Immoral Earnings

On the night, over seven months ago, when Bernadette Devlin was jailed in Armagh Prison about seventy members of Armagl. P.D. held a meeting outside the Prison. Our small meeting was immediately ringed by several hundred police, allegedly protecting us from a mob of five hundred Paisleyites led by Douglas Hutchinson. The police action, however, merely made our meeting a handy target for rocks and bolts from the Loyalists. Three P.D. members were rendered unconscious that night, our flags and banners were seized and burned, others received various injuries from the missiles, and our camera which was engaged in filming such personalities as Billy Johnson (Armagh's U.D.C.'s Chairman) among the loyalists was seized and destroyed. To all this the police were amused spectators, awaiting our expected retaliation. As no retaliation was forthcoming the police permitted such Paisleyites as Jim King to pass through their ranks and to parade through our meeting with the Loyalist Emblem. The police then openly jeered our speakers and sneered at the injuries sustained by our members. In fact the police were slobbering at the mouth in anticipation of getting their hands on some P.D. people. But the discipline of our members gave the police no excuse to attack our meeting.

It was, then, with some amazement that we received the news that a young P.D. member Malachy Trainor (aged 16 years) was the sole person to be charged for that night's activity. He was not charged until about five months after the event and he is certainly the victim of police spite. Malachy Trainor's brother Kevin has been the subject of several unsuccessful police attempts to frame him.

Malachy Trainor's case has been’ *pegpme Pought. adjourned until the lst February.

Every year smoking causes the death of 20,000 middle-aged men and cuts about ten years off the lives of heavy smokers in Great Britain and N.Ireland. These stunning facts come from a report issued by the British Royal College of Physicians. Any Government which cared at all for the health of its citizens would, at once, take steps to ban all cigarette advertising.

Millions of pounds are spent annually on the advertising of cigarettes. Cigarette companies are only concerned with making gigantic profits. They could not care less that their product brings death and ill health to thousands - so long as they can grow fat on their immoral earnings.

Similarly, the numerous well-paid advertising executives have a vested interest in seeing that people become 'hooked' on tobacco.

That's ‘capitalism: profits before people.

The wealth of the taburre ~vL... panies gives them great power and influence in a capitalist society. The editor of one liberal newspaper said that the banning of cigarette advertisements was a proper suggestion, but had to admit that his newspaper at present could not just do without the revenue from cigarette advertisements.

In this way the cigarette companies can wield great pressure on the mass media which in turn influence public opinion.

How’ many newspapers - faced with the threat of loss of advertising - are likely to carry on a campaign of informing the public of the dangerous side-effects of cigarette smoking?

In a capitalist society even truth fia met ‘ ’

AN CIGARETTE ADS, NOW! chaplins were forced to conduct their Sunday services with as little as 5% of their usual congregation.

Other aspects of life in Crumlin Prison which bear commenting upon are the inadequate clothing and freezing cells. Thus on the 12th November '70 over 200 prisoners in the woodyard went on strike because of the inadequate clothing which they were given to work in - vest, underpants, trousers, unlined jacket and waistcoat. The consternation which this strike caused among the prison officials was expressed in the remark of one screw, "Whoever heard of a strike ina prison?"

However the prisoners, by their disciplined and organised action, had the authorities on the run - and overalls were made available immediately. (The overalls dated from 1953).

The point to be made is that any improvements in the conditions in Crumlin Prison have been achieved } by the efforts of the prisoners themselves. Anyone who was in Crumjin during the '50's can remember how the Republican prisoners managed to get rid of cocoa from the Prison menu and have tea substituted. They simply poured their tea over the prison balconies - until eventually the authorities got the message.

- Similarly if any slight improvements have been noticed in the Prison by Messrs. Fitt and O'Hanlon, they should give credit to the struggle of the prisoners for such marginal improvements.

Nothing could be more disheartening to any prisoner than to hear these people, after one hour's visit to the prison, pontificating about how fine a place the prisonis. It is amazing to see Fitt and the Prison Governor making the same type of comment about Prison life. However, it is good to hear that when Fitt attempted to talk to some political prisoners he was told, "T won't talk to you, Traitor!",

FREE CITIZEN 8th January 1971. -