BICKERTON CASE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20311, 22 May 1934, Page 1

BICKERTON CASE.

Police Charges Made Public. MONEY FOR COMMUNISTS. United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. (Received May 22, 1.30 p.m.) TOKIO, May 21. The police have permitted the publication of the number of arrests since last year. There were 736, including 154 women accused or suspected of Communist activities, or sympathies. Fifty-three had thus far been indicted. All are Japanese, except the New Zeal*nder, Mr Bickerton. The charge against Mr Bickerton is that he contributed 500 yen to the Japanese Communists and assisted in the interchange of literature,between English and Japanese Communists. The police allege that before departing in April last year on leave of absence from two Government high schools where he taught, Mr Bickerton offered to contribute to the Communist funds 300 yen from his travelling expenses, which were supplied by the schools. This he intended to do through a Communist friend, who however, was subsequently arrested. Mr Bickerton proceeded to Moscow and was then several months in London, where he obtained and sent to Japanese Communists sixty copies of various European Communist magazines. He also translated and gave to English Communists articles published in the Japanese “ Red Flag.” Returning to Japan in September, Mr Bickerton paid 100 yen, through a Communist named Matsumoto, whom he secretly interviewed on a beach near Mr Bickerton’s residence at Chigasaki, near Kamakura. After this Mr Bickerton contributed 100 yen a month from October to January through various intermediaries. At Matsumoto’s suggestion Mr Bickerton in October applied for membership of the interdicted Japanese Communist Party, but, while debating whether to admit a foreigner, the organisation’s leaders were arrested. Mr Bickerton’s contacts were arrested one by one until he himself was arrested on March 13. He was indicted on April 6. He is still out on bail of 200 yen and the date of his trial has not yet been fixed. The police sav that the Communists were in financial difficulties and Mr Bickerton’s contributions assisted them considerably. His “ Unhappy Childhood.” The Press are featuring columns of the Bickerton case, pointing out that it is the first case of active participation by a foreigner in the history of the Japanese Communist movement. The newspapers, recalling his unhappv youth, state that Mr Bickerton had four step-mothers in Christchurch. He imbibed Communism from his grandfather, who was a friend of Kropotkin. After studying Communist literature he agitated against military training when a student at Victoria College, Wellington. He spent a decade in Japan, at first studying at the Tokio Imperial University and later taught English at the, First Higher School and Tokio Prefectural Higher School. His monthly income was 600 yen. He gradually made the acquaintance of the intelligentsia type of students, who had Communistic leanings. He became proficient in the Japanese language, immersing himself in Japanese literature, particularly that with a Leftist trend. He translated and published in book form in London numerous short stories by Japanese proletarian novelists and also his own writings. He also taught at Niho University, where, it was reported, he encouraged his students in Radicalism. lie contributed a total of 800 yen to the Communist Party funds, of which 300 yen were sent through the Communist son of the Imperial University’s ex-president, Mr Kozai. lie brought back quantities of Communist literature when he returned to Japan last autumn. Mr Bickerton, a grandson of the late Professor Bickerton, was born in Christchurch.