ee EDITORIAL Stop the neutron war pian! The Reagan decision for the USA to bring into existence the neutron weapon must be understood as not simply the creation of a more horrifying weapon of mass destruction. It is more like the marker at the point of no return on the way to world nuclear war. The question is: Is humankind going to permit the passing of that point? The so-called “balance of terror” was a kind of bizarre logic which said that in the use of nuclear bombs and nuclear warheads on giant missiles the mag- nitude of the crime against humanity, and the devastating retaliation invited, stayed the hand of potential users. It was a high threshold to get over. Reagan is removing the balance, in- : creasing the terror, and lowering the nuclear threshold. He and the Pentagon tals would like to convince the world that with the neutron warhead they have set new “rules”: the neutron would be only: for battlefield use, where being turned to radio-active ash is understood; and the _ victim-country would be breaking the “rules” if it re- taliated with big nukes. | War is not, and won’t be, that way. Neutron-weapon nuclear. war is world nuclear war, all-out nuclear war. We should not delude ourselves. Nor should there be any delusion about this “en- hanced. radiation weapon” being re- _..Government by decree... Federal government ministers, a fat pay increase in their pockets, and vaca- tions and world travel beckoning, have developed a knack for issuing decrees, without benefit of parliament, assuring us the economy is strong, and tottering off to more interesting things. Finance Minister MacEachen, who “solved” the problem of high interest rates with a gentle decree that the lend- ing institutions curtail loans to corpora- tions planning to use the money for out-of-country investments, says he is not greatly worried. Tens of thousands of workers, buck-: ing a mortgage rate of 22.75%, losing homes or unable to buy one, are wor- ried. Rents, for those who can find af- fordable family rental accomodation, " move ever upward. To cap the housing woes, housing starts fell 15% in July. compared to July 1980. For his appeal to lenders MacEachen got a slap from the Seagram Co. Ltd., which promptly shipped $2.5-billion to USA for shares in Conoco oil company — the profit, no doubt, to be invested wherever the Seagram empire decides. To hell with Canada! It is evident we need a freeze on the export of capital by the monopolies for a fast-buck return. We need that money to build Canada, not monopoly empires. Justice Minister Chretien says “there is no need to panic.” Well, inflation is cutting the strands of the rope that hold us from a mass plunge into poverty; food prices alone jumped an annual 14.8% in July in a sample. Canadian city. Import prices are due to leap 5% because of Canada’s sagging dol- lar —at a 1930s’ depression low. For the. “official” 830,000 jobless the problems PACIFIC TRIBUNE—AUG. 21, 1961—Page 4 served for formal armies — it could con- veniently be turned on liberation forces, or on economic foes like the owners of oil in the Middle East. © ae In deciding to manufacture this weapon for use, Reagan has overstepped what may be decided by one man, one administration, or even one country. The governments and peoples of the world have a say in whether or not they'll let their world pass that point of no re- turn. First it is up to the people in countries allied to the USA, to compel their ‘governments to take every step to pre- vent the neutron weapon’s manufacture. A terrible responsibility rests with the people of the USA themselves to forbid it. Around the world the peace forces, -| - which at this juncture must embrace whole populations, can make the globe untenable for the neutron weapon and its apologists! People are in the streets today protest- ing, as they are in their parliaments and in organizations of every kind. It is necessary to escalate the protests a thousand-fold, to respond to organiza- tional calls of “no neutron”! Canadians are called upon to instruct the Government of Canada to use all of its leverage, combined with that of every force that’s against a nuclear holocaust, to reverse Reagan’s diabolic decision. are compounded. (Add a few hundred thousand to get near the real figure.) If this economy is strong, so is rotten fish. Transport Minister Pepin’s contribu- tion to a “strong economy”, when he’s not ramming Reagan’s policy down air controllers’ throats, is to close down commuter railway lines — by decree. Some 1,600 workers face loss of jobs and 1.2 million passengers a loss of transportation. A strong economy? Liberal hopeful in the Spadina by-election, James Coutts, says we have the best government since World War II and, besides, Canada can’t do anything about interest rates (hence the economy); only the USA can. ~ For a government which can begin.to. show signs of standing upto Washington © in its energy policy, in a degree of Canadianization, the federal Liberals fall fiat with their strong economy nonsense. No wonder the Tory carpers, who proved in office to be the unquestioning purveyors of Pentagon and White House policy, are putting up a facade of patriot- ism. And the most reactionary of the provincial premiers (Tories and Soc- reds) are able to make a lot of noise in their scramble to grab what they can. Government by decree isn’t solving the economic and social crisesin Canada; it is driving down living standards day by day. Canada needs a program of indus- trial development by which it can stand on its own feet, not respond like a feather to the big wind down south. Pressure for that kind of approach is needed constantly to push the govern- ment to work for Canada, and for Cana- dians as a whole, not for the corporate elite and the transnationals, or for Reagan’s psychotic policies. he PAID VACATIONS FOR HOUSEWIVES WINNIPEG — Paying monthly salaries to mothers of children who make home- making their only occupation was the subject of a resolution at the national CCF (forerunner to NDP) convention. It quotes University of To- ronto School of Social Work researcher John S. Morgan, who says: . : -'~“The ‘cost of our standard of living is now reaching a point where the social responsibility of a married wage-earner can- not reasonably be met from the average wage of the head of the home.” It cites a new program which will go into effect this year in Norway granting housewives a two-week paid holiday. It is based on employee-employer contributions and given to vaca- , tion societies to administer. , Tribune, August 13, 1956 iy Profiteer of the week VANCOUVER BOSSES WANT DEPORTATION The boss politicians of Van- © couver have seized upon the — 25 years age... 50 years ago... i events of Aug. 1 as an excuse © for again rajsing the slogan of mass deportations. During the — mass demonstrations 13 people ~ including nine police were in- jured and 16 arrested. The — Attorney-General and the city have agreed upon. deportation of Red leaders wherever possi- ble. Allen Campbell; communist - leader recently jailed for — months for “inciting a riot” has | been paroled and his deporta- — tion to Scotland ordered. Vancouver's police depart-— ment has also announced the ~ formation of a special riot squad to deal with the unemployed. — To be comprised of 200 ex-serv- — ice .men. and organized on | semi-military lines the squad — has already signed up 50 mem- ~ bers. Just days after settling a strike with its workers, the Algoma Steel Corp., of Sault Ste. Marie announced $80.8-million after-tax profits for the first half of 1981, up from $45.8-million in the same 1980 period. It looks as though Algoma could afford a pretty hefty wage increase. Steico workers will be looking at the “take” of their well-off boss. Figures used are from the company’s financial statements. PACIFIC Editor — SEAN GRIFFIN e Associate Editor — FRED WILSON Business and Circulation Manager — PAT O’CONNOR Published weekly at Suite 101 — 1416 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. V5L 3X9. Phone 251-1186 Subscription Rate: Canada $12 one year; $7 for six months. All other countries, $15 one year. Second class mail registration number 1560 The Worker, 7 August, 8, 1931 — B.