" PNHE RECENT CCF convention, held in Vancouver,

April 11-13, failed to give an answer to the vital issues
Bia! facing the people of British Columbia. Meeting at
time when postwar problems on a world, national and

ovine} :
Provincial scale are crying

for solution, and when the

People want leadership in beating off the attacks of fascist-
i big business, the convention did not measure up
eat 1¢ challenge. The April convention met under sharp-
- Ng struggle between the forces of reaction and democ-
acy. It met at a time when American imperialism 1s

ce to extend its sway
a e greater part of the
dea including Canada, and
Sahai the freedom and inde-
nae ne of the peoples of many
: - It met at a time when

“© Canadian ruling class, tak-
Reet cue from Wall Street,
Peters, through a sharp of-
‘ing an against the people's liv-
Be eo forcing the work-
ae Seek increased wages aS
fie of maintaining their

ng purchasing power.
Bree = convention also meet at
ing. Wnen B.C. faces a grow-
& political crisis brought on
oe the Coalition’ government’s
n alignment with the Cana-
a fe nutacturers’ Association
oe oe consequent vicious at-
the pt Organized labor through
Now infamous Bill 39.

hag CCF convention was
‘a ae to these issues. It nei-
8 ea reflected them nor
eA 8ive a lead to the people
how to mobilize most ef-

ie fective}
: y for th :
reaction. e Strueele saslege

The
forej
lutio

discussion of Canada’s
§N policy produced a reso-
fetnns which, although it con-
Rot Some good proposals, did
mili ch eaaatl the King-Truman
a haved pact nor did it call for
ie : to the collusion between
‘threat ‘WO governments which
€ns to make Canada a
eee aggression against our
,, -7€rn neighbor, the Soviet
Peon,
ene resolution did not call for
Mmdependent Canadian for-
eu Policy in place of the pres-
ane which is tied to the
ie Wall Street. By lump-
aah he Soviet Union and the
a ed States together, and ac-
ng them of “power politics”
CCR “waving of weapons,” the
~~ objectively contributed to
ae Anti-Soviet
Ped to conceal

cat

be the U.S. im-
. pel threat to peace.
* “Mmediately following the

naveation, ‘the CCF News car-
ate 8 leading editorial sharply
okt king Henry Wallace, who
t o erheading the fight against
Thi en imperialist doctrine.
: _@ditorial respeats all the

Slanders and criticism of the

Saily press, and can only serve -

nl (Confuse and divide the peo-
“Ss fight for peace.

- AMONG the more positive ac-
tic tions taken by the conven-
Cor was a resolution pledging

m iN Support to the labor move-

Ret in its fight against the
mJectionable features of Bill 39.
Also timely was Dorothy

FRIpay, MAY 9, 1947

campaign and |

Steeves’ warning against red-
baiting. In her vice-presidential
report she said: “Make no mis-
take about this... the present
anti-communist drive will be-
come a drive against any or-
ganization and individual which
threatens their (big business’)
vested interests .. .” It is well
that the CCF has learned that
lesson. It is to be hoped that
it will also see in time the need
for unity of all democratic
forces to foil the vested inter-
ests in their conspiracy against
Canada.

A guide to good reading

To recently published books,
one a novel and the other
non-fiction, are most appropri-
ate in view of current reaction-
ary efforts to whip up every
prejudice and fear to halt the
march of progress and at the
same time to perpetuate sland-
ers and\falsehoods through rene-
gades from the people’s cause.

The first is Man Against
Myth by Professor B. Dunham,
a critical analysis of the para-
_lyzing myths which are care-
fully cultivated and. protected
in this capitalist society. Dun-
ham does a threefold job, He
shows the reactionary purpose

served by each of the myths he

examined, its historical and
philosophical origin and “he an-
alyzes and explodes it. His writ-
ing through is brilliant. It is a
pleasure to read the book, al-
most, one might. say, for its
gifted writing alone.

-Who hasn’t struggled with a
victim of the myth that there

are two sides to every question? —

Or that you can’t change hu-
man nature? That the rich are
fit and the poor unfit? That
thinking a thing makes it so?
Man Against Myth is a book
anyone can profit by reading.
Even those who have penetrated
these myths for themselves can
learn from Dunham’s analysis.
And it is certainly the best book
we have seen for a long time
to give to some confused sym-
pathizer. This book will straight-
to give to some confused pro-
gressive. This book will straight-

“fONFUSION in thinking and

the lack of any clear-cut
critical standpoint could hardly
be better exemplified than in
a publisher’s review we receiv-
ed the other day. Right along
with enthusiastic reviews of

\

WAROLD WINCH

‘Two events widely publicized
at the convention were the cen-
suring of Harold Winch, House

leader, for his support of the
BCElectric franchise, and the
exchange of words between

Winch and Cameron, CCF pro-
vincial president. The delegates
were absolutely correct in their
criticism of Winch who astound-
ed all supporters of public
ownership of the BCEHlectric by
his attempts to rationalize an
obviously incorrect and reaction-
ary stand. Attempts have been
made to present the clash be-
tween Winch and Cameron as
a fight between a right and left

wing. This is not the case. The-

exchange of words arose from
a struggle between different fac-
tions in the CCF and not from

two anti-Soviet and anti-Stalin
books was a brief review of
The Judas Time by Isidor
Schneider.

We can’t do better than quote
direct:

“In the prelude to this extra-

ordinary novel, Judas Iscariot
explains to a Roman friend that
he had acted to forestall a be-
trayal by Christ! This rational-
ization of treachery sets the psy-
chological scene for a _ novel
that throws light on strange
darknesses of our time. Our
period has been called the ‘Age
of Treason.” The Moscow trials
were luridly accompanied by the

‘yast diplomatic treacheries of.

Munich. Munich was followed by

iE foreign policy. of two

Western powers is exam-
ined in two studies presented
in the Spring issue of Science
and Society (Vol. XI, No. 2),
Harlon R. Crippen’s “American
Imperialism and Philippine Inde-
pendence” and Richard Schneer’s
“Famine in Bengal, 1943.”

Crippen’s article is the second
of two pieces ‘on the Philippines.
The first, “Philippine Agrarian
Unrest: Historical Backgrounds,”

_ published in the Fall 1946 issue

of Science and Society, was
‘awarded the Pacific History
Award by the Pacific Coast Sec-
tion of the American Historical
Association.

In this second article, Crippen
tells of recent history in the
Philippines with special empha-
sis on war and post-war de-

' velopments. In a clear analysis

of the composition of the vari-
ous political parties and— their

any fight for progressive poli-
cies. - :
e
main criticism of the
CCF convention is that it
failed entirely to give an answer
to the problem of government
in B.C. It is no secret that the
Tory-Liberal coalition is in dif-
ficulties. The pressure of big
business groups drove it sharp-
ly to the right at the last ses-
sion, with the result that it has
narrowed its base among the
working class.

The next’ few months are
likely to see a considerable
sharpening of the governmental
crisis. Already the powerful B.C.
Federation of Labor (CCL) has
announced it will seek the de-
feat of the Coalition: The cen-
tral problem facing the labor
movement is how to unite all
progressive elements to bring
about the defeat of the Coali-
tion and present to the public
a winning progressive alterna-
tive. In short, the present di-
vision in labor-farmer-progres-
sive ranks must be overcome.
Unity of these forces around a
people’s program could achieve
a major advance for labor and
the people in the near future.

But the CCF did not even dis-
cuss the question of unity. of
the progressive forces. The main
perspective held out for the or-
ganization was outlined in Colin
Cameron’s_ presidential’ report.
What was that perspective?

Cameron asserted that “before ~

two years pass we shall face
an economic crisis even more
severe than that through which
we passed before the war.
When that time comes men and
women will seek desperately for
a way out of their impasse.”
Hence, everything is to depend
on the economic crisis to elect
the CCF. There is no doubt
that an economic crisis is com-
ing, but if the people, through
united action, can bring about
the defeat of the Coalition and

Quisling, Petain, Mikhailovich
and hosts of lesser known trai-
tors. Recent fiction, so far as
it has dealt with the phenom-
enon, has followed the formula
of Judas. The traitor has been
presented as the man of faith

and ‘the deserter as the man of

courage and the steadfast have
been vilified. In The Judas Time
the characters return to their
proper roles, treachery to the
traitor, loyalty to the loyal.”

At a time when the labor
movement is plagued with Sulli-
van and Budenz, The Judas
Time is an important book and
one we predict will gain wide
recognition. —

It is the story of men and
women of whom movements are

positions, he reveals the back-
ground of the present Roxas re-
gime and the role of the U.S.
both. militarily and through its
civilians in determining its pres-
ent character.

It is observed that twice Am-
erica came to the Philippines as
a liberator and stayed as a con-
queror, and that whereas in
World War Two American de-
mocracy fought and won the
war, American imperialism won
the victory. With illuminating
documentation Crippen shows
that in the Philippines the
choice was

tween the moderation of Os-
mena and the near-fascism of
Roxas,” and that a reactionary
American foreign policy made
the latter choice.

e
“RAMINE in Bengal, 1943,”
while a study of a specific
local situation, nevertheless gives

‘

“not between fas--
-eism and communism, but be-

elect in its place a progressive
government, the possibilities
would open up for lessening the
ravages of an economic crisis
among the people. :

The CCF’s perspective is not
one of struggle against the
vested interests. Its view of the
future is colored by the idea
that when things get tougher
for the people they will vote
CCF. This perspective is harm-
ful to the labor movement be-
cause it disarms the working
people at a time when big busi-.
ness is carrying out the most
vicious onslaught against the
population, and particularly the
trade unions. It flows from the
contention that the CCF should
not cooperate with any other”
group and that the CCF con-
stitutes the only alternative to
the old-line parties, and it has
been maintained through defeat
after defeat in provincial elec-
tions.

There are powerful forces in
‘B.C. which, if united against
the reactionary Coalition, can —
send a real people’s government
to Victoria. There is the power-
ful trade union movement.
whose very existence is placed
in jeopardy by Bill 39, there
are the CCF and LPP, as well

-as farmer, pensioner and other

reform groups which can be ral-
lied around an immediate pro-
gressive program.

To continue to insist, as the
CCF does, that the answer to
every problem is to “elect the
CCF” is to narrow the progres-
sive camp to exclude all but

_ those who are prepared to accept

this CCF position. This lessens
the chances of defeating the big
business government,

The alternative to the Tory-
Liberal Coalition is a people’s
coalition which will bring to-
gether the majority of British
Columbians around a program
to curb the monopolies and ad-
vance the economic and social
welfare of the people.

composed; some. growing and
strengthening, others weakening,

“sometimes to the point of be-

coming traitors under the strain —
of holding to difficult ideals mm
an unrelenting struggle. It is a
book cut from the very fabric
of our times——HAL MILLER.

e '
RECOMMENDED BOOKS

American Sahib—by John Meuhl

$3.75. ‘.

Man Against Myth—by B. Dun-
ham—$3.50.

The Judas Time — by Isidor
Schneider—$3.50.

Gentleman’s Agreement — Laura
Hobson—$3.00.

Underground to Palestine — I. F.
Stone—$3.00.

Science and Society _

insight into the causes of the
problems of colonial people in
its statement that British im-

_ perialism of the 19th century.

laid the ground for today’s situ-
ation because “the destruction
of India’s industries with the
subsequent over-crowding of the
land is one of the primary
causes of her present economic
distress.” : ‘ ;

Schneer details the faltering
efforts of the British, always
“too little and too late” to try
to institute a weak price con-
trol after prices had jumped
over 300 percent. The inade-
quacy of the British adminis-
tration is laid bare in statistics
of death and destruction and
the declaration substantiated
that such was the result of an
imperialistic policy. where the
responsibility of government and
the will of the people bore little

relationship to each other.
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 11

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