope then made certain who these enemies are by saying: "AVe refer first of all to Protestant proselytism, at one time cautious and cunning, at another time unabashed and provocative/* Godless communism, that is, communism minus CatholicipTn, was also denounced as the Church's enemy. Bestowing high and elegant praise on Catholic Action, the p<»pe called upon this force to wipe out these enemi™. In reality, it was a rally of papal forces against all those opposed to Vatican schemes. It was a passionate cry for another “holy crusade”.

Answering the call to action, madman Hitler prepared for the crusade. Listen I crusader Hitler speaks:

My purpose is the subjugation of all races and peoples ami fo set up our master race to rule the world. . . . Empires are made by sword . . , by theft and roblviy . .by brute force. . . . We shall proceed step by step with iron deteTminaiion ... we shall be master of the earth. .1 have no conscience. I shall shrink from nothing . . . we have no scruples, . . . There is no such thing as truth. . . . We arc at the end of the Age of Reason . . . the Teri Commandments have lost their validity . . . the Sermon on the Mount is for idiots. —History of World War II, F. T, Miller, BUS, page 63. ,

It was such a man that the Catholic Center party put in power. Il was such a man, a baptized and faithful son of the Church, that became chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933, that received virtual dictatorial powers on March 23, that M the Catholic crusade first against Protestant Germany, and then against the Protestant Allies. It whh with such a man and his Catholic government that the Vatican signed a concordat.

A few days after Hitler was securely seated in the dictator's saddle, Pius XI, on April 2, tapped three times on the mystic door and officially opened the “holy year”/ Immediately Gwmany*s conati turion al Weimar republic was scrapped; Catholic bishops and clergy rallied to Hitler's support; the twentietn-century Inquisition began; concentration camps and torture chambers were constructed; anti-Semitism was unleashed; Jehovah's witnesses, the           foes

of papal totalitarianism, were banned, their Bibles and literature were burned, and the American property of the Watch Tower Society was seized. On July 20 of that unholy year, Papal Knight Franz von Phjhui signed the concordat on behalf of the Nazis, while CnnY/nal Pakelli, now Pius XII, did the signing for the Vatican. From then on the Vatican marched arm in nnn in faithful alliance with Hitler and Mussolini as their ar-miew took over one country after another.

When the Naris marched into Austria* Cardinal Innitzer hoisted the swastika atop his cathedral, declaring that the fuehrer was “a man visibly blestHed ^Tby Providence”. When the Nazis conquered Slovakia, Roman Catholic Monsignor Tiso was installed as its ruler. When the Nazis crushed Poland, Catholic priests called upon the people to submit to German rule. When the Nazis overran Protestant Denmark and Norway to the north, and the Low Countries and France to the west, the Hierarchy's Quishngs and “fifth column" were there to weaken all resistance. Catholic Leopold of Belgium was given haven by the Nazis from the wrath of his own betrayed people, and Vichy’s puppet, Petain, was put in office and lauded by the Hierarchy as “the good Marshal” To the cost, when the Nazis turned on the Russians in a “holy crusade” against godless communism, the Catholic newspaper f/ftafca of Milon told how the Vatican’s priests fol-

lowed up and took over the churches “with the consent of the German military authorities”. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 23, 1942) Each year during that frightful struggle the Catholic bishops of Germany met at Fulda and there blessed and praised the crusade and prayed for German victory “on land, on sea and in the air”.—New York Times, December?, 1941.                 ’

"Benefits” of "Holy Year* Extended

With the extension of that “holy year" into 1935 the Hierarchy backed up Mus* solini in his march against Ethiopia and Albania. When brutish Axis armies raped Ethiopia, 57 bishops and 19 arch* bishops sent II Dues a joint telegram reading: "Catholic Italy thanked Jesus Christ for the renewed greatness of the country made stronger by ^- Mussolini’s policy,” (Osxervalftrr. Rtimaiw, A tig. 22, 1935) Blessing the rape, Cardinal Schuster of Milan, on October 28, 1935, de* dared: “The Italian flag is at this moment bringing in triumph the cross of Christ to Ethiopia to free the road for the emancipation of the slaves, opening it at the same time to aiir missionary propaganda,” Like a modern crusader, Archbishop Margotti jubilantly declared: "Italy has joined the anti-Bolshevik front with the enthusiasm and faith of the ancient crusaders.” (Now York Daily. News, July 21, 1941) Catching up this phrase, the fascist press said that the war was a "crusade against the Russian atheists”. —Kansas City Etar, June 8, 1942.

Call to mind also that it was June 3, 1933, when Pius XI, in his encyclical Dileciissima Nobis, issued a declaration of war on the democratic government of Spain, and imposed upon it automatic excommunication. With the revolutionary sword forged by the Vatican, crusader Franco massacred 2,000,000 men, women and children, overthrew the Spanish republic, and thus brought to a conclusion the Hierarchy’s “holy war” in Spain. The bishop of Salamanca, Cardi-MARCH fl,

nal Pla y Denied primate of Spain since 1941, turned his jialace over for Franco’s use during that wicked campaign, (New York Times, September 3, 1945) “A. Christian gentleman,” the Hierarchy called "Butcher Franco”!

In due time Japan joined the totalitarian-Vatican crusade against Western democracy and Protestantism. One month after Pearl Harbor was bombed a Japanese broadcast on January 9, 1942, rejected by United Press, staled: "M. 0. Daugherty, Irish archbishop for Great Manila, and Bishop Madrigra, papal representative in the Philippines, Thursday pledged full-hearted cooperation with the Japanese forces for the creation of a new order in East Asia.” Then in June of that year the Vatican opened up diplomatic relations with this new partner of the Vatican-Axis gang. Concerning this the Japanese Times of Tokyo, said:

The voice of justice has come from the Vatican. Never before has such wholehearted support of Japan's present action in China been given outside the nation. . . . There are almost four hundred million Roman Catholics to whom the Vatican’s word is law. Thus it may be Mid that, one-fourth of the population of the world is supporting Japan in the China incident.

What This History Shows

Infamous, and black as it is, tills running historv from and after 1933 shows that the Vatican’s last “holy year” touched uIT a series of international firebombs which set the whole world ablaze in World War IL That was no mere accident It was a planned crusade, planned by the political architects of the Vatican who arc determined, one way or another, to bring all "wayward children”, meaning the Protestants, Orthodox and atheists, back to "Mother Rome”. When the Axis gang was at the height of its glory, when developments were taking place "according to plans”, it was boasted that the Vatican-Axis powers were engaged in a “holy crusade” for the purpose of blotting out the effects of the Reformation. This accomplished* the hands of the clock would have been tnraed book to the time when the "Holy*' Roman Empire ruled under Vatican control.

In proof that this was the overall objective of th© crus ide, note these startling statements. From the Nazi paper Hofflburyer Fremdenblait, May 15,1940: “It is not the revision of the Versailles Treaty which is the great thought written on the banner of the German trqops, but the extinguishing of the last remnants of the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 [the treaty that ended th© Thirty Years* War in a Protestant victory]/’ Again:

The German war aims were outlined tonight u a re-frsUblAliment of the Holy Roman Empire by Dr, Edmund A. Walsh, regent of the Foreign Service School of Gpnrgetown University [a Jesuit university outside "Washington, D.C.], « . . Dr. "Walsh said that he had heard Adolf Hitler say that the Holy Roman Empire, which was o Germanic empire, must be reestablished,—New York Time®, February 17, 1949.

Parallel Aims and Purpoaes far 1950

Now consider how similar th© Vatican’s overall purposes set forth in 1933 are to her avowed aims for 1950, A© then, bo now, "holy year” has a twofold purpose: religious and political. The religious program endeavors to stir np and stimulate the '‘faithful” to greater fervor, zeal, devotion and service to the Church. On the political front, Catholic Action is stimulated to emsadf* against Protestantism, Judaism, Orthodoxy and atheism in an effort to bring back or "return* these "orphans” to the Roman fold. There are some very interesting details in this double-purpose pro grant

Pilgrimages; to Rome constitute an important feature of the religious program. The “holy father", with selfassumed "divine” power, pushed aside the sin-atoning merits of Christ's sacrifice, and in its place decreed that anyone coming to Rome this year may pur-

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chase absolution from his Bins as well as special indulgences. Such a candy-coated, promise should cause all credulous Catholics to hit the road for Rome. But if any hesitate, there are many other in ducements offered the tourist trade. For example, an athletic champinnuhip in Italy is expected to attract 50,000 persons. Also the saint-making ceremony of canonizing and beatifying individuals long dead will be repeated on four different occasions. On another occasion it is said that th© pope will speak in a voice more infallible than God’s when he proclaims that the literal, fleehly body of Mary the niolher of Jesus was taken to heaven. This should he a Kight to see: the pope, a mere man, exalted above the Almighty God of the Universe, openly contradicting Gad’s Word the Bible which says'that “flesh and blood ran not possess the kingdom of God” I—1 Corinthians 15:50, l)ow}y_t

For the curiosity-seekers and souvenir-co Ue ctors there are plenty of attractions in Rome this year, what with badges, gadgets and religion© trinket* galore, all especially blessed and sanctified, not to mention the "holy relics” ihat will be on display, the antiquity of some reaching back to the days of pagan Rome I The great publicity and advertising given to these attractions are drawing over 1,000 pilgrimages with an estimated 2,000,000 visitors tn the city of Rome. Of thes©+ betw'eon 800,000 and 900,000 will be foreigners, Some 10_t000 w©re on hand for the “holy year” opening ceremonies.

Great Year for Lticre-Looers

Much of the noise accompanying these pilgrimage parade© comes from the bandwagons of the travel agents, steamship companies and airlines. In their greed for the blessed "holy year” dollars, squabbles developed over far© prices to and from Rome. A couple of airlines even got in an open fight river which should get’the haul of business. It seems the Vatican’s commercial zeal and pas-

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sion for profits seized many inside and outside the country. So much so that, in spite of what are.termed “price controls”, everyone along the routes of travel is doing a roaring big business. Especially is this true inside Rome. You must have “escorts” and “guides”. A bed too and a room you must have. You must eat. And for all this you must pay, even before you get to see the man from whom you buy your indulgences.

“A holy year is a source of exceptional revenue for Rome.” (New York Times, December 17,1948) The cost for a 12-day stay is officially estimated at $96 over and above travel expenses to and from Rome, and this does not include a pilgrim badge you must buy for $3 before you leave the United States. No, the pilgrims do not buy the buildings or beds at these prices, for the United States government already advanced $15,680,000 to pay for hotel and housing facilities. So you see everyone besides Rome pays for the buildings and nobody besides Rome owns them.

Other unholy problems to be contended with by “holy year” pilgrims include Rome’s 7,000 pickpockets and 1,000 female thieves. Besides these, there are 4,000 prostitutes running 722 bawdy houses, and 6,000 free-lance harlots walking the streets of this “eternal city” of wickedness. These too, to qnote the mistress of one Roman brothel, are praying for “a prosperous holy year”.

The Vatican, while considering these wicked excesses as unavoidable evils that must be tolerated, endeavors to minimize and mask them over with its own display of architectural beauty, gilded glory and splendor, works of art and relics of antiquity. If the visitors to Rome, both Catholics and non-Catholics, can be awed with this temporal magnificence, if they can be .spiritually overpowered by the mystic ritual, chanting and idolatry, they may return home convinced in their minds that the Catholic Church is the greatest power on earth and, consequently_# think it futile to oppose her politically or otherwise. But whether this supreme objective of the Vatican is accomplished or not, the pilgrimages to Rome are swelling fhe papal treasury with their riches.

In launching the 1933 “holy year”, Pius XI expressed the hope that it would be *^ra year of great expiation and remission of sins”. All non-Catholics were called upon to “return” to the Church of Rome and receive remission for their sins. Those that refused to be “converted” were run through with the Hierarchy's inquisitional sword, wielded by the- Axis crusaders, And while that crusade met with some success, as in Spain, it came short of “converting” the whole world. Hence, in ushering iu 1950, Pius XII repeated the cry for a “return”, praying that it will be “the year of the great return and of the great pardon”.

Couched in the usual papal rhetoric the pope pleaded that Protestants and Greek Orthodox end all “separations” and “schism” and be “harmoniously united” with Rome. To the Jews be threw the door open and bade thbm enter and take part in the Vatican's political plans and schemes. To those Catholics who had turned to communism, the pope said: “For them there is only one remedy— return!” This papal allocution, therefore, was a clear bid for all non-Catholics to join hands with the Vatican on a cooperative basis. It was a sly and subtle invitation, with no mention of uniting on points of doctrine or teaching. Rather, it was a call to unite in fighting communism. If this could be accomplished, if on the one hand the Protestant and Jewish half of the world could humbly submit to Vatican*dictation and take up the papal sword to bring the communist and Orthodox half of the world under the Vatican domination, what a master stroke of Jesuit diplomacy that would be! If accomplished, truly 1950 will be “the year of the great return” to the Dark Ages!

XTnMorie of the Great Return?

But regardless of what action non Catholics take, whether or not they willingly volunteer for the pope's army, the Vatican is relying heavily on its old and faithful weapon, the one that has heen tried and proved in many battles, namely, Catholic Action. As in 1933, so now the Vatican wasted no time waiting for Protestants and others to “return". The day after the 1950 ‘'holy year” was opened the crusade against communism was announced. The following account of it was carried on the front page of the New York Times, December 26, 1949, under the headline: ‘'Italian Catholics to Start CrusHdo Against Atheism.”

Rome, Dec. 25—Ins I ructions hare been issued to all members of Italian Catholic Action to begin a nation wide crusade to make converts to Roman Catholicism among the atheist members of the Cnmmutitsl and anticlerical parties and to persuade others who are still iiuiiiinally Catholic to return to the Church's fold.

This movement, according Calliulk* circles, will be known as the “Crusade of the Great Return”. It has Bic implicit support of more than 4,000,000 Catholic Action members and hundreds of thousands of others who belong to lay Catholic organizations such as the Marian Congregation and the Franciscan Tertiaries. . . .

The spiritual meaning of the opening of the Holy -Door . . . according to the interpretation of . . . very high Vatican officials, also had intended to symbolize the removal of the barriers that divide believers and unbelievers. . ,

Translated in practical terms, this interpretation, according to these officials, means that Catholics must go out into the field and make converts among diibelitvers and persuade those who, although be lie ver < 'are no longer practicing Catholies “to return to Christ"

This will be done through intense Catholic propaganda, these Catholics said, which will take the form of large meetings, lectures, projection of films that describe a nd ^portray religious subjects, a vast amount of literature adapted to all levels of culture and many other menus.

Quick results cannot be expected, as they will depend on the constant, tenacious but slow work of persuasion, officials explained. Similar movements, according to them, are expected to start in other countries,

Ab this year rolls on it will lift interesting to observe the “many other means” used by Catholic Action in its conversion crusade against not only communists and atheists, but plso against other nonCatholic groups. “Other countries " it is announced, are scheduled to be scorched with “similar movements”. Tn view of the blood-chilling events that occurred during the 1933 “holy year” and thereafter, and in view of the papers prognostication that “the future of the Church” is at stake and 1930 “must be decisive”, it is anylKidy's guess at this time whether Vatican firebrands will succeed in kindling another world war.

But regardless of the historical events recorded during 1950, one cannot help but wonder, in view of the lateness of the times, if this is not (he Roman Catholic Hierarchy's last unholy “holy year”. Armageddon's final war, “the buttle of that great day of God Almighty,” according to the Bible, draws nearer and nearer. When it strikes ¹¹ as a thief in the night” it will wipe out and destroy forever all such commercial-puli Heal-religious organizations ae that operated by the Vatican. (Revelation 16:14; 1 TAcssa/onians 5:2j 3) So let the promoters of this year’s “holy” program make the most of it. Let them flourish and grow up as the springtime grass. And at the same time let all people of good will, both Catholics and non-Catholics, who sigh and ery because of these and, other abominations committed in Ch ristendom, rejoice io the comforting words of the psalmist: "When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity dd flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever.” Psalm 92: 7.

ALASKA! How differently this Indian name for “Great Land" appeals Io the varied-interests—military’, commercial, political—who seek it, each for his own end. Even religion has rier stake in the coastal towns and the vast roaches

of the hinterland. For these powerful interests it may well become a pawn in the international game ?       ,

To tho peoples “outside”, by which term Alaskans refer to the Spates and elsewhere, it offers a “hist frontier**. Appealing, though dangerous and doubtless filled with hardships, it is hoped that in its uiitrammeled freshness, its vast wealth and resources, lie success and hope. To those who merely like to roam through far climes in imagination, it may bring to mind the haunting phrases of Robert W, Service: “And iey rnoun tains hemmed you in with a silence yon 'most could hear,” and upon them is the “spell of tho Yukon”.

Alask* ia all of these things and more! Neither air executive, in a land where the people travel thirty times as many , air miles per person as in the United States: nor the businessman, who surveys practically untapped stores of forest, coal, and metallic wealth: nor the fishing magnates, who take a hundred million fish a year from Alaskan waters, dare estimate the full potentialities-of this land once derided as “the icebox” of “Seward’s folly’’.

Near Nome, standing on the Bering sea, one can see with the naked eye on a clear day the rugged shore of Siberia. Its

proximity to Russia was further emphasized when the U. S. army delivered thousands of planes to the Russians at Ladd Field, Fairbanks, Alaska. So easily were they ferried by the Russians to their own land, many generals dmibtiess meditated that they could as easily be flown back by enemies. To Billie Mitchell, late air-minded tactician of the army who foresaw the attack on Pearl Harbor, this had occurred long before. Ho crystal ized his conviction in the now-famous summary: “He who holds Alaska, holds the world.” Convinced of this, tho government has built Fairbanks, located but n scant ninety miles smith of the Arctic Circle, into a city of nearly 10,000. Even for passenger travel Alaska is an important stopping place on the Great Circle Route to the Orient. One authority phrases if: “From our mainland via Alaska is the shortest and most sendee-able skyway to the Old World.” Also speeding military endeavors is the fear that “Alaska may be the Pearl Harbor of World War III”.

Alaska as a Prospective State

In 1946 by plebiscite, the people of Alaska voted three to two in favor of statehood. According to late opinion from a congressional committee considering II. R. 331, latest proposed “enabling act” to provide for.Alaska’s admission to the Union, “a 90-percent group” of Alaskans were asking for statehood. Similar bills have been introduced into Congress for the last six years. According to a recent Gallup pole, 68 percent of tfie Americans voted for Alaska's admission. The army and navy have offered no objection to Alaska’s entrance. President Truman advocates statehood for both Alaska and Hawaii. Several admission bills such as th©'above havereadily passedthe House, hnt the Senate haa bo far declined p&£B-age. This deliberative body looks with critical appraisal at each candidate for statehood as a mother looks at her son’s fiancee. Politically, too, the admission of a state (adding two senators) carries more importance for a body of 96 members than for the House with a permanent membership set at 435, in which Alaska would have only one representative.

Some opposition, however, to Alaska’s admission is found outside the Senate. The late Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, president emeritus of Columbia University, has warned the committee considering the bill that the geographical positions of both         acid Hawaii

make their admission undesirable, He argues that they are not “contiguous and compact” with the forty-eight states, Hawaii is 2,400 miles from the Am^riean iriHinland, while between Alaska and the United States extend 870 miles of Canadian land. Admitting that both have larger populations and more wealth than some of the slates did at their admission, he contends that the divergent interests of four senators representing snob distant outposts mignt well affect the treaty-making activities of the U. S. Senate. TThe major question, others averred, is what is hest for the Union as a whole. The argument is weakened, however, by the experience in the last war emphasizing the netTssity of safeguani-ing the interests and independence of both Alaska's Aleutians and Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor.

Other arguments apply specifically to Alaska. Jack McCord, cattle rancher anti forty-year resident of the territory, objects on the grounds of an increased cost of statehood of about $5,000,000 winch must be borne largely by 20,000 white property owners. McCord's income and population estimates (1947) appear rather low in comparison with the figures submitted during the 1949 congres^ sional committee hearing. The latter population estimate ia given at 95,000 to 105,000) two-thirds of whom are wliile Americans. The value of the salmon pack (1947), chief industry, was placed at $88,000,000; other fish, such as herring and cod, raise the total for fish to $107,-000,000. (This is seasonal occupation for only about two itjojjHis of the year and is financed by absentee owners, compfa'in some Alaskans.)

Like fishing, the mining industry, second in importance, imports men from the States for the major part of ita labor supply. Thus after a short season in gold mining from spring to fall both the personnel and payrolls leave Alaska. Between 1880 and 1939 Alaska produced $779^592^777in goid, more than 208 times the purchase price which was so much criticized by opponents of Secretary of State Seward, who arranged the sale from Russia, in 1867. (Purchase price to Russia, $7,200,000) Coni valued at $2,000,000 nnd platinum valued at $1,000,000 were reported in 1947, The trapping of pelts has reached the $2,000_r 000 Jevd; lumberings chiefly spruce, cedar and hemlock, brings in $3,000,000. These industries plus the tourist trade wvnujit for most of Alaska’s income.

Many believe, however, that with the recent enactment of a personal and corporate income tax, passed by Alaska’s territorial legislature, Alaska will be able to afford statehood. More than $16,000,-000 in federal inronjH faxes was paid by Alaskans in 1945, while much of her farming and lumbering resources have been hardly scratched. The famous Mat-anuska farming valley, with a comparatively mild climate warmed by an arm of the Pacific reaching near its location at the head of Cook’s Inlet, produces the finest vegetables. Residents of Juneau declare that when local produce is available, the carrots and strawberries particularly are larger and tastier than any in the States.

Alaska’s problems spring chiefly from its size and geographical location.

The Climate and the Country

If the territory of Alaska were superimposed upon the United States, the southeastern point of the Panhandle would rest near Savannah, Georgia, the Arctic shore line would extend along the Canadian border, while the southwestern Aleutian Islands (Attu) would touch Los Angeles. This vast northland empire of 586,400 square miles is about one-fifth the size of the United States and if admitted into the Union would dw-arf the state of Texas. The combined area of Norway, Sweden and Denmark, which have a “comparable climate” and were supporting a population of 13,000,000 before the war, is less than that of Alaska.

Former secretary of the interior, J. A. Krug, gave a comprehensive summary of Alaska’s three main climatic divisions, in the New York Times Magazine a few years ago. “Southeastern Alaska,” his article states, “the Panhandle strip stretching down to within 700 miles of the State of Washington, is a mountainous forest country with some of the world’s best fishing grounds off shore. The southern coast, including Kenai peninsula and Kodiak island [and the Panhandle], is like southern Sweden and Norway and is not unlike parts of Maine in climate and vegetation. The central heartland of the Yukon and the Tanana river valleys is similar .to the Swedish and Finnish interior and again is not unlike the high plains country of the upper Missouri Valley. The northern and western regions are like the northern coast of the Scandinavian Peninsula.” About one third of the Alaskans live in the_tPanhandle strip, another third in the central heartland around Fairbanks and Anchorage and the prosperous Matanu-ska farming valley.

The Indians live chiefly in the Panhandle and southern coastal area while the Aleuts live on the Alaskan peninsula

MARCH 8, 1950 and the Aleutian islands. The Eskimos live in the north and west, doing much whaling and trapping along the Arctie shore. The terrain occupied by the Eski-mnuan stock is a region primarily of seacoast and tundra, largely treeless and frozen throughout most of the year. This severe environment presented a challenge which the Eskimo had to meet or die. On the headwaters of the Yukon salmon are a great source of summer food, while lake trout weighing up to thirty pounds are caught in all seasons. What the buffalo was to the Plains Indians the caribou is to the Indians of the far north. Bears, including the grizzly, polar and tremendous Kodiak or brown bear, are hunted by the Indians. Another big fellow of the 'forests, the moose, is so abundant in some sections that Anchorage has an ordinance forbidding shooting them within the city limits.

Civilization has brought the Arctic and hinterland dwellers outboard motors for their whaling boats, “walkie-talkie" radio sets for the small Indian villages to establish communication, phonographs on which the latest records furnish music in ice-windowed igloos through the long winter nights. Civilization, wiping out these advantages, has also brought tuberculosis and venereal disease, to which the aborigine is twice as vulnerable as the white.

Comparison with Sweden

Further comparison of Alaska with the Scandinavian peninsula should brighten Alaskan hopes. For example, Sweden, with only one-tenth of its land arable, and even adding that of Norway and Finland, has less farming and grazing land than Alaska, hut supports 6,500,000 people. The Swedish standard of living is one of the highest in the world and their longevity is only exceeded by the inhabitants of the Netherlands and New Zealand. The only Alaskan railroad, running through Seward and Anchorage to Fairbanks, has a total length of 509.4

11

miles, while Sweden has 10,000 miles of railroadB, mostly electrified, pins bus and air lines. Until the completion of the Alaskan highway through Canada, which still has not sufficient accommodations for general travel, Alaska could be reached only by water or air.

Sweden raises her best potatoes above the Arctic Circle, 40-percent better. Her wheat yield, on land no more fertile than Alaska's, is 32 bushels per acre. Swedish cattle arc fattened on sawdust transmuted by chemists into exceptionally fine fodder. Alaska’s forest preserves are not quite so extensive as the Scandinavian's but they are nonetheless vast.

At least 100,000 Swedes own their own boats. The cooperative store is developed to & high degree so that ah may gal food cheaply. Besides supplying her own people, Sweden exports bacon and other products. The town of Stockholm has much exceptionally fine modern architec-ture. It is set in a lacework of “countless waterways, splashed by lakes glittering and glowing, and partitioned by streams rushing from the lakes to the Baltic”.

All this could be Alaska’s and more. Alaska's mineral resources are beyond comparison with those of the Viking’s lana. It has not only £old, but many other minerals including tin, iron, copper, platinum, lead, petroleum, tungsten, molybdenum, marble, and so much coal that nobody has ever been able to estimate how many billions of tons are waiting to lx? developed.

Alaska’s two great needs, so often emphasized by her friends, dearly appear from this comparison: (1) adequate transportation; (2) capital to expand industry and develop resources. In the new world, when tbc Father of Lights makes all land yield abundantly, Alaska, with its mighty forests, glacier-girdled mountains and scenic waterways, will doubtless rival in beauty other “gems of the Pacific”

Meanwhile Alaska’s long fight for statehood goes on. According to estimate it lakes a year for a territory to become a state even after passage by Congress of the enabling act, and requires the electing of a constitutional convention, whose constitutional draft must be ratified by the president. In the last hiII Alaska's proposed constitution called for an article prohibiting molestation of anyone's practice of his religion. The chief criticism of the act concerned its ceding only 2 percent of the territory to the proposed state. Debate on this brought out the information that the U. »S. government now owns 01 percent of Nevada, 85 percent of Arizona, 75 percent of Utah, and 46 percent of California.

Alaska need not be discouraged. It took seventeen bills before New Mexico became a state in 1912, which, together with Arizona, was the last admission. Another year will doubtless see another bill introduced. According to the demot cratic system of self-determination in government it seems that Uncle Sam is obligated to eventually admit Alaska to statehood.

AZOOLOGICAL

A HAPPY exception to the reputation gained by most zoos is that of Panama’s island 200 in Gatun lake. No nature lover need fear that he is there observing an unhappy animal population that would far rather be somewhere else.

When Gatun lake was formed in the Panama Canal by piling back the waters of the Chagres river, many hilltops became islands. As the rising waters inundated their feeding and breeding places, the animal inhabitants migrated to the largest of these new islands, Barro Colorado (Red Clay), covering six square miles in the middle of Gatun lake. On behalf of these “displaced parties”, the governor of the Canal Zone in 1923 declared Barro Colorado island a forest preserve, where wild animal and plant life would be free to thrive unmolested. A trip to this unusual zoo to watch animals, birds and insects living in the manner of their ancestors and free from man's interference will prove interesting and enjoyable.

We cross the lake "by native cayuco, clamber ashore, and immediately realize that this isle boasts a form of life unusual in most zoos—insects. The first to be noticed are the ants, for the most casual visitor will observe their bare, .well-packed roads about four inches wide running through the thickest grass for as far as half a mile. Over these “sail” the

Attas, or leaf cuttefs, carrying overhead a fragment of green leaf larger than themselves.

There are other ant inhabitants. Note the giant Congo ant, an inch in length. Don't shake hands, though, as he stings like a hornet. A sweeping gaze upward may reveal beautiful “icicle” decorations hanging from trees, sometimes as high as eighty feet above the ground. These are the work of the Azteca ants, the papermakers. They industriously chew up bits of wood or plants and glue it to

gether with secretions from their mouths. The result is the very thin yet tough paper forming their iciclelike nests. Ant-dom's militant black army ants, the dreaded Eci tons, are also evident. These meat eaters are often heard before they are seen, as the snap of their great sicklelike jaws can be heard several feet, and they travel in regiments.

Inquiringly, now, we note underfoot and from a nearby tree a long narrow tube of a durable paperlike substance. Tracing it upward brings our gaze to a football-shaped nest of the same material —the home of a family of termites. The termite is a habitual “subway commuter”, as he dislikes light, wind or moist air; and these tubes of masticated wood and clay provide his transportation. In the order of size, termites are divided into three classes: queens, kings and workers (as the names imply, the proletariat supports the royalty). Every spring, baby kings and queens, born with two pairs of wings each, catapult from the nest through holes in the walls made by the workers. After a few hours' flight they bite off their own wings and settle down to domestic life and the chore of producing the next generation. Every house owner is aware that

relative th spader &_ However; a closer investigation of their habits here in this wild-life “promised land'⁷ will aid in correcting some of it. Strangely, spiders are more easily located at night than in the daytime, due to the pin-point gleam of greenish-blue light reflected from their eyes in the flashlight's beam. One of the spider clan, the scorpion, whose painful sting, contrary to popular belief, is not fatal to humans, is h night hunter. Catching beetles and other prey in its ernwfiah-like claws, it .hrings its jointed tail np over its body and pierces its victim, and poison fiowq into the wound.

Northerners UMtally fear the hideous tarantula with its body of two inches and leg spread of seven. It, too_f resides here. Though its bite may he fatal to a person in poor health, the natives seem unafraid of it. The tarantula has its nemesis in the tarantula hawk, a large waep whose sting paralyzes flu? tarantula. In this nonresisthnt state he is dragged off to the hawk’s nest to become food for young wasps.

Ono insect wo do not wish to contact is the red bug. Too small to see, the first awareness of his presence comes from intense itching of the skin under which he has burrowed f Seed ticks are similar, hanging thickly on jungle foliage. They may strike at any passer-by, and can bore through anything short of leather. Though fatal to northern livestock strains, the native breeds are immune io thenu

We are ready to turn our back on the insects when a race treat catches our eyes: a queer little wormlike creature about an inch and a half long called “peripatus” Peripatus is apparently a. cross between a worm and an insect, having rows of fat logs arranged in pairs along its Kitle and a real heart (unlike worrnsJ.^Like insects if breathes through air tubes., Its velvety skin is light brown with a darker stripe down its back, and above its eyes it curries a pair of an-tepnae almost ae long us its body. Its

14

fragile eggs are earned inside the mother's body until they hatch.

Snake* and Lizard*

It would hardly be natural if, in this jungle wonderland, we did not feel the pangs of fear* of the typical tropical terror—snakes! Dreaded reptiles, long mid sleek, hanging from every other tree. Though comparatively few are found in Panama, Barro Colorado island shelters representatives of many tropical species. Here,for instance, one might have the question-able pleasure of making the acquaintance of the vi pe*rK. Take the tree vi-^M**°*^l° per. (Or perhaps you’d rather not!) He is a tree dweller, swinging from limb to limh and feasting chiefly on birds. His olive-green and yellow camouflage adds to his deadly accuracy in picking off his prey, and there may be ■as much as three feet of length to one snake.

But if you think that’s a long story, take a look at Mr, Rushmasler; but be sure 5'0a look first. The bushmfiffter, often Keven feet long, is second only to ths world's largest pniKiinous snake, king cobra. A colorful character, the dreaded bnslimaster is marked with brilliant black saddlelike markings on & tan or reddish-yellow background. Other reptiles present include the mild-mannered poisonous coral snake, the long-headed tree snake, the blunt-hejjdftd snake and a relative of the northern blacksnake. -

Then come the snapping crocodiles anc the lizards. The anolis or alligator lizarc is five inches long. Its short front legs and long hind ones enable it to jump like a kangaroo, thirty inches to the hop. Vacuum pads on his twenty long toes help him to climb, and his favorite position is bead downward od a tree trunk Of more consequence in public life is the iguana, a five-foot dark-greenish lizard with yellow flanks and a pinkish ruff of’spines running down its hack. It

A WAKE I

is highly prized by the natives for food. Think you would skip it at a dinner table? Careful, then, if dining out in Panama, as there the ''chicken” on many restaurant menus is none other than "Brother Iguana” in disguise!

Bird Life

Now, eyes aloft! The greatest pride of the Isthmus is in its bird life. On Barro Colorado size alone limits the variety. Almost any time one peers skyward he will glimpse the ominous vulture. Having an astute sense of smell, this valuable scavenger is usually circling above a carcass even before it stinks to the human sense of detection.

More military, the brown pelicans patrol above the island in V-shaped formations. Other flitting silhouettes against the blue are the grackles. These raucous long-tailed creatures are black as the blackbird and as impertinent as the sparrow. They thrive as well in the city as in the wild.

Like light planes taxiing on an airstrip, you watch the jaganas skipping over a lake of lily pads. Or in a lagoon one may spy an area as great as half a city block dotted with black heads. This announces a fleet of submerged cormorants or "fish ducks”.. These amphibious aircraft can fly heavily a few feet above the water or sink the body beneath the surface submarine style, using the head as a periscope. Indeed, with each new introduction to a different form of wild life, one becomes increasingly aware of the magnitude of creation and of his own elementary knowledge.

Turning for a final panoramic view of nature’s "Treasure Island”, we catch in our gaze still more unique creatures. There is the coati, first cousin to the grizzly bear and raccoon. He looks like a small brown doglike monkey and is fre

quently seen traveling incognito in company with monkeys. He has a probing snout and is a savage fighter against his predatory enemies, dogs and hawks, but makes a docile, clever pet.

Now meet the shy 7 night-riding tapir. Four high and tipping the scales at a ton, that is ’T^aPi^r- His Power and express-train speed strike fear into the natives.

Here, too, are many varieties of monkeys, a few^T deer, jaguars and ocelots of the feline family; the large two-foot ya-gunrondi or chicken cat, wild pigs, armadillos and red-tailed squirrels. Also, say good-bye to the nequi, a peculiar combination of a head similar to a rabbit’s and a pig’s body.

But speaking of peculiar fellows, none exceeds one of the island’s star boarders, the sloth. Built like a shaggy doormat and topped by a mirror-cracking face resembling an idiot monkey, he gains his name no doubt from his complete allergy to work. Sleep is his favorite sport, both indoors and out, and his greatest exertion is going after a few green leaves for food.

No matter when we leave we will have to miss part of this teeming "zoo of zoos”. But now, at last, farewell sloth, coati, jagana, iguana, anolis, birds and all the inhabitants. It is night now and as we embark in our cayuco we wave adieu , to the last occupants we see, the prevalent bats now soaring high against the moonlight like guardian night watchmen.

Inadvertently we think how, in common with mankind, animals find peaceful life with contentment a rare thing on earth. We think what a boon will be brought to all forms of life then provided for, when the long-promised new earth under God’s kingdom government brings divine rule to all, providing a glorious home for man aud making a wtenont with the beasts.—Hosea 2:18.

Last of the Aztec Lmperors

By         MHTMpondent in Headen

WIEN the public press owned the story about the supposed discorery of Peter’s bonce in Rome it aroused much comment throughout the world. But in Mexico it, was the annonncement of another discovery that stirred up the greatest interest On September 26, the aetmlly peaceful little town of lehreteopan in the southwestern part of the republic waa suddenly shaken oilt of ita tranquillity by the clanging church hella. Ab the people gathered to learn what had happened their interest woa centered on a gray-hatred epwteeled lady, With tears in her eyre d» announced* "The remains of the last emperor of the Aztecs have been found?'

¥ You vender why thij acn can cement is of andi great important⁵1 It is became the last of the Asteo emperors, Cuauhtemoc, is one of Indian Mexico^ greatest heroes, a legendary figure cherished in the hearts of the Mexicans, In 1520, when Cuauhtemoc wu a stalwart young warrior of eighteen years, HernAn Cortes the Spaniard, was in the pronetuof conquering the Aztec civilization. Montazumz, then king of the rich Aztec mpire, bad given cosily gifu to L'ortAe, and bad gmnted many requests । even at the expense of his oo peoples¹ liver It appeared that Mun tern ma wax still ting, but in re&hty be was Cortes’ prisoner. This situation caused Lhe Aztec warrior® to lose confidence in their king, and in the revolt tbat followed, led by Cuauht^mae, Cortes and bis force!! fled the Artec capital; now Mexico city.

'8? A year later, when Cortes again laid aiegt to the Aztec capital, Cuauhtemoc was emperor, and though ha distinguished himself by his bravery, fam inn and pestilence among his people finally forced him to surrvnrlpr. Obsessed with the derire for riches, Cortex then subjected Cuauhtemoc to flAndiah tortures to foref him to tell where the hidden treasures were. A famous historical painting of the scene shows a Spanish soldier burning Cuauhtemoc’s oil-covered feet with fiery coals, while before him sLtmd Cortes, a Catholic priest holding a cTtreiflr> and a third JUa/? with pen and paper waiting to write down the statement that wan never forthcoming, Cuauhtemoc refused to talk. It io this Indian bravery and stoicism that ia idolized as the bon tags of the Mexican people.

T Because of Cuauhtemoc’^ power over the people, CortAs deemed it heat to keep him alive and under surveillance rather that put him to death. However, bo me time later when the Spanish conquest was pushed into Honduras, Cuauhtemoc was ssspeeted of plotting rebellion with other Azlee nobles. Then and there Cortes had Cu&uh-teTTWwt hanged Mong with Jutjt others, and that was the last heard of this legpndery Aztec until recently,

*%? The rest of the story has^ecn pieced together from a frayed yellow mannseHpt and Barred traditions that have recently acme to light It seems that 13 days after Cuauhtemoc waq hanged, 33 sol dierg deserted Cortes, returned Lu the sueue of the crime, took the body down, embalmed it with aromatic herbs, and for four years carried it sprrrtly from one place to another, until it was finally buried in Ichcateopan m 1529.

*8? Based od this information excavations in the colonial church of Saute Mana de Asuncion led lo the discovery of a utonr-rciverpd vault with the inscription : “Rcy, i S. CDATEMVC" (King and Lon] Cuauhtemoc). Inside with the skeleton were 37 beads, 2 rings, 3 cut am^thysla and a large uncut diamond. News of the discovery spread like wildfire, by telegraph and telephone, President A tern in was notified. The governor of the Btate of Guerrero personally visited Trheateopan and arranged lo turn the little village into a ffrst-cleas shrine. All talk of transferring the remains to Mexico city meets with stiff opposition. The townspeople contend that having jealously guarded the remains for centuries, any attempt now to move the bones will mesn bloodshed.

1? Now the people of Mexico have what some of tbem want—another hero to venerate and worship! One suggestion heard i_s that atop a lofty mountain peak a statue of Cunuhtemnc be raised to perpetuate his memory. When a newspaper writer refers to this aa the “Sinai of Mexico”, it calls to mind another great leader, Moses, whose body also disappeared at his death- But in that instance Jehovah God disposed of the body. Seeing bow eager men are to worship even the bones of a arcature instead of worshiping the Creator, wb appreciate God's wisdom in doing &o.

By "Awake!” correspondent in China

Ever since the ancient Greeks took the word demos and combined it with their word kratos to make what the English language voices as “democ-racy”, it has been understood that a government bearing the label of “democracy” is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

But there are many countries claiming to he democratic or “people’s governments” w^Thosc governments are not born by the practice of suffrage. In some of these countries guerrilla units manage to develop into a hard-hitting army that ultimately scores enough victories to become a major power. It then drives out the existing government and produces a new self-appointed government to take the place of the former one. All this is accomplished presumably for the good of the people. The victorious army is then hailed as the people’s army; the new government as the people’s government; the laws of the country become the people’s laws ; and its courts are referred to as.the people’s courts under the jurisdiction of the people’s tribunals. In fact, never before in the history of the country have its people been made so conscious of their pride of possession !

It is someivhat difficult to analyze the class of people particularly benefited by the People’s government. Certainly the man in the street has nothing to say in the matter. He has no guns, bayonets, tanks, aircraft, etc., in his personal possession but, theoretically, ho holds a share in everything produced by the new reforms sweeping his country. He is only aware of the fact that there are a couple of armed sentries at the corner

of bis street and at almost every other street intersection to remind him of his appreciation o f the new People’s government. However, this article is not designed to discuss such democracies generally, but to introduce the reader to a newcomer to the field of world democracy, namely, “The People’s Democratic Dictatorship” of China. The title is a queer one, granted, for usually democracy and dictatorship do not live together, but you will see the thought behind the combination later.

Rise of the “Neir Democracy”

The Kuomintang, or Nationalist rule, although adopting for its party’s use the imposing title of “democracy”, did but little for the people. It is true that certain liberties were enjoyed under its regime but the actual beneficiaries were the war lords and their families, some wealthy merchants (usually kin to the war lords) and government officials. The bribery, corruption, extortion and financial speculations which resulted from these “special privileges” finally brought the Kuomintang regime face to face with an opposing force. An uprising of the people? Not exactly! It was the fulfilled ambition of a farmer’s son to lead the opposing faction.

The year 1949 saw the victorious Red armies, under that farmer’s son, Mao Tze-tung, pouring across the Yangtse in hot pursuit of the fleeing Nationalists. In their turn the cities of Nanking, Tientsin, Shanghai, Hankow and Ningpo fell

8, 1950

to the Beds. Autumn saw the new southward drive on Canton opened.

In the meantime, while the southward drive on Canton continued, China’s internal affairs were brought into the limelight, In Peking, now utilized as Red China's capital, a large committee of Ilie Communist party settled down to the mammoth task of forming China’s now government This meeting was called "The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference’¹. Article 111 of the Organic Law of the Central People’s Government, reads: 'Trior to the convocation of the All-China People's Congress through universal suffrage, the first session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference shall exercise the powers and functions of the All-China People’s Congress, enact the organic law of the Central Peoples Government of the People’s Republic of China, elect the Central Peopled Government Council of the Peoples Republic of China, and vest this Council with the power of exercising state authority,"

By this wo note that from the depths of a powerful and victorious army, a nation’s government canw into existence, indeed, the whole governmental structure, complete with its power, armies and equipment Is Mao’s personal gift to the people of China. Do they want it? That jt not the question. If they refuse the gift they are termed reactionaries! Article III also promises them a voice in the government at some future date, but that is for the future to decide!

It is most difficult to ascertain the reaction of the people to whom all this allegedly belongs. One can say with surety that when the People’s Liberation Army (P. L. A.) was still north of the Yangtse, Shanghai's civilians were not in the least Communist nor were they fervently Nationalist. They went about their daily tasks without any political convictions, like a people whose future fate was not theirs to decide. At that time some labor troubles occurred and were quickly suppressed by local police patrols armed with machine guns. Executions were fairly frequent; inflation of currency worsened; prices soared to new heights and the black market flourished.

Shanghai in Wake of Red Armies

Then the occupation of Shanghai took place on May 26, 1949, as the P. L. A. easily broke over the Yungtse defenses and routed the rejnainjng Nationalist forces. A quiet expectancy was the general attitude of the people. What now? Surely tilings could not be much worse.

The law and order maintained by the P. L. A. forces was amazing! There were no riots or looting, and public life went on as usual. Each street intersection was patrolled day and night by armed sentries who were for the most part quiet and unassuming but exceedingly well trained. There were, of course, a few "lane and passageway searches” for enemy agents of the defeated Nationalists, but no military action. The P. L. A. forces made a very favorable impression on the populace by their strict adherence to military discipline and noninterference with the people. There was no comparison between their behavior ritid that of the Nationalist troops, who were ill-equipped, riotous, criminal and dangerous. The latter gained quite a reputation for manhandling bus and tram conductors, cinema managers and ushers, in fact, anyone who stood in the way*of their obtaining pleasures free of charge, and in their last few days in the city they took to plundering anti looting at will.

For a short time the black market flared up anew, but was crushed to a minimum most efficiently, without the former nerve-racking aids of screaming police sirens, armed police patrols, mass arrests and executions. Instead, orders were quietly issued to agents of the black market, and its operations automatically ceased. Perhaps the quiet and efficient street-corner Kentriea had something to do with the orders’ being carried out, yet they were never seen to be in action.

Then tho now city regulations came into force. Couched in mild terms, and more or less expected, they brought orderliness to the city. Exchange of currency was fairly computed and fixed and, except for a slight upward trend now and then, remained much the same. A Parity Deposit Unit based on the price of essential foodstuffs was also effected, and helped greatly in stabilizing the prices.

People soon began to appreciate the increasing efficiency of the new administration, The People's court cut away much costly '‘red tape” and operated on a friendly arbitration basis. Disputes were amicably settled; apologies, the order of the day; punishments were merciful and comparatively lenient; executions were absent.

New learning in all branches of social life became apparent. At the police centers lectures were given daily showing the evils of a corrupt police force and deploring the practices of extortion and bribery. Today one never witnesses the sight of a policeman cruelly beating a coolie, whereas this used to he a common nuenrrenre in the days of the Kuomintang administration.

All the local schools received new textbooks and taught their pupils the new patriotic songs, which are now fervently sung all over the city* These songs, fash-kined like the "sawdust” revivalist's hymns, extol the virtues of the new China state and laud the heroism of Mao Tze-tuug and the People’s Liberation Army.

Formerly, under the Kuomintang regime, labor meetings were not tolerated and labor deputations to the managements were limited to only one or two. Now strong unions flourish and amalgamating of labor is encouraged. The factories with approximately 3,000 workers have one union chief over them, and he is answerable only to the Central People's Government Council. The 3,000 workers are then divided into small groups under deputy leaders and finally into groups

XABC7H fl. 1950

of about ten to fifteen under a steward*

Of course, ibis new method of arbitration between management and labor works two ways. It pre vents,the management from imposing on labor, but it also holds labor close to the C. P. G, C. Consequently, every worker is under surveillance. If he does not cooperate fully with the new "democracy” he must learn to, and if after a period of learning he is still of the same attitude, he is labeled a "reactionary” and is dismissed from employment.

Birth of Chinese People's Republic

When the Chinese Pcoplo'e Political Consultative Council (C.P.P.C,) was officially opened at Peking on September 21,1949, at 7 p.m_If the opening speech was nmde bv Chairman Mao Tze-tung. In his opening address Chairman Mao said: “The present C. P. P. C. in China, is convoked on an entirely different basis [than that of the duh conducted three years earlier with (he Kuomintang].* it represents all the people and receives the support.of the entire people. Therefore the C. P. P. C. has been declared to assume the responsibilities and functions of a national people's assembly, We have now accomplished these tasks. We have now united together, overthrown domestic and foreign oppressors through the people's war of liberation and the great peopled revolution and declared the formation of a Chinese people’s republic ”

In concluding, Mao stated that China's population was estimated at 475 million persons covering an area of 9,597,000 square kilometers, that the Chinese people will emerge on the world as a nation of high cultural standard, and he said: "Our national defense will be consolidated, thereby preventing imperialists from invading our territory anymore. . . , We shall have not only a mighty army Inif also a mighty air force and a mighty navy. Let our domestic and foreign reactionary cliques tremble in front of us. . . . The undaunted spirit and ef-

19

toriR of the Chinese peoples will definitely enable them 1o reach their goal.**

Thus the Chinese People's Republic was born and would be celebrated on a city-wide scale in Shanghai and all other liberated cities in China on International Peac^ Day, October 2. It was to be a triple celebration covering the birth of the republic, International Peace Day, and the successful convening of the C. P. P. C.

Accordingly, Shanghai made great plans for the cnniiug festive occasion. Mammoth demonstrations were to rover the entire city with torch light parades at night. The national (lag-raising ceremony was also scheduled tn take place on October 2, The now flag has a large yellow star with a crescent of four smaller stars in the top left-hand corner, against a red background. The large star rep resents the Chinese Communist party and the four smaller stars denote labor, peasantry, petty bourgeois and national bourgeois.

Unfortunately for the wlebranls, a heavy rain foil ceaselessly on the parade d>iya of October 1-3, and Shanghai, a city lying low on a mud flat in the area where the Whnngpoo river joins the Yangtse, had all its streets flooded in a short time. Wafers rose from two to four feet in most areas of the city and life rally washed out the celebrations fur all but the extremely zealous! These zealous celebrants took part in a parade which lasted for fifteen hours and ma relied Hi rough the heavy rain and floods. When the floods abated entirely after four days, the mass parades were continued.

Prominent in all the parades was the display of four large portraits of Marshal Stalin, Sun Yat Sen, Mao Tzc-tung, and Commander-in-Chief Cha Teh of the P. L. A,

Can we say with certainty that the enthusiasm of the parades marked the joy of the people on this triple occasion? Not altogether. It is a well-known fact that the Chinese love parades of any kind, and pageants carried out on a spectacular scale are bound to excite them tremendously. One ran sxy that the fascination of the cymbals and drums doubtless attracted the greater part of the you lb of the city, while the workers and students were expected to "represent’’ themselves or they would have been missed and thought uncooperative. In general, however, a good time seemed to be had by all, participants and gaping crowds alike.

Why “Democratic Dictatorship"^

The People’s Democratic Dictatorship of China hffs now come into its own. And, by the way, that "dictatorship”, according to Mao Tze tung, is a "dictatorship’’ as far as reactionaries are concerned, bemuse I he reactionaries will have no voice to express their views. Opposition of any kind to the new Chiacee

ih*’s Republic will not be tolerated.

Of course, the entire governmental sfnirlure is yet a babe. It will be most interesting to watch it grow. It has terrific problems to fuco. Even as this article is being completed, runaway currency inflation has begun anew. The IL H. dollar, which was JA1P2.200 to one in May and June J949. stands today at JMP5,10U to one. Financial worries are always big ones, but this is only one of the problems facing new China today.

Even as we watch this infant grow, we cannot help but realize that it is growing at the wrong time. The great Theocratic "man child*' is now thirty-five years old, and will soon be rolling its divine power against all the democracies, dictatorships, republics and other Luman forms of government, to crush all the inherent forces of evil in order that the people of good-will in all nations may enjoy for a warless eternity the peaceful paradise of earth under the Theocratic "new heavens”. We may well ask, "And where is the human dictator to with stand its eternal might¹?”

IN A CRYsj.^

TH E scientists have « labored for many years building telescopes that aid in their study of the sun, moon and the stars. While they prepare data tn enable them to talk about the stnrp, the fortunetellers supposedly fell what the stars say about people. It is amazing the way this ancient business has kept many in owe, rind at the same time made many rich and influential men in this world. It is no wonder, then, that forlii tip telling as a business has continued for thousands of years. As in the past, it is now a lucrative one.

, This “science” is not a new one, nor is it harnessed to one method, allowing only' a few to enjoy its harvest. A study shows a variety of methods of telling fortunes. The dreamer, for example, claimed to have divine influence to direct others. The cup also was supposed to have supernatural powers, and was kept in the family of the monarchs of old. In the cup the world was represented, past, present and future, and through the visions received in the cup the rulers had an understanding of events yet to occur.

The Arabs had Iheir fortunes told by means of arrows. Three arrows, without heads or wings, were placed into a bag. Number one arrow contained the words, “Command jne, Lord”: while the second read, “Forbid me, Lord/" The third arrow was blank and if it was drawn the inquirer was to take another chance. If the first arrow was chosen, the one seeking a fortune was to go about his business; but the second one entitled him to a rest of a whole yenr.

The Bible also tells ue about fortunetellers and how they made contacts with

jf"            * the demons of the spirit

world for messages. The wiirh of Endor was iu-quired of by Saul, the ■first king of the Israelite^ who feared what the future held in store for him. His hopes for a comforting message wore shattered when he heard that die next war would be his last.

During that time period most of the nations permitted astrologers and crystal-gazers freedom in their trade, and if soon became widespread. The Greeks officially appointed by the government Those would not only lead (he stars but would also make predictions and calculations from the flight and formation of

The Romans officially appointed their horoscopists. It was believed that these represented the goddess of fortune, Fortuna. that Fortuna ruled the universe with God, and that because of this relationship she was permitted to distribute fortune or misfortune to whomever she pleased. If this goddess took a liking to you, fortune was yours; but woe to you if you were on her misfortune list I in the capacity of ruler of the world, she was represented as having a double rudder in her hands. The one part of the rudder guided men to prosperity and power and the other part of tbc rudder steered them to ruin.

Years later the Greeks adopted this goddess an<^ represented her ns standing upon a wheel or ball with a blindfold about her eyes. To her worshipers this meant that luck rolls like a ball or wheel. At times it takes a roll to fortune for some, and at other Ornes it undoes all the efforts of men. The chief worshipers of diis goddess were newly married women.

ATwut to (pre birth* they would seek a fortuneteller to learn what talents their offspring would possess.

The modern fortuneteller may not claim to represent the goddess of the heathen, but the folly of the art continues to spread fur and wide. From the most highly educated to those of little or no training, rich and poor, people of all classes consult the clairvoyants, hoping to learn of riches or power or being relieved of their mental worries. Just as there are many seeking a fortune, so there are many telling fortunes. Their prices have been known to range from 50c to $100, and up.

Often Prohibited by Law

L

Many states look upon this as taking money under false pretenses. The state of New York, for example, declares through law: “Any prediction of future events for hire is prohibited. The Legislature has expressed its disbelief in human power to prophesy human events/* In order to evade such laws, the fortune-tellers call themselves “ministers” and us© such names as “Cosmic Science” atid “Spiritualist Church of the River Styx” to cover up what goes on in the reading rooms. Notwithstanding the high ranking titles they appropriate to themselves, they are still looked upon as “rogues”, “vngrants” and “disorderly persons”. Some states outlaw clairvoyancy and any pereons caught violating the law are subject to a $500 Hne or six months in prison.

Other states have refused to spend * money for a special squad of policemen to evict the fortuneteller from the state's domain; but, rather, the states thought that a special license fee vrould discourage the tellers of the future. Five hundred men and women showed a willingness to pay the fee and continue in their business.

Does this cheating of the law and the paying of fines and fees brinp in a prof^ 1LT According to some statistics there are 80,000 fortunetellers in the United States, and the people of this country will pay a neat sum of $200,000,000 this yeaY, to have their fortunes told.

TrUky Method*

The operalmriH of the crafty diviner are just as surprising as the amount of money he mokes, A number of investigators have been assigned to a study of this trade, and, in reading over their reports, we learn that fortunotclling is nothing more than trickery, fraud. The people have been led to believe that their future can be Been within the realm of the crystal ball waiting to be revealed by the “swami”

Many exposers of the fortunetellers were at one time among those claiming the power to foresee future events. One tells of the many clients he had. Most people, he reveals, look for a fortuneteller Itecaiise of a worried mind. By asking personal questions and using a little psychology the seer soon knows what is on his dmill's mind. The future of the individual is then told through the use of ambiguous statements which any visitor can apply to himself any way he chooses. If through his questions the fortuneteller can get to know what is on the visitor’s mind, the same information is then used as advice from the fortune-teller. Such ambiguous answers as “you are contemplating a change,” or “you are involved in money”. SumelimeH yoif are "on a threshold” or “behind a locked door” pr perhaps “you are being motivated into circles”.

Characteristically all the fortunetellers are the same. According to one of the surveys, four interesting things were learned: (1) the fortunetellers were wrong in their forecasts and readings, as wrong in regard to the future as to the past and present; (2) they depended on conversational leads on questions asked the customer, and they asked fully as much as they told; (3) they used a canned chatter, varied slightly for all

comers, and (4) they frequently gave illegal, immoral or dangerous advice.

Unhappy Cases

Here is a good example of what the fortunetellers promise and how much they can be expected to deliver. Elmer the Great was willing to use his great talents to aid humanity, and, according to his advertisements, he could give you a peep into the future and help you gain your key to success. His announcement said that he could be consulted “on all conceivable affairs of human destiny'', Elmer claimed, to have the answer to all family troubles, or he could give you the name of your future husband or wife. With his excellent mind he could tell you your mother’s maiden name or your street address. He could locate property that had been lost or stolen, or perhaps locate relatives you would like to find. For your past, present and future, Elmer would have an answer. And yet he could not look into the future far enough to see that he was going to be in a Michigan jail charged with being a disorderly person, within two days after his arrival there!

Going to a fortuneteller or a stargazer is being as superstitious as the man that went to the doctor of voodoo hoping to gain a fortune. This gentleman was interested in the policy racket, which, if he could guess the right number, would make him wealthy. The witch doctor claimed she could make him invisible and thus allow him to enter the policy room, read the lucky number before it was chosen, and thereby win his fortune. Before this could be done he must follow directions, which were as follows: kill a black cat at midnight, hoil it, cut off its tail, put the bone of the tail into his mouth, and the fortune seeker would be invisible. Cost? One bone of a cat’s tail plus twenty dollars for the advice.

Thinking himself to be invisible, this proud, rich-man-to-be walked bravely into the policy room. Alas! he was tossed out bodily by the men who saw his ‘‘invisible” body!

Penetrating the future has always been and shall continue to be a futile job for men. It is true, men of distinction such as the politicians seek information concerning elections. Some businessmen cater to the crystal-gazers for stock market reports, just as the common man seeks to know of a happier, more prosperous tomorrow. Some of the predictions may come true, but that does not mean that the fortuneteller has a supernatural power and is always right. The information given at fifty cents or a hundred dollars is no more reliable than the fortune card you can get for a penny each time you weigh yourself on scales in front of a drugstore.

End of Fortunetelling

“Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” (Luke 21: 26) Fear of the future is no license to seek consolation at the hands of imperfect men, because perfect love casts out all fear. If Jehovah God wanted those that love Him to seek fortunetellers He would have used them in the days of old rather than His prophets. The contrary held true: Jehovah cursed the fortune telling astrologers and stargazers, and blessed the prophets and all that listened, because they abode by the Word of the Lord.—1 John 4:18; Isaiah 47:13,14.

The Word of God has been recorded that we might gain a knowledge of the purposes of the Almighty, and this Word opens to us a great knowledge of a future of everlasting life for all who obey Jehovah. No man can tell what the morrow will bring. (Proverbs 27:1) Jehovah God does tell us of a thousand years of tomorrows, complete with a happy family life, free from all troubles. That being the case, there will be no place for the useless fortunetellers of today.

God’s Word or Man’s—Which?

MORE and more the eyes of honest-hearted men and women are getting open to see the world's religious confusion and the inconsistency of the religious leaders who say one thing and do another. Thinking that those religionists represent and speak for (rod, many sincere persons begin to wonder if any truth at all exists on earth. They come to the frame of mind of a man of old who wrote in his disappointment: “I indeed said in my despondency. Every man is a liar.” (Psalm 116:11, Leeser) They are discouraged and sigh within themselves. Doubtless, though, when they hear the pure ring of truth sounding forth from the right source, despite earth's religious jangling, they will recognise it and will gladly accept and hold it.

The vast universe which we see is founded upon truth, and therefore it moves on orderly and undisturbed regardless of the waywardness of men on earth. Its Creator is the great God of truth. He is the One whom the peoples of Christendom have all claimed to worship in common, but their centuries-old religious differences, quarrels and errors have brought reproach upon hoth Him and the written Word which Tie has given to mankind. The bewildered seekers for truth have in many cases said in hopelessness: “Oh, the Bible is an old fiddle upon which you can play any old tune?’ If true, that would mean that the Bible’s Author was all mixed up.

But this could not be so of the God whose visible creation of the universe is marvelously harmonious and not divided against itself. Reasonably, then, His Book, the Bible, could not be all mixed up and allowing for just any interpretation. The mix-up lies with its would-be interpreters, the religious leaders of this so-called Christendom, who disagree among themselves, and violently so at times. Hence, as the reader approaches a study of the Bible he should not have any preconceived notions according to the perplexing, mysterious religious errors of Christendom. He should study what God himself lias to say in His own Word and form opinion based upon the sure foundation of God’s Word, “Eor God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.” —1 Corinthians 14: 33, Am. Stan. Ver.

To arrive at truth we must dismiss religious prejudices from heart and mind. We must let God speak for himself. Any other course would lead onlv to further confusion. What if men, religious and non religious, have discredited and belittled the Bible and have placed thmr own or other men’s opinions and traditions above the Bible? What if religious leaders have rejected the Bible’s straight testimony? What if the highly esteemed clergy of Christendom have been found false and misleading? Do these shocking and disappointing facts change the Bible itself or its message of truth? Sound thinking assures us that the true and living God must have given searching mankind some inspired written revelation about himself. That being so, then let our stand he that of one of the writers of the Bible who said: “What if some were without faith? shall their want of faith make of none effect the faithfulness of God? God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, and mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment?* —Bomans 3: 3,4, Am, Stan. Ver,

If we let God be true, He will instruct us in the truth by His recorded Word. To let God be true means to let God have the say as to what is the truth that makes men free. It means to accept His Word, the Bible, aa the truth. Hence appeal should be made to the Bible for truth. What is believed concerning God and His purposes should be backed up from the Bible for truthfulness and reliability'. That is the course the inspired writers and faithful characters of the Bible took and recommended. Isaiah, an outstanding prophet, writes to this effect: "To the law rather, and to the testimony. A nd if they speak not according to this word, they shall not have the morning light.” —Isaias 8:20, Douai/.

There is i\o light of truth in the teachings of the men of Hits world who arc under tho influence of superhuman invisible demons, wicked spirits that are primarily responsible for the darkness of this world. Unless we seek direct to the law and testimony of God's written Word, we shall never attain to the light whose beams show that the morning of a new world of righteousness is at hand.

Malachi, the very last of the old Hebrew prophets, pointed in the same direction as Isaiah, to the written Word of God. Said he as an inspired spokesman for God: “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, whom T commanded on Horeb for all Israel, statutes and ordinances.” (Jf^Qlachi 3: 22, Leeser) The writings of the prophet Moses make up the first five books of the present-day Bible; and thus tho last of the old Hebrew prophets declares himself in agreement with the very first of rho Bible writers who preceded him by more than a thousand years. All the writers in between Moses and Malachi take the same position.

None of the Bible writers, from Malachi back to Moses, make any mention nf an oral law or traditional .law as existing alongside the written Word of God, No-ithere do they declare that the oral traditions of religious men are on an equality with the recorded Word of God or that the written Word is incomplete without such oral traditions. The prophet Moses earnestly declared against adding to God's given law and testimony the oral traditions of uninspired men. Said Moses: “Ye shall not add unto the word which 1 command you, nor shall ye diminish aught from it; that yo may keep the commandments of the Lcmu your God which I command you.”—Deuteronomy 4:2, Leeser.

God's written Word is pure wG.fiout such man-made traditions; and those who vahm (hem as equal to or even higher than tho written Word make liars of themselves. “Every saying of God is purified: he is a shield unto those that put their trust in him. Do not add aught unto his words: lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”-—Proverbs 30: 5, 6, Leeser.

God caused His prophet Isaiah to^r speak out in strong words against those who claim Io be God's people but who practice hypocrisy by following the precepts and traditions of men rather than the inspired Scriptures. “And the Lord said. Forasmuch ns this people draw near with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is hut the acquired precept of men: therefore, behold, I will do yet farther a marvellous work with this people, doing wonder on wonder; so that the wisdom of their wise men shall be lost, and the understanding of their prudent men shall lie hidden.”—Isaiah 29:13,14, Leeser.

Then choose God’s Word and not man's, Let God's Word speak for Him, and not the false traditions and creeds of Christendom's religions.

MARCH 8, 1556                                                       25

Riots Set Nigeria Ablaze J

By "Awake!'* correspondent In Nigeria

COAL mining is an important industry in Nigeria, the greatest and most populous of all the British colonies. The city of Enugu is not only the country's coal capital, where the collieries are located, but also the political capital of the Eastern provinces. As a consequence, labor troubles in the coal fields are quickly translated into political issues, and vice versa. This was particularly demonstrated during November, when ugly scenes of violence and bloodshed in Enugu touched off a series of riots in many other parts of the country.

The collieries are government-owned and employ about 6,500 men. Annually these dig out about 600,000 tons of coal, half of wdiich is used by the Nigerian railway. The remainder is consumed by power stations, etc., and some is exported and sold to the Gold Coast railway system. For the past three years there have been continual disputes between management and union leaders over wages and working conditions. Wage increases granted during this time give miners an average of 6s/6d per shift, or about £6-12s ($18.50) a mouth. According to wage standards in the Western world, this seems very small indeed, but compared with the wickedly low wages most Africans receive, or compared with the low wages paid Rhodesian miners, Nigeria’s coal miners are quite well paid.

However, demands were made for a raise in pay of two shillings and one sixpence per shift, plus a further claim that coal bewers are entitled to some £80,000 back pay. A flat refusal on the part of the management to meet these demands bronght on a “go slow” strike on November 7. This reduced the output of coal to 25 percent of normal. A few days later the mine management began dismissing strikers and ejecting them from colliery-owned houses. Angry crowds gathered outside the offices and tear gas was used to disperse them. The next day two transport planes landed police reinforcements at Enugu to guarantee peace and order.

Like the spark that lit the torch that set Rome on fire, so was this preliminary trouble. The real violence followed. On November 18, irate miners armed with crowbars, picks and other implements, got into an argument with the police at the Iva Valley mine, and before it was over 18 miners were killed and 31 others were wounded. Some of the latter died later in the hospital. Spreading throughout the country like wildfire, the new^Fs of this incident quickly ignited anti-British political pow^Tder-kegs. The series of explosive riots that followed rocked the entire country of Nigeria, and even brought members of the London government hurrying to the scene.

7?tof FZoznes Licked at Our Heels

The morning of November 23 this w'riter and his traveling companion happened to be in Aba, a town some 150 miles south of Enugu. The day before, the local leaders of the Zikist political party at Aba had delivered several inflammatory speeches, proclaiming the 23rd a“day of mourning” for the dead and wounded at Enugu. Caught, as it were, in this Strife's path of violence, we were eyewitnesses of ugly rioting and looting as the mob swept through town. It was 7; 30 in the morning, and we had just finished our breakfast at the restaurant of the government resthodse, when a telephone call came from the local authority, advising that rioting had broken out in town, and that an attack was shortly expected on the European quarter where the resthouse was situated.

Not many minutes passed before shouting and sounds of a general commotion became audible, and the angry mob entered the resthouse grounds. Showers of stones were thrown and a brick came crashing through the windshield of a parked car. However, we lost no time in moving our automobile to safety behind the building. In the meantime a contingent of police came up from behind the mob and turned them away, much to our relief. Widespread looting then broke out and several European stores were broken into and swept clean, telephones being damaged and typewriters and office equipment stolen.

News then came through that another attack was expected on the European quarter, so we decided to leave town while there was an opportunity to escape. We hated to do this, for our party was divided. Two of our African members were cut off by the mob in town and there was no way of contacting them. We therefore drove out of town only about five miles. As we passed along the road, groups of enraged townspeople made threatening gestures and shouted angry words, for the disturbance seemed to be essentially anti-European more than anything else, and the sight of a white man was enough to provoke anger regardless of who he might be.

Xfter waiting several hours we cautiously returned to town, hoping to be able to contact the rest of our party and all get away together. Passing through the European quarter, now quiet, and getting near the post office, we stopped to ask a group of African police whether it was safe to go into town in search of the rest of our party. We were assured that it was. However, a few hundred vards farther on we saw a menacing crowd, numbering probably in the thousands, milling around the main streets and making much noise and commotion. The time it would take to turn our car around would have permitted the crowd to surround us on all sides. So the only way out was forward!

Charging through, blowing the horn continuously, we ran the gauntlet amid showers of stones, and by God's grace we got through unharmed even though one shot was fired at us. When we stopped some way beyond the mob, they came after us again, so we swung around through a back street and returned to the European quarter. From there we observed a line of police, advancing down the main road with fixed bayonets, and, shortly after, the sound of gunfire was heard. Later we learned that another rioter had been killed. Repeated baton charges together with tear gas were also used to disperse the mob.

That afternoon we were advised that all Europeans were to he gathered at one point for their protection during the night. But we decided that it was safer for us to leave by driving out about 17 miles. The following morning w^Te returned, found our lost members and de^ parted in peace. Later, we learned that after we left further rioting and looting had occurred, with more casualties. Enugu and Aba were not the only scenes of violence during those days of conflagration. Port Harcourt, forty miles south of Aba; Onitsha, on the River Niger; Calabar, about 75 miles east of Port Harcourt, and Lagos, the capital of the country, were all points of disorder and incendiary rioting.

Putting Out the Firea

Conditions were so bad that a temporary state W emergency was declared by the governor on November 26. This measure empowered local authorities to detain and search persons without warrant, invoke curfews when necessary, impose press censorship and ban public meetings and processions. A commission of inquiry was also appointed to investigate the miners’ grievances as well as the riots.

Echoes of these riots were heard in far-off England, where the colonial secretary, the Right Honorable Arthur Creech- JoneSt made an official statement before British Parliament on the Nigerian labor troubles. Various questions were then propounded, one of which suggested that the disturbances had been fomented from outside Nigeria, probably by Russia. The suggestion, however, was emphatically denied. Another member, Mr. Platts Mills, came out with this question: ‘Ts the Right Honourable genii eman now aware that if he treats coal miners like cattle he is bound to have trouble? If this is so prosperous a colony why cannot wo see that those men are paid at least the five shillings they are asking for!¹¹ This brought the following reply from the colonial spf-reiary; "I wish before the honourable gentleman puts questions of the kind he haw, that he would nerpmint himself with the most elementary facts regarding Nigeria.*’

One only has to visit the living quarters of the Enugu miners, ns this writer

has done, to appreciate that perhaps Mr. Platts Mills haa more knowledge of the ‘'elementary facts regarding Nigeria" than the colonial secretary would like tn think. After a personal inspection, an impartial observer will agree that the comparison with cattle is not greatly exaggerated.                          ‘

This labor violence in Nigeria is just one of many such incidents now taking place in 1 his (’rumbling old world, and is further evidence that the ’'distress of nations, with perplexity⁷" long ago foretold in God's Word the Bible is coming to pass in these last days. (Luke 21: 25) As with other peoples, the Nigerians" hope lies, not in temporary improvements in working emidilhuiM and increased pay from the powers of this world, but in the now world of God's building, which is now the certain hope of ail men of good-will, both here and abroad.

Will Our Earth Bum?

That there will some dav he a new earth is assured . by God’s promise, 'T create new heavens and a new earth/' (Isaiah 65:17) Some envision the literal burning of our planet to make way for the new, and threats of atomic warfare chill them with fear of the earth’s destruction. Much comfort comes from knowing that God hns not purposed to burn our earthly botne, for He has also promised, “The earth abideth for ever/' (Ecclesiastes 1:4) But how, then, ran a new earth be formed! What will if be like? Who will live upon it? These and many other questions relative to the earth and its prospects are answered, in the 320 page book “Let God Be True’, available on h contribution of only 35c.

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28                                                           dTFJA’E¹'

The Hydrogen Bomb

$> Top news In late January centered ground the so-called hydrogen bomb, calling to mind whnt was “accomplished” by the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima (8/6/45). Casualties were 78,150 dead. 37.425 Injured, 13,983 missing. The new type of bomb, called variously the hydrogen bomb, triton bomh, super-bomb and hell-bomb, would be many times as powerful, theoretically cnnld be a thousand times as powerful, and would spread devastation over three or four hundred square miles, or ten miles in every direction. The question was, Should the bomb be bnilt, regardless of immense expense? President Truman indicated he would bp the one -to decide that. At length <1/31) he came put with the statement: “It Is pnrt of my responsibility as Commander in Chief of the armed forces to see to it that our country is able to defend itself against any possible aggressor. Accordingly, T have directed the Atomic Energy Commission to continue its work on all forms of ntomic weapons, including the so-called hydrogen or super bomb” This indicated the president considered work cm (he great bomb already begun. His order was generally applauded by national leaders.

Si no-Sovlet Relations

<§> Racking up Secretary of State bean Acheson’s charge that the Soviet is detaching and controlling the northernmost provinces of China, the State Department (1/25) released information to the effect that “despite the fiction of the Independent Mongolian People’s Republic, the Soviet dominates Outer Mongolia, and Soviet troops nre stationed there. Trade is completely md-nnpnllzert by the IX w. S. 14. Man-chnria is run by a Sinn-Soviet partnership, with Soviet influence in military artaira recognized even by Chinese communists. The U, S. S. R. has special navigation, fishing and air rights, and operates industrial and power plants in several cities. Permission has been songht and may have been granted to station Soviet troops in Sinicin ng”.

Meanwhile Chinese communist leader Mao Tuc-tung was in Moscow on a very pretracted visit At the month’s end a delegation from Sink lang, China’s westernmost province, nrrlved in Moscow to take part in the negotiations begun by Mao Tzo-tiing, to incorporate in the Soviet bloc the 463,-(N)U.OOO population of China, The Soviet was reported to. ho socking complete control of seven rwrth-(Jhina ports, as well as h labor force of 500,000 Chinese to serve its ends. Tt also called for increases in shipments of foods, although famine is now spreading in China. Other demands rather put Mao on file spot. ’who countered, however, with a request for a loan of 82,801),000,000 and military supplies.

Aid to Korea

<§> Some prominence was given in the news to the failure of the U. S. House of Representatives to continue aid to Korea (1/19)7 It was characterized as a stinging foreign policy defeat for the Truman administration, but was, of course, n greater blow for Koren. The ¥00,000,000 aid provision wag vitally necessary for the struggling Far Eastern republic. In the Senate a drive was begun to save the Korean aid. measure.

Taylor Resigns

The resignation of Myron C. Taylor came (1/18) as expected, and wns accepted by President Trnman, who the following day recalled to Washington “for consultation” Franklin C. Gowen, who had been acting as assistant to Taylor. Jnst what has been accomplished by Taylor during the ten years he has occupied the rather mysterious post remains largely In the field of vague generalities. Audiences with the pope, usually called private, were secret. The whole business wns most distasteful to Americans of all creeds, Catholics excepted. Persecution of Protestants in Italy has intensified this feeling. Protestants in America pointed ont Air. Taylor’s complete iguoranee of the Protestants’ situation in Italy, where they were falsely accused by the Vatican of helping the coctimunist cause.

Recognizing Franco

<$> Secretary of State Acheson advised congressional foreign policy leaders (1/19) that the U. S. was ready to support a United Nations resolution freeing each power in [hat body to restore diplomatic relations with Franco SpMn. If (he UN, resolution of 194(1 barring such relations is canceled, then the U. S. would send an ambassador hack to Madrid. TJu«, said the secretary, “would in no sense signify approval of the regime in Spain.” “It would merely . . . return to normal practice in exchanging diplomatic representation.” Vatican pressure was seen to be back of this move. It wsb deplored by labor feeders. Both British and French foreign offices stated that they would not be willing to Join the U. S. In the effort to rehabilitate Franco.

Anns Aid Pacts Signed

& President Truman proclaimed the North Atlantic joint defense pact In effect (1/27), and repro-aentativea at Washington of eight Western European governments signed agreements which would enable them to receive ?1,000,-000.000 In U. S. arms and equipment, The agreement requires that the assistance be dsed in integration of defense of the North Atlantic area and In Jine with defense plana under the North Atlantic Treaty organization.

“Equal Rights” for Women

# The U. S. Senate adopted the Equal Hights Amendment (1/25) by a 63-10 vote, but with a rider retaining protective laws for women. Campaigners for the measure joyously hailed the move in the corridors of the Senate building,

U. 8, Coal Dispute

# Finally taking up the troublesome coal dispute, involving at the month’s end over 100,000 miners, President Truman sought (1/31) a 70-day truce, during which the miners were to return tn full-time work, and a board of inquiry would study the situation. which had developed Into a three-sided controversy. The miners had ostensibly been Ignoring the "suggestion” of their leader, John L. Lewis, to continue the three-day week, and went on strike altogether.

Rights and Bules In Congress

<$> President Truman reported (1/17) that he had received the assurance of Democratic leaders In the Senate that a vote would be taken on the civil rights measures he advocates, ^,(if it takes all summer.” Filibustering from southern senators has thus far prevented action on these provisions for the protection of the rights of citizens. The adminls-tratfen’s program includes »repeal of the poll tax, an antilynching law and a federal fair employment practice act. A victory for the administration wur seen in refusal to restore to the rules committee power to hottie up legislation. By a vote of 236-183 the House voted (1/20) to continue restriction of committee power to pigeonhole bills.

Alger Hiss Convicted

<$> A federal grand jury convicted (1/21) former state department official Alger Hiss on two conuts of perjury, The decision of the jury (composed of eight women and four men) wna that Hiss lied when he denied giving Whittaker Chambers, his accuser, top-secret state department papers for a prewar Soviet spy ring. Hiss was given a five-year sentence. An immediate appeal was filed by his counsel. At Washington Secretary of State Acheson, a friend, said, “I do not intend to turn my back on Alger Hiss,” and misapplied Scripture in seeking to explain his attitude by citing Matthew 25: 34-40.

Legion’s Anti-Communist Move

<§> On the closing dny (1/30) <jf the two day “All-American Conference” at the Astor hotel. New York, sponsored by the American Legion, representatives of national organizations with a claimed combined membership of 50,000,000 voted unanimously to establish a permanent organ I nation to combat communism In the U. S, Geo. N, Craig, national commander of the Legion, stressed the role of religiao in the fight <m communism and invited all loyal Americans to join It. In their resolution the 160 conferees said, “World communism Is the greatest present threat to domestic security and peace on earth, and its No. 1 targets are God and our American way of life.”

British Election

$> As the British Labor party issued Its election manifesto, setting forth its nationalizing alms.

Winston Churchill, leader of the Conservatives, countered by accusing the Labor government of wasting U. S. aid funds, and being generally incompetent, as well ns plotting to enslave the nation. He said the Labor government was seeking power over fellow Britons “such as no British government has ever sought before”.

Historical Relics Found

<$> Lost for seven hundred years, the crown of King Alfonso X, together with other jewels, was discovered three years ago. But the find was nqt made public until mid-Jann ary of this year. Spanish archaeotogiat.R have been allowed to open tomhs In recent years which have yielded these and other valuable relics.

France Protests Soviet Move

<$> France strenuously objected to Soviet recognition nf Ho Chi Minh, Indo-Chinese communist leader, and sent a note of protest (1/31) expressing its resentment that the Soviet should recognize an insurrectional government In France’s colonial possession of Iudo-Clfina. France itaelf has recognized Bao Dal as the head of the Viet Nam regime.

Saar Controversy

<$> Western Germany tn midJanuary made public its claim to the rich coal mines of the Saar, These statements came in sharp rejoinder to French moves in the region to link it more fully to France. Chancellor Adenauer declared boldly that the Saar mines, which France hopes to lease for fifty years, were the property of the West German state because its constitution said that all property of the Third Ilelch belonged to the German Federal Republic, and the Western Allies had approved that constitution. The Saar government announced (1/20) drastic measures aimed at protecting the region from any propaganda campaign to return it to Germany. Action ou these repressive measures, however, was postponed, since they threatened freedom of speech and of the press.

Bonn Invited to Send Consuls

<$> Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was invited by the Western Allies (l/2fj) to send consuls general to London, Washington and Paris without delay, and so establish the fl rat official and permanent West German representation abroad. The Invitation was extended on behalf of the three powers by the British high commissioner.

Little Berlin Blockade

<$> In Berlin it seemed that the Russians were about to impose another blockade, though of minor extent. Hampering restrictions on traffic to and from Berlin were being instituted in late January. The Western powers' representatives formally protested the holding up of traffic, particularly non-miiitary.

President Paasikivl’s Election

<$> Complete returns in the Finnish elections showed that the 79-ycar-ohl President Juho FC Paasi-kivi bad been re-elected for another six-year term. Actually the electoral college w-ill choose the president, but the popular balloting (1/18) shnwed 172 of that 390-member hody were pledged to Paaslkivi.

Bulgarian Incident

<$> The U. S. minister to Bulgaria (DoijaJd R, Heath), for some time out of favor In that country, was practically Invited to “get out", a note being sent to Washington stating that he was no kincer acceptable to Bulgaria's Communist government, and dema tiding his recall. Charges had been made against Heath that he had received secret government information from Trai-cho Koslnv, former deputy premier of Bulgaria, who was convicted of spying for the U. S. mid executed last December. Heath said he hud never exchanged a word with Kostov, and his denial was published throughout Bulgari a at the insistence of the

IL S. government. But Bulgarian papers continued to say editorially that the IL S. minister had deliberately lied. The U. S. told Bulgaria (1/20) to withdraw the demand for Heath’s recall from Sofia, stating that a complete break in relations was the alternative.

Ten-Year Plan for Italy

<$> Premier Gasperl of Italy announced (1/10) a ten-year plan for developing southern Italy and other depressed areas. An annual expenditure of 100,000,000,-000 lire {$100,000,000) 1b called for. mid will finance special public works.

Cyprus Seeks Union with Greece

The Greek population of Cyprus voted 05.7 percent to break connections with Britain and join Greece. The voting was conducted by and in the Orthodox churches of the island, which has been a British possession for 72 years. The vote was called an unofficial referendum by the church. The British governor fiatly refused to consider this ‘'popular” demon-31 ration.

Jerusalem the Capital

The Knesset (Parliament) of Israel passed a proclamation (1/23) establishing that Jerusalem has been the capital of the new state since its formation well over a year ago. Welcoming the return of the Knesset to Jerusalem, the proclamation called for the speedy erection of government buildings there.

India Proclaimed a Republic

•fy The splendor mold which India was proclaimed a republic contrasted sharply with the abject poverty in which millions of its people still live. Officials and princes from ail directions attended and watched Dr. Rajendra Prasad take the oath as the republic’s first president. After the formalities the president drove tn state to Irwin Stadium for puhlic observance of the occasion. The grand procession passed beneath fourteen great arches, each bearing a verge from the sacred book of the Hindu religion, inscribed in the fourteen official Indian languages. The dny nlso marked the constitution's coming into effect, bringing democratic rights to India’s 329,(WO,(XX) citizens, a seventh of the world’s population.

Home Rule for Surinam

<$> Surinam, or Dutch Guiana, was given home rnle by the Netherlands (1/21) as a new constitution was promulgated, giving the country’s 207,000 inhabitants control of their own internal affairs. Later it is expected to join Cunt run and Arnha with Surinam to form one state within the Netherlands union under the crown.

Eva Perfin Better, Trains Stop

<£> A demonstration of creatureworship was put on in Argentina when it was announced that Sefio-tk Eva Pcrfin had her appendix removed and wns doing all right. AH trains in Argentina stopped for teo minutes (1/17} ag mi expression of sympathy.

Russians Walk Out on U. N.

In mid-January Soviet (Inion representatives walked out of various U. N. agencies and meetings in protest against the continued membership of Nationalist China. Polish and Czechoslovak representatives joined them in a number of cases. Mr. Malik of the TL S. S. II. walked out on IL N. atomic negotiations (1/19) and brought the Big Five cinsrd-dpor discussions to a elude for the time being.

Polish Envoy Qnlts

<$> Dr. Aleksander W. Rudzinski, who was a counselor to Poland’s U. N. delegation, resigned his jnb (1/18), charging that the Soviet was stripping hl s'country of freedom and independence. He requested asylum in the United States, addressing a letter to Secretary of State Acheson, saying, “I cannot associate myself with walkouts calculated to paralyze and disrnpt the United Nations.”

What Should We Believe?

Studious thought and careful reflection are not always sufficient to determine what is true. Untruths often repented and couched in appealing language are all too frequently accepted as reliable¹. Some information sources long thought trustworthy have been proved otherwise. And even past ideas used as a basis for comparison may not always be correct. Never before has it been so important to know the truth as in these momentous days; yet, what should we believe?

To sift that which is worthy of belief from the overwhelming volume of chaff calls for a smim» of trutli of unquestionable integrity. God’s Word the Bible is swell a source; and although its meaning is often concealed from the casual or cynical render, vital truths essential to lovers of truth and righteousness are regularly and systematically called to attention through the columns of

The Watchtower

The Watchtower, a semimonthly magazine. is devoted exclusively to increasing knowledge of God aud his purposes. It is not dogmatic but invites your careful study and consideration togethcr*with your Bible. The Watchtower has no commercial or political ties to hamper it from printing truth, A year's subscription is only $1.00. If you send your subscription in before May 1, 1950_? yotf w ill be sent 8 Scriptural booklets free. Use the coupon below for convenience.

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