Page Four B- Ce WO RK ERS NEWS BC WorKERS NEWS Published VJeeckly THE PROLETARIAN PUBLISHING ASS’N Room 10, 163 Wrest Hastings Street - Vancouver, B.C. & — Subscription Rates — Half year = Single Copy —_ One Year ___ 31-80 Three Months__$ .50 A Make All Checks Payable to the B.C. WORKERS’ NEWS Send All Copy and Manuscript to the Chatrman of the Editorial Board —= Send All Montes and Letters Per- taining to Advertising and Circulation to the Business Manager. “GIFTS FROM GOD” The wise men of the Work and No Wages Pattullo government have made a ruling that will go down in history with the decisions of Solomon. They were considering the Chain Letter racket, and came to the conclusion that pro- fits from chain letters, if any, are “gifts from God,” and gifts from God are not tax- able under provincial income tax laws. This is very considerate in view of schools closing down throuhout the province for lack of money to maintain them, and the inability of the provincial government to feed the un- employed workers and their families. by 1.00 -05 THE VALUE OF THE UNITED FRONT The urgent need for the workers to resist the attacks of the capitalists has made the united front of struggle an imperative neces- sity. The workers are forging this united front despite the efforts of many of their leaders to hold them back and to keep them divided. Se The Relief Camp strike is Here, the members of the CCF, and some of the district leaders, recognizing the import- ance of the strike, have achieved a measure of unity with the Communists and others in the struggle. No one can deny the value of the assistance thus rendered. In the immediate struggles of the work- ers, unity can be achieved, and is being achieved, despite the efforts of the top lead- ers of the CCF to prevent it. The CCE in the case of t strike and in the assistance given to the Corbin miners, and on other issues have by their active participation repudiated the pol- icy of sole reliance on parliamentary action. Tt is incontestable that workers should par- ticipate in elections so long as the capitalists permit such participation. should utilize such campaigns to bring be- fore the workers the class issues involved, and organize the workers for united strug- gle, outside of as well as within parliament. But the capitalists and their governments do not wait for elections or changes of gov- ernments to drive down the standard of liv- ing of the workers or to introduce fascist war. They are constantly attacking the working class and — the only way to stop their offensive is by erganizing the united front of the working legislation and prepare for class. Such experiences as the workers have had is convincing them that the united front is the only way to successfully resist those attacks. The united front, which has proved its value, should be extended to the arena of the federal elections, for here,too, as in other struggles, an anti-capitalist front is neces- sary, with candidates pledged to fight for the immediate needs of the workers, candi- dates who will receive the undivided support of the CCF, the Communist Socialist Party. STILL PASSING THE BUCK The old game of passing the buck is going on with increased intensity Camp strikers hold firm. Mayor McGeer having failed in his efforts to break the strike by inducing the men to go back to. the camps, is now burning up the wires in a political argument with Bennett. he Relief Camp Anyway, why should participators in rack- ets be deprived of their winnings when the workers can be filched of a part of their meagre wages through poll tax, sales taxes and fake insurance schemes. The miserable earnings of the workers are not gifts from God or from anyone else, but are wrung out of their sweat and blood by the capitalist plunderbund. It was not stated officially whether or not the “gift from God” decision was made on a case in point. ; = recommendation of Pattullo’s Brain Trust. THE WORM TURNS The protest of the congregation of Mr. Roddan’s church last Sunday night was an unusual occurrance and one that shows the depth ef resentment of the people at the treatment given to the Slave Camp strikers. The congregation of Roddan’s church is largely a working class congregation, and when Roddan began the evening service by the open strike-breakinge exhortation for the men to go back to the camps, and rubbed it in by having Gerry McGeer preach the ser- mon for him, the indignation of the workers present expressed itself. : _ The experience should teach Roddan and other parsons that even orderly church at- tendants will not stand for McGeer. The churches of Vancouver have cheap- ened themselves by handing over their pul- pits to a politician of the MceGeer brand, and the people are evidently getting sick of it. It is disgusting enough to have bughouse monetary reform quackery drooled out, but when it comes to open strike-breaking by a man who offers bullets instead of bread to unemployed youth, then Roddan and his kind cannot expect people to refrain from open dissent. The workers Bennett will not provide work, but he is quite prepared to spend hundreds of thou- sands of dollars to provide extra police. This is his offer, and a logical one, inasmuch as MeGeer has been harping on the danger of anarchy, and threatening the strikers, ever since the strike began. And they are unani- mous in ascribing the strike to agitators and representing: the strikers as being misled by a few Communists. Despite police provocation the strikers have not permitted themselves to be stam- peded into wild and irresponsible action. There is no doubt that the authorities would weleome such outbreaks so that they could use the police reserves together with the reg- ulars in an orgy of blood-letting. : The close organization of the Camp strik- ers, their self-discipline and the united front support that they have secured has brought results despite all efforts to sow discord and distrust of their leaders. Party, and the as the Slave TERRIFIC TOLL OF LIVES IN LOGGING CAMPS OF B.C. a) 18 Dead; Scores Injured Since February Profit - Hungry Lumber Barons Demolish Woods and Humans VANCOUVER, May 19.—Eighteen loggers have been killed this year so far in the woods of B.C. - This does not include the interior camps, but pertains only to the camps on the coast area and on Vancouver Is- Jand. ‘The period is only since log- ging opened in Hebruary. There was very little logging before then, be- eause of snow. On top of that the hospitals on Wancouver Island and up the coast are full of injured loggers. Greed for Profits It is safe to say that every one of these deaths could haye been avoided. ‘They are caused by the terrific speed-up and the lack of safety measures. "The Compensation Board pays no attention to the lack of inspection. Only the Lumber Workers’ Industrial Union battles these inhuman conditions. Particulars of those injured are mot procurable at the present time, the toll of dead are listed below, ac- eording to information supplied by the Lumber Workers’ Industrial Dnion: Edwin Maslund, Vedder Logging Co. Emil Eminen, Ramsay Arm. Simon Blaney, Alberni Pacific Lumber Camp No. 5. john Todd, B.C. Plup and Paper. Andrew Libach, Welch’s Camp. Huech Grant, Pitt Lake. John Hearst, Jervis Inlet. Weregen, Camp 6, Youbou. Eric Anderson, Campbell River McGEER BOOED (Continued from Page 1) was why the women protested his hypocrisy. McGeer and God spoke for the best part Andrew Engstrom, Kelley’s Camp. Japanese faller, Hillcrest. McGeer Werner Storlund, Camp 10, Che- of an hour at the church. He de- > aS g nounced what he called “‘the mob” Not SiaiawHi Baine’s Camp and went on to express his ego. He : ain i himself favorably He pointed out even compared Victor Griffiths, particulars not : with Jesus Christ. known. : oe es Gunnar Bloomquist, Bilk River that Jesus made one militant action S z when he drove the money changers . Timber. ‘ out of the temple, and for this he was crucified. He told of how the mob had crucified him, and were Two other have recently been kill- ed, particulars are not available. One of them was killed at Englewood, the z used as pawns by the money chang- other killed at Bishop’s Bay. ers, just as this mob tonight were being used by the money changers in. the Bennett government to cru- YOUTH ACTIVITIES cify HIM. He said, “But what did National Youth Day in the Lang- Jesus say when he was on the ley district is being sponsored by eross?” We said, “Forgive them, the F.U.L. locals in the Langley father, for they know not what they municipalities, and will be held at| 9°-” The Big Stick Fort Langley. A well arranged pro- eram has been prepared and includes speakers, sports and a basket picnic and later in the evening indoor youth meetings have been called and out- side speakers arranged for. Good work, Langley—kKeep it up! At one time in his speech he ex- pressed his bitterness and his fas- cist tendencies when he remarked. “T am the chief magistrate of this city; there are proletarian elements who are cetermined to bring about disorder and chaos, but I am going to see that peace and good govern- The Young Communist League has é s 5 ment are maintained.” a social for this Satur- evening at their hall at 594 Union Street at 39 pm. A good time is guaranteed and all are welcome. arranged for Thousands of people listened in over the radio, and the minister took advantage of the occasion to remind day The time is nine, and the price is the radio audience that this affair Sei tonight had prevented the raising of a thousand dollars for the anniver- A new unit of the W.S.A. was] S4ry. and appealed to them to send formed last week in Salmon Arm | 32 Contributions. and started off on the right foot Youth Day against hunger, fascism with a successful dance to raise funds to put their unit on a firm and imperialist wars. With the help financial basis. Good luck to the| 0 @ll working class organizations newly-formed unit, and lots of suc-| Youth Day can be the success it cess to your activities in the realm| Should be. of sport. The best and only way to fignt The League of Youth, Salmon Arm district, have called a mass meeting against Fascism and War is to build the United Front of Labor and fight Timber. Vaneouver May 20, 1935. Editor, “B: CG. Workers’ News.’ In your paper you ask for con- tributions® ;for the United (Byont Open Forum section from C.C.F-.ers, as well as Communists. It says in the Bible: “Ask and ye shall re- ceive.’ Weill you have asked for it, and you are going to receive it, so don't blame me if you don’t like what I have to say. I buy your paper instead of going to a movie. I get many a good laugh reading your wails and moans about the C.C.F. and this abortion called the United Front. What is the purpose of the Com- munists in asking for a united front? Even a blind man could see it. Simply that they made such a2 mess of the provincial election that they Know they haven’t a gambler’s chance of electing one of themselves unless the €.C.E&. helps them. But the C.C.F. leaders are not so dumb. They polled 92,000 votes during the provincial election. How many did the United Front candidate get? Look up the figures yourself. Read them and weep. These figures prove that the €.C.F. do not need the sup- port of the Communists, and that the GCI. has nothing to gain by UNITED FRONT OPEN FORUM UNITED FRONT a united front election. for the general And another important point. Are the Communists sincere in asking for a united front? We can only’ form our own opinions by what has happened in the last year. Why was Tim Buck released from prison in time to establish residential re- quirements for the election, and why was Buck permitted to hold a big meeting in Ottawa after Bennett had said he couldn’t? These ques- tions must be answered. There is something about Buck’s candidacy in Winnipeg, where he is running against Heaps, a C.C.F.er, that Smells pretty fishy. It's high time your “beloved leader’ stated his position, whether he is for or against R. B. Bennett. : Wre have Jeaders, too, good ones, that we are proud of. One of them is W. A. Pritchard, a man whose great part during the Winnipes strike is well known. He has been in prison, too, and we don’t go areund making a great hullabaloo about it. It is true that at the trial in Winnipee he made a statement about the “late, lamented Mr. Christ,’ but he has since stated that he regrets it very much, and that a young man may often say things that in more mature years he would regard as foolish. Pritchard is a man with great administrative abil- ity. He is about the best Marxist in Canada, he has been reeve of Burnaby, he is an exceptionally tal- ented musician, and all know that the success of the “‘Commonwealth”’ is due to his driving force and keen analysis of current events. In Dr. Lyle Telford we have one we can be proud of. His radio speeches are listened to religiously by thousands of people. Everybody who has met him or even heard him speak knows that he has the inter- ests of the workers at heart. He hasn’t called for a general strike in support of the camp workers, but should he? What good did the Emeglish general strike do for the workers there? I was there at the time and I know it was a fizzle, it produced absolutely nothing. Like Pritchard, Telford is a practical man. Neither of them can ever be accused of being visionaries and dreamers. They have their feet on the earth. Telford says he. agrees with the ultimate aim of the Com- munists, but differs from them in how to get there, he cannot agree with their tactics. i think this the correct stand. We support the Soviet fovernment in Russia, be- cause its their business, but we pro- test against attempts of the Com- munists to foist a Russian form of why is sovernment upon us. We are con- wineed that each country oe, particular problems and cond» and in Canada we can reach s: ism through proper use of the, i cratic parliaments. The Rie workers and peasants never ha joyed anything similar to BE! democracy, that is why they = revolution. We do not need to through strikes and revolutio- get what we want. a I believe Telford’s proposal | the camp workers be siven Hastings Park buildings as | quarters in eminently sensible, his offer to start a- big cam through the province to see | people donate supplies for 13 They would be far better off ~ than going to pool rooms and parlors. : ; During the Winnipeg trial- crown prosecutor referred to ~ chard as “The brightest star ji) constellation of the Socialist Pa. Even the capitalist lawyers ha admire him. I think that if he Telford, McGeer and H. H St were all elected in the coming eral election, things would ne Jong in taking a turn for the hj McGeer and Stevens are not ¢ bers of the C.C.F., but they are enough to our policies to mal real united front possible unde: brilliant leadership of J. S. Wi worth . : Well, goodbye, little letter. M I'll see you in print, more likeh part forever. I rather think Editor will bite his cigarette in and, muttering savage curses: throw you into the w: paper basket. i 4 : while, 4 W. W. WAD) An ever greater number of work- ers are beginning to realize the vital necessity of building a board anti- capitalist united front. The United Front of struggie has become a real- ity on the many fronts of strugele against hunger, against the growing danger of fascism and the horrible menace of war. The struggle of the Relief Camp strikers is-a splendid iliustration of what the Communists mean by a united front, and of how unity once achieved can serve the interests of labor. The open threats of fascism by Bb. Bennett to Pattullo and Mc- Geer, the semi-fascist, anti-labor legislation passed in the fFederal and Provincial Legislative Houses, Bennett's “reform’’ program, face the workers with the problem and task of molding and building the united front against capitalism or else the bankers and their governments a free hand in carry- ing out their plans of starvation, open and yiolent Suppression and plunging the masses into a world slaughter. The Communist Party, in face of this situation, ceaselessly and tirelessly called for, and or- ganized, the united front of strugele against capitalism. The strike strug- gles of the employed workers, the organizations and struggles of the unemployed of the recent years, the Strike of the Relief Camp boys, all speak volumes for the record of the Communist Party. R giving The continuous appeals of the Communist Party to the C.C.F. lead- ing committees for the establish- ment of a united front were up until recently ignored by them. ‘The Commonwealth” in most cases main- tained complete silence on these proposals. The demand for the establishment of a united front is srowing. “The Commonwealth’’ fin- ally had to take a stand, and its last issues (May 10, 17th) devoted its leading editorials to the question of Unity. The editorials, written by W. A. Pritchard, deliberately attempt to belittle the question of unity. Pritchard, while admitting that the term “Unity” “tis again to the fore,’ states that it is “little understood.” The growing desire for unity for our daily bread, wage cuts, against the capitalist offensive, the increasing demands on the part of the masses that unity be established is to the C.C.F. editor nothing else than a May against “hot and hysterical wind.” Winds sufficiently strong, however, do sometimes sweep aside the ob- stacles in their way. Pritchard’s main concern about the united front is the lack of sincerity on the part of the Communists and their “attacks” upon the C.C.F. Communists criticize the actions of the C.C.—. leadership and their poli- This in the workine class movement. interests It indeed a crime on cies. is done of the would have been our part had we failed to point out the sipnificance of the fact that J. S. Woodsworth, Angus and the whole parliamentary group of the G:C: the exception of Garland—joined hands with Bennett and King in passing. “The Employ- ment Insuran¢e Act” — the worst MacInnis with to rally the youth on. Wational | Capitalism. piece of anti-labor, semi-fascist lesis- fi Communists Maintain Urgent Nee enon passed in the recent years in the Federal House. Communists cannot remain silent about the actions of the UEFA Goy- ernment in Alberta—an affiliate and member om the C.C.F., their enactment of the anti-working class Trades and Industry Act. We @annot overlook the speeches of Woodsworth upon his return from the Par East, praising the activities of militaristic Japan and describing the heroic Chinese Communists as bandits, and the Chinese Soviets as banditry. We cannot maintain si- lence on the scab-herdine actions of the €.C.F. mayor of Toronto, Jimmy Simpson, who sends his police to Smash a picket line of women work- ers of an A.F.of.L. trade union, who uses the Toronto police force to ruthlessly break down any resistance offered to the mass evictions of un- employed occurring daily in Toronto. charter in Communists, honest and class con- scious workers, cannot keep quiet on the provocations contained in “The Commonwealth’ not so very long ago, to the effect that the poli- cies of the Communist Party ema- nate from the government, that the Communist Party is nothing else than a nest of stool pigeons and pro- vocateurs. The same editorial con- tains an invitation to the govern- ment to put the Communist leaders back into the penitentiary. We can- ist Party and the Communist Party of British Columbia on the question of the relief camp workers bears witness to the sincerity of the GCom- munists. Pritchard in his editorials mis- represents the Communist proposals on a United Front in the approach- ing elections. It is a falsehood to State that the basis of the Com- munist proposals is for the ©.C.F. to “eall off parliamentary candidates in Constituencies already evidently Selected by the Communist priest- hood and throw its organizational machinery and weight behind the ‘poor representative of the Third In- ternational.’” The basis of the GCom- munist proposals is that both par- ties agree to join forces in advocat- ing a mutually agreed upon mini- mum prosram, representing the most immediate needs of the toiling popu- lation. Both parties will maintain their complete identity and jin the course of the election campaien ad- yvocate their full party program. As to constituencies the Communist Party proposed that a mutual agree- ment should be reached so as to avoid any possibility of splitting the vote and thus playing into the hands of the Liberal or Conservative Party. With the refusal of the C.C.& to en- tertain or discuss the Communist proposals, the onus of responsibility, if such a situation should arise, is mittee to work jointly with lief Camp strike struggle. UNITED FRONT FROM BELOW VANCOUVER, B.C., May 21.—Tecumseh Branch of the Socialist Party of Canada wholeheartedly endorsed the proposals of a Committee from Unit 6, Section 5 of the Communist Party at Vancouver, and set up a com- The Relief Camp strikers will also set up a commit- tee to co-operate with the sections of the two political parties of the working class. the Communists on the Re- not ignore the fact that a speech delivered by Dr. Lyle Telford at a public meeting receives the highest praise of the fascist Tom Macinnis, and serves as a basis for Tom Mac- Innis to invite the learned Doctor to join his party (and bring along Pritchard and Flare-Pistol Pete). Is there nothing to be said about Telford’s insinuations, mud-slingins and slander on the leader of the Communist Party—Tim Buck? On whose behalf is it done? Whose in- terests does it serve? Criticism offered by the Commun- ists to actions of some C€.C.F. lead- at times giving them their proper name and characterizing them with a proper adjective, ‘aimed at increasing the vigilance and watchfulness ers, is only of the working elass and giving them a timely warn- ing. The Communists, however, realize the great danger and the fact that the united forces of the €.C.E., the Communists and other organizations ean effectively ‘oppose capitalism. The the Relief Camp Strikers is a striking example. In order to prove its sincerity the Communist Party has declared time and again that it is prepared in the struggle of course of joint actions and activi- ties to refrain from criticism of all those who will loyally carry out the mutually agreed upon agreement. The pact signed between the Social- undoubtedly on the shoulders of those who refuse any cooperation under any conditions in the coming federal elections. The charge in the editorial that Communists are but “representa- tives of the Third International) (Pritchard omitted to add “with headquarters in Mjoscow’), inter- ring that they do not represent the interests of the Canadian workers, has been repeated many times, and at the same time strikingly disre- of Canadian workers who accept and follow the leadership of the Com- munists. Is it not rather strange that the same charges, using the very same wording, are made over the radio by a certain individual jn Vancouver every Monday and Wed- nesday? All of these arguments against Unity have no other aim than to pre- Unity is needed; it is im- perative, if further onslaughts on our standard of living are to be halted, if fascism is to be combatted and another imperialist war avoided. The masses of working people, gards the growing number vent it. as well as many members and follow- of the C.C FE. are striving to establish unity. Pritchard realizes this situation; he therefore concludes his editorial in the issue of May i7th by stating that before establishing unity with the Communist Party, and frankly ers d Is Unity