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50 YEARS OF COMMUNIST PARTY

That first branch
in beautiful B.C.

By TOM McEWEN

‘igi a as yet unable or
Sighific Thed to try to relate the
Vers ance of two great anni-
aries being celebrated in
eae €se historic events
Dage: peetty much a blank
is aie Centennial of British
las entry into Con-

the ae in July of 1871, and
found anniversary of the
Mg of the Communist

arty aa
in in British Columbia in

Yet both have a historic

Pelat: :
ae onship and a common
4 ane in the scheme of things
ited ones on the road to a

A se
Canada, 0 nation Socialist
I 3
aii the Song immortalizing
fsa and’s Robbie Burns, there
‘ oes which runs,

f : :

ahd fo 9s and courtiers rise

T .
This world has mony turns

chang Peaunder that in our own
times re world, events some-
ore, ae Bc shadows be-
event ina ar outstripping the
Baa an entrenched colonial
Caper a Victoria, ready and
Pumbie deliver British
arre| Se lock, stock, and
ailed t oeU.S. annexationists,

reckon with the workers
business enterprises.
Caribe ine class power, of the
Soligj, °o4 miners who stood
Confeqs, for the Canadian
Yan,.- ation, and against the
Be: 2Mexationists and their

T

Ede, B.C.’s entry into Con-
Bayi assured the
eMocranes of responsible

sential © government, a basic
the > al and prerequisite for

for, tization of a still higher

Sociatig peoples’ democracy ina

G
self labor anada!

iN large} today, a century later,

“Cipgs? Y @Xcluded from parti-
ae in this Centennial cele-
Social ¢ and has permitted a
turn j Credit Establishment to
Seriag Mito little more than a
attrac. tourist dollar”’
labo, 10S, it simply means that
liston, ; 28" t studied its own
lar] y{cssons too well, particu-
Cabal pnCe this Social Credit
187) 5 aS consistently gone the
by gl nexationists one better,
tich U8 AWay the bulk of B.C.’s
Ug ,©Sources to foreign and
an penoly without regard to
the future of B.C., now or in

branch v® year 1921 the first
Cang the Workers Party of
Party, (later the Communist
the gis), W88 founded in B.C. in
_» Of Vancouver. That too
Vent, the Is, a very historic
Of thir € first effort on the part

Wome, -°? Workers, men and

en
~ beninjc, '° launch a Marxist-

;_lInis

lignan, Party with a revolu-

iyesogtam and a socialist
©1n the province.

RICH TRADITION

Torey Oiginal thirteen, the

1 beth : :
1m in p 2S Of Matixism-Lenin-

the RB

C., were the product of

} Ig all} Struggle itself; embody-

ang. © Tich traditions of labor

Sings pol@list struggle in B.C.
and ¢ - time of Confederation,
Nto g . retizing these struggles

; Volutionary path for the

S

attainment of a socialist
Canada. There is today only one
survivor of that illustrious
Workers Party branch of 1921.
Jules Stelp of Grandview, Van-
couver, at 91 years of age is still
fighting for the goal of that first
collective endeavour.

Or Bill (William) Bennett was
the pioneer and stormy petrel of
that first Workers Party branch.
With him were veteran socialists
like A.S. Wells, Jules Stelp.

The inspiring winds of the
great Russian revolution were
fanning out across the world, and
in B.C. sweeping through the

mines, out on the fishing

grounds, and in the forests where
every man toiled and dreamed of
a better future. :

Moreover the Russian
revolution was the catalyst
which served to distinquish the
“doctrinaire’, the ‘‘Christian’”’,
the “revolutionary” and other
vintages of socialist from the
Marxist-Leninist, ready and
eager to do battle for genuine
socialism and an end to
capitalism.

Of all the above, with the
exception of the Marxist-
Leninists, Ol’ Bill’s book,
Builders of British Columbia,
quoted their final obituary as
written in the final edition of
their own paper, The Western
Clarion. (Their obituary was
written by J.D. Harrington, the
leader of this forlorn band, or
Bill wrote). It said: “From the
prophetic preaching of capital’s
collapse and exhorting to the
revolution, we have passed
through the beyond, back to the
period void and empty of any
revolutionary outlook.”

PIONEERS

Not so with the pioneer branch
founded by Ol’ Bill and his
twelve colleagues. Many out-
standing Labor personalities
took up the struggle to forge a
revolutionary party in B.C. and
to meet the burning issues of the
day. Many have passed on since
then, but their names are
indelibly written in the pages of
B.C.’s stirring Communist and
labor history.

With the unemployed of the
hungry 20’s and hungrier . 30's,
the Relief Camp struggles and
the great “‘On to Ottawa’ trek,
the names of ‘‘Slim”’ Arthur
Evans and his immediate col-
leagues are inseparable, as are
the names of Mrs. Annie
Stewart, Helen Mathieson,
Elsie Munro and many others In
the struggle for an opportunity
and life for Canada’s youth in
those far away days. Work or
wages, and/or adequate relief
were their demands from govern-
ment at all levels — from the
McGeers, Pattullos and “‘Iron
Heel’’ Bennetts.

Never an issue affecting
working people cropped up that
the revolutionary Communist
Party of B.C. was not in the
forefront, demanding redress,
annulment, or complete change.
In the economic struggles of
B.C. workers the Party was ever
in the- vanguard with its call for
unionization, labor unity, and
greater, struggle in both the
economic. and. political arena,
and in unison with B.C.'s finest
labor traditions.

As an aide and clarion, call to,

ihese multi-struggles, the Party,

under the pioneering inspiration
of Ol’ Bill, launched the B.C.
Workers News, first as a weekly
mimeographed paper, and later
as a full-sized weekly paper —
the forerunner of the Pacific
Tribune. One of its first editors
was the late George Drayton, ex-
serviceman, fighter for the
unemployed and active Com-
munist. To its pages Ol’ Bill’s
weekly column was a hard-
hitting and widely read con-
tribution for over 20 years.

Giving its readers a Marxist-
Leninist interpretation of the
news, daily events and struggles,
the B.C. Workers News and its
successors have featured every
major issue affecting the
livelihood, well-being and
aspirations of the working class
in this province and throughout
Canada.

On the burning issue of peace
during the coming of the Rome-
Berlin-Tokyo axis, it con-
sistently warned against this
menace and helped to mount
monster demonstrations against
Canada shipping scrap metal to
Japan to be forged into guns and
shells against Canada; the
boycott of Nazi ships of war
visiting Vancouver, the
Establishments criminal “‘non-
intervention’’ policies enacted
against the heroic Spanish
people in their defence of
democracy.

Moreover its unswerving
support of Spanish democracy
and of the International
Brigades, and our own Canadian
MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion
is of itself an epic contribution in
the annals of labor and Com-
munist journalism. These were
and are events which in their
relative importance are not only
relevant in the Centennial of
B.C. that we are now presumed
to be celebrating, but in the 50
years of the Communist Party
of Canada.

PLANNED WELL

Since that first branch formed
almost a half-century ago in Van-
couver, many thousands of
workers have joined the Com-
munist Party. As is inevitable in
all Marxist-Leninist parties the
world over, many have ‘‘dropped
out” for one reason or another,
some becoming disillusioned
that, as they thought, socialism
was just around the corner, only
to find out it wasn’t. Others with
an inflated ambition to
“rewrite” Marxism in an ultra-
right or ultra-left terminology,
have invariably joined hands in
a future attempt to destroy the
Party. ;

All such efforts have failed
miserably, and in keeping with
the ‘obituary’ of J.D. Harring-
ton for his social-democratic col-
leagues, “have passed through
and beyond, back to the period,
void and empty of any revolu-
tionary outlook.”

But the inheritors, the suc-
cessors of that first branch
formed in Vancouver, B.C., in
1921 lives on, confident that with
now over one-third of the world’s
peoples directing their:own
destiny under socialism; and
guided in this bythe science of
Marxism-Leninism and working
class rule, they too are
“marching with history’’.

Confident also that with the

‘great Soviet Union, Unbreakable

WILLIAM (OL’ BILL) BENNETT,
organized the first Communist
Party club in Vancouver's Sulli-
van Hall in 1921 — 50 years ago.
In 1935 Ol’ Bill led the campaign
to launch the B.C. Workers News,
forerunner of the Pacific Tribune.

bulwark of peace, democracy
and progress in the vanguard, we
too in Canada and B.C. will win
through to a united two-nation

Canada despite all seeming odds."

In the policies it adopted at
that first branch meeting, these
lighted the road ahead, and the
rising struggles of the B.C.
workers against seemingly
entrenched monopoly and a reac-
tionary Establishment, assures
the ultimate objective of the goal
set— a Socialist Canada.

Perhaps as a learned sage
once said, ‘‘they planned better
than they knew’”’.

Condolences

The PT expresses its sincere
regrets to Rod Doran, Fraser
Valley regional organizer of the
Communist Party, and his
family on the recent death of his
mother, who passed away
suddenly while travelling to
Scotland to visit members of the
family.

PT 8 PAGES

In keeping with previous years,
the Pacific Tribune will publish an
8-page weekly paper during the
summer months, July and August.
Four of these pages will deal with
B.C. affairs, and four national
pages from the Canadian
Tribune, which also goes over to 8
pages for the summer.

With our Labor Day issue the
first week in September the PT will
return to a 12 page paper.
However, because of rising print-
ing costs the price for individual
copies will rise from the present
10¢ to 15¢ in September. The
subscription rate will not change.

Sharpe asked

to convene meet

Following a public meeting in
the Unitarian Church on
Wednesday, a letter was sent to
External Affairs Minister
Mitchell Sharpe commending
him for his forthright state-
ment on the obligation of the
government of Pakistan to
recognize the results of the
democratic elections recently
held in that country.

The message concluded:
‘“‘Recognizing that the charter of
the United Nations precludes
assistance from that body
regarding disputes designated
as internal, be it further resolved
that Mr. Sharpe be requested to
explore the possibilities of
convening a meeting of foreign
ministers of like-minded
countries to seek out a political
solution to the tragedy in Pakis-
tan.”

The meeting was called by the
B.C. Peace Council. It was
addressed by N.H. Thakore, a
teacher at UBC.

He said Hindus were the
minority in East Pakistan. Six
million of them have become
refugees, in India and those left
in East Pakistan are completely
surrounded by the armies of
West Pakistan, and now rice
rations have been cut off.

He charged that Pakistan had
provided a neutral base for the
Anglo-American powers which
they had been unable to get from
India. ‘‘They wanted to have a
gun pointing at Russia,”’ he said.

He agreeed with the World
Council of Peace that refugees
must be allowed to return home,
and gave an address where dona-
tions to alleviate their suffering
might be sent if any one wanted
to send contributions direct: It
is the Prime Minister’s National
Relief Fund, Secretary-Minis-
try of Rehabilitation, Govern-
ment of India, New Delhi.

Successful picnic

The successful Father’s Day
picnic held at Bert Padgham’s in
the Fraser Valley was well
attended, with even the weather
co-operating.

Horseshoe tournament was
won by Mac Hadvick and George
Onofreychuk of Chilliwack. The
raffle for table lamp made by an
inmate of Agassiz prison camp
was won by Malcolm Grant of
Kamloops, and the alarm clock
made in the USSR was won by
Avril Grant of North Vancouver.
Table lighter was won by M.
L’Hirondell, Chilliwack.

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HALLS FOR RENT

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Available for meetings,
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PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FRIDAY, JULY 24974 ipAGE AY