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by TOM McEWEN |

nate Back in the mid-Victorian era'a number of free-
_ €nterprise lads opened up a new line of busi-
hess in the old land to turn an “honest shilling.”
ae Tt was a gruesome sort of ‘enterprise but is said

_ ‘o have netted a fair return on the effort. The
Initial capital outlay was small, just a pick and
Shovel, ‘plus a fairly strong set of nerves.

Py this new enterprise consisted of digging .up
_ hewly buried corpses and selling them to an ex-
_ “advancement of science’! A corpse in fair con-
dition fetched as much as twenty pounds, which
_ those halycon days equalled about $100. Two
 9f these early British businessmen who pioneer-
®d ‘the Spody-snatching trade, Burke and Hare,
have since been immortalized by the sixpenny
— hovel thrillers, :

NE Here in Vancouver, this enterprising business
+e Seems to be making a bit of a comeback. At
) least the daily press headlines give that impres-
eon: ‘The business of course is much more re-

_ SPectable —more in keeping with the basic rules
°F capitalist ethics, and: much Jess messy than

: % ‘i uy the days of Burke and Hare.

vee Just a sort of “gentlemen’s agreement’ be-
_ ‘Ween an enterprising cop in the morgue depart-

_ Ment and a local undertaker whose identity just
ad literally to be squeezed out of our Non-Parti-
_ San civic administration. No doubt the NPA lads

SOnsidered it necessary in the interests of “clean —

_ business” to be highly secretive, lest the public
_ Set ideas about individuals in our midst operating
_ 8S “kindly undertakers.” Aboyt all that is’ left
_ f the old Burke and Hare initiative is the crude

_ Profit motive, kept alive by a cop with “a fine
ak ord” and some undertaker with a keen nose
for profits,
And the bodies of the poor “stiffs” thus dis-
over of, robbed of the fruits of their life’s labors,
: and, in the routine of our “way of life,” labelled
_ ,Paupers”—they have even’ less identity than
_ _l0Sse snatched from ‘the grave by the gallant
* Burkes and Hares of a century ago! For them
oe a just one final free enterprise effort to squeeze

_ Yisintegration sets in! j
_. The incident points up the need for a drastic

ey Cleanup of the coroner’s department and some of

ana profit-mad “free-enterprisers” who pose
_ Dehind the respectable facade of “your kindly
“Undertaker.” Its odor would even make hardened

ae y-Snatchers like Burke and Hare ‘hold their

i. Ses. It is capitalism with the veneer removed.

Sey ‘As we related in a previous column on Church-
. i 8 recent visit to Washington, that in return for
 wyulltion tons of steel for British’ “defense”,
Vinnie assured Harry that the U.S. would get
Uch more tin, aluminum and rubber from Malaya
hh n hitherto. These imperialist warmongers

ave no equals when it comes to giving away

Something that doesn’t ‘belong to them.

Clusive section of the medical fraternity for the

t to die in the gutters or in a jail bull-pen —

the last measure of profit before complete

HENGE

Natural Rubber News, printed in Washington,
D.C., carries on its masthead this revealing in-
scription: “To Give The Facts About Rubber
Growers In Malaya—How They Provide The
United States With An Essential Raw Material
And How They Fight Communism In Southeast
Asia,” :

Rollowing that lofty blurb, Rubber News gets
down to the nub of how “democracy” operates
in Malaya. We quote:

“Today's ‘Malayan rubber planter must be
many things—agricultural expert, administrator,
field commander, military strategist, intelligence

_ officer and fighting man. Even in his own bar-

yicaded and barbed-wire protected home, his gun
is never more than a few inches from his hand,
day and night.” ‘

Then follow eight rules for the rubber planter’s
survival against the wrath of the Malayan people,
issued by the Police Commissioner for the Malay-
an Federation. Additional advice is given the
planters ‘that “if things seem to be quiet in the
area, that is the time to be alert.” These eight
rules are essential to fulfillment of Churchill's
“assurances” to Yankee imperialism.

1—Your movements should never be adver-
tised in advance more than is absolutely neces-
sary. Obviously the fewer the number of people
who know of your movements, the less will be
the chance of an attack on your person.

2—It is a great mistake to discuss your move-
ments carelessly over the telephone. The security

of the telephone must never be taken for granted.

3—If you have to write regarding future
movements, it is a wise precaution to place the
jetter in a double cover, the inner envelope be-
ing marked “private” and addressed to one per-
son by mame.
4—Avoid going round your estate on a fixed
routine. :
dark about your movements by varying your
‘times and routes. © ‘
5—If possible, avoid going to the jungle edge
of your estate without an escort. pee
- 6—Do not travel by night unnecessarily, par-
ticularly without an escort. é
_ %—Move with your escort in a series of
“bounds.” This may take more time, but it may
in the long run save your life as well as the lives
of special constables. :
- §—Be always alert, and by force of example
see that others do not get slack. - aes
Despite these eight helpful hints, plus an
active British army and police of not less than
100,000 men, the Malayan people just don’t seem
to care for our “Western democratic way of life”

and insist on having Malaya administered by,

and for Malayans. It is also obvious that when
‘Churchill’s “assurances” require that kind of sup-
port, they have less value than a used raffle

. ticket. rece ~

~ reach not less than $125 million a month.

Keep the ‘bandits (read people) in the

A ‘promising’ session

| Bose together by ties of political necessity, the Tery-Liberal °

Coalition government of Premier Johnson and his erstwhile
‘finance minister, Herbert Anscomi, gave British Columbia one
of the worst leg'slative fleecings in its history. To paraphrase a
somewhat motheaten cliche, never have so few promised so much
to so many and done so little. In action, Coalition promises of
welfare were transformed into warfare—against the interests of
the common people.. :

Then, as if by prearrangement, this unholy Tory-Liberal
wedlock broke asunder and, like a couple of old Billingsgate
worthies haled into court for disturbing the peace, began to hurl
their political domestic recriminations at each other. Not a very
elevating show, but one intended by both parties te provide the
public with a circus, the better to obscure the political didoes of
the erstwhile partners. for

An important part of this two-ring Tory-Liberal circus is the

‘ handing out of political lollipops to help appease a wrathful public.

With considerable press fanfare, Premier Johnson takes the tolls
off Patullo Bridge. The Liberals “promise” a full revision of BCHIS.

The Liberals “promise an improved ICA.” The Liberals “promise”

increased Workmen’s Compensation. The Liberals “promise”...

There is no end to what the Liberals now “promise” sinee they
have got rid of the Tories. And vice versa, there is no ‘end to what

the Torfes “promise” now hat they have got rid of the Liberals.

Nor, by the same token, was there any limit to the “promises”
made by both before.divorce proceedings were considered essen-_
tial for the continuation ef this old-line partisan flimflam.

_ This session of the legislature which opened this week may
well go down in history as the “lollipop session,” since its prime
purpose will not be directed towards the peace, security and pro-
gress of B.C., but rather towards deciding which of the two politi-

_cal parties of big business can best bribe their way back into the

‘good graces of the electorate.

The one force that can put an end to this lollipop trickery is
united labor political action in every constituency; labor political
action that is alert to the new danger of swapping the people’s
wellbeing for a Liberal or Tory lollipop.

-

War myth exposed

Wen parliament opens, Finance Minister Douglas Abbott is ex-

pected to bring down a staggering arms budget of some $2.2
billion. Only a few days ago tne St. Laurent government tossed
another $500 million into the North Atlantic army (NATO) sink-

‘hole. Throughout 1951 our annual “defense” spending hovered

around $70 million per month. For the balance of 1952, according
to some of our. Ottawa “experts,” war expenditures in Canada will
> f

While this orgy of war spending and its consequent inflation
gains momentum, the ranks of Canata’s jobless workers also con-
‘tinue to expand. Last month 337,000 registered unemployed work-

ers were subsisting upon their UIS benefits. Government spokes- , 2

men described the employment outlook as “spotty,” which, in the’
language of the professional bootlegger,
don’t swallow their own brew. —

With well over half a million Canadians actually unemployed,

in the midst of an unprecedested arms-spending race, it is obvious.
that all the foul propaganda .that only “defense” (read war) can

‘provide jobs, and that a purely peacetime economy of disarma-

ment and trade would be “disastrous to our prosperity,” is just so

much ‘warmongering claptrap. Moreover, this ominous growth of
unemployment does not take into account those thousands of Can- __

adian workers who, critical of the war policies of: the govern-
ment, are “screened” out of their right to a job. Nor does it in-
clude those thousands of DP and other unemployed immigrants, |
living at the moment.on a government pittance, and held in reserve —
as a potential labor force to depress wages and living standards in |
“defense” and non-defense industries alike.

« All the history of our time proves the rule that imperialist

means these spokesmen :

i

war and war preparations go hand-in-hand with mass unemploy- ;

-ment. The present “defense” conspiracy of the international war-

mongers is no exception to that rule. The growing index of un-
employment and super-profits prove it beyond question.

The fight for jobs is essentially a fight for peace. It is a

_ fight against the arms race of the warmongers, and a fight for

trade and ‘mutual friendly relations with all like-minded peoples
and nations. It is time we in Canada put that monthly $125 million
(now being squandered for war) to work for peacetime construc-
tion, jobs, and national sanity. ; ea

Published Weekly at Room 6 - 426 Main Street, Vancouver, B.C. _
By THE TRIBUNE PUBLISHING COMPANY LTD. 4
' ‘Telephone MA. 5288 a
Tom McEwen -
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Printed by Union Printers Ltd., 650 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC. _

Authorized as second class mail, Post Office Dept., Ottawa
on PACIFIC TRIBUNE — FEBRUARY 22, 1952 — PAGE 5