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22 SS
Wol6. No'36. Vancouver, B-C., Friday, September 5, 1947 «<@qB2" Five Cents

ULTIMATUM HANDED
TO GOVT BY FARMERS

—

Farmers sell direct

® When London wholesalers
refused to buy their produce
use they claimed that prices
were too high, these growers
- Croydon, on the outskirts of
ndon decided to sell the food
direct to the public. British
farmers were also in the news
this week as the government,
in an effort to increase food
Production, raised minimum
Wages for farm workers to
ninety shillings ($18) for men
And sixty-eight shillings ($13.60)
for women. The minimum wage
‘rder, effective September 1,
Sffects an estimated 700,000
farm workers.

® For further information on
the British crisis see ‘BRIT-
AIN’S ALTERNATIVE TO

CRIsIg: in this week’s feature
Section,

2

Labor conference called
fo assist steel strikers

; To meet the threat to
he Entire trade union
Movement posed by the
Calition govern-
peat S pending prosecu-
cai under Bill 39 of 114
of fj ing steel workers and two
“lals of the United Steel-
€ts of America, the B.C.
*ration of Labor this
ees Initiated a conference of
= Union officials, shop and
x Stewards of both CCL and
affiliation,
he Conference will open at
oat on Sunday, September
ee in Boilermakers Hall here,
4S announced,

crgiatold Pritchett, BCFL se-
ary, stated that the BCFL

(Continued on page 8)
See STEEL

Dutch face crisis

THE HAGUE—Threat of
a general strike of all trade
unionists unless the govern-
ment halts its military op-
erations against .the Indo-
nesian Republic hung over
the Netherlands this week.
Recalled from Batavia by
the govermment, Lieut. Gov-
ernor Hubertus Van Mook
was reported to be trying to
convince the cabinet of the
necessity of continuing ‘po-
lice action’ against the Re-
publicans until both Java
and Sumatra are completely
occupied despite the UN Se-
curity Council’s. cease-fire
order. Until now, all parties
except the Communists have
supported military action,
but the Socialist cabinet
members are under strong
pressure from labor which
may force their resignation

if fighting is not halted.

‘Fascism in Action’

tanding between two stacks

x of asp ft in Action is Re-

presentative Wright Patman

(Dem., Texas) who led the

fight to print it as a House

document for free distribution.

Congress, however, banned free

distribution. Last year Com-

munism in Action was publish-
ed by authority of Congress and

536,856 copies were sent out free

of charge.

@ For further information on
what is behind ge oa tee
ti-labor, anti-comm cam-

aaa in the U.S. read ‘THE

REAL ATOM SPIES’ in this

week’s feature section. Since

this article was written seven

Canadian firms have been

linked with I. G, Farbenindus-

trie in Nuremberg trials.

Demand special session of House

VICTORIA, B.C.—AI-
though it has been virtu-
ally ignored by the Coali-
tion-supporting press in
recent weeks, the revolt

against the government's
school tax policy in the rural
areas of Vancouver Island
and the Interior is now as-
suming such proportions as
to threaten the future of
Premier John Hart’s admin-
istration. .

Farmers’ and ratepayers’
organizations have given Pre-
mier Hart and Finance Min-
ister Herbert Anscomb, his
Conservative counterpart, un-

til November 30 to produce
the findings of the six-man
commission set up earlier
this summer to inquire into
school taxation,

The threat underlying this
ultimatum, delivered to Edu-
cation Minister G. M. Weir
at a recent meeting in Kam-
loops, was best expressed by
Jack Koster, of the B.C.
Cattle Company, Clinton.

“In the last election,” he
declared, “I drove 100 miles
to vote for Louis LeBourdais
(Coaltiion - Liberal | member
for Cariboo) and then drove
100 miles back to my cow-
camp to pick up a bunch of
cattle at four in the morning.
Now I wouldn’t drive across
the street to vote for my
brother or sister if they were
supporting the government
that put out these tax bills.”

Coupled with organized la-
bor’s open rebellion against
Bill 39 which ‘has already
cost the Coalition consider-
able support in industrial rid-
ings, the protest movement
among the farmers, by alien-
ating the rural vote, threat-
ens the political base on
which the Coalition depends
for its majority,

(Continued on page 8)
See FARMERS