‘

if

Low-cost irrigation
Editor, Pacific Tribune,
On January 20th a delegation

of three from the LPP inter-

viewed residents of the Native
Indian Reservation at Kam-
loops, B.C. for the purpose of
introducing the ‘Native Voice’.
official organ of the Native
Brotherhood of B.C, Inc.

The native Indians have a re-

Serve seven miles square. This
land is capable of producing

enormous quantities of food.

All they need is some farm ma-.
chinery and .an irrigation sys--

_tem. This enormous tract ‘of
land is bordered by North and
South Thompson rivers, an
ideal layout for low-cost irri-
fation. The surface is level and
only a few feet above the water

Of these two rivers. Irrigation:

Would be very simple.

Looking across the South
Thompson we see the city of
Kamloops, only a mile away.
Hundreds of feet above the
City we see the RCN Ammu-
nition Depot where many men
Work for miserably low wages
Preparing explosives for a third
World war. Water is pumped all
the way up to this factory of
destruction without difficulty.
Why can it not be pumped up
a few feet ta irrigate this vast
tract of productive soil?

Many native Indians from this
reserve have just returned from
worla war two. They do not
Want to see another war, but
fully realize that the Canadian
8overnment is assisting in its
Preparation by supporting war
bases in the Arctic, which they:

know are for the purpose of at-

tacking our friendly neighbor to
the north, the Soviet Union, who
Wants only to live in peace and

develop its Socialist economy.

These people wonder why, if
Canada has billions of dollars
‘to spend on another war, they
cannot have farm machinery,
irrigation and decent homes in
which to live. A very natural
query. j

A public meeting is being ar-
ranged on January 30 on the
Kamloops Reserve,

fe This

where the

Wnrtte

entire Indian question will be
discussd, and a committee or-
ganized to take up their griev-
ances. ,

All Canadians should see to it

; that the Four Freedoms of the

Atlantic Charter are applied in
Canada here and now. The ma-
chinery, finance and natural re-
sources of this great country
must be used to raise the living
standards of the people instead

-of. for a third campaign of hu-

man butchery within a single
lifetime.
FRANK “HALVORSON.

Kamloops, B.C.

Religion

Editor, Pacific Tribune.

I was much interested in the
Sean O’Casey article in the
Jan 24th edition, wherein he
asks if the Vatican is a front
for Facism. Sean should know
plenty about the subject.

It is not in the interests of
the working people either far-
mer or industrial workers to
debate religion from the socal-
led spiritual viewpoint. All
workers of all religions are
chained down by the same econ-
omic factors in the capitaist

world.
Most religions are based on
books -or iegends, before that

they started with witchdoctors
and medicine men who dis-
covered an easy way to live by
the aid of subtle fear and super-
stition.

This latter base has never
altered. Today all of our re
ligions tend to become financial
rackets. This is the only point
tolerable to the people because
the worker knows what cash is.
I say tolerable because the av-
erage worker will listen to the
financial end when he will not
listen to any argument about
the merits of different religions.

The Roman Catholic Church
just happens to have been the
first religion in the field. By the
skillful application of super-
stitioug fear this church has be-
come one of the greatest of all
time. Its Cardinals are not

Yous vt Lopate

al You Pleate.

really princes of the church. oh!

no, ‘they are really and truly
financial princes, This church
has billions of dollars invested
in industries, including arm-
aments. Invested over the years
by shrewd agents in the cap-
italist countries.

The Catholic church today
and capitalism are quite indi-
visible, one could not live with-

out the other. When we con-
sider that this church intro-

duced to the world the. terrible
torture of the inquisition cham-
bers,to protect itself, then ‘we
can easily understand that it
does support facsism, as much
undercover as possible.

Hitler was supposed to fight
religion. When his armies were
in Rome, did he interfere with

the Vatican? Not on your life,

he knew

his friends too well
for that... :

Entirely apart from any re-
ligion we must make a definite
distinction between right and
wrong for the betterment, pro-
gress and continuation of the
human race. Capitalism is
wrong, fascism is filthy.

SAM REYNOLDS.

Information wanted
Editor, Pacific Tribune.

I was deeply interested in
your article ‘How the railroad
and timber monopolies got away
with millions of dollars’ by
Maurice Rush, which appeared
in the Oct. 4 issue of the Tri-
bune.

.

Could you kindly inform us
through the columns of your
paner rerarding the followings;
does the F. and N. Railwav, the
timber interests or the logring
mornerolies of Nanaimo
Cumberland pav_ school
and to what extent? I believe
this information would be of
interest to many of your readers

on Vancouver Island.

NAT P. DOUGLAS.
Cobble Hill, B.C.

Editor’s Note: Any data on
the foregoing from Tribune
readers will be welcome,

‘gent eye Bia ae toe gun error INI EA

‘Spy commission needs probing

Pointing out that

six

of those branded

guilty
Taschereau-Kellock Commission have already been acquitted by the courts, one of them

TORONTO.

of espionage by the

_ twice, and that “on the basis of the evidence unprejudiced Canadians would also acquit
Fred Rose,” the Fred Rose Defense Committee, in a statement released here, has: |

@ Reaffirmend its confidence

in the innocence of Fred
Rose, M.P. for Montreal
Cartier, whose appeal.
against a six-year prison
sentence was _ recently re-;
jected by Quebec Supreme
Court.

Appealed to ail sections of
labor and progressive opin-

ion to continue the fight to’ —

free Rose and to support

“the effort to secure a com-—

plete and  thorough-going
public re-examination of the
entire ‘espionage investiga-
tion’ This
must include the whole pror

cedure since enactment of ©
extraordinary order-in- ©

the
council by members of the
cabinet, particularly in
view of the fact that the
minister of justice denied
in parliament that any such
law was enacted.”

Support of the Fred Rose

Defense Comittee’s findings is

voiced by the national executive

investigation |

committee of the Labor Pro-

" gressive Party which, in a sep-

erate statement. calls for public
inquiry into the unconstitutional

and generally extraordinary

methods and procedures adop-

ted during the ‘investigation.’

“Unless there is such an in-
quiry the civil rights of every
Canadian citizen will remain
compromised and in danger,”
‘the staement warns.

American Mikado

X-SECRETARY of State Byrnes

recent'y told the Senate War
Investigating Committee that
General MacArthur was (a
prima donna” who is doing “a
superb job.”, “If ever we have
done anything good,” he said
“we have been able to keep Mr.

Molotov busy over here so that

in the Pacific where we are in
control we have been able to
go ahead in an orderly way and
without interference from any-
body, and consequently we have

done a magnificent job.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE FIVE |

In attered response to this
nosegay. General _ MacArthur,
known in Japan, as the “Mi-
kado” has magnanimously in-
vited Byrnes to visit his domain.

Byrnes’ statement is an ad-

mission that the United States
has been playing an_ unilateral
role in the Pacific, completely
disregarding the principles of
edlliective responsibility for
peace enunciated at the Mos-
cow Conference and the charter
of the United Nations.

x

and .
taxes, -

Short Jabs by Ol’ Bill

'VEN when writing about sports in the Soviet Union, the boys.
who gather the news for the American capitalist press take
great pains to show that Soviet sportsmen are not up to the
Deluding the ‘Standards of the same groups in the States.
One of these news-hawks writes in the New
people York Times, his impressions of a hockey game
he witnessed in Mocow recently. He didn’t think much of the
ability of the stick handlers or of the uniforms they wear; thinks)
they are net ready for the big time leagues, but admits they play
a much “politer” brand of hockey, not. much charging or body-
checking as in the game as it is played here.

This latter statement I can well believe. I remember “Bones”
Allen, one of the top-notch Minto Cup lacrosse players of the past,
telling me of a tour of England made by a select Canadian team,
on which he played on the home field. It was his considered) opinion.
that if the Englishmen had played the forceful Canadian game;
cross checking and using the stick on their opponents, they would
have defeated the Canadians. The Englishmen were too polite and
apologized .if they accidentally pushed a Canadian player off his
feet or tapped him on the bean with the stick.

Don’t we remember the tales these same critics told us in
their write-ups, about what poor football players the Russians
were. And don’t we all remember the demonstration given ‘by the
“polite” Soviet team that played four games in Britain last spring,
winning threé of them and drawing with Scotland’s. racic club,
the Glasgaw Rangers,

Just in the same way, the Red army was written up “fe tthe
hired scribblers of that “free press” whose wealth is used “for the
purpose of fabricating and manipulating so-called public opinion.” -
And we know the answer the Red army gave them in the bitter
years of the struggle against fascism.

There is one difference, however, between Soviet and North
American sport—there are no bribery and corruption scandals in

the Soviet Union as in boxing, football and MEGHAN, in this part
of the world. ;

byes haste with which the anti-labor press seizes on to. anything

which they think will help them to blacken the labor movement —
and bring it to ill repute. was shown a few days. agd by an
A biter apology printed in the scab produced - ‘Vancouver
bitten Province.

Don’t worry! We did not buy this eats paper. Some
one picked it up in a beer parlor and sent. us on the rlipping
responsible for this paragraph. Apparently, in their issue of Dec.
12, they printed a photo of the Montreal lawyer who was defense -
counsel for Fred Rose. Underneath. it they printed a story of a
Toronto lawyer who has just been sent to the Ontario Ui bation ions ets
on an assault charge.

The picture and the story had na real connection. Rieele coun-

“sel was a different man entirely to the one who was jailed: Eut in

their hurry to tell their readers the glad news about a lawyer) -
who was so lost to honor as to defend Fred Rose, they stepped
on their own toes and in the clipping we he ave, they make an’ ee
apology.
But the lie has got a good start and wil never be caught w
Pp
with until that kind of paper is put out of commission with

the rest of the capitalist system. a the meantime put your
trust in the labor press. —

Ts United States has made its eigtonaent on the Polish pbcticne =
It is an -accusation of. “widespread measures of «coercion and
intimidation” and asserts that the U.S. will retain “full liberty of
Polish. action,” in its future attitude towards. ane, Polish’
government.
elections There is only one phrase used by tndlish- Sppedk-~
ing people in the States and Canada which will adequately describe
this statement of the reactionary State department at Washington,
and that is the slang term “supreme unmitigated gall.”

In a country where one-tenth of the population, the Negroes,
is prevented from exercising the right assured to it by constitutional
amendment, interference in the internal affairs of another country
can oniy be plainly referred to by such a phrase. The country where
the filthy, obscene, blaspheming Bilbo can be elected to any office,
even as dog-catcher, has no right or justification to ‘make com-
ments on the election procedure of. any ther eonntnys even if its
denunciation had any basis in fact.

In ‘this particular case it has none. Since the provisional “gov-
ernment, at the “end of the war, undertook the task of bringing
some semblance of order to the country and. assumed the burden.
of reconstruction of its shattered economy, over 3000 officials and
supporters of the government have been murdered by the bandits —
and underground gangsters about whom the U.S. State department
is so solicitous.

The U.S. officials have no doubts as to who in Poland are of
the same kidney as themselves. Their assistance to establish dem-
ocracy in Central Europe will only be given if it is for their brana
of democracy. Byrnes has already made that clear,

Churchil gave 80 million pounds worth of war materia). to.
the Polish government in 1919, because it was an anti-Soviet
government. If they had a similar government in Poland today,
the U.S. State department would have no criticism of the demo-
cratic methods of conducting the recent elections. :

ae streets in the “modern” cities and towns of Canada and 2
U.S. are now more dangerous than the battlefields of the two
world wars., Traffic safety councils have now become part of the

y

+

Road ministration of cities almost as much as the city coun-
cils. Still the juggernaut toll of lives goes upwards rather —
safety than down.

Randolph Churchill, one of Churchill's brats, was fined $50
some time ago in New York for recklessly driving a car at 80
miles an hour, He admitted the speed but claimed it was not
dangerous. That is enforcement as we know it in America. ;

In the Soviet Union they do things differently. A hit an@-run
driver in Moscow, in the week between Christmas and New Years,
was sentenced to death for driving a car into a groun of neople, —
waiting for a trolley. He was drunk; two of his as died and
several others were iniured. _

That is enforcement in the ‘Soviet Union.

_ FRmay, JANUARY 1, 1947