!i;'; .. .K.PAGE H.SHAW B.RUDDJCIC P.ANDERSON F.R.SCOTT MONTREAL, CANADA FEBRUARY, 1943. THIS ISSUE IS DEDICATED TO THE RED ARMY WHOSE RECENT HEROIC SUCCESSES HAVE DONE SO MUCH FOR THE CAUSE OF HUMAN FREEDOM AND CULTURE ZVERYWHERE . Edited by Patrick Anderson. SOME ASPECTS OF THE WAR: A CIVILIAN REPORT (Notes This report is in no sense an attempt to give an over-all survey of civilian life. Its aim is to show a number of writers and artists in relation to their environment. In view of the steadily increasing democratization of the Canadian scene it would obviously be unfair and, indeed, positively · inaccurat0 to say 'This is a typical plant' or tThis is n typical offioe• What is demonstrable is the degree of a"W'El..reness shown in the accounts given. ) 1. STENOGRAPHERS P.K. Page When I asked tho girls at the office why they were working in a wnr firm the answer wn.s nearly always the same -a friend had told them of a vacancy. Of course, there were oxc0ptions: one girl wanted to moot payments on cm exponsive co.rpet, one or two wo.nted to be identified with tho ·wo.r. But · regardless of the reasons that had brought them there they were o.11, o.t first, eager to do a good job. If they beco.me less eager with time they can hardly be blamed. Hn.d it not been for the rumours kept in perpetual circulntion that the Selective Service would fr0ozo you out of nll other firms if you resigned from a war firm -or the alternative one, that tho Selective Service could mn.ke you to.ke any job that happened to be open at the time you regist ered -mn.ny of them would hnve loft nftor n few months. They would have left because of the 'boss' or because of a series of arbitrary rules that were enforced upon them, There were as many rules as th0ro were days. Each new· one led directly to o.nothor. Chief among them wa.s tho derno.nd for punctuality, If you were lo.to you signed a specinl book and consequently received a memo to the effect that such behaviour would not be tolerated again. But there was no propaganda issued on the nec&ssity for punctuality; no mention made of the number of working hours lost through casualness; and later, when the traffic tie-ups became ncute, no l0niency shovm. Momo writers driving to work in their ovm cnrs could have no conceivable idea of how serious tho transportation situntion hnd become, nor did they realize that many of the girls were stnrting out an hour earlier than usual to try to cope with it. Another rule forbade u milk route through the office and still another forbude the use of the rost room except nt noon hour. The combination of these two forced tho stuff to bring 'lunches' from home and cat them in tho washroom. Tho wn.shroom had a long row of lnvatorios, u long row of bnsins, two chairs Qnd no window. There the girls congrogQtod during their rest period, smoked, combed thoir hair, nte their cookies and snng. Lo.tor th0rc was a rule nbout singing. The ~boss' had a general conviction that all Yroncn •,7cro fools and an idoc fixc thRt any uistnkoo rm.do 110ro dolibero.t0. If you told hin, sononho.t horoicn:lly porhnps, thnt you u0ro too ooncornod ovor tho -rrnr to go ttbout intontionnlly snbotnging proc1ucti()n tho c0nvorsntion bocnno pors·)nnl innodintoly. Ho wns concornod nbout tho i-rnr too. Diel nnyono think: ho 011joyod ]mowing -his nothcr hnd people .billotod on hor? Did nnyono think tht1t ho yui.s nnt nnking n gron.t sncrifico. in doing this r,nrti culnr j cb? Ylell, ho didn't nnd ho TTns. It nas nll ns sinplo ns thnt. No nonti \)n was over nado of tho issues behind tho v1nr, nor 1;1ns nnything over d1J110 t .) c'\llovin.to tho naj1:-ir office nannco, bn:rodon. Secretaries alone are tho only members of a junior staff who nro not dogged by it. Ty-pists d0ing straight copy -.1ork go stnlo vory quickly~ Filing clerks standing on their hoods f ()r eight hours a day in oirloss vnults cr\sily forgot ho~ th0ir jobs arc relntod to tho wnr. Licking lnbcls ofton seems tho antit:1osis of licking Fnscism. Yet no variety was introduced into tho ~orking dny nnd strRngoly, no cog and wheel analogy drnYm to stirnulnto int0rest. For the 'boss' wns too busy sA.ving livos to realize an effici.on'f; staff 11·:)ulcl bring about the rcsult ho disir0d. Ho snid ho uos not CC"'ncornod with n hnppy office, all ho ,;:ranted uas nn office thnt r1orkod. Naturally, he hnd neither. During tho tirae I uas there only one parson tried nnything npproximnting tho psychologioal opproP..ch. Ho was a sonewhnt scruffy little man uho raade n point of finding out nbout the girls and lenrned thnt most of then hnd boy-friends in one of tho services. Fron then on he used the boy-fri ond as a lover. It wns ccrtn.inly not tho nost dosirnblo Tin.y of getting ,1ork done, for tricks hnve n hnbit of Tionring thin fairly quickly but it w,::rr-ked v1cll ooough for a tir,10 TTi th pooplo uho think alnost cxclusivoly in porsonfllitios. .And most of tho girls do. They think of tho wnr effort in toms of parsonnlities, they think of their p0rsonal froodon in tho sm10 tcIT.1s -both sonohow Rr:.sing fron and oonnoctod nith tho boyfriend and both, confusingly, s00r1ing to pull in opposi~o diroctions. Unf,')rtunntcly thcro r1as no one to tell tha:1 that ninning tho uar rtnd · ottnining personal fr,oodon nro on0 nnd the srnno thing. .. TYPISTS They without message, hnving reGd , tho running 110 rds on their nnohinos know overy letter ns a star.1p cutting the stancils of their en.:rts. Deep in their hands, as pinnists., Rll longing gropes nnd moves, is trnppad behind tho t,onsilo. gloves,.of skin. Or blind, sit uith their fncos locked nuay fron ~ork, their v~ried eyes aro stiff as averlnsting fiorrcrs. While fingers on a differcm.t plane porforr..1 the autonntic aot and questions grope, along tho dnrk nnd tTiisting ccirridors of brnin. Cro~dod together tYDists touch softly AS ducks and s0a1 t0 scns0 each oth0r' s Anguish Yli th the suift synJ:)nthy of the deaf and dur_1b. 11. WAR .AND THE UNIVERSITIE3 F. R. Scott l)iring the inter-nnr nmisti ce Co.nnda becane sonei:rhat less a colony but rruch nore of a trustified capitalisn. The Universities contin ued to be ar1all aggregations of individuals recruited, on the faculty side, fron the little group left over nfter big business bad enticed auay tha anbitious, and on the student side as nuch by fanily incone ns by intellectual ability. Sane good Hork 1,7as beinc done in scientific fields, and econonics, stinulated by the great depression, begRn to go nntive, but even in the general loi7/ level of Canadian culture the Universities uere not rernrkable. They possessed little sign of crentive life and thought. CoDnerce; unduly represented. on brerds of trustees, naintnined its subtle and pernicious influence. Many a financial nanir>ulator received his annual investure of respeciAbility on graduation day. Students were put through various excercises designed to inculcate loyalty without stimulating any critical exar.iination of what they uere being loyal to. (Read .A.J .M. Snith' a peen on College SlJirit in an early nunber of the McGill ~ortI;Lightl_Y. R~",?-e23_.J What Canada thought of higher learning could be estinnted by glancing at the statistics of education, at university salaries, and by the general contEr.lpt in which teachers were held in the con:r;1unity. The coming of y;ar in 1939 hit the Universities hard. It at once placed t he undergraduates in a precarious and unenviable position. The govern.~ent re~ognised the need for university t,raining by alloTTing then to continue their courses, but 't,T.i.. thout naking cl ror just what they were being trAined for. As the McGill Dail.z put it "They have been told that they v1ould not be drafted ••••••• that they are uore iriportant to their country when they obtnin their degrees. But hoH are they nore inportnnt? Hhy does the goverm1ent wo.nt then nt college? I:f it is for post-unr uork they should know about it. If it is for the present ,;;rar effort they should know about it too. They rJ.ust know uhene they are heading nnd who is lending tlleri1. n This sense of a place in the schene of t hings they still hnve not got, becnuse there is no national scher1e of things in Cnnndn. The results nre plainly evident inn general slnckening of interest in study, n feeling thnt the inportant work will only begin 1.-rhen they lenve college. The constant depletion of university stnff ndds to the unsettlenent and to the doubt o.s to the value of the -rrhole process. No one expects universities to re-.1ain unaffected by \7nr. But whnt is this war? Is it only a bo.ttle between nrni es on different sides of c1. front? If so nll we require to \7in is A. physicnlly stronger nnd better trnined nrr1y, nnd universities nre of little value. Or is it a battle between cultures? Or p erhn:;?s, nore accurntely, n connon revolution overt nking both us nnd our ener:1ies, but which u e intend shal1: _hnve one result Md our enenies intend shall hnve n totally different result? This gunely is closer to the hen.rt of the struggle. The entire world is being forced to 11daJ)t itself to profound changes, stor.ning out of the econoriic· 0.nd technological r0volution of our ern . Th0 Yvnr is nbout the nnturo of tho . ri.dnptntion. We nro forced toii?n.rd intogr n.tion botY:ocn nntions nnd town.rds socialisn m.thin nations. Smnll difforoncos disnpponr nnd tho lnrgor unitics stnnd out shnrply. On uhn.t terns shnll u c unitd? Shnll it be tho union of ncTT and ln.rgor iL1poriqllsns, A. super frtscisn , or uf froo nan in a d.a1ocrnticnlly organlsod s;1orld? If \1 0 agree on t h o latter rtin, '\7hnt pF\rt cnn the universitics plny'? Surely tho propnr.:s~tin.n c.1f this concept, tho oxr:n:inntion of its terns ond cc1nditions, tho neighing of its osscntinl ingredients. Univorsitioo, too, should bocone rovolutionnry. They should focus skilled thought on our perilous need, not of tanks but of insight. T~~chors nnd students, ovGryonc t hnt cnn ronsonnbly be spnrocl nn.d uho is able t o sharo tho university discipline, shnuld fool his oblign.ti on in this suprcne unr effort. And will nedicinc, cngineoring nnd nnthcnn.tics be tho favourito fields of study? By nc non.ns. Th0y nro techniques ncr0ly, houovor osscntinl. It is the onds t hn.t natter. Rcvivo1 Rncl inspiritod fecultics of arts should be t ho f0untrtin-hond of this clynnnic. History, philosophy, litornturo, ocononics nnd sociology cnn probe nonror the roots of our disonso; uo crtnnot afford t o l ose their essontinl n.id. 111. ]I, EJTRIC.AL PLANT Uoufville Shnw- A tnll young nnn mth nn.rroi:1-lino ey0s nna. n. doliborri.tely indifferent oxprossion slouches before his fora1n.n TTho in n fine displny ,)f anger is loaning ncross his dosk nnd shouting in n r c·ush Cockney A.ccont. "i~fc got solj ors 'o) r\ro 1lop 0nding en thnt \7y-or, nen' s lives nnd you clnn ' t gi v0 n blr>ocly gnv1ddnnn. I •vc told you a nillions toinos not t o r;et dirt in tho rubber. As far ns you're concornod, it can go t o 'ollt" And so on. l1fter it is finishoc1:. tho youn£; n11n ln0ks ovor tho br-tck of tho fidGotinf f nrcr:.1rtn n.nd snilos cnlnly nt n o, nnd I lm•JTT t hn.t, s oon er ,')r lfl.tor, nnc:-thcr length of wirG uill fnil snnowhoro nlong th0 lino between tho plnnt r~n d tho fi r;hting fronts. Then he goos nnd tho thin f,)r c-n r:tn \7i th his frtcG of porpotunl nnxi oty turns t o no nJnost np,JloGGtico.lly, nI 'nd t o give hin 'ell. BrRirlloy sr.n.J hin trn.i ling rubber on tho floor -the ~nwddr.u111 frog. If 'o r1nnts to nuck t l10 rubber ,;1hy cn.n' t ho d o it quiet-like. 11 And thus is oxplninod t1--:;n.y the only piece of 1,1n.r brn.vurn I hn:vo cvor hen.r el given by one of th0 non nt tho plrtnt. I nust hnvo sp:·)kon t o hundreds of nen hero nnd novor h0nrd n rrord s:1okon in genuine onthusinsn Gbout tho unrlc1 C1.:inf1ict. All t hnt has boon loft t o the ;1nstors, to t ho occasiono.l hcllou thunder of sono visiting colobrity or t o t ho nnnthly sn.:--:-.r of uni,:)n propr1gnndn l)IlO finds scnttorod e.bout tho l1nlls And ontrencos (tho A.F. of L. is trying to bronk into tho fnctory). At the snnc tine it is, stn.rtling to find thnt tho '.7nr nncl nll its d.rnnntic por0r:;rinntions forns t:10 nnin to:::iic ,:-,f cnnvorsntion. Thoy tnlk c•f little olso. Men stenlthily lonvc thoir \1ork n. fc~:-r ninutcs bof )ro tho dinner ':Jhistl<} so r,.s t•--1 be suro nf {?Ottin:; n C(:l)y ,Jf tho noon ")n,or before it is sold out 11hich it is regularly by twelve-fiftew. Tho nar is only noro interesting than the .hockey scores and they discuss guerrilla technique 1.1ith tho sane interested dotacbnont rli th TTh.ich, in '')eacc tine, they analysed the skill of a star forHard. It's bott0r than the novios. But of course all this vnst geogrnphical ebb nnd flou~ h~sn't occurred ~,vi thout n certain effect. In p~rticuinr, the S()viet. Union's strength and courqge h~s served to STTeep awny n myrind of tho nnciont shnky shibboleths. "It -:-1as not all true i:rhat they told us about Russian, a s~ee:per tells me pushing auny the !1E.adlj_nes mth n mnssivo gesture, "All lies. They must hnvo R good lnnd to fight like thnt. Ho~ can uc believe the pnp ers no·,f? Once th cy told us o.11 -:10s bnd in Russin. No\7 they toll us ri.11° is good and nll is bnd in Gormnny. Hnybo nll is good. rl0 don't knoT,-! rnRybo97 -he shrugs his shoulders. Their disillusionn1)nt in tho nc,7spapcrs is comploto. Their old ovnluation of tho world is gono n. nd the loss of -;-rhfl.t fni th they hn.d hnsn' t boon roplrlcGd by nnything for for-tr it, in return, -:n.11 be expos Gd ns n hoax. It is fnr snfor to r oj oct everything. "After this rrRr nnother throo y -a'1rs, n a grey f'1cod press mn.n nssuros me. n.Arld this tino they'll got fiftoon por cont on their contrncts instond of ton. n There cnn bo little doubt thnt our offici11l propngRndq is bnnkrupt. All this f'1.7nr to :Ehd '7nrsn, tho n\7hnt a.bout You?'7 nnd tho ''Nothing Mnttors Nor; But Victory" aro nbout rts significnnt ns an Indin.n · w~r TThoop. Thoy hnvo been dismiss0d ns noisy gonornlisntions. This is undorstnndablo 1:rhon uo romcnbor thnt .nll tho long chnin of f11.scist nggrossions beginning uith tho Jnpnnoso invasion of China up t ~:-J!unich hnvo boon exp lninod rnrny ns curious littlo foroign 1.-rnrs Hhich r 08.lly shouldn't oxcito 11nyono. They Rro inclined t o ~:ender, n0t c -~nsciously perhnps, just why this pnrticular conflict should possess n.ny noro inportnnco thnn tho ·-:there_ nnd th0 only nnsuor t_1at our govornnont cA.n givo is ono TThich is n0t only solf-condennatory but, as n nocossnry soquitor, nust indicf1to i,nllingnoss to c Jnvort their effort into n g0nuinc people's one. Tho rosult is nn inpnssc, tri. th tho non in n dP-ngorous trnnsitory sto.g0 Gxprcssed in n lnck of any positivo intorost nnd nn· onthusinsn for dcbunlring. .And ns n bouild c:rod group cr.mnot p(:ssoss n negntivo attitude indcfinit13ly, thoy sho~7 signs of being inclined to listen to nnybody who npponrs t o bo of the:nsolvcs nnd convinces then ho hns their wolfnro at h ,Y1rt. ':l11ich, of cciurso, brings us to tho union. Tho conpnny, possibly sensing thGir cynicisn, hRs n,1t ntt cr_1pt0d n d iroct countor-nttnck on the A.F. of 1. 's orgnnising dri vr;;;. Thoy nre obviously not nfrnid of tho union fror.1 tho innedi~.to ocononic point of viow. Thn.t oltlstic ton por cont \7ill nbsorb anything. T~1oy n.ro nnr o concornod uith tho post ":7nr yen.rs nncl -1--1i th tho feeling of solf-rolinnco that indoponrlont org8.nisntic,n uill inovi to.bly prccluco nnong their a1ployocs. Tho ccini)nny is fighting bn.ck in what, tc nn outsider, uight s0on o. puroly coincidontnl wny. At tho tine tho drivo nns Rt its height tho anplnyeos ni.":roro nblo t c obtnin" n. nodcrnto incronso in basio wage rates fron the coopore.tiv o Quebec FRir tlagG Board. ·Follomng this the company introducei ~ systen of roi1ards for any suggestion which, might inprova production and ,;·rhioh they thought worthy of a.cceptnno&~. Finally, thair ]lnployees' Council is going :t'Ull sm.ngo ~is latter poata pericdically a series of dot1ands and the Conpany's replies (which ere tinal), The tolloWing 1s a sample: . Q,Ueetion: Request that tho t1E11 vvi. th tive yonrs' servico be grAnted two weeks holiday w.i th pay • .Answer: Tho Conpany resarves this request for further study. . QUestion: :Req:uost that the minutes of th_o dotihoil •s necting be dist~ibUtGd anong its ocnb era. Answer: Tho Conpany grants this request. Although, as it nay be inferred fron the nbove, the nntics ext tho Council are easily seen through, the union drive has boen struck n nc,re serious blow by the rioderate wage· increase. If w.e add to this tho large proJ)ortion of older his brilliant star a prcraiso, The Tormny •,lee.ping in a cloud of ams and throw:t ng · cheers ngainst tho sky, And duplicates of man thenselves, thunbtncks in their eyes, Mouthes slashed across and silent With foreign wo.rds upon their chests Not feeling tho large indifferonoe 1'7hieh es explorer surfeit sick in a heavy t~pic Cuts paths· to the street of hoMe, To the cracked and barren tablos of their lovo.. Neutvillo Shaw ___,_ IV. PAINTERS Fatrlck Anderson I went uut for three interviews to discover what ?l!ontreal ~ artists were doing f'or the war effort -I landed in three discussions on the old subject of Subject-Matter, Propagnnda, the Public (\nd cnn the (sensitive) nrtis-'c •• ;J? etc. etc. This subject is ,;,ell to the foro in painters' as ·wo,ll as writers' oircles. I got scr.ic new slants, heard a good deal nbout the Canadian .Artists' Federation ann tound thnt the Conte:oporary .A.rti sts" Society scnrccly cnteroc1 into tho picture nt all. (The three painters I snw were ttll nr:nbars of it, ho't'Tever.) Philip Surrey is npa.'1.ntor inth Fl rcvutatfon for thinking collectively and uorking in iso-lation. His outlook has n nosto.lgio Chirico-ronantic touch just aroung the corner nnd ho sonetinos lots hi.Li-· self go by studdinb his sonbre Montrool nights with chocolr.te-box stars. Like all progressiv0s who are slightly sour0(1_ his oorr10nts t0ck on a rather defontist tone. I n.slcoo hin ab0ut tho Fedoration. Ho C(,Ulcln' t tell me nuch as he hadn't the tine to go. I nskod hin about l)Ostors. ",7ell, "· he said, "the fact of tho nattor is thnt the Govornnont doesn't want rc~lly strong pastors. If you scmd inn design it'll be kopt in Ottaw-n for six months before you hoor n word." Yet, ns I ra-1indcd hin, . he hr.id dona a poster earli-er in tho wnr·, an onort1ous copy of' nhich hung at tho back of tho stnge during the groot Paul Robeson r1ecting at the Forun., You nay be acque.intcd with this design -it dopicts a worker handing a soldier ar.nunition. 'r/hat ,1ns interesting Surrey nt tho rionont, I discovered, ·was a project of a quite differCDt kind, originnting m.th A.Y. Jnckson in Toronto, for silk-scrooned pictures to be hung in bArrncka, Surrey sho~cd no s0v0ral sketches. His favourite wns a very lively jittarbug scene dono in brilliant greons, :nauvcs and yollov1s. .Another skotch showed a r.1.an and wonan bathing. "I thought the soldiers would like sono checsc-cnke," said Surrey, "but I guess I oan 't sencl it in." Surrey suggested I s00 Harry M.nyerovitch who is nctively conc01·ncl i:::i.+.h the Federation nnd has nany links wi th the Trncle Union Movement. MAyerovi t,clj_ is n brilliRnt younG nrchitcct. Bofore I left ho pointed -to :sonething in his studio am:7-f-lf'tid -"This is tho sort of thine ny firn is doing ri~ht novv. '' I looked pn st the r~J)r,,d.11cttons of work done by Diego d0 Rivera and Orozco and his orm :paintintss, sone in the vein of tho _Mexicnn muralists, to n snall very insignificant object -n cnn of fish. Mayerovi tch ~:rns d0ait111ing the label. I found hor0 a very positive attitudo. MayGrovitch believes that th0 easel painting is dead and that contemporary life demands tho lithograph, cartoon and mural, "In times like these, 0 he went on, ''the artist shouldntt limit himself to expressing his omi personality nnd idiosyncrnsics: he should express tho feelings nnd aspirntions of so~icty ~s a· uhole. , Above nll ho should loarn to ~~ciat~. Ho should get together uith his fellow-artists and \TI. th uorkors. I can honestly say thnt .nothing hns been more valua.ble to roe than the feeling of solidarity and. inspirntion I hnvc got from rnY activitios ornongst -workers in the TrA.do 1!nions.'.' 110 arguod nmiably about the degree to which an A.rtist should subordinate his poraonnl scnsibility. "Take a landscape-:pnint ar," said MA.ycrovitch. Ho-r; cn.n be possibly lo~k et a bit of country the samo way after ,met ~ho ~orld h~s oeon through in tho pns-b throe yonrs? It' s got to be nbc:11i t~0 ~ar, 1 f only indirectly." Mayorr:n.ritch uas oaref'Ul to stata thnt n o d1d.n t msh to dictate to the artist but there ·seemed to me a certain regidity in his outlook which he didn't. clear up during the talk. Broadly speaking, the pn,blem seans to be -and it•s.a big problem hers in Montreal-: How far is sineore experimantal work genuinely "progrossivcn, even if it docs not oater to the Er~sant tastes of the workers and middloclnss. Mnycrovitoh lent me I\ book and from it I quote back nt him tho rcnn.rks of Mt'\rgnrot Bourke ~Thite nt the first Artists• Congross in tho U.S.A. She snid thnt she found Russian pnintors doing nll kinds of work, including tho surroelist. Mayerovitch was nnturally enthusinstic about tho Foo.orntion, ehiofly boenuso it had got the artists together. tn1cn I pressed him more closely as to what had actually boon done, ho ndmittod thP.t the results had so fnr been mengre. There wns to be n joint Cooperative mural (combining painters ns oddly associated as himself, Jnck Bod.er and Louis Muhlstock) for tho D.I .L. Union. There was n possibility of by-pnssing the government and getting posters directly into the factories. Ineidcntnlly, Ma.yerovitch himself does much work in postc:..·.J. Hr did n. very fina one for the Aid to Russin campaign. When I 1ef't MA.yerovitch I spoke to !SI.don Grier, 17ho insists on calling himself a student. Grier is, if on0 cnn use tho term, n member of the school of Goodridge R0berts -that snvngoly originnl pnintor of landsc~pcs without figures or nudes mthout trimmings uho Nust be recognised the best artist Cannda bas. Grier believes that n now· ,1n.vo of Canadian-painters of real promise is amcrging from Robortsv painting class. His affilintion m.th so unsocially-conscious Rn nrtist lad him to question Mayorovitoh' s positiv-e viow. Roberts ru1s a good pnintcr and Roborts didn't paint ~rkors or fnctorios. Liko~is0, Pcll~n -though his tnleni.t wns not so pronounced. 1.Thnt uns the ansnc:r? tt?ho troublo vrl.th the Federation is that thoy'ro all fifth rA.ta nrtists," snid Grier. But, despite his vehemently expressed individunlisn, I nc<:;i cod thnt ho hnd studies for onrtoons in his studio. A Japnnosc grinned at no fron the ua.11. I conclude these notes uith th0 follo~ing three points. First A.s Maycrovitch pointed out -tho nppointnent of J0hn Grierson ns Gonornl Mnnnger of the .tlnrtirne Infornation Boe.rd pronisos n n1,ch inprovod offioinl policy. Second, tho '7ritors', .Artists' M.d Brondcnstors' Council offers nn opportunity to tho Montreal artist. .And third, tho Qucboc Cor.inittoo for Allied Viotory is always the best focal point for those nctivitios ~hich nro conccrnocl With tho nrtists' vitnl concern -to be porfornod in tho nrtists• own way -the m.nning of thi.s trnr, the crushing of those nho sny, "~Than I hoor tho uord 'culture', I pick up ny revolver." • m THE CITY I stood m.th the wo0d ®d frozen brick Rroun.c~. n0 by number ninety-five on a uinter cvoning and only sound rvas continually coming and going as smoke sloughed off from tho railuay. This is it, I said, as an airman who secs it and dives through the ring of' his mouth -my m0nning TTas tho villas that lookod like survivors, tho trees like mufflod disasters. The Absence of moR.ning wa·s marvellously terrible to me a.~ I -waited in brick and wood for a siren or sign with the small wind and fuss of being alone, and in the 'Vl!ro~ght-iron the rain came down. The convent of sorrow has empty galleries and nuns in a special order. The jo..il of horror is locked, The hysterical Christmas-trees rock in the villas, nnd dinner hangs like a veil over the windows where birds and beggars freeze. But I, for once, refused to be lost o..nd a ghost, to wn.nder with ho.ndkerchief in this kingdom of grief ... For once I r efused to run amok in nmaze. Because o.fter nll I wa.s ·not n ghost but a real pnrticipo..nt - n citizen. And this grey anonymous vastness could break, I so.id, into flowers ns at greQt fires or windy washing-do..y. Patrick Anderson V. UNITY A Political Worker / Ca.n e..nyone doubt ·now -in the spring of 1943 -what must be done if humanity is to keep open the door to a future in which all can hold hope for lives of opportunity and freedom? Is there anyone who .dares so.y that the winning of the vvar this year is not the imperative, overriding to.sk? Must it not be plain tho.t the interests of all of us -as individuQls, as workers, Qrtists, scientists, whatever we a.re -dennnd tho..t we put to one side o.11 immedinte, selfish considerntion o..nd unite our energies for tho dofeo.t of the fQscist imperialists whoso victory would thrust history ba.ckvro..rd hundreds of yoo.rs? Only one slogan can be advanced in the capitalist democracies by those who honestly seek to further the welfare of the peoples of the earth. That slogan is "Unity for total wo.rfo.re." If we allow ourselves to be satisfied by anyt hing less than total vmrfare, we are jeopardizing our ovm chances of 'leading productive, peaceful lives, and the chances of future generations. And if wo a.re unwilli.ng to compromise in aajusting tho differences tha.t exist in any capitalist society, we jeopardize the unity without which total warfare is impossible. We must weigh our every action, and ask whether it will serve that national unity which we must havo if victory is not to be endangered or at loast deferred at the cost of additional millions of dead and wounded. In Canada the creation of n8.tional unity in support of o..n o.11embracing win-the-war program presents difficulties that must be faced and surmounted. Divisions of ruce, lnngunge, religion and geography ho.ve b0en deepened by tho sharponing clnss cle~vages of our imperialist epoch. But today these difterenoes are yielding and must yield still turther bof'or o tho ioporativos ot tho oor:non obj ectiv c of TI"inning tho ~1ar that :provides the basis for unity. Neithar tho national interest nor the ultinata interests or all peoples can tolerate policios and prograrls that arc diaruptivo ot this national unity. Those i1ho sook to onpitalizc on tho strcssos pro• ducod by tho wnr to prouote innoo.iato, pnrtieo.n ends nro opportunists uho are doing diasorvioc to those uhoso interests thoy clnin to represant. :!bployors n11d \70rkars alik~ I!lUSt bo nnde to soo ·that oooh nust r1ako concessions. The weapons. of tho clnss nt~Glh nu.st bo shon.tha:i, Md tho el~saos nust nnrch in coalition agninst the onetion in the strliggle ngainst the na~ional cncoy, tho \vorking olnss obtains the best guarontoe tlmt it m.11 shero dooisively in the cr0c~tion ot tho post-war rrorld. Tho uorking class has aluays said that thero cnn bo no contrndiction betueen its interosts nnd tho interests of tho artists, writers nnd other cultural workors. Art can be fully free only in the olnsslesa society to which the TTorking class is destined to load the way. It is-in their own intGrcsts, therefore, for tne workers in nrt forrJs to assist th0 TI'orking clnss to roo~iza its progran. Todny this progran is to build national unity for total vmrt~ro, to arou&o and inspire the wholo nation to the tasks and sacrif'ioos r~quirod f or victory. The tl