Robeson at Peace Arch Sunda ieee) Ae if Le meee |4 No. 30 Vancouver, British Columbia, July 22, 1955 <> RICE TEN CENTS POLITICAL POWER © RUGGLE BEHIND PAUL ROBESON Robeson Concert: t border When By TED WARD the’ national conference Ming, Ma er eational Union of ‘Witeg p, 22d Smelter Workers 4 speoing AU! Robeson to sing at i : a Febry session of its convention Simple many 1952, it seemed a vlog g €thod of paying tribute Porter fat singer, a sturdy sup- hampion trade unionism, and a is "evereq Of péace whose name «lt was throughout the world. 40r hen SO going to be a treat ay a vem and long before ne People of this city Ut all ee eteciation by bbuy- and © seats in the audi- the coffee shop below. #24 not Pee State Department Act been heard from. In erent eed that Mc- a ~ntered the picture, Canada this not Vancouver, in ae Morning “ae 10 o’clock on the ficert €fore the advertised 7 gy ned cane trade unionists th to meet Wgation at the bord- 14 Singep Robeson. They, and th Urs, ; jeaited there for three whet ye © Poob-bahs in ‘Wash- "Aetha, és being consulted on sa Not Robeson could ty whether or not singer Ould be allowed to i e i Who had many years nt of ca the regard and re- conte popnesdians generally. tyr WAS es ahs said no; Robe- Ring Coun “fused exit from his -abne Wort Me under an obsolete Shag in Re 0 on € cont, © Other case, Ip ting af oper Canada, but on Die huge p2° Would be liable a fine and a term in Was all in’ violation and ithe letter of Charter, but chart- One tinued on back page fe ROBESON War regulation, est-- 1917, and only in-* \ By MAURICE RUSH OLICE SCANDAL Behind the story of police corruption now being unfolded before the Tupper Commission lies. a bigger story. It’s the story of a far-reaching struggle for political power in Vancouver. For 20 years the Liberal-Conservative coalition represented by the Non-Partisan Association has held sway under the demagogic slogan, “Keep Politics out of Vancouver City Hall.” The coalition was formed to exclude labor and progressive candidates from civic office. But the Liberals have al- ways dominated the coalition. They have kept the key appointments, the plums of office for their own supporters. Now the Conservatives are euallenging Liberal domination. Last Deeember, for the first time since the NPA was organized, they elected a majority of their rominees to council on the NPA ticket, They want their share of the plums. They have the encouragement and active support of Premier w. A. C. Bennett’s Social Credit government at Victoria. Bennett wants to smash the Liberal ma- chine in Vancouver and so pre- vent any possible Liberal come- ‘yack, The police scandal is providing the means of accomplishing the aims of both the Tories in civic polities and the Socreds in pro- vincial politics. forced? It was forced by an expose in Flash, Toronto scandal sheet. And who forced it? Ray Munro, former reporter for the Vancou- yer Daily Province, the nomin- ally independent but actually Con- servative paper which has swung to the Socreds since they won office at Victoria. The police scandal was known ty the Vancouver Daily Province. Why didn’t that paper expose it? Why did Munro “quit” the Province, take a post on Flash just long enough to build up to publication of the police expose and resign immediately after- wards? Was the story too hot for the Province, vulnerable as it would be to libel suits, but not for Flash, whose intricate pattern of Mine-Mill holds first Canadian convention ROSSLAND, B.C. First of the international unions to pioneer the highest de- gree of autonomy for its Cana- dian members is International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter _ Workers, whose Canadian mem- How was. the police inquiry . bership represented by some 150 delegates, has been meeting in constituent national convention kere this week. Following the convention a referendum vote of ‘the membership will be held on the convention’s action. Self-government ‘by Canadian members of Mine-Mill recognizes the fact that Canadian members living-in a different country have “distinct and separate national problems” and should have the right and duty “to establish a constitution for the government of the international union in Can- ada” and shall elect an executive board. The section. reads: “The inter- national executive ‘board and the international president shall take no action inconsistent with the Canadian constitution and shall otherwise take no action having specific and direct’ application to the Canadian membership with- out consultation with and approv- al of the Canadian executive board. All rights, title and inter- est of any kind possessed by the International Union in ‘Canada shall ibe vested solely in the Cana- dian executive board, subject to the provisions of the Canadian constitution.” ownership minimizes the threat vf libel suits? Whatever the truth, Munro ac- complished his purpose .. . and the political struggle -is joined. Munro has revealed a shocking situation in the police depart- ment. But he has not put the spotlight on those mainly respon- sible for this situation, nor will he do so. * x Blame for the situation in the police department must be laid at the door of Mayor Fred Hume who has been chairman of the police commission for five years. It must be laid at the door of the entire NPA council, which is the city’s governing body. It has been obvious for a long time that there was something wrong in Vancouver's police force. : It became clear during the crime wave last summer that something had to be done to shake up the police force. In the 1954 civic elections many candidates, including the writer, demanded a full public inquiry into the police set-up. This demand was rejected by Mayor Hume, who expressed full Continued on page 6 See BEHIND