SHEFFIELD PEACE CONGRESS

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26266, 10 November 1950, Page 7

SHEFFIELD PEACE CONGRESS

Britain Bans Entry Of Foreign Communists (Rec. 8.30 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 9. No foreign Communist will be allowed to attend the Communistsponsored World Peace Congress which opens in Sheffield on November 13.

A complete ban has been put on their- entry into Britain. Guards at all sea and air ports have been strengthened, and any foreign Communist who tries to land will be held by security agents and sent home. Only non-Communist foreigners will be allowed in. Leaders of the British PeaCe Committee held a newspaper conference in London and protested that so far only five British visas had been granted, two in Montevideo and three in Syria. A hundred invitations have been sent to the United States, but so far only one American has indicated that he will attend.

It is known that 26 East Germans have applied for visas, including Johannes Becher, poet laureate to the East German Government, and Arnold Zweig. Among 30 Chinese applicants is Dr. T. C. Chao, one of the six presidents of the World Council of Churches. The World Peace Congress will be held in the Sheffield City Hall next week, and will be attended by 2500 delegates from all parts of the world. The Sheffield Council of Churches, representing all denominations except the Roman Catholics, has denounced the congress and refused to send a delegate; and two Sheffield steel firms have warned employees that leave of absence to attend the congress will not be granted. Last week 2500 Roman Catholics protested to the City Council against the letting of the City Hall for the conference. The Sheffield Zionists have •Iso made a protest. The Council of Churches in a letter to the Congress organisers said it could not take part in a Congress at which the agenda ignored how much the unsettled state of the world was dtie to Russia’s attitude. The refusal was accompanied by a letter of condemnation which will be read at all churches on the Sunday before the Congress and Win be the subject'of sermons.