A QUESTION MARK CONCERNING FREEDOM FROM HUNGER FUNDS

"Allotments totaling $24,000 from the Australian Freedom from Hunger Campaign were announced in Sydney yesterday. The allotments, the first from the 1967 Appeal, will go to two United Nations agencies, EAO and UNICEF, and to rural development projects financed by Australian Catholic Relief in Asia." - The Age, Melbourne, December 13.

To some it will appear sacrilege, particularly at this time of the year to raise any questions about how and where Freedom from Hunger funds are spent. But the truth must be faced that there has been growing disquiet, particularly amongst Christian clergy associated with missionary work, about the subject for some time. Several months ago a visiting South Indian Bishop bluntly told a Gippsland, Victoria, meeting that the Freedom from Hunger campaign was making no real contribution towards solving their problems.

There appears to be little doubt that the Freedom from Hunger Campaign is draining funds away from the Christian Missions, whose record in the field of humanitarian activities far surpasses anything yet contributed by the bureaucracies of UN agencies. It is also important to try to assess Communist influence in these bureaucracies.

It is instructive to have a look at the two UN agencies mentioned in The Age report - FAO (incorrectly described as EAO) and UNICEF.

FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation) is housed in luxurious quarters in Rome. The Director-General is Dr. Sen of India. Dr. Sen manages on a salary of approximately $32,000, tax free, per year. He also gets a "representation allowance" of $8,000 per year. His bureaucracy has graphically demonstrated the truth of Parkinson's famous law concerning how bureaucracies feed upon themselves. FAO staff has trebled in the last few years. Dr. Sen is engaged in a constant battle with Rome's city authorities for more and more space for his offices and flats. All his growing staff receive comparatively high tax-free salaries. In an exposure of the FAO bureaucracy in the Scottish Sunday Express of June 4, Mr. John Steadman quotes a young British technocrat who joined FAO out of idealism, the same reason which caused him to leave a year later, as saying that he had bought a Fiat 850 and saved 1000 pounds sterling. "I couldn't put a penny by at home. Here in one of Europe's most expensive cities, we live in a sort of privileged ghetto." From all parts of the world come criticisms of FAO projects. This then is the bureaucratic monster to which people are contributing through the Freedom from Hunger Campaign.

But the record of UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) is even worse than that of FAO.
The first chairman of the organisation was Ludwig Rjachmann, a Communist from Poland. In 1957 the American Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Rjachmann to ask him some questions about his association with the top Soviet agent, Alger Hiss. Thereupon Rjachmann fled the country. In 1952 the US Senate Judiciary Committee published hearings under the title Activities of U.S. Citizens Employed by the UN, in which it was stated that "startling evidence has disclosed infiltration into the UN of an overwhelmingly large group of disloyal U.S. citizens, many of whom are closely associated with the international Communist movement...Their positions at the time we subpoenaed them were ones of trust and responsibility in the UN Secretariat and in its specialised agencies."

Ruth Crawford, a publications officer for UNICEF, declared under oath that she had been a member of the Communist Party and was still in sympathy with it. There was a Joyce Campbell, who admitted that she had been employed by an officially cited Communist front organisation, the American Committee for Yugoslav Relief. Her position with this front was the reference that obtained for her a job with UNICEF.
There is a mountain of evidence that UNICEF has been, and still is, a cover for illegal Communist activities in 1965, for example, Vadim Isakov, a Soviet citizen and a procurement officer for UNICEF, attempted to buy electronic equipment, allegedly for UNICEF use. The FBI exposed Isakov, with the result that the U.S. Government protested Isakov's activities to the UN in January 1966. Isakov resigned from UNICEF and left the U.S.

A number of Communists have been used to produce UNICEF Christmas cards. For example, the biggest and most expensive card produced in 1966 was a painting by the French Communist Jean Lucrat. The authoritative McGraw-Edison Company's Committee for Public Affairs Newsletter for December 1961, pointed out that "The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund... appropriated $59 million between 1947 and 1958 to Communist countries: All "aid" programmes in Communist countries do not go to the needy, but to the Governments to use as they see fit. Every student of the Communist conspiracy knows how Communist Governments use food and medicine as political weapons to keep their victims under control.

No survey of UNICEF's activities would be complete without reference to the UN aggression against Katanga in 1961, when hospitals were bombed and civilians indiscriminately killed. (See 46 Angry Men, price $1.09 post free) This aggression was partly financed by UNICEF.

"When the UN was out of money for its Congo aggression, it borrowed $10 million earmarked for UNICEF, from the U.S. Government. This was UNICEF money - handed over with UNICEF's express consent.... In short …UNICEF moneys were used to subsidise Katanga aggression."- Stantion Evans in Indianapolis News, January 26, 1962.

In March, 1960 shortly after Castro's bloody take-over in Cuba, UNICEF voted to send the new Communist regime $170,000 for "health services", and for "environmental sanitation". UNICEF followed this up in 1964 with $125,000 for trucks and jeeps plus spare parts. This was in addition to UNICEF's emergency appropriation to Cuba in the same year for $105,000.

Explaining why Milwaukee Roman Catholic Schools did not support UNICEF, the arch-diocesan administrator Mgr Goebel wrote in a letter dated September 8, 1962: "Our opposition to the UNICEF organisation was based on the protests of our former Catholic Army chaplains who maintain that UNICEF proceeds were not contributed to youth in need, but rather they were taken up by the Communists in the (Communist-controlled) countries."

Like FAO, UNICEF is also engaged in bureaucratic empire building. The following is from the National Review (U.S.A.) of June 14, 1966. "Twenty million cents will permit UNICEF to occupy quarters on the sixth floor of the swank United Nations Plaza, instead of the unspeakable second floor. Yes, last week UNICEF was offered the second floor, identical in layout to the sixth, except for additional space at a saving over five years of $150,000 to $200,000, plus a large contribution from a New York company that wanted to rent the sixth floor. The executive director, touring in Africa, telegraphed to the real estate agents that under no circumstances would he accept second story space but insisted on the sixth, so, since ALCOA, the building owner, has a 'moral agreement' with the UN, that was that."

One of UNICEF's claims is that for one penny they can provide 5 glasses of milk, by their figures, the UNICEF bureaucrats are depriving hungry children of 100 million glasses of milk so that they can be on the sixth instead of the second floor of the United Nations Plaza. This is the organisation to which monies contributed by Australians to the Freedom for Hunger Campaign have been allocated.

Our advice is that those who feel they wish to help needy children outside Australia should contribute to Christian Missions. They will not only be assured that their contributions are being administered efficiently, but that they are not helping to finance Communist activities.

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

UN ANTI-COLONIAL CAMPAIGN INTENSIFIED

"The United Nations General Assembly called last night for a world-wide ban on assistance of any kind to South Africa, Rhodesia and Portugal until they 'renounce their policy of colonial domination and racial discrimination." - The Age, Melbourne, December 18.

It is significant that all UN resolutions concerning "racial discrimination" and "colonialism" make no reference to the inhuman policies of the Communists. The type of colonialism practised in countries taken over by Communism is rarely mentioned at the UN. Members of the Afro-Asian bloc practise discrimination against one another, as witnessed how the Indians are being treated in Kenya and Tanzania. The attack on South Africa, Rhodesia, and the Portuguese territories of Angola and Mozambique is an essential part of Communist strategy.

The UN General Assembly also demanded that South Africa withdraw immediately from South West Africa and release the group of terrorists recently tried for acts of terrorism. The fact that the World Court has ruled in favour of South Africa on the South-West Africa issue makes no difference to the Communists and demagogues at the UN, many of whom are only there because they successfully murdered their political opponents.

FORMER CONGO PRIME MINISTER BEING SLOWLY MURDERED

"Algerian President Houarie Boumedienne has been accused of torturing former Congo Prime Minister Moise Tshombe by the Tshombe Emergency Committee, a group organised to mobilise public concern in the United States and overseas to effect his freedom." - The Wanderer, U.S.A., November 9, 1967.

The case of anti-Communist African leader Moise Tshombe is a striking comment on the present plight of the world. Never a day passes but Church leaders are speaking out on the alleged crimes of countries like Rhodesia and South Africa. Left-wing politicians like Mr. Harold Wilson are expressing concern about "matters of conscience", while groups are seeking to have various political prisoners released from goals. Most of these prisoners are either Communists or Communist-inspired terrorists. But not a voice has been raised by the Wilsons or Church leaders about the plight of Tshombe who was illegally seized while traveling in a plane piloted by two British pilots who were forced to land their plane in Algeria.

The Tshombe Emergency Committee claims that they have reliable evidence that the former Prime Minister of the Congo is being tortured and drugged, and that his life hangs in the balance. They have appealed to the Algerian President to save Tshombe's life. But anti-Communist Tshombe would be just as safe in Moscow. It is clear that to the Western nations Tshombe is expendable. Their leaders only protest when the Rhodesians and South Africans deal with African terrorists.

EXPANSION FUND

ON TARGET BULLETIN

A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONAL DIRECTOR

"By the time this Bulletin is issued, all Action Groups and individual actionists will have come to the end of another year of activity. This is a time for reflection on what Christmas means to us. But before we do this let us ponder on the significance of the nation's loss of its Prime Minister, Mr. Harold Holt.
We have been critical of Mr. Holt and some of his policies. But he was basically a civilised man, and as a politician he was courteous to political friend and foe alike. He was claimed by the very sea he loved so much, while the manner of his passing showed what was almost a classic demonstration of man's helplessness in the face of the forces of nature, which are stronger than he. Let us all remember the late Prime Minister and his sorrowing family during our prayers this Christmas.

"We might with profit ponder on the fact that in many other parts of the world political leaders have also been removed by violence, the violence of man. But unlike a Constitutional Monarchy like Australia, there is no civilised basis for the transfer of power and authority. With the loss of Mr. Holt we have seen the smooth, traditional constitutional machinery of our country operating efficiently to bring Mr. John McEwen to the Prime Ministership until such time as the Liberal Party can elect another leader, who will then almost certainly be asked by the Queen's representative, the Governor-General, to form another Government.
We should be thankful that we have a constitutional heritage, which makes possible changes of leaders and Government without violence and bloodshed. But we should also remember that this constitutional heritage could be lost unless we work to preserve it.

"Mr. Holt's loss could not have come at a worse time for the Government parties, whose electoral support has been steadily eroded. We must hope that the large group of backbench Members of the Liberal Party, who have some understanding of the basic issues confronting Australia, will seize the opportunity to elect a real leader. Such a leader with a new Cabinet - there is some good talent amongst the backbenchers - could revitalise the Government and hold off the challenge of the sophisticated Fabian Socialist Mr. Gough Whitlam.

"In this week's Thought for the Week we have quoted from that great classic, unfortunately now out of print, The Hungry Sheep, on the basic contributions to Western Civilisation. Every Civilisation is the incarnation of intangible values into society and its institutions. Once understanding and belief in the undergirding values of Civilisation start to become eroded that Civilisation is starting to die. Evidence of death may be masked for some time by feverish material activity. But unless understanding and strong belief in the values are replenished, then complete collapse is inevitable.
The Romans thought that their Civilisation would last forever.
There are those today who think the same about Western European Civilisation. But the signs of decay are clear for those who are not completely besotted by materialism.

"As I see it, the League of Rights is not just another political organisation. It is seeking to create a new regenerating force in Western nations. For this reason it is essential that the "hard core" of League supporters constantly strive to equip themselves with a much deeper understanding of basic principles, values and our institutions. We have come a long way in recent years, but our campaign on the Senate revealed a real gap in the knowledge of many supporters concerning the subject of constitutionalism. This requires knowledge of the question of power and the necessity for its effective division.
During next year we must endeavour to constantly equip ourselves so that we can become more and more effective.

"In all our work I feel that we should constantly present a balanced approach. Do not let us create the impression in any way that we are fanatics, or hate-mongers, as our enemies seek to paint us. What we are about is deadly serious, but let us treat it like a game. We can play it hard, be firm, and develop the will-to-win, without losing our sense of proportion. Christians should readily understand this.

During this Christmas Season we can reflect with profit on a most appropriate text, as spoken by Christ Himself: 'I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.'

"Christ came into a world that was crude and ruthless. He dealt with the basic problems, which beset man today. His coming changed history. Man is still basically the same, although he now possesses more material power for doing evil than ever before. But we are not threatened by nuclear weapons or organisations as such like the United Nations. We are threatened by men who have far too much power. They are corrupted by power.

A Christian society is one in which power is diffused and in which individuals can be made personally responsible for their actions. The League of Rights exists to encourage more and more individuals to set an example in their communities by using their divine attribute, individual initiative, and by accepting personal responsibility; of standing up and being counted.

Christ came to be a servant of all. He insisted that individuals must render service, and that institutions, which include governments, must serve free individuals, not enslave them, Christ did not know Hitler, Stalin, Khrushchev or Castro. But he knew Herod. The nature of Caesar has not changed. His threat to the individual still exists.

"As National Director of the League of Rights I am charged with the personal responsibility of directing it. But this would be impossible without the loyal support of all those who have given so much dedicated service. I thank all those who are co-operating in our work to uphold that Truth, which we were promised, shall make us free.
I wish all the light of this sacred season.
"By the glow of the Christmas candle With its constant, lovely cheer, May you find your way through this Season Into a bright New Year: "
Eric D. Butler.