hensd Tiat Whe VOL. I Published Weekly VANCOUVER, B.C., FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 1935 Single Copies: 5 Cents PG) No. 12 | CAMP WORKERS FRAMED ON FAKE CHARGE AT PRINCETON Intimidation Practiced by Police in Attempt To Stem Walk-Out PRINCETON, B.C., April 1—Ar- rested on that old familiar D.N.D. charge, “Stealing zovernment cloth- ine,” two of twenty men evicted from Camp 406 were brought before the “Beak” this morning. The C.L. Di. appeared in court to defend them. The two younsS men were remand- ed for eight days. TGail set at $500 } each in two securities. In two hours the local branch had their bondsmen present at the Court House, but Jar- Te Vis of the Provincial Police refused m@ to take it on the pretext that the hen Camp workers did not want to be Hitt bailed out. He also refused to allow th the G.L.D.L. representative or any me friends converse with the accused. To That this is a most flagrant case Tie of frame-up and intimidation is con- § firmed by the fact that all articles ef clothing listed by the foreman ! was handed into him, yet these boys <8 were arrested when they got to wet) Princeton. IWEg Police Terror Intended esa G In their frantic efforts to stem the #7}, walk-out on the ith, the “Clowns” the Ware performing energetically, circu- ce lating a whispering campaign that : ©) the Gamp Workers are going to turn i=] this place “upside down’ in their iS attempt to create a vigilante spirit. = A number of extra R.CM-P. have Re | been shipped in. This will not pre- ome et i DR wel Nea BS Belg GoD et “Lamps. vent the Camp Workers from dem- enstrating their strength on the ith- ’ There is a noticeable determination amone the Camp Workers in this district that bodes ill for the D.N.D. and the fascist war mongers. M.W.U.of C. Local 20 pledges sup- port to Camp Workers’ struggle. 2. PATTULLO PLANS PCLICE TERROR In an interview with T. Duff Pattullo, Premier of B. €. this morning, a delegation of three Camp Workers presented de- mands, then questioned him on his attitude to the strike and the use of police terror. Pattullo told the delegution to tale it up with the commission which has been appointed by Ottawa. Relief was definitely refused. When faced with specific in- stances of police terror, he stated that “he would carry out the plans as laid out.” These plans include a reign of police terror to smash the walk-out. TIM BUCK’S REGRETS We are asked to announce in our eolumns the impossibility of Tim Buck being able to visit Princeton. Ixamloops, Prince George and many other important points in B. © at this time. Tim called at the office of the “B. C. Workers’ News’ and asked us to inform the workers of these places and the farmers in the farm- ing districts, that he regretted his inability to wisit them at this time, but hoped to make a more extensive tour in the future. His parting word was, “Tell them to build the United Front against Poverty and Fascism and War!’ - RECRUIT MILITIA FROM RELIEF | CAMPS ON VANCOUVER ISLAND VICTORIA, B.C., April 1.—Condi- tions in Camp Macaulay, Project 75, 2 sSemi-militanzed camp, have con- tinued to be such that a walk-out on April 4th will take place, nearly 100 per cent. This is remarkable con- Sidering the many cases of intimida- tion that have occurred, and the fact that many of the workers have Joined the militia, thereby creatine the impression that it could not be organized. Rotten Conditions Some of the grievances are: Half- cooked mush, powdered swim milk, rubbery hot-cakes, sogey and heavy bread, drafty and leaky bunkhouses, often compelling the boys to change to other huts during the night, crowded huts with no privacy, in- sufficient washing utensils, shoddy clothing, no recreation hall, forced labor by a slaye-herding foreman, and so on. Trying to Head Off Strike Some resistance to these condi- tions resulted in a change in fore- men, the new one being more con- siderate, thus encouraging further ressitance toward the end that they will be treated as workers, not as slaves. Many of the militia recruits have been working on Signal Hall in the ordnance work which used to be done by the regulars, with occa- sional jobs being given to residents of Esquimalt. Gausing Unemployment They feel they should not be asked to do this work, as they are depriving many of the residents who depend on occasional jobs for a liy- ing. It is realized that the 30 cents a day allowance is not wages, and they should not be asked to do heavy manual fabor for this pittance. There are only two daily papers allowed in camp for 90 men, and it has been the custom to allow only ‘one day’s leave if one of the work- ers had a job to go to or wished to look for one. If more is wanted they are struck off the strength and must apply for reinstatement. Military Intimidation This is about the limit to which honest young workers, deprived of every opportunity to live right, can be driven. The new foreman has no doubt been substituted in antici- pation of the walk-out ,and it is Tumored that the members of the Sixteenth Scottish will be kept in all day Thursday, with the promise of a free show in the evening. Thnperialist Monies However, this is not bait enough, as they have already been told of the character of the show, “Clive in India.”” It is noteworthy that the rubber boots issued at this camp have three swastikas on the top front. Strange that no manufacturer ever thought of using the hammer and sickle emblem. Fine Spirit Shown @Qne of these camp boys donated $5 out of his meagre savings to fimanee the transportation of the workers from Otter Point, and other This fine spirit was fitting- “Only Two Newspapers: All Allowed ; in Cine For Ninety Men K Britannia Rules The Slaves..! Inhuman Conditions On British Vessels Two ships ‘of British registry, City of Vancouver and City of Vic- toria, plying between B. C. ports and the Orient, are floating slave pens of the worst kind. There are 89 Chinese in the crew, signed on in’ Shanghai. Fierce Explanation Firemen, oilers and sailors re- ceive a wage of $29 (Mex.), about $10.60 per month. Out of this they must supply and pay for their own food. They are ragged, unkempt and underfed. If they organize into a union, they are likely to be put ashore in a Chinese port where they may be imprisoned and even lose their heads. Heavily Subsidized The white officers are also forced to work below the average wage. In addition to the profits made by the intense exploitation of the crew, the owners of the ships are subsidized to the tune of $5,000 per trip. ANOTHER FAKE INSURANCE BILL Levy Against Wages to Create Ward Heelers’ Administered Fund VICTORIA, B.C., April 2.—A draft fake health insurance bill was dis- tributed among the members of the provincial gas-house here at the close of the session by Weir, Provincial Secretary. The draft is to be print- ed for circulation among interested citizens, it was announced. Workers’ Wages To Be Taxed The workers of B.C. are not in- cluded among the “interested citi- zens,” although, according to the provisions of the draft Bill, their meagre wages are to be taxed three percent to build up the insurance fund, as against two percent from the employers. Gnily Bosses Recevie Copies The “interested citizens’ who are to receive copies of the draft Gill are the bosses, who will thus have an opportunity to revise, amend and suggest more effective ways of skin- ning the workers. ly appreciated at the last meeting of the R. GC. Joint Organization on y}as a criminal. WHEN TIM CAME TC VANCOUVER Section of Station, ereat throng Vancouver.- which greeted Tim Buck, Communist leader, Ms upen his arrival at Canadian Pacific Arena Packed To Roof To Hear Buck Expose Bennett’s Reforms With Powerful Plea For Unity Deals Smashing Blow to Fascist Measures And | Impending Imperialist Slaughter; Urges Anti-Capitalist oo VANCOUVER, B.C. April 1—BHight thousand workers jammed the Arena in Vancouver to hear Tim Buck ex- pose Bennett's “‘New Deal’ last night. The greatest enthusiasm ex- pressed in years was displayed by the audience, even though the ice owas in the Arena and the air was bitter cold. Dramatic Entrance. Tim Buck, the secretary of the Communist Party of Canada was greeted by a thunderous and con- tinuous applause when he entered. He was preceded by hundreds of Young Pioneers, Youngs Communist Leazue members, and Worker Sportsmen, all uniformed. The plat- form was occupied by representa- tives of various working class or- ganizations. Veterans Present Malcolm Gruce, who spent two and a half years in Kingston Penitentiary ITTNEY FASCIST SHAKES FINGER AT NEWSPAPERS “Work and Starvation’’ Premier Is Peeved at Bridge Criticisms In a long, windy and bombastic harangue over the radio, Premier Pattullo railed against the newspa- pers opposing his nefarious Fraser Bridge scheme, and declared that it might be necessary to suppress them. Like every other demagogue, he posed as a champion of a free press. but made the old well-worn distinc- tion between “freedom”’’ and “‘li- cense.’’ He seemed to regard anyone who sought to destroy a government He meant the Pat- tullo government, because he had no compunction whatever himself in de- stroying the Tolmie government. Justified by Hitler’s Crimes He justified suppression of even a critical capitalist press on the ground that ‘“‘in older countries of Europe, which are supposed to be more high- ly civilized, it has been found neces- sary to suppress such operations.” He was obviously referring to Hit- ler’s Germany and the Italy of Mus- solini, which is nothing new from this petty bourgeois politician who harbors delusions of grandeur and hopes to become a tin pot dictator in B.C. through his fascist Special Pow- ers Act and similar legislation. C.C.F. Leader Supports Noranda Miners Ont., March 18 (ALP) 16 HAMILTON, —Callinge for the release of the Woranda strikers sentenced to St. Vincent de Paul Federal Penitentiary for their activities last June, a strong resolution has been passed and or- dered sent to the federal government by the Hamilton Trades and Labor Council. Sam Lawrence (C.C.F.), with Delegzate Dunean of the Amalga- mated Clothing Workers, Delegate Hopper of the Cap Workers’ Union Unemployment, which has donated the use of their hall and pledged support and solidarity. and other delegates, spoke strengly for the protest resolution. @along with Buck, was chairman of the meeting. Bill Bennett, another veteran leader, spoke for a few min- utes as a Co-worker with Tim. G. Drayton brought greetings from the Communist Party in the Proyince. A camp worker spoke and presented a resolution for Support of the camp walk-out. Buck Rouses Masses Tim Buck roused the audience time and again, when he called on the workerstio fight against Imperialist War and Fascism. He appealed to the workers in B.C. to build the United Front to fight against the “New Deal’ which he characterized as the first step towards Fascism. He explained the “shooting in his cell’? with dramatie effect. When he called for support finan- cially for the Communist election campaign the response amounted to nine hundred and fifty dollars, in- eluding all species of curreney from tens and fives and checks to bed tickets. This meeting and the pres- ent tour of Tim Buck will mark a distinet upturn in the working class struggles in B.C. a @ Fifteen Cents A Day Relief Victoria Chinese Orga- nize for Struggle VICTORIA, April 2.—The Chinese | workers here are taking an interest | in their own affairs. It is reckoned that there are nearly two thousand out of work and a number of them are near starvation. The miserable soup kitchen is closed, and most of them are denied relief. Qn Monday April 1 nearly three hundred met together at the Work- ers’ Hall and decided to form a mass unemployed crganization to compel the authorities to help them. Fifteen Cents a Day Great interest was shown. Several white comrades spoke to them. Sig- nature Sheets were taken out and in the near future they will no doubt press their demands before the re- lief bosses. Seeing that the relief they get is only fifteen cents a day they will not only ask that more of them be granted relief, but that the allowance be increased. ditions in the Camps. of the slave camp inmates. three months elapsed before the comfortable Vancouver Military District No. 11: fective. commission or boards set up ploitation and degradation. wages. these who herd, hound and compound regimentation and The Slave Camp Strikers struggle against intolerable support of the whole labor movement CAMP WORKERS’ WALK-OUT [An Editorial | In an attempt to split the workers in the Slave Camps and to avert the strike on April 4th, a “Royal Commission” was set up by the Federal government to “investigate” con- The commission is composed of three members, not one of them a worker, to say nothing of a representative They are: A judge of a cap- italist court, a business man and a parson; and is it no accident that after such a commission was decided upon, the appointments were made. Nor is it an accident that the first sitting took place on the very day the walk-out was scheduled to take place. And this session took place, not in one of the Camps, but in Court House, the very first witness being—not a slave camp inmate—but none ether than Major General] Ashton, general officer commanding The Relief Camp Workers Union correctly charges that the setting up of the Commission is but a manoeuyre to confuse and split the men, to fill them with false hopes so that the strike will be either postponed or rendered inef- The Slave Camp inmates can have no confidence in any by the governments, the pur- pose of their establishment being to defeat the aims of the workers, and to drive them to hopelessness and deeper ex- It is only the organized strength and determination of the Slave Camp inmates themselves, supported by all work- ers’ organizations, that can bring about the abolition of the semi-militarized Slaye camps and secure work with decent Let the Commission and boards in comfortable quarters in the cities and towns listen all they like to the lies of oppress the victims of Slave exploitation with all the onor- ous rules and filthy conditions prevailing. The hope of the strikers is solidarity and determination, with complete lack of faith in capitalistic commissions and boards, and with cynical disregard of the tricky promises of politicians. These Hitlerist Slave Camp hell-holes where the youth of the land are being exploited and degraded MUST GO! Thy are a menace to the whole working class of Canada, and MUST BE ABOLISHED! must have the whole-hearted in their heroic conditions of slavery. Relief Camp Strikers Arrive In Vancouver In Mass Walk-out Some Have Arrived—More on the March—Police Terror and Deception Proves Futile Against Militant Workers VANCOUVER, B.C., April 4.—Despite threats of terror and starvation, and the presence of additional police in the Camps, Relief Camp Workers of the province who struck to- day are beginning to arrive here. The first to reach the city were 60 men from Squamish. These workers outwitted the police, who had been sent to the camp to prevent the walkout, by leaving Suelelsaly on April 3rd. On the March Irom Laidlaw, 49 arrived. From the Princeton district camps, 60 have already arrived in Princeton on their way to Wancouver, with many to follow. From Hope a number have ar- rived, and others are on their way. It is estimated that 500 from Prince Rupert, Kamloops and Chilliwack are on the move and will probably reach the city some time tonight. Three hundred were reported to be passing through Princeton, 100 passing through Chilliwack, and 125 between Boston Bar and Spence’s Bridge. have Police Active. City, R.C-M-P. and Provincial Police in Vancouver are being kept fully informed by Camp police of every miove of the strilkers as they converge on the city. The response to the strike call Which was decided upon at the Kam- loops conference of the Relief Camp Workers Union has been excellent. < already Meanwhile the Commission ap- pointed to “investigate” conditions in the camps, and which opened its sittings in Vancouver simultaneous- ly with the walkout, continues its strike-breaking hearings. The men demand, among other things, the abolition of semi-military discipline; work at trade union rates of wages; abolition of the vicious blacklist; decent food and accommo- dation. Conference on Sunday The Unemployed Workers’ Confer- ence takes place on Sunday next, 200 invitations hayine been sent to trade unions and working class poli- tical parties and mass organizations. Efforts are being made to secure the use of Cambie Street grounds for a huge mass meeting on Monday, April 7th. The camp workers arriving in the city are demanding relief from the city and are meeting with a great measure of support from thousands of workers. BOOM MEN WIN STRIKE— ———_-EIGHTY-CENT DAY INCREASE Johnson Chnuany to Be| Compelled to Grant Wage Increase 9 VANCOUVER, B.C., April — Log workers employed on the boom grounds on the Waterfront here won a short strike yesterday gaining wage increases from as low as 30 cents per hour to 55 cents per hour minimum. The increase per day will net the men §0 cents. One hundred and twenty men are affected by the raise. The Johnson Company is the only company holding out against the wage increase. The Vancouver Ex- port Log Workers’ Assn., affiliated to the L.& W.T-W.of Canada are holding a meeting tonight to decide on what action will be taken to enforce the Johnson Company to agree to the demands. One man was fired for his organi- zation activities but was reinstated yesterday at the termination of the strike. Unite on May Day For Bread, Jobs, Wages; r Against Fascism, War Greatest Desire and Need for Unity in History Of Workers in British Columbia May Day, 1935, will mark a new step forward in demonstrating the power of solidarity of the Working Gla Never was there greater need for Working Class Unity. SS. The Canadian Capitalist Class are pushing forward their plans for Fasc- ism and War. Bennett's “‘New Deal’ is to be an offensive against the workers of Canada disguised as Re- forms. Striving for Unity in Vancouver In Vancouver attempts are being made to set up a United May Day Committee. Communists, Socialists, trade unionists, prominent members of the CC.F., including several M.L.A.’s, are meeting as we go to press, to discuss plans for a united Working Class on May Day. Every Worker Can Help Members of all kinds of working class organizations can assist in this important campaign for unity. Take this as a eall to go to your union or organization meeting and ask what is being done to unite on May Day. Sweep aside all obstacles to Unity and help to build the United Front for better living standards for the working class. Let us show the Capitalists, by our demonstra- tion of mass solidarity, that we will not stand for fascist measures, that we will not allow them to plunge us into another slaughter for profits. Unite on May Day against Relief Cuts and Wage Cuts. Unite against Fascist measures— and Imperialistic War. Unite against Militarised Kelief Camps. Unite for real Workers’ Unemploy- ment Insurance and for full Relief. Forward to a United Work- ing Class on May Day! S RELIEF LINE AIDS DISCRIMINATED WORKER Relief Cut Restored—— Mass Action Was Threatened VANCOUVER, B.C—Jim Valalas, an unemployed worker, on relief, had his rent allowance cut from $5.00 to $2.00 and his light and fuel com- pletely cut off. His wife died a few days before the cut. Weak and emaciated from loss of blood given by transfusion in the hope of saving the life of his wife, he went to the Relief Office as soon as he was notified of the cut. Getting no satisfaction, and be- coming desperate, he called on the other unemployed in and around the Relhef Office to wreck the place. He was immediately taken inside and given the original rent allowance, also light and fuel. To prevent the workers in the line, who had become interested in the case, from knowing of his suc- cess, he was shown out of the back door. The firm stand of this unemployed worker, together with the threat of spontaneous mass action for his sup- port brought results, Comrade Valalas wishes to express his thanks and appreciation to the workers who attended his wife’s funeral for their condolences.