Awake!, February 22, 1947
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The Chinese Peace Puzzle
New York City—Capital of the World
Ousting the British Lion from the Land of the Pyramids
Television—How It Works
/4VU4KE/
'Now it is high time to awake.—Aaraw 13:11
Volume XXVIII
Brooklyn, N.V., February 23, IM?
NvmBftr 4
The Chinese Peace Puzzle
TWENTY long years of war in China, and still no sign of peace! That is the grim reality that 450,000,000 people of the world must face in this year 1947- In spite of the fact that American envoys have entered the scene as peacemakers bearing olive branches, the situation has changed little from what it was two decades ago.
It war in 1027 that Chiang Kai*ahtk took to the field and pushed back the rising tide of opposition that was mounting against the oppressive measures of the landlord-merchant class which controlled the government Initial success in driving the “bandits” into the hills made Ctoang a powerful force in the Nationalist government However, such demonstration of military might did not Beetle the basic issues. Krom their strongholds the opposition, which is designated as the Chinese Communists, organized counter-offensives, and during the years that followed they continued to grow both in numbers and in military strength. Politically, they were known au Kung chang-tang, which literally means the “share-property party”.
Chiang's political party, called the Kuomintang, literally meaning the “nation's people's party”, hence the national party* thought themselves strong enough in 1936 to begin the writing of a constitution. November 12, 1937, was set as the date for the drafting of such a basks
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law. But the Japanese postponed such assembly by launching their “conquer China ’ campaign in July, 1937. Quickly the Chinese civil war was converted into a national war with both factions fighting a common foe.
As the years of World War II dragged on China's political differences lay so dormant it seemed that once the war with Japan ended the setting up of a pennofnl government for tho impever ished Chinese would be an easy matter. To this end preliminary negotiations were held in 1944 and 1945, but these only proved that hopes for an early settlement were too optimistic.
New hopes were raised with the downfall of the Japanese empire in the sum* mer of 1945. Russia, which had been sympathetic with the Chinese Communists, signed a 30-year Treaty of Friendship with the Nationalist government. But the drafting of the new constitution that was set for November 12, 1945, was postponed ; and as a result a new element was introduced into the formula in an effort to dissolve these incompatible differences of opinion, President Truman appointed General Marshall, retired chief of staff of the United States Army, (now secretary of state), to act as special mediator.
Jamary Truce
Marshall arrived in China December 20,1945. Within a few weeks he had both parties' signature on a document that called for an immediate truce In
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hostilities and the setting up of a political consultative council that was -charged with the job of drawing out the blueprint for an all-party government. Besides limiting the power of the Kuomintang and unifying both, military forces into a single army the reorganization council was to deal with such ticklish problems as putting all politics on a democratic basis, giving full freedom to women, reducing farm rent, interest rates and taxes, and guaranteeing full freedom of the press. Marshall’s prestige as a mediatory seemed very high on January 10, 1946, when representatives of the Kuomintang and Communists signed this agreement, which also stated in no uncertain terms that “all hostilities will cease immediately”.
Scarcely had the news wires told about the January truce when reports were heard that lighting had again broken out, each side charging the other with violation of the “cease fire” terms. For two months efforts were made to stop the fighting. On March 27 a second “cease fire” order went out. In April General Marshall returned to Chungking in a second attempt to bring peace. On June 7 a third “cease fire” order was issued, with each side claiming, three weeks later, that they had to return fire because the other side had violated the armistice. ; -More negotiations between the two factions followed. It seemed that the liberals on both sides were willing to stop their fighting long enongb to set up peace machinery but the selfish, reactionary forces in the Kuomintang were absolutely unbending in their determination to hold the power of government they had in their grip.
By the middle of July Chiang laid aside all pretenses of keeping the truce and announced a “railway campaign” to gain cunuol of the Central China-Man-chutia lines. In the same ’ riionth Dr. jjeighton Stuart, who had served as a Rresbyterian missionary in China for forty years, was appointed as the new ambassador in place of Hurley to aid Marshalls peace efforts. Thereafter the fighting opened up along a 500-mile front. Also the nearest thing to an open declaration of war in this undeclared war was issued by the Communists when they called for a general mobilization.
As peacemakers both Marshall and Stuart had failed, and they knew it. In a joint statement they said: “It appears impossible for the two parties to reach a settlement . . . which would permit issuance of a general order for complete cessation of hostilities in all China.”
China's Constitution
Meantime, while all the fighting was going on, preparations were being made for an Assembly on November 12, 1946, that would draw up a constitution. In January, 1946, it was decided to allow each political party a fixed number of delegates: the Kuomintang, 220; the Communists, 190; the Democratic League, 120; and all others 170. The Democratic League, which is made up of quite a number of Chinese intellectuals, said outright that they would boycott the Nanking Assembly. Apparently they changed their minds later. The Communists insisted that certain conditions would first have to be met, which were not, so they didn’t attend-
After three days’ grace the Assembly opened, on November 15, 1946, in Nanking with the declaration by Chiang that it was the “greatest moment in the history of the Chinese Republic”. Forty-one days later the 1,486 delegates that had come from such out-of-the-way places as Mongolia and Tibet finished the final reading of the new constitution on Christmas Day. It will go into effect December 25, 1947.
The Communists say they represent the land-hungry peasant class who desire to see the large estates divided up. The Kuomintang, on the other hand, are made up of the bourgeoisie aud land-
lords who fiercely fight against any attempt to reduce their hold on the property and wealth of the country.
In their ten-point program set forth at the last National Congress of Chinese Communists, April, 1945, they said they were fighting for such things as the abolition of one-party government, guaranteed for freedom of speech, assembly and belief, reformation in land ownership, abolition of illiteracy, and curbs on foreign investment in Chinese industry.
The program of the Kuomintang, represented in the new constitution, does not parallel the Communist platform as one might think when casually reading its 175 articles. While having an outline of guarantees for freedom, its ambiguities in meaning will often leave large room for government interpretation, and its loopholes are big enough to allow the Kuomintang to crawl through.
For example, the new constitution provides for free elections. However, it will be very difficult through simple elections to unsaddle the dictatorship that now holds the reins of government, especially when such dictatorship is determined to remain in power even to the extent of using money from the national treasury as a campaign fund for the Kuomintang. Such an election will be nothing different from Hitler’s “free” elections. How strong do you think the “guarantee” of freedom of speech and press is under this constitution when it says that such freedoms cannot be restricted "except when it is necessary to prevent infringement of the freedom of other persons, avert an urgent crisis, maintain social order or promote public interests”?
The government that created this constitution, two days after it was adopted, gave its people a sample of the "freedom” they can expect when it goes into effect. The Chinese ministry of the interior, without giving any reason, issued an order on December 27 forbidding the sale of two popular books, The Challenge of Red China and Thunder Out of China.
It is manifest that under such a constitution conditions will remain very much the same as they are now, a struggle between the masses and the classes. The masses of China’s population are tillers of the soil, 331,000,000 of them.
Unless the constitution will give to this vast population a greater measure of peace and freedom than they have now it will not succeed; Communists will continue to recruit membership from among this oppressed and unhappy lot, and the pot of civil strife will continue to boil.
As the Russians removed their troops from Manchuria Communist forces moved in and took over, thus enlarging their control to cover one-third of China’s area with its population of 180,000,000, two-fifths of China’s total people. The military strength of the Communists has been estimated at 1,100,000 regular troops and 1,000,000 poorly equipped militia. This is in comparison with the Nationalist forces of 2,200,000. With two opposing forces of this strength the struggle in China might go on indefinitely if it were not for another, and most important force, namely, American intervention.
Third Party in the Ring
The war in China is like a prize fight that has dragged on and on because neither opponent has had the power to knock the other out. There is one way of ending such fights, and that is for the referee to jump in and help one of the contestants. This is exactly what Uncle Sam, the referee in this fight, has done. Reports tell how the United States has supplied lend-lease equipment and material to the forces of the Kuomintang government; how American-made land? ing barges have been used to transport Nationalist troops to fight against the Communists; how American-made planes have bombed Communist positions; how American-made bombs have killed civilian women and children; how American
army officers and men h$ve reorganized and trained Nationalist army and navy officers. Such a course placed the United States in the unique position as a “neutral" peacemaker while at the same time supporting the authoritarian, ruling clique that fights against the people of the soil. This probably explains why Truman specially chose a high-ranking military man to play this double role in the postwar war in China.
American foreign policy in the orient ig not a deep secret, though it is usually explained in diplomatic language. In a few words, the State Department endeavors to expand American influence and strengthen its position in foreign countries. Obviously, American influence would suffer greatly in the China theater should the Communists win out, for in such an event China would lean toward Russia as a source of supply and would close her door to American business ambitions. So to retain China as a great export market for American business in the years to come the forces of the United States were used to prevent such a victory.
The Kuomintang makes liberal concessions in return for American support. One of these concessions, which might be termed “lendJease in reverse”, is the recent Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation signed on November 4, 1946, by the United States and China. It replaces the nine former ones that were signed between 1844 and 1928, and in effect throws the door wide open to American capital and industry, permitting American business to tap China's great reservoir of wealth at the expense of her great army of cheap labor.
Chinese Reaction
Contrary to government propaganda, it is manifest that the motives back of American mediation in this civil war were not based on an unselfish love for the Chinese people. The Chinese themselves were shrewd enough to see this. The rulers of the Central Government, of course, said "hooray”, but others like Aime. Sun Yat-sen, widow of the founder of the Chinese Republic, said that the .civil war continued because the Kuomintang was backed by the U.S.A. Therefore she called for withdrawal of United States intervention forces. Joining the protest were fifty-six other prominent Chinese.
Another explosion of anti-American indignation was touched off following the reported raping of a Chinese girl by two U. S. Marines (they probably call themselves Christians) on Christinas eve. For days thereafter thousands of Chinese students from fifteen universities and colleges milled through the streets demanding, by poster, by pamphlet and by voice, that American soldiers and marines get out of China. Some of their posters read: “Get out or we'll throw you out!”; “China is not an American colony”; “Get out, you beasts!"; "The Japanese were not so bad”; ‘"United States soldiers can do nothing but kill and rape.” Chinese newspapers screamed with such headlines as: “American Marines' atrocity causes public auger1'; “What Japanese troops did not do, American troops are doing”; “Withdrawal from China unanimously demanded." A pamphlet signed “National China University' said:
They treat Ch peaceful people with the same inurbanity of manner as any imperialist would do to his colonies—beating and cheating our honest traders and coolies, insulting and boxing our innocent people, violating and abusing our decent women, attacking shops and stores and pounding their showroom glasses into pieces, and thousands of other cases of infernal deeds have been committed by them behind the mask of so-called “Allied friendship”.
Such an outbreak of indignation by thousands of educated Chinese is prompted by more than a single case of rape. It is China's “unofficial” reaction to America's blunderous, if not hypocritical, pretense at making peace.
The Shanghai Newsletter wonders whether General Marshall was a peacemaker or "commander in chief of the combined American-Kuomintang antiCommunist forces”. Another Chinese, after reporting 461 killed and 1,339 wounded, all civilians, by American-made planes and ammunition, said with much bitterness: “Whether the American government is willing to admit it, whether it likes it or not, nevertheless it is solely responsible for the nationwide outrageous operations of the Kuomintang air force.”
If some say that the United States was justified in giving military aid to the Kuomintang forces on the grounds that the Communists are supplied and armed by the Soviets, then Benjamin Welles* report in the New York Times (December 11,1946) dissolves such an argument. Said Welles: “Despite many rumors and a widespread belief to this effect, this observer has not found a shred of evidence to support the contention that the Soviet Union is now sending material aid to the Communists.”
Who WUl Solve the Puzzle
Failing to solve the Chinese peace puzzle, General Marshall recently returned to the United States to take over the job of secretary of state. In his public statement on the China situation he pointed out that all negotiations for a peaceful settlement had broken down because the leaders of both sides are not sincere in their desire to settle the issues involved other than by military victory. The dominant reactionary group in the Kuomintang party and the dyed-in-the-wool Communists overpower the liberals in both parties who are willing to set up a coalition government.
On January 29 the United States State Department announced the end of its mediation efforts in China. It terminated connections with the Committee of Three (United States, Chinese Nationalists and Chinese Communists) and the Executive FEBRUARY 22, 194-7
Headquarters organization in Peiping. The early withdrawal of United States military forces in China is expected. Chinese observers believed the only result of this move would be fiercer civil war in China. Clear-cut victory by Kuomintang or Communists would bring cessation of open warfare, but would be no guarantee of lasting peace. Peace under an authoritarian regime, whether Fascist or Nazi, Kuomintang or Communist, is an imitation peace, a bogus peace.
Last year China was taken out of the status of a missionary field by the Catholic church and given its own hierarchy, with Bishop Tien made its cardinal. But let none say that this is a new force in China that will in time bring peac,e to that troubled land. During his recent visit to the United States Cardinal Tien, the first Chinese to receive a “red hat”, was barking for war. He deplored the way the nations are delaying before they start World War III. This newly elected “prince of the church” said that “if fought immediately or in the not too distant future it would save more lives and avoid more destruction than a delayed war”. Is it any wonder that the poor victims of the recent bloody struggle turn away from the clergy who advocate and preach for a third, and more horrible, war?
Some suggest that since China is a member of the United Nations she should seek a peaceful solution from it. Foolish talk! A peace set up by the UN would be no more enduring than that feeble organization itself. It could be blown down by the single breath of a veto.
As long as men apply these worthless remedies wars and civil strife will continue, with no peace in China. An enduring, genuine and true peace, a peace that will satisfy all righteously disposed persons, can be established only by the One who has the power and authority from Jehovah God to do it, namely, Christ Jesus the King of The Theocratic Government, the “Prince of Peace”.
TEE eyes of the world turn toward New York city. Millions have pinned their hope for a peaceful world to a prospective skyscraper that is destined to rise from the water’s edge of the East river, on the fabulous isle of Manhattan. The United Nations General Assembly, on December 14,1946, formally accepted the gift of land for the structure from John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and the city of New York, and by a vote of forty-six to seven determined to establish the permanent home of the United Nations in Little Old New York, Here, where three hundred years ago. Indian braves roamed an unscarred wilderness, is to be reared the “capital of the world”.
That wilderness is gone now. Like the shadows that vanish at daybreak, the old Indian trails and wilderness haunts have faded into the dim past and are lost in the maze and tumult of today’s roaring metropolis. Looking at the skyline of Manhattan, that awesome brick-pile that has fascinated millions, it is difficult to remove the massive structures from the mind's eye and in their stead see a rugged land covered with forest trees and abounding with wild animals. But if time could be turned back far enough, what is now Manhattan would be seen as a jagged mountain range. Then out of the north came the glaciers that sculptured anew the face of the earth, and as they melted and receded they left in their wake a land of rolling hills and marshes. Mountaintops had been pushed into the sea, and the denuded land left by the glaciers seemed abandoned to the merciless erosive power of rain and river and restless ocean. But an armor of greenery spelled defeat for the new assailants of the land as trees and bushes sprang up profusely to shield the soil with forests and thickets.
Manhattan's inhabitants in those distant days .were denizens of the wild: bear, wolves, foxes, panthers, deer, the wild turkey, and other members of the bird and animal realm that are pleased to look upon such a wilderness entanglement as home. Unwelcome neighbors were three groups of Algonquian Indians. These Indians were outcasts from the larger tribes in the north, had fought with some of the powerful Iroquois, and had been driven to this picturesque locality. Here they hunted and fished in leisurely fashion, a mere handful living off the land that now supports millions.
An unsettled question is the identity of the first white man to discover this territory, but it is definitely established that Henry Hudson sailed into New York harbor in 1609 and headed on up the river that now bears his name, Captivated by the charm of the land, Hudson enthusiastically reported its beauties to the Dutch government that backed his explorations, and many seeking fame and
fortune and adventure set sail for the new land. By virtue of discovery the Dutch claimed the land and established their first settlement on the lower tip of Manhattan and called it New Amsterdam. In 162G the now famous “steal” of the entire island took place, when Peter Minuit gave to the Indians what amounted to some twenty-four dollars. From that time forward the history of the colony was one of conquest. Four European powers coveted the waterway leading into the colony. Finally the land fell under British control, then back to the Dutch, and thereafter it returned to Britain by treaty, who ruled the colony till the Revolution. Although the community has been growing for over three centuries, it is the last century that has seen the small town of a few thousand grow to its present population of 7,782,000.
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Space for Growth—Up
And that growth of the city was novel in itself. It seemed determined to grow upward rather than spread outward. True, the city’s near 8,000,000 do not all crowd onto Manhattan island, but spill over into four other boroughs: the Bronx, on the mainland across the Harlem river; Brooklyn and Queens, on the western end of Long Island, separated from Manhattan by the East river; and the borough of Richmond, which perches on Staten Island in the mouth of New York harbor. These boroughs have their attractions, such as the Bronx’s zoological park and botanical gardens, Brooklyn’s rolling Prospect Park of rustic beauty and her famous Coney Island, Queens’ La Guardia airfield, and Staten Island’s highest point on the coast south of Maine to Florida. But unquestionably it is Manhattan, with its imposing skyline, that gives New York city its glamour; audit is io Manhattan that the novel growth upw’ard is strikingly evidenced. Hemmed in on all sides by the waters of Hudson and Harlem and East rivers and New York harbor, this island borough had hardly begun to grow when its outward spread was halted by the lapping waters. It must go either up or down. Atomic bombs and rocket warfare had not yet turned men’s minds to consider underground cities; moreover, down there was to be the realm of the rumbling subways. So the growing borough of Manhattan planted its feet firmly in solid rock and began to resolutely push itself skyward.
Ever higher into the blue vault above, the invading skyscrapers of men rose, till the time came when they rivaled the original rugged ranges that were decapitated by the grinding glaciers. And the higher the buildings towered, the deeper into the mass sank the streets that crisscrossed in and out, streets that seemed to he pressed narrower and narrower as the canyon-like walls of brick and concrete soared always higher. Dark streets. Dreary streets. Streets that seldom felt the rays of sunlight that struck the buildings overhead. And what air currents find their way through these man-made canyons have none of the fresh tang characteristic of mountain breezes. Nor do the millions of modern cliff-dwellers that scurry about on the tangle of streets reflect the ruddv health of the moun-taineer. Seventy-four percent of New York’s population lives above the ground, stacked family on top of family in- the city’s 140,000 apartment houses. Growth skyward has not been to their advantage. Visiting out-of-towners note these drawbacks and, even as they gasp at the city’s sights, avow that while New York is all right to visit it is no place to live.
Visitors and even residents remember their first glimpse of Manhattan’s skyline, and many see it first as .they are ferried to the island or as passenger ships pull into the harbor. Ship passengers see on their left that well-known landmark, the Statue of Liberty. Also to the left lies Ellis Island, a place many of America’s millions will remember as
their Hist stop in America. -Through the customs gates on this island have come many of New York's 2,000,000 Jews, 1,000,000 Italians, 925,000 Bugsians, 000,000 Germans, 400,000 Poles, 300,000 Austrians, a goodly share of the Irish officers that largely comprise New York's 20,000-man police force, but only a tiny trickle of the 500,000 Negroes that call New York home. However, views to the left and the right are not the ones that monopolize the attention of ship passengers ; it is the massive bulk of Manhattan's skyscrapers that seems to rise out of the water itself that captures and holds the visitor's fascinated gaze. But Manhattan is more than a skyline, so let us dose in for some details.
View over Manhattan
The island of Manhattan is twelve and a half miles long and two and a half miles wide, and on it are bunched up 1,902,000 of Greater New York's near SjOOOjOOO inhabitants. Twenty bridges, eighteen tunnels and seventeen ferry runs link the island with the rest of the city and the New Jersey shore. Around th© lower half of the island piers jut out into the water to receive the freighters from all parts of the globe that are pulled and pushed about through the harbor waters by the mighty little tugs. In from th© piers rise warehouses and factories, and on the lower tip of the island famous Wall Street squeezes its way between the towering buildings dedicated to finance. It is this lower section of Manhattan that makes the borough's skyline impressive, despite the fact that a few miles above it the appalling Empire State building shoots its bulk 102 stories into the air. That world's tallest building pokes upward 1,250 feet, to reign undisputed king over New York's skyscrapers. It has to look down 204 feet before it can see the head of its nearest rival, the Chrysler building, eight blocks north on gay Forty-second street.
-From the observation tower of th© Empire State building the varied social sections of New York can be seen, but to see how life marches on in these areas one must abandon such a detached observatory and mingle in with the streams of people that seem like crawling ants far below, A tour of “Hell's Kitchen”, on the west side, and the Bowery and the deplorable slums on the east side nauseates the uninitiated; yet a row or two of blocks over and the visitor finds himself in the city’s piushiest neighborhoods : Fifth Avenue, Park Avenue, airconditioned apartments, exclusive penthouses to tickle the fanciful whims of the elite. Some have so much yet sweat so little; others labor long yet have only the garbage-littered sidewalks and cheerless tenements of the slums. However, do not erroneously conclude that New Yorkers live in either swank apartments or slums. The majority dwell in apartments of middle-class comfort, only minus the front and back yards that the average American considers a part of home.
But a way of escape from such surroundings greets the gaze when one turns northward. In relieving contrast with the turbulent and noisy city, right in the very heart of Manhattan, stretching several blocks wide and all the way from 59th street to 110th is beautiful Central Park. Trees and lakes, trails and bridle paths, hills and lawns, zoo and playground—what a restorative to jangled nerves! Where tired feet can tread on ground and grass instead of unyielding concrete. Where a variety of birds flit through the foliage, and ducks paddle ou the lake with boaters. And the squirrels —selfish little squirrels with winning ways—that beg for peanuts and boldly clamber all over their benefactors that teasingly hold out on them. This park, plus roomy Prospect and Bronx Park, embraces 2,066 acres, and boasts many of New York's 2,240,000 trees; 230,000 of which, surprisingly to some, grow in Brooklyn.
Tempestuous Life^Dny and Night
Central Park’s charm, its peace, its quiet and its easy tempo are doubtless enhanced manyfold due to the contrasting noise and roar and fast pace of living that is everywhere around this refuge. The distinguishing feature of a New Yorker’s life first noted by the visitor is the hustle and bustle. It is catching. It sweeps all before it. The meandering brook can no longer meander when it enters the rapids. So the scores of thousands that jostle in every few blocks of Manhattan must keep moving. Each must get out of the way of the next. Transportation facilities add to the hubbub. Private cars, streetcars, single- and doubledeck buses surge along in the streets, but the city’s rude 10,000 taxicabs honk their way ahead of all other vehicles and give many a pedestrian many a scare. Keep moving, always fast, and sometimes faster than that. And now add to the din the clatterings and screechings of rickety elevated trains, and cock your ear over the sidewalk ventilating gratings and listen to the rumble and roar of those efficient speeding subway trains as they hurtle themselves through their dark tunnels that network the bowels of Manhattan and three of the other boroughs of New York, carrying some two billion weary-faced passengers yearly. Noisy, nerve-wracking New York. Blissful Central Park.
Nighttime brings no relief. True, as one looks from a distance at its skyline at night, almost spellbound by the artificial beauty of its bulk rising out of the still waters, studded as it is by hundreds of thousands of square patches of light shining from the windows of its skyscrapers, there is a strange air of intrigue and quiet mystery about it. But in next to. its bosom the noisy confusion has heightened with nightfall, if anything. The Harlem hot spots, Rockefeller Center (“showplace of the nation”), Times Square; and Dazzling Broadway, the “Great White Way” that lures many to its glamorous whirl, to applaud and idolize a very few while heartlessly ignoring the very many that come with ambition and brave hope, these places come to riotous life after the sun sets. Lights, fanfare, crowds, music, entertainment, the crossroads of the theatrical world. Here in this section can be found approximately half the city’s 64 stage theaters, along with a large portion of its 700 movie theaters, 1,315 dance halls, cabarets and night clubs, 8 concert halls, and its 6,679 bars and cocktail lounges. But if you don’t think New Yorkers like their tumultuous Times Square area, go there some evening and watch the throngs of people, going nowhere, seeing everything, continuously moving because the heaving crowd drags them along, with some of the milling humanity overflowing the sidewalks and spilling into the streets. The stream goes on always at high tide, though it drops off many into the numerous theaters, restaurants, penny arcades, bars and night dubs. Unsleeping New York.
“Gets in the Blood”
Yes, all this is the visitor’s impression of New York city. The city that spends two million dollars every twenty-four hours to keep itself manicured and operating ; that boasts more tourists on even the hottest days than does Florida; that receives a passenger train every fifty seconds, and whose harbor handled sixty percent of the nation’s wartime shipping ; that has the most movie houses, the most newspapers, and more telephones than London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels combined; and, amazingly, this eastern metropolis is ahead of western towns and cities in flesh-and-blood horsepower due to its 19,000 horses that are found pulling milk wagons and delivery carts. New York is a remarkable city, a city of thorough organization. Civil liberties are well guarded, administration is efficient, the problems of electric and water supply are interestingly solved and would
prove absorbing chapters in themselves, and the educational facilities open to New Yorkers are enormous. Schools for adults, the museums of art and natural history, and the New York Public Library with its 144 branches, are illustrations of opportunities for self-instruction and education. Certainly interesting statistics on the city could continue indefinitely. It has^wide variety of activity and moods. It lacks dull moments. Sometimes dull moments .would be welcome respite. But for those New Yorkers who think so, there are many others who vehemently disagree. The staunch supporters avow that the blistering pace of bustling Little Old New York "gets in the blood”.
And now still more activity elbows its way into overcrowded Manhattan. Another peak of concrete and brick will add its bulk to the famous skyline. Whether it will surpass in impressiveness the present skyscrapers comprising this artificial mountain range remains to be seen; but it will certainly be the focal point for the eyes of a desperately hopeful world, for the newcomer will house UN. From Forty-second street to Fortyeighth street, and one block wide, the buildings for the new capital of the world will run along East river. There men of the world’s nations will strive for peace.
Nevertheless, success in permanent peacemaking is reserved for another city, a holy city, a heavenly city, "a city which .hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 11:10) Faithful men before and after Christ Jesus looked for that city. Now true Christians trust and hope in it. That holy city that descends from God out of heaven ends sorrow and weeping and pain, wipes away all tears, and even does away with death. (Revelation 21:1-5) Man’s "capital of the world” can never compete seriously as a peacemaker with Jehovah’s holy city Zion, the glorious Kingdom of Christ.—Isaiah 9:6? 7; Daniel
Serum
Comic
Tragedy
She was a doctor’s child, and he Embraced the opportunity
From all disease to make her free With absolute immunity.
“And first,” said he, “as I endorse Prevention of diphtheria,
This antitoxin from a horse Should kill some bad hacteria,
“This vaccine virus from a cow
(And I endorse it fully)
Should help along, and anyhow ’Twill make the child feel ^buHy'.
“Of snake-bite serum just a touch;
We get it from a rabbit
Which we have bitten up so much It really likes the habit.
“Some meningitis toxin, too, Would better be injected;
A guinea pig we strain it through To get it disinfected.
“Some various serums of my own Pm rather sure will answer;
I make them for all troubles known, From freckles up to cancer.”
Alas! Alaa! For all his pains The end was scarce desirous;
She soon had nothing in her veins But various kinds of virus.
Part horse, part cow, part sheep, part goat, Her langh was half a whinney;
“Dear me,” said he, “she’s half a shoat, And badly mixed with guinea,
“A girl who bleats and chews a cud Will never make a woman;
I’d hetter get some good clean blood And make her partly human.”
—Contributed,
Ousting the
British Lion
from the
Land of the Pyramids
THROUGH the centuries of time the Great Sphinx of Giza, together with the age-resisting pyramids that stand amid ever-shifting sands, has silently watched the changing history of Egypt. Egypt, the first world power, whose proud Pharaohs once ruled the earth. Egypt, that now sits among the small nations of thS world, yet tries to dictate a treaty of friendship with the still mighty British Lion.
Emerging from World War II on the side of the victors, Egypt suddenly became conscious that her “national dignity” was being wounded by the presence of British troops on her soil, as provided in the tw’enty-year treaty signed in 1936 and subject to revision in ten years. In September, 1945, she sent a note asking that the treaty be revised immediately. Britain, in reply, expressed surprise that the present treaty was unsatisfactory, noted that it was not subject to revision for another year, and pleaded that she was too busy to talk about it. However, the British Lion became frightened when Egyptian students began their riot campaign. The students threw not only hand grenades but also ultimatums to the effect that if Britain did not remove her troops they would start a “holy war”. It was then that Britain decided to stall for time by “negotiating”.
After the preliminary talks the treaty conference formally opened in May, 1946. Egypt’s two major demands were for the immediate withdrawal of British troops and the return of the Sudan to sole rulership by Egypt, the defense of the Suez
Canal being closely tied to the troop question. But these issues could not be divorced from Egypt’s internal problems and Britain’s external empire difficulties, both of which complicated the discussions.
Egyptian Politics
Like al!other coumnes in this discontented world, Egypt has its assortment of political cults, sects and parties. Besides the two prominent ones, the Saadist and the Wafdist, there are the Constitutional Liberal party, the Moslem Brothers’ Association, the Young Egypt Movement, the Young lien’s Moslem Association, and the small Kotla party. Despite their several differences, they all agree on one thing, and that is that British troops must be withdrawn from the land of the Nile, promptly and permanently. How to accomplish this is the question that is hotly disputed by the various parties.
At the time this constitutional kingdom demanded that the 1936 treaty be revised Mahmoud Nokrashy Pasha, of the Saadist party, was prime minister, but his three-party coalition government was in power less than a year when it was replaced in February, 1946. In his place Ismail Sidky Pasha was appointed by the king to form a new cabinet. His reputation as a strong man dated back to 1930-33, when, as premier, he suspended the constitution, banned newspapers, and imprisoned writers. Coming to power once again at a time of crisis his first problem was to bring under control the
explosive hotbeds of super-nationalism found in the schools and universities. Student rioting, battling the police, burning of English textbooks, and stabbing and grenading were reduced by closing the schools for a while and by enforcing JSidky Pasha’s decrees with an iron military hand. Only by a display of some sort of controlled national unity could Egypt hope to gain her points at the treaty conference.
After ten months in office 70-year-old Sidky Pasha handed in his resignation, in December, 1946, because of failing health, and Nokrashy Pasha once more took the reins of government. Nokrashy, being a bitter foe of the student parties, continued the strong measures of his predecessor with the warning that violations of the special decree® would result in six-month imprisonments. In this wuy he hoped to strengthen Egypt’s position as she continued to barter with Britain.
The charge that Communism was entirely to blame for Egypt’s turmoil seemed to be ill-founded. Last July following a Communist scare the government swooped down on the troublemakers, concerning which Clifton Daniel, of the New York Times, said: 'The roundup has produced a very mixed bag indeed, for it includes several men who cannot be called anything but capitalists and even some millionaires. . . . Many of these people would not by any known definition in Western countries be considered other than Liberals or Socialists." This minimizes the size and number of the Communist bones found in the Egyptian stew.
The Old Lion Can Still Fight
If Britain possessed the strength that she had during the days of Queen Victoria Egypt would gain nothing by negotiations. But now the British Lion is getting old and its troubles have multiplied in many quarters: India, Burma and Palestine. Distend of baring her fangs and daws she is now inclined to compromise and make concessions, if by doing so she can retain friendly relations with a country like Egypt. British diplomacy, however, will give ground only under the greatest pressure, as has been demonstrated at these Anglo-Egyptian talks.
Technically, there is still a state of war, hence the need of British troops in Egypt, say the British^ Then when Egypt points to the fact that English and French forces have been withdrawn from Syria and Lebanon, and therefore they should be removed from Egypt, Britain argues that such removals give all the more reason why her troops should remain in Egypt. The disturbances in Palestine, the unrest in India and Burma, the threat of Russian aggression toward the Persian Gulf, are reasons assigned for retaining strong British garrisons in Egypt to guard Britain's life Une through the Suez. If the defenses of the Suez were turned over to the Egyptians, say some British statesmen, then in case of war there would be the possibility that Egypt would show friendship to the enemy under a cloak of “neutrality” as Eire did in the recent war. This was Britain’s position as the treaty conference got under way.
But Egyptian pressure in the form of threatened outbreaks of violence soon brought British statesmen to compromising, They offered to withdraw their troops if Egypt would make a military alliance for the mutual defense of the Middle East. The Egyptians did not want this, so more concessions were made. At first Britain said it would take her five years to evacuate her troops. Egypt said immediately, Compromise made it three years.
The other question, the question of the Sudan, is almost as great an issue as the presence of British troops. The Sudan, an area of 2,000,000 square miles located in the upper half of the Nile valley, is 1,300 miles long and 1,000 miles wide. It was under Egyptian rule up until 1882,
when a revolt brought the British to the aid of the Egyptians. Thereafter a joint Anglo-Egyptian, or condominium form of government, has ruled the Sudan, with the British holding the upper hand. Now the Egyptians are agitating for a return of that country to Egyptian rule.
At first Britain pushed the question to one side saying that it would require “study”. Then, when the Egyptians put a few more twists in the old Lion’s tail, Britain came up with this surprising answer. Said she: the Sudanese must choose for themselves whether they want to return to Egyptian rule or whether they want their independence. Coming from imperial empire builders, such a proposal had a strange ring. What natives did she ever ask in times past if they wanted to be ruled over by Britain ? In the next breath British diplomacy explained that until “the time is ripe”, until all the tribal chieftains are able to make a proper choice, British “tutelage” must continue.
Last October a treaty containing these “very generous” concessions was drafted, but Egypt wouldn’t sign, claiming that it was too much like the present one. As a persuasive gesture Britain then evacuated the naval base at Alexandria, the first time in 64 years. The next month, December, 1946, she withdrew large numbers of troops from Cairo and Alexandria. But still Egypt held out in an effort to force Britain to sign on Egypt’s terms.
Other Powerful Factors
Many other things of great weight have influenced the decisions of both countries. Egypt’s economy, for one thing, is none too good. She is a one-crop cotton-picking country, and she must sell it. Britain can buy Egypt’s very excellent cotton, or she can “freeze” it by manipulating the market.
Then there is oil, the “black gold” of the Middle East. Britain is very much interested in the great unexplored oil pools that lie beneath the bosom of Arabia, Iraq and Iran. With oil-thirsty Russia eyeing these same fields Britain wants both peace with Egypt and a secure base in that country.
One of Egypt’s greatest assets in driving a bargain with Britain is the powerful Arab states that are backing her up. More than 90 percent of Egypt’s population are Moslems; hence Britain is careful to do nothing that will give rise to a "holy war”. With her hands full in Palestine Britain calculates to the last digit every move she makes to ascertain the reaction it will produce among the Arabs.
Then there is the United Nations. Some of Egypt’s strategists insist that the UN should be asked to make Britain sign on Egypt’s terms. But it is doubtful that the UN would give Egypt a better deal than Britain has offered. Russia might back her claims, but the United States, a powerful influence in the UN, has already advised Egypt to sign on the British line. The reason for this is that America and Britain have the same interests in the Afiddle Eastern oil fields. In the one country of Saudi Arabia American oil companies hold a concession on nearly 300,000,000 acres. However, on January 27 Premier Nokrashy Pasha announced his government would submit the British-Egyptian treaty question to the United Nations Security Council, and was immediately thereafter given an overwhelming vote of confidence by the Egyptian Chamber of Deputies, 175 supporting, 15 opposing, and 6 abstaining. But alas, a fist fight broke out on the Parliament floor over the matter, as King Farouk I, attending incognito, looked on as a spectator.
Whichever way the issue is settled, whether the British Lion remains in Egypt or is ousted, peace will elude the downtrodden peoples. In these days nations seem to he either united to fight outside nations or divided to fight inter; nal factions. It is a case of crying “Peace, peace; when there is no peace”.—Jeremiah 6:14.
w^L B*- -W ■
Have You Made This Sacrifice?
A SOLDIER falling in the line of duty is said to have made "the supreme sacrifice” for his country. But what he has sacrificed for his political government and its domain is only his present life. Jew, Catholic, Protestant, and infidel, all alike make this human “sacrt-fice" when falling in battle, but this is not to be confused with what a true and Scripturally defined Christian makes in the way of sacrifice acceptable to God.
The Christian believer is, to start with, a fleshly creature born without the right to everlasting life on earth. His Leader, Jesus Christ, was born immaculate as a human creature and possessed the right to everlasting human life on earth. Jesus, by keeping His blamelessness down till His death as a martyr in this sinful world, retained that right to human life. But this life He willingly laid down, ac-cording to God's purpose. When God raised Him out of death as a spirit person clothed upon with immortality and incorruptibility, Jesus Christ did not any longer need that right to eternal human life. So, when He ascended on high into God's presence, He offered it to His Father to be used in behalf of the needy ones on earth. How? In the following order:
First, Jesus applied the merit of His human sacrifice jn behalf of those whom it is God's purpose to make heirs of heavenly glory with His victorious Son, Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 9:23-26) During Christ's 1000-year reign over earth after the approaching battle of Armageddon He will then apply merit in behalf of all Others who prove worthy of life everlasting in Paradise on this earth. The benefit of the merit of Jesus’ human sacrifice does not come automatically to any man or woman, but comes only to those showing faith in God's provision through Christ The benefit that comes now during this present evil world to Christians for whom Jesus’ merit is applied is justification by faith, which faith is demonstrated by consecrating oneself to God through Christ, The divine rule is, “By the works of the [Mosaic] law shall no flesh be justified/', and so justification now must be by faith in Jesus' blood which God caused Him to provide by His human sacrifice. Since the merit applied to Christians is from Jesus' human sacrifice, the justification of these Christians by faith is as to their flesh, for naturally they are sinners in {he flesh.
Their justification now is only a means to an end. The faith in God and His Christ which results in justification now is expressed by the believer in making an all-comprehending consecration of himself to Jehovah God through Christ. All his own self-righteousnesses are “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6); and therefore on the basis of his own works the consecrating person would never be acceptable to God, either on a battlefield or anywhere else. But through the application to him of the benefits of Christ's righteousness as contained in His human sacrifice at Calvary, the believer consecrating to God can be made receivable to Him to become His servant.
To the consecrated Christians whom
God has now justified by faith and by the power of Jesus’ blood, these phrases are written: “Righteousness . . . shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: . . . being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.” “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”—Quoted from Romans 4:22-25; 5:1,9; 8:1; 12:1,2.
The foregoing words make it plain that the justification comes to those who are now favored to become the sons of God by His begetting them with His spirit. Justification is given to such ones through Christ in order that their bodies may be presented as a living sacrifice in behalf of the vindication of God’s holy name. When yielding up their bodies they also give up all claim on future human life, the right to which resulted to them from being justified through Jesus’ merit. Everybody please note that the apostle writes the exhortation to “present your bodies a living sacrifice” to consecrated Christians, or “saints”, who have the testimony and who know that they have been begotten of God’s spirit and that they are heavenly heirs with God’s Son Jesus Cbrist. To such the apostle further wrote, saying: “Ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to he compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”—Romans 8:15-18.
It is because all human life-prospects for the coming New World of righteousness were sacrificed that the consecrated Christians have been begotten of God to spiritual life in the heavens. Their carrying out their consecration faithfully thereafter down till human death will be rewarded in the resurrection by their being given life in the spirit in heaven with Christ. That their lives might be acceptable to God and be approved for sacrifice was why they were justified by the merit of Jesus* blood applied to them. Their human lives and the right to future hjiman life in the New World are thus sacrificed, not that it brings merit to other human creatures. It could not do that, because their justification is by faith, and all the merit is credited to them and is from Jesus’ perfect sacrifice of himself as God’s High Priest. Hence the Christians’ lives are sacrificed in the service of God, unselfishly, and in the interest of His kingdom and for the vindicating of His holy name. For this reason it is that heavenly hopes and prospects are given to them. They realize these at the resurrection of the dead when God’s kingdom is established by His enthroning of His Son Jesus Christ. —Revelation 11:15-19; 12:1-11.
Those of mankind who receive everlasting life on earth during the thousandyear reign of Christ and His saints do not make the above-described sacrifice. Of course they don’t, because Jesus Christ the King bestows upon them, not life in heaven, but everlasting life on earth as perfect human creatures; and this human life in the earthly paradise they retain forever by their faithful obedience to His kingdom. Thus they neither sacrifice human life nor forfeit It;
Inside Quebec Jails
SICKENING conditions in the cells now used in Quebec’s modern inquisition against Jehovah’s witnesses were publicly aired in the Montreal newspaper
The Standard, of December 21, 1946. Part of its write-up follows:
Women ‘Witnesses’ Rap Jail Conditions
Provincial Police headquarters on Notre Dame street is the worst jail in Montreal, according to a groiip of Jehovah’s Witnesses who have been in such jails as Number One at the Recorder's Court, the Fullum Street jail and the provincial police jail. Here are some of their comments, all supported by affidavit.
“Eleven of us were arrested one Saturday and taken to provincial police headquarters on Notre Dame street They kept us there from Saturday until Monday, refusing to allow us to phone our relatives or lawyers. Finally, on Monday afternoon, one of the girls made such a fuss that they let her phone to give the first news to our relatives of our whereabouts.
“That week-end was a nightmare. We were very frightened and nobody dared sleep. During that week-end the only food we were given was cupcakes, stew so burned we couldn’t eat it and vile tea. In the morning we were given hunks of unbuttered bread with cheese or bologna between the slices. One girl was treated very roughly by a policeman when she was arrested. He lifted her up and threw her into the police van.
“One of the girls was very sick with a woman's Illness, but the most elementary medical supplies were refused her. She says she was so dirty she hated herself. She had no opportunity to wash until she got to the Fullum street Jail. There were only seven beds in the cell for nine of us. There were not enough blankets to go around and we had to use our coats. But during the day It was bo hot we couldn’t breathe. The window was locked and a bright, glaring light was left on all night Everything we asked the guards they lied about. Even the time. They told us we were going to be bailed out when they took us to Fullum street. They told the sick girl they had called a drugstore for her. They told ,us we could use the phone ‘tomorrow* but when the time came, they refused us.
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“One of the girls was arrested on Saturday morning with three other Witnesses and put in the provincial police Jail. They shared a cell and bathroom facilities, an open toilet and a small basin, with a girl suffering from second degree syphilis. She had bandages on when the girls arrived hut she took them off during the night and refused to replace them. She had open, running sores all over her arms and on her ears.
“Every two or three minutes men looked into our cell. We had no chance to undress with any privacy at all. We only had cold water with which to wash and no towels or soap. It was the wor&t thing we had ever experienced and our nerves were shattered.
“Number One jail at the Recorder’s Court is much better than the provincial police Jail but it is infested with bedbugs and lice. We had to brush the vermin off our clothes before going into court.
“Fullum Street jail, from our experience, la everything that Mrs. Orr has said about It. (Former Matron Florence E. Orr recently exposed intolerable conditions at the provincially operated Fullum women’s jail when she addressed the Canadian Penal Congress In Windsor, Ont, in October,)
“The matrons treated us very kindly and they couldn’t have been nicer but they had to labor under great handicaps. The food is bad. It is cooked in aluminum and served that way and the black from the pot oxidizes on the food. Our mouths swelled and our whole systems were upset Some of the girls got sores In their mouths and pimples. When we went in we had supper consisting of bread, cheese, Jam and tea. We went Into the dormitories and our group was divided up into different rooms. Some were put with the ‘remands’, some with the already sentenced, and the balance were put in the surgery. Each dormitory has one toilet and one bath serving it. There were 19 girls In one dormitory and several of them were being treated for venereal diseases. The girl® in the surgery, nine of them, had no bathing facilities and a pall for a toilet.
“After seeing one of the other prisoners with an open eore on her arm using the bath, we were afraid to use it. Most of the girls with whom we were placed were prostitutes and they discussed their activities together In intimate detail all the time we were there. Two girls were dope addicts. They had to appear in court one day, and when they returned one of them had some dope, which they divided up that night. They didn’t quiet down until the early hours of the morning, keeping the rest of us awake. We were not molested by the other prisoners, but It Is difficult for us to describe what went on among them at night. They smoked in bed and we were terribly afraid of fire.
“A typical day’s menu was porridge very badly cooked and without sugar but with a little milk, bread aud water for breakfast Lunch was vegetable soup of a very watery quality, cheese, bread and tea full of saltpetre. Supper might be potato fish cake, Jam, bread and tea, or a dish of macaroni, Jam, bread and tea. There never was enough to eat and we felt steadily weaker each day. It is hard to imagine how a girl can come out of such a place after a month in a fit state of health to find a Job and work like a normal person.
“We hope that If this is reported, something will be done to make these places fit for humans.”
Television
How It Works
TELEVISION is one of the most ingenious and complex of modem inventions. Though it has only recently emerged from the laboratory stage of development, it already gives strong promise of surpassing all other forms of communication. Timely, then, the questions: Just what is television? how does it function f and what are some of its practical applications ?
As the name itself indicates, television literally means “far off vision'’. Its fundamental principles are simple in themselves, but the practical application of the principles is another matter, one that requires the solution of formidable engineering problems. As in the transmission of sound the processes are transforming the mechanical motion of sound waves into electrical current for sending and at the receiving end transforming the electrical current back into mechanical motion of sound waves, so the essen- . tial processes of television are the same: the scene to be televised mus’t be transformed into an equivalent electrical current at the transmitter and this current must be retranaformed into a physical picture or scene at the receiver.
The manner whereby these functions are performed is interesting to behold. Imagine transforming a moving scene into an electrical current! Who ever heard of such a thing! Impossible? It certainly appears to the layman to be an uncanny problem, to say the least. And, as a matter of fact, that was one of the major problems requiring solution before television emerged from the laboratory. Solved it has been, but only after the development of certain electronic devices used in the allied arts, devices which have been adapted to television purposes. Having in mind, then, that in television
the scene must first be transformed into an electrical current before “far off vision” can become a reality, let us see how this seeming impossibility has been made to emerge from the realm of the mystical to became a reality.
7*Ae Electron and the Photoelectric Tube
Everywhere one goes today one encounters the use of the invisible electron as mankind's obedient servant in a multitude of ways. In the home, in the factory, on. the farm, everywhere the electron is in evidence in one- form or another. Television would be utterly impossible without it. From the time the subject to.be televised is picked up by the television camera to the time it is reproduced on the screen of the receiver, the electron reigns supreme. Several electronic instruments utilized in the allied arts have come to occupy key positions in the television field.- two of these are known as “the photoelectric tube” and “the cathode-ray tube”. But how can they possibly transform visible objects into invisible electrical currents, and, vice versa, transform invisible electrical currents into visible objects? In other words, how do they make television possible?
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