The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1936-01-10
CHARLES e. TAYLOR
Editor and Manager
SANCTIONS

League of Nations to be applied against
Italy for its aggression against Ethiopia has
proved to be just hypocritical gesture by
France and England-with England play
ing the part of the big buffer So many
people have been confused on this issue
that the general opinion prevailed that
England and France were peace loving
nations in contrast to the 'war promoting"
nations which refused to give complete ac-
cord to the proposal advanced by England.
The people of the British Isles became
easy dupes to the well thought out plan of
the Tory lmperlaliSts who made bid for
National Unity on the plea that to prevent
MusSOllni from starting another world war
more dreadful and devastating in its scope
that the war of 1914-18 it was necessary
to elect a government which would insure
Tor the nation lasting peace" through
the medium OF greater defense, which
meant IN essence more intensive war pre-
paratiOns. The crime of this maneuver
hes in the fact that many working class
parties such as the Labor Party, the So
cialist Party and the StaIinist Party gave
their full support Tor nearly SOY to the
rake proposals. This deception resulted
IN the Tory government, elected to power,
being able to say eve have laid our cards
on the table, you endorsed our aims, now
you must show your patriotism by giving
us your full support" that is in the name
OF peace you must support war.
The outstanding opponent of this
scheme was the Workers Party, which fol-
lows closely the program of Lenin and
Trotsky, as against the traitorous policy
OF Stain and the Socialists. In a phamplet
entitled "War on the Workers. written bv
John West the unscruplous activities of
mpe1ahst statesmen are fully exposed.
ans pamphlet was pritten before the Brit
lsh elections and foretold to nicely the dia-
Dolcal plot OF prime minister Baldwin and
his dupes. So prophetic and clear is COM
rade Vests analysis that we intend to
publish the pamphlet in serial form. In
this editorial we reproduce that por-
ton OF it which deals with Sanctions" No
matter how the Socialists or Stalinists
try to squirm out Of this treacherous role
10 the labOrlng masses they are unable to
refute the arguments advanced by West
in his pamphlet. The section on "Sanc-
lions" alone cannot fail to convince anv
reader who interests himself at all in the
CRIME OF the ages-the coming war. Fol-
lowing is what West has to say on "Sanc-
tions.''
SANCTIONS"
"a special and profoundly important
feature of betrayal in the present war
crisis revolves around the question of
. sanctions. The Covenant of the League
OF Nations provides that when a nation
has been declared the agressor against a
member state, certain financial economic,
and even military measures shall be
following an elaborate procedure invoked
by the other League member states
against the agressor nation. These mea-
sures are called sanctions and the term
sanctions is being extended to include
measures which might be taken by ma
lions on their own initiative e. g., closing
of the Suez Canal by Great Brittany as
well as measures taken collectively by the
League members.
This extension of the use of the word
sanctions is significant. 1t indicates a
new and ingeniuS method for turning OBJ
position to war into support of war All
that is necessary to to call the war an ap-
plicatiOn of sanctions. Then it becomes
the duty of all friends of peace to sup
port it.
This, indeed, is the real meaning of the
doctrine of sanctions League sanctions
are, of course, nothing else than sanctions
undertaken by the leading member states
OF the League. The League, as we have
seen, is only the instrument of it's domin-
ant members. Support of League sane
lions, therefore, is exactly the same as
support of sanctions applied by individual
nations-e. g., by Great Britain or France.
But sanctions are war measures. They
include withdrawal of financial credit,
embargoes on trade, various forms of boy
colt. To enforce them genuinely would re-
qulre blockade of the country against
whom the sanctions were invoked. The
probable, the almost certain outcome of
such blockade, as history has so often
proved, is war-since the blockaded nation
cannot accept such a measure peacefully
without surrendering political sovereign
ity.
-, Thus it follows that sanctions must oe
either ineffectual-a kind of a large-scale
DIuft or they must lead to war.
If they are Intellectual, support of them
Is certainly no aid to peace Cor to Ethio-
pia). II they lead to war, support of them
no matter with what verbal reservations