a (yey 14 ” fe ' t diay tings 4 Me ty Mh iy byw Sa Mt ered selbst AL rg he N 4a Tw eth Petra ere earner FICC Vol. 9, No. 2 9 : 4, MN : OR vy ‘ AY fat ol BALERR CUTAN REV GA TRIBAL AMAA) 4 Vancouver, British Columbia, January 13, 6) Five Cents rice 1950 ee Ottawa must recognize Peking CHINA TRADE MEANS FOR THOUSANDS to ‘Ol’ Bi By HAL GRIFFIN The working people of Vancouver came on Sat- urday to bid a last farewell to ‘‘Ol’ Bill’ Bennett and in doing so to begin the memory of a great man whose name will live in their history and find an honored place in the Socialist Canada of their future. It was a tribute such as has been given to no other working class leader in the three-quarters of a cen- tury since the first organization of workers gave rise to the labor movement in British Columbia, for it came out of the hearts of the men and women, three gen- erations of them, among whom Bill Bennett had work- -ed for 45 years as teacher and organizer. For the 2,500 people, many of them from Van- couver Island, Fraser Valley and up-coast points, who attended the funeral services at Pender Audi- torium here, the death of “OV Bill’ on December 31 removed from the ranks of the Labor-Progressive par- ty not only a leader and founder of the Communist last tribute li’ Bennett movement in Canada, but a personal friend whose life, through his writing and speaking, had been in- imately bound up with their own. The hushed throng that filled both the upper and lower halls of the auditorium, packed the gallery and overflowed the corridors to the street outside was rep- resentative of the people with whom “‘O]’ Bill’? had shared his life, from the old-timers who recalled their frst meeting with him in the old Socialist Party of Canada 40-odd years ago to the youngsters he some- limes took to a movie on a Saturday afternoon. And for three-quarters of an hour they filed slowly by the open ‘casket, draped with the Canadian red ensign, the Soviet flag and the flag of India, while a guard of honor stood immobile and silent and the sun, breaking through snow-filled skies, lit upon the face of the man they had loved. What they felt was expressed by Nigel Morgan, LPP provincial leader, in his tribute. Continued on Page 6 See TRIBUTE Britain, India, Pakistan and Ceylon have recognized the People’s Republic of China and anticipate a tremendous growth of trade. Can- ada’s failure to follow suit is rapidly placing our country in a ridiculous and untenable position, hanging on to Uncle Sam’s coat-tail and con- _ tinuing to support the tattered Chiang Kai-shek regime which has been discarded by the Chinese people. Trade with China would vitally affect the economic life of Canada. and in particular the economic life of the Pacific Coast, whose fragile economy depends to a great extent on a flourishing export trade. Hence businessmen unite with labor in demanding that Ottawa recognize Peking and put Canadian industry back on its feet. But the St. Laurent govern- ment sidesteps the issue. “We don’t intend to do anything until External Affairs Minister Lester Pearson returns from the Commonwealth con- ference in Ceylon,”’ says the government, showing itself to be poles apart from the thinking of the Canadian people. Recognition of China would mean jobs for tens of thousands of Canada’s 300,000 unemployed. There is a huge market in China for lumber, chemical fertilizers, foodstuffs, cotton goods, machinery and tools, telephone and telegraph supplies, cement,. gasoline, diesel oils, medical supplies, insecticides, alcohol, table salt, radio equipment and scores of other things. What are we waiting for? Recognition of China would mean a 20 to 25 percent increase in port commerce in Vancouver. It would mean jobs for woodworkers, mechanics, steel workers, shipyards workers, seamen. It would mean better times for B.C. farmers. Ottawa must be jolted into action. Because Washington continues to pour money, tanks and planes into “Operation Rathole’”’ in its doomed scheme to save Chiang Kai-shek is no reason for Canada to tag along. Ottawa must face up to reality and act in the interests of our country by breaking off connections with the unsavory Kuomintang and recogniz- ing the legitimate government of China. Thousands attending funeral services for “OL Bill’ Bennett look on (at lefi) as piper Pete Hepburn heads the procession of honorary pallbearers and the guard of honor along Pender Street; and (at right) the casket is carried between the ranks of honorary pallbearers and the guard of honor on Homer Street. ——E l