j | | | A AVL FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1969 VOL. 30, NO. 39 HALT U.S. H-BOMB Tribune SS mbes TEST IN ALEUTIANS The U.S. government should order the immediate cancellation of the nuclear tests on Amchitka Island in the Aleutians. This is the overwhelming reaction of the public following the disclosure that secret plans are well advanced to launch a series of tests which could have disastrous repercussions on all Pacific countries, including | OIL POLLUTION — THIS COULD BE THE B.C. COAST. Photo shows girl trying to remove oil glob from her foot at Ocean City, New Jersey after oe unknown oil spill polluted a 50-mile stretch of beaches. Oil leaks €sulting from exploration now carried on off the B.C. coast could Pollute water and coastal areas over a vast expanse. Beef gouge exposed By H.K. WARREN At last a spokesman for he cattle industry of anada has come out flatly and placed the blame for € high price of meat Where it actually belongs >= on the~ big retail Monopolies. oe Baldev: who runs 10,000 to a oe ire Ne feeder stock on his erta says that, ‘The arge retail chains are running ay et industry in Canada’, tor ae An public has not been at the price of live Slau ht eos ea oe has been dipping “At the same time’, he is quoted as saying, ‘“‘the price to the consumer over the counter has been maintained with the result that the consumer is being gouged as never before.” He quoted a Canada Safeway study dated 1953 where they were able to show that their retail outlets received a markup of 8 percent on their selling price. Using the same guidelines, Wilfley said that a survey conducted in June of 1969 showed that the large retail food chains were making markups of over 50 percent at the retail level, indicating a profit of from 45 to 50 percent, which means that they realize from $120 to $125 per animal. The retailer spokesmen have ‘the B.C. coast. Ever since 1963 secret prepara- tions have been underway on Amchitka Island to conduct underground nuclear tests. Plans were speeded up when ‘ tests to develop the powerful ABM warheads in Nevada led to near-disaster, leading U.S. offi- cials to the conclusion that these tests had become too dangerous to conduct on the continental U.S. (See editorial, pg. 2) An underground test of a nuclear weapon at Paiute Mesa, Nevada, Tuesday, Sept. 16 caused after-shocks for weeks. The blast lifted 10 million tons of dirt and rock and bulged out the top of a desert mesa, even though the nuclear device was buried 3,800 feet deep in the earth. In Salt Lake City, 350 miles away, tall buildings swayed in the shock, which Las Vegas resi- dents felt as three distinct _ shocks like earthquakes. In an earlier blast radiation escaped from the earth and has spread over wide parts of North America. Dr. Robert Ellis, a University of B.C. seismologist has warned there is a possibility that the Amchitka tests could send earth- quakes and tidal waves smash- ing down on the B.C. coastline. been quick to deny Wilfley’s charges, claiming that retail meat prices are almost back to the 1968 level. They offered no figures to support their claim. However, in 1968 the going price for a standing rib roast was 75-80 cents per lb. This writer paid $1.06 for a standing rib roast for last Sunday’s dinner. During the unprecedented spiralling price increases of meat that we experienced right after January 1969, the retail meat outlets were successful in conveying to the public that the price of live slaughter stock was undergoing a very drastic price increase, claiming that this was the reason for spiralling prices. See BEEF GOUGE, pg. 12 A demonstration to de- mand cancellation of the nuclear tests in the Aleutians | has been called by the B.C. Peace Council outside the U.S. consulate at Burrard and Georgia Streets in downtown Vancouver, Wednesday, October 1 between 12 noon and. 2 p.m. The public are invited to take part. He warned that U.S. nuclear scientists are taking a definite risk. by setting off the giant underground explosions which are reported to be the most powerful ever made by the U.S. in its search to develop new warheads for its ABM system. The Aleutians, Alaska and the Pacific Coast are known to have a land fault which has triggered earthquakes in recent years. In 1964 a disastrous earthquake hit Amchitka Alaska and set in motion a tidal wave which caused millions of dollars in damage to the west coast of Vancouver Island. It had a force of Magnitude-8. The 1.2 megaton explosion the U.S. intends to set off (and even more powerful ones may follow) is equal in force to a Magnitude-7 earthquake. Another earth- quake in 1965 also did consider- able damage. Disclosure that the tests will start in October has touched off a strong protest movement throughout North America and the world. These were the reactions: ; e In B.C. many organizations, including the Voice of Women, Peace Action League and B.C. Peace Council have already sent protests to the Canadian and U.S. governments demanding the tests be called off. - Resolutions were adopted at a public meeting last Sunday held by the B.C. Peace Council and in the Dell Hotel in Whalley Monday. The Peace Council resolution to External Affairs ‘Minister Sharp welcomed his statement holding’ the U.S. responsible for any damage, but it urged that Canada go further and demand the U.S. cancel the tests. e@ The people in Anchorage, Alaska have formed a ‘‘Save Our State’ organization to protest the blasts. Former governor William Egan has charged that the proximity of Alaska to the Pacific rim fault should be more than enough cause for can- cellation of the tests. @e On September 16 the Japanese government pro- tested to the U.S. over the scheduled tests. The Japanese fear the test may set off quake shocks in Japan, or create large tsuname (earthquake) waves in the Pacific which will hit heavily- settled Japanese Islands. The Soviet newspaper Pravda has sharply criticized U.S. plans to hold the tests in the Aleutians. The B.C. Voice of Women, ina special brief denouncing the tests as a threat to mankind, has called on the U.S. and Canadian governments to initiate a treaty to ban all nuclear-weapon test | ing.