SOVIET SLAVE . LABOUR

Hokitika Guardian, 2 May 1931, Page 3

SOVIET SLAVE . LABOUR

MEETING OF PROTEST. SCENES IN THE ALBERT HALL LONDON, March 20l On Friday night a great meeting «•<■« held in the Albert Hall to pass resolutCnus protesting against “Soviet Russia’s economic war on the world and its cruel use of prison and forced labour.” The hall was crowded. Organised parties of agitators under the control of the Communists created disorderly scenes and had' to be ejected. 4 lie moment Lord Brentford rose to speak a crowd of men in the topmost tier rose, in a body and yelled “Long live the Soviet!” There was pandemonium immediately, violent struggles breaking out in as many as Imlf-a-doz en zones around the vast gallery. From the arena people gazed up at an extraordinary scene. Men and women, appearing at a distance, to be no bigger than children, were struggling and shouting and raining blows on each other. Stewards, scaling tliejstoep tiers of seats, rushed to reinforce their colleagues., first at .o net-point of attack and then another ( ,and the demonstrators were J'ordhd down to, and out of,' the exits. Women as well ' its men were concerned in • this organised attempt to break the meeting, The groups were windy distributed, not only from end to end of the gallery. Imt in different i parts of the'arena, and, if not on. the. 1 pint-form itself, at any rate in the 'seats* j fbiliking behind it. The' union bad taken precautions to protect the ine'et-’. ing against, interruptions, and in ' bis opening speech Lord Brentford said there was no possible danger. Ample means lie .shouted through the micro- : phone, had been taken to deal with . those who would disturb the pro-

cowlings. No sooner lmd the first batch oT ‘•limiters been thrown out than others took ut) the cry from other parts of the had. Similar outbreaks of disorder, in which men fought and struggled with .each other, and women screamed; -.continued throughout the meeting.

A TRAGIC STORY

“There is no more tragic storv )i: Hi ewhole history,” said Lord Brentford, in the course of liis :-poocii, "than the slor.vM'of Russia at* the

present timid The ’ cruelties' tliat took place under'’the regime of the Czars, 1 do ir-t Tor'one moment palliate, hut I say to you that the cruelties of the Czars were' as, nothing compared with' 1 lie cruelties and the barbarities that are taking place' in Russia to-day. (Hear, hear.) < “Whole districts are depopulated—men, women and children torn from t heir homes, away to the timber, camps in the-far North, set to work there Irom-dawn till chirk, find even. I fear after dark, to cut down and'bark a cor tain -stated number pf trees. Young people of 17, Hi’ a)'id To. are doing the same'amount of work as grown men; If the do not finish the work they are taken out again after dark in order to complete their' work during the darkness. .More than half of the unfortunate men jii tinib.e.t, camps are today working more than twelve hqurs a day', because they 'bannot- humanly finish the tasks put before them. “The so-called., barracks are mere sheds, loul, filthy, and offensive. Imagine 100,000 people—-men, women and children—collected together in one .huge camp, with no means of regulations of any kind or description, food consisting of brown bread in the mornings, brown bryacl. .at night and occasionally a little soup made of rotten fish, sometimes hot water to drink without inilk, without tea. without, sug nr. That is the kind of food these poor"wretches have to, put un, with.* and they work harder and-,do more' Intense manual labour than, .any man. in' this country of ours.

“Every statement I aip . making: Tonight lias been verified ■ lip to the hilt by..sworn affidavits, some of which have been sent to the Prime Al mister, .many of which’ we have -seeif lilrrst'iVes.

“Are we prepared to take gfOi:Atiuicl on rlie. side of right,” Lord ■ Brentford asked, “or are we prepared to Net these atrocities go on until the prayers of these down-trodden people ascend .to the ears of tl)0 Ford'God. who will one day exact punishment?

“Timber, wheat, oil, and what not,"in the great Five Years-’ Plan of the Russian Government, are coming here-be-cause they are cheap. They may be cheap, but they are tainted goods. The whole of Russia to-uay is a country of forced labour. A nation of 150,.million people arc coerced by a body of less than 2.000.000 Communists* They are 'determined to throw on the whole world, and above all on Great Britain, under the Five Years’ Plan, these goods which will destroy the economic system of the rest of the world. 1 wonder if trade unionists here wisli to see these polluted goods sent here to take the bread out of their mouths?;

“1 warn you, and I. warn the world, that this Five Years’ Plan may succeed, and if so where will he the workers of Great Britain.? “T am here to appeal to the Prime Minister.. In 1928 .Mr MacDonald said where they had sweated goods sent here under conditions, against which we could nor compete, the remedy was not . safeguarding, but prohibitic.n against the entry of such .’ooch. I ark the Prime Minister to-

day. 'are 'these sweated goods produced under e luliti;.ns which no Engl. -'...man could possibly endure, and, il so. why not prohibit them? 1 What will the Government do ?” EARNING THEIR ROUBLES. Wlien Mr Churchill rose to speak the interruptions were continued. In a moment of silence lie said : “You have seen the carefully prepared organisation which is in action to prevent, us holding our meeting and- making our protest Here • are the mismabb; hirelings',- poor, wretched people, ,pa,id with rouVes for making this .trouble: Brought hi re buid forced to'do their bit of they do- 1 not not get thein cash. Can't veil se 1 in this, far better than ui my words of mine, the force, Idle malice, and money behind-' the opposition?”

.4 his was A challenge to the Communists. A' dozen.of 1 them sprang to their feet', but the stewards mastered them, as they lmd their predecessors, and

Mr Churchill went on, his voice rising in indignation: “Wo shall' succeed in maintaining free speech in this country and the right of citizens to congregate and express their opinions on public isfues.”

Once' more shouts wore raised, this timt* a’most at the speaker’s,elDow and the offending' woman had to be carried out bodily. As if it, were a signal, the, opposition seemed to open out again alontst along the. entire length ,p' . tlie ga I ’cry, while isolated struggles broke out afresh in the arena. Mr Churchill again taunted the interrupters. “They have to earn tliier. money. We must make allowances for.theiii, they are only poor ignorant creatures. They get a ...bonus..., if they are thrown out. Look at'jthe irnp'ftdenee of it. coming , here into England and interfering with our rights. AVliv don’t taey go to their Utopia in Russia ?” (Cheers). Anri so the disorders continued to the end of’the meeting. Outside the flail the frill force of the opposition could he measured, for’ to the number of about 200 they massed up along the park railings singing revolutionary songs, 'until police reinforcements, .arrived. Thru, ..as they . were ./‘moveu on,” the main portion of the hugeraudience, .from, the opposite.'.side of the .thqr.oughfaro, took, up - the refrain of the.,Xatioini I .Anthem. . An ' attempt- to rally the stragglers “of.- the opposition into , procession-through Knights-, bridge was thwarted'by the police.