Weievans atest at NATO parley

Camille Dionne, former sergeant of engineers, and Bob Laxer, former artillery lieutenant, led
war veterans in this Ottawa. demonstration against the recent NATO war parley. Carrying a banner
reading, “NATO Means War! Canadians Want “Peace!” they symbolized the unity of French and -
English-speaking Canadians in the struggle for peace. | ; } i é

The warning made by Jim
ment was planning to “cut. down,
dig up” and sell Canada piecenieal

by huge ‘U.S, investments in Can-
ada.

the danger. Said W. F. Holding,
president of General Steel Wares
on September 15:

“We are digging Canada into
flat care and boats, selling it
and then buying it back in the
form of finished products from
othe: countries. That means we

are living on our capital—our
raw materials.” ‘

Holding revealed that GSW’s
- London plant, which normerly em-
ployed 1,500 men, had laid off 350
already. In the first half of 1950,
Canada imported only 405 refriger-
ators, he said. But in the same
period this year, the import figure
was 76,000. At the same time the
U.S.. is violating Geneva trade
- agreements and barring Canadian

cheese from the American market.

F. J. Lyle, director of the, trade
‘and industry branch of the On-
tario Department of Planning and
Development, told the . Kiwanis
Club in Calgary on September 18;
“Tt will take prodigious tonnages
ef raw materials to pay for all
the finished products we do buy

abroad.”

The Bank of Montreal on Sep-
tember 24 estimated Canada’s trade
. deficit with the Y.S. ‘would be as
high as $800.000,000 by the year’s
end. But it reported that’ the
drain on U.S. dollar holdings in
Canada is “insignificant” because
of heavy U.S. investment in Can-
adian resources of oil, iron and
- other materials.

The Dominion Bureau of Statis-
ties reported on September 23 that
the deficit with the U.S. in the first
seven months of this year amount-
ed to $373,000,000 — almost five
times greater than the deficit in
the same period last year. Trade
with other countries has diminish-
ed to less than 30 percent of the
total. } :

Orily four times since 1914 has
Canada known deficits in her
trade. Deficits with the 'U.S. have
previously been balanced by sur-
pluses in trade with Britain and
the rest of the world.

to the U.S., is being verified today |

Even a section of the Can-'
adian capitalists is now aware of:

Canada’s resources being ©
sold to U.S. to offset —
increasing trade deficit —

By JOHN STEWART

*

TORONTO

To meet a trade deficit expected to reach $800,000,000 by the end of this year, the St. Laurent
government is selling Canada to Wall Street for a soag.
United States are not being matched by exports, are
at dirt cheap prices, our wealth in oil,

B

The tremendous increasé in imports from the
being paid for by permitting U.S. bankers to buy up
iron, lumber, aluminum. production and other basic raw materials.

ck, LPP natio ial leader, more than two years ago, that the govern-

But, true to its satellite poli-
cies, the St. Laurent government
has cut off trade with nearly one-
half the world—the half that is
expanding most rapidly.

An order-in-council on August 28
further tightened government con-
trol over trade with the Soviet
Union, China and the People’s De-
mocracies. The reason given, as
reported by the Canadian Press,
was: “To prepare Canada in the
event economic warfare was un-
dertaken by the democracies to beat
back and weaken Communist ag-
gression.” The action followed by
only a few weeks, similar action
ordered by’ Washington. ;

By a stroke of his pen, “Prime

Minister St. Laurent could open
up a market for Canadian man-
ufactured products far greater .
than anyone has dreamed. China
needs untold quantities of elec-
trical equipment, rails, freight
cars and engines, machinery and
machine tools, tractors, trucks
and road-making. equipment. And
she could pay for it, not only in
gold, but in rare minerals, food-
stuffs. and other commodities
which Canada lacks and now is
forced to import from the U.S.
at greatly inflated prices.

What can be done with China

ean also be done with the Soviet
Union, ‘Czechoslovakia, Poland,

-| Hungary, East Germany and other

People’s Democracies.

members of the legislature.
200 took part in the lobby.

‘mittee were:

a resolution petitioning the fed-

interviewed him that his views

Ontario premier, |
MPP's tackled on —

peace, pensio

TORONTO —

Led by chairman Mrs. Eva Sanderson, representatives of the On-

tario Lobby’ Committee for Peace and People’s Welfare, recently
interviewed Premier Leslie Frost and legislative party leaders E. B.

Joliffe (CCF’, F. R. Oliver (Liberal), and A. A. Macleod (LPP).

In addition, constituency «delegations interviewed close to 20 other

Some
Proposals submitted by the com-

@ For the legislature to pass

eral government to call for a
meeting of the five great powers
to conclude a pact of peace, out-
lawing war and leading to uni-
versal disarmament.

@ To take immediate measures
to use public monies for people’s
welfare such as raising old age
pensions to $50 a month and sub-
sidizing milk to reduce it to 15
cents a quart. !

These proposals were submitted
to Premier Frost for his! considera-
tion by Mrs. Sanderson, Miss Ethel
Neilson, Rev. R. G. Davison, Rev..
Wm. Howey,, Miss Mary Jennison
and Rev. I. G. Perkins.

Premier Frost received the dele-
gation cordially and discussed its
proposals, but would make no state-
ment for publication.

Oliver promised the delegation
that he would speak on the matter
of further assistance to old age
pensioners and to milk consumers.
Pressed to take a stand on the
proposal for a peace pact, he ex-
pressed his view that the federal
goyernment's rearmament policy
did not require any ‘change.

MacLeod assured the delegation
of his support for both proposals.
He said he was encouraged by the
growth of the Ontario peace move-
ment and predicted that, sooner
than many might think, proposals
such as these would™be supported
by a government and legislature
of Ontario.

Joliffe informed delegates who
were expressed in CCF policy and
in his,speeches. Beyond that, he
said, he would not commit himself.

Labor Minister C. Daley told a
group of his constituents that he
was definitely apposed to any idea

of a third world war but he felt

he should know: more about the Bo

idea. of a five-power peace pact
before taking a stand on that spech —
fic proposal. “A

Some one hundred members Of »
constituency delegations were bal —
red from entering the parliament
buildings inthe afternoon by a de
tachment of provincial police —
under command of. a ‘corporal who _
twice attempted to push Miss Mary
Jennison, a member of the com-
mittee, away from the door and
treated the men and housewives —
(some with their children) to @
torrent of abuse. ‘ 2

The lobby. committee despatched —
messengers also to the various
party leaders in an effort to have
the police barricade removed..

The full delegation was ad- —
mitted when J. B. Salsberg came
out from the building past the
police and announced: “If any- —
one wishes to see Mr, Salsberg
I’m a member of this House and _
you may come in to see me <
once!” a

Canadian writer —
defies witchhunt —

LOS ANGELES

Reuben Ship, Canadian -play-
wright, told the Un-American Com”
mittee Sept. 24 that “it is tryimB
to list anybody who stands f0F
peace as subversive.” ; ;

Upsetting the new hysteria heat
ings here, Ship, who authored the —
radio “Life of Riley” fon some —
eight years, refused to tél the ©
committee whether he is or was @
Communist. © ) en \

Tn a prepared statement ShiP_
wrote: “Because today I, too, Te
fused to cooperate cravenly with
this committee’s policy of intimi
dation, blacklisting, warmongerin& —
and establishing guilt by associa —
tion, it is evident I will shortly.
join the distinguished company 0

its victims. I am proud of this.

Imperial Tobacco teamed with government a
indo uble squeeze on cigarette smokers

By BERT WHYTE
There are two ways of bringing
the price of tobacco back within
reach of ordinary workers in Can-
ada: The first: investigate the fab-

ulous profits of Imperial Tobacco,

Company and force this giant
monopoly (which controls 95 per-
cent of the trade) -to operate at a
reason2ble profit. The second: cut
the federal cigarette tax.
Recently Montreal tobacco work,
ers ended a bitterly fought five-
week ‘strike against Imperial and
accepted a company offer of seven
cents an hour increase and the
40-hour week, plus incorporation

into wages. of cost-of-living allow-|

ance anda “profit-sharing” bonus.

This week Imperial turned
around and upped the price of
cigarettes another two cents a
pack—the second big increase with-
in six months. - :

Net profits raked in by Imperial ;

in 1950 almost reached the $7,006,
000 mark. Obviously the company
wants to boost its fantastic pro-
fits even higher. So the consumer
is soaked again, and a package
of cigarettes, which cost 37 cents
last spring now sells for 43 cents.
The federal government, which
could and should set up a commis-
sion to probe Imperial’s profit
scheme, doesn’t. intend to do a

thing about it—because Ottawa’s|

income on cigarettes, cigars and
tobacco dwarfs that of the mon-
opoly, :

In‘ the fiscal year of April 1,
1950 to March 31, 1951, 17,246,094,-
000. cigarettes were excised for
sale in Canada. Federal taxes
amounted to $10 per thousand. At
these rates, revenue for the year
‘would be $172,460,940.

Now let’s look at the federal
government receipts from excise
duty, excise tax and sales tax for

©1950:

Cigarettes — $185,511,921 (71.9
percent of gross sales value).
Tobacco — $25,742,119 (45 per-
cent of gross sales value).
Tobacco — $38,996,475 (25.6 per-
cent of gross sales value). :
TOTAL — $218,256,515.

Most smokers regard their cig-

arettes, cigars or pipes as a neces-
sity. Ottawa treats tobacco as a
luxury, and taxes it accordingly.
In the United States smokers pay
seven cents federal excise tax per
20 cigarettes. In Canada we pay
25 cents per 20 cigarettes. . And
if non-smokers should get the idea
that Ottawa is simply trying to
tax an obnoxious habit out of ex-
istence, let us state here that smok-
ing is one habit the federal treas-
ury would hate to see eradicated.

Last April the federal govern-
ment increased the heavy burden
of cigarette taxation by another

$1.50 per thousand, hoping to make

money for war preparations; from
this source. Instead, the next three

‘months-showed a sharp drop in

sales, with a consequent loss of
revenue amounting to about $8,-
006,000. . .

One direct result of Ottawa's
action was the development of
widespread cigarette smuggling
along the U.S. border. This aspect

| was brought to the attention of the

government recently by the To-
bacco Marketing Board of Ontario.

“We have a border of more than
3,000 miles,” said a Marketing
Board brief to the government.
“Below it cigarettes sell for less
than half the Canadian price. The
result has been wide-spread smug-
gling of American cigarettes into
this cauntry. The facts are known
to the authorities. Federal police

and Customs officials along the,

border are well aware of it.”
‘The Ontario Tobacco Marketing
Board advocates an immediate re-
duction in the consumer price of
cigarettes, brought about by an ad-
justment of federal taxation to
allow a package of 20 cigarettes to
sell for 35 cents.
“Decline in cigarettes excised for
; PACIFIC TRIBUNE

the first three months since the
imposition of the April added 4” —
are: May, 7.8 percent decliné:
June, 17.4 percent decline and July”
5.33 percent declire—an average 9”
10.8 percent,” says the Board. —

It estimates the present rate
loss to the government as $8,000
000, and $4,000,000 to tobacco farm” —

ers in direct farm income 10S5-

“The plight of the burley
bacco growers is an example: —
states the Tobacco Board. “South- —
western Ontario today has thou"
sands of once-prosperous | 2!
productive burley tobacco farm*
which are either abandoned 9°
turned over to much less valU-,
able crops. Dilapidated tobacc®
barns, falling apart from disus®
are a prominent part of the farm?
landscape in’ many of our W
ern townships.” Ne taste 8

So the hike in cigarette price?
hits not only the consumer—W2?
gets banged around like a punch-
ing bag in these days of spiralling a
prices—but also our Canadian *™
bacco farmers. \ canta

Imperial Tobacco Company, ba¥y
ing in its millions in net profit®
and Ottawa, taxing smokers ih
death, seem little concerned Wit?
the plight of the public and th®

tobacco farmers. | "4
— OCTOBER 5, 1951 — PAGE