iE bh § By Page Four B.C. WORKERS’ NEWS March i3, 1836 B.C WorKERS NEWS Published Weekly by THE PROLETARIAN PUBLISHING ASS'N Room 10, 163 West Hastings Street - Vancouver, B.C. & — Subscription Rates — One Year ____ $1.80 Half Year ___-—_ 1-00 Three Months __$ .50 Single Copy —— .05 Make All Checks Payable to the B.C. WORKERS’ NEWS Send All Copy and Manuscript to the Chairnzan of the Editorial Board — Send All Monies anc Letters Per- faining to Advertising and Circulation to the Business Manager. Vancouver, B.C., March 13, 1936 HEALTH INSURANCE S BISMARCK in the last half of the last century, Lloyd George in the beginning of this one, and Bennett during the latter part of his regime, felt it experient to enact social legis- lation, so the Pattullo government, secing the shadow of a progressive government on the wall, are bringing down social legislation, or what bears a resemblance to such legislation. The Weir Health Insurance scheme is un- doubtedly a concession to the insistent demands of labor; but, as in the case of the Bennett un- employment insurance scheme, there is every possible provision for making the workers pay. Wo worker, or friend of the working class, can be opposed in principle to adequate and equit- able Health Insurance. A great deal depends, however, on the provisions of the law enacted to provide it. From what can be learned of the proposed Weir Health Insurance Bill, only workers earning less than $1800 per year are to be brought under it, and they are to be saddled with a tax of two percent of their al- ready insufficient wages. No provision whatever is to be made for the unemployed, who need health insurance most. The die-hard industrialists are opposing the proposed Bill tooth and nail and are cluttering up the lobbies of the provincial House with their agents of corruption to prevent any health insur- ance legislation whatever. Even the paltry one per cent tax on payrolls meets with their de- termined opposition. While endorsing health insurance in principle, the ©.C.F. Opposition would do well to watch closely for and oppose strenuously the anti-labor provisions of the Weir Bill and bring forward and fight for amendments that will improve it. SEND P.A.C. TO OTTAWA! / [gece Progressive Arts Club, whose presenta- tion of “Waiting For Lefty” won first place in the regional drama contest and the right to represent the province in the finals at Ottawa, is making strenuous efforts to raise sufficient money to take the cast East. The P.A.C. has secured a permit to hold a tag day and the citizens who have given such en- thusiastic support to the production so far should give liberally to the taggers. As soon as the date of the tag day is made public, as many as can spare the time should offer their service as taggers. Hundreds of péo- ple will be needed for this purpose, and hundreds should respond. The P.A.C. cast must not be kept from the contest at Ottawa because of lack of funds. For such a thing to happen would be a disgrace to Vancouver and a disappointment and defeat for the P.A.C. east and for all who are desirous of promoting amateur cultural entertaimment in our city. THE PROVINCIAL BUDGET HE BUDGET brought down by the proyin- cial minister of finance provides some in- teresting reading, The province is carrying the enormous debt burden of nearly 180 millions of dollars, 10 millions of which were added during the last year, and instead of taxing the rich to reduce it, the government intends to go on piling more onto it! ' The restoration of salaries of ciyil servants which were cut is one of the few good features of Hart’s budget; also the provision for restora- tion, in part at least, of salaries ot some school teachers as well as some additional grants for education in general. The grants for education go to the cities and municipalities, and, unless the people are alert, will not mean more money for that purpose, but will mean only that the cities will cut their grants to school boards cor- respondingly. Although $107,000 was spent by the province — on extra special police and stool-pigeons to assist the late Bennett government and the Shipping Federation to deteat the camp workers’ strike and smash the legitimate waterfront unions, there is provision made for an additional $66,893 for inereased police personnel, and $23,000 for additional prison accommodation at Okalla for workers who may strike against intolerable con- ditions or to preserve their unions against the onslaughts of the epen shop bosses. Althugh claiming to be hard pressed for rey- enue, and taxing the underpaid workers for what they euphemistically call “health insurance,” the government is determined to pay out nearly 8 million dollars every year in interest.to the bond- holders. That there is, as yet, no mention made of a sales tax and that restoration of salaries for civil servants has been made can be attributed solely to mass pressure plus the presence of a labor opposition, albeit a relatively small one, in the House. The government have the Burrard and Omenica bye-elections im mind, also the next provincial election. They are forced to grant some demands of the common people from sheer political expediency. Tf the few C.C.F. and labor members of the House, backed by mass sentiment and organized labor throughout the province can exert such pressure on and constitute such a threat to the government as to make them concede what little the budget provides, what could be done if the threat beeame a reality and the small C.C.F. Opposition erew in the next election to a ma- jority which would take oyer the government? Clearly the task of Jabor and all progressive peo- ple is to build the People’s Front against the re- actionary agents of finance capital, the Pattullo eovernment, and tum them out of office at the first opportunity. THE NEW SLAVE CAMP SET-UP IZENEV ER organized labor, backed by a favorable public sentiment, succeeds in com- pelling the employers or the government to grant concessions, either by way of increased wages or the removal of onerous conditions, the latter em- ploy all manner of devices to take back with the left hand that which they are forced to give with the right. The actions of the Federal Government in con- nection with the strugele of the slave camp workers is no exception to the rule. Compelled by the magnificent strugele of the camp inmates and an ineensed public, after police clubs and ouns and police fiotinge had failed to crush their strugele, the sovernment reluctantly promised to transter the management of the camps from the military to the Department of Labor. This was a concession, although a minor one as com- pared to the other demands of the workers. Later came the announcement that the camps were to be abolished gradually by taking men out of the camps and putting them to work on the railways, at the ecoolie wage of $15 a month. But this meets with the justifiable opposition of the Maintenance of Way men on the railways, because it constitutes an attack on their stan- dards. No time should be lost by the Relief Camp Workers’ Union m gettme im touch with the organization of the Maintenance of- Way men and establishine friendly, fraternal relations wath them, looking towards unity of the two or- manizations in the comimon interest of both. In the new scheme of the government there are ather rotten features. For instance, the men would not be paid the $15 every month or any month. Only half of it would be paid, the other beme held back so that when again unemployed, the worker would be compelled to take care of himself without relief. This means that the wage paid on the job would be only $7.50 a month, the balance beine withheld as an unem- ployment isurance tax, which would be a worse form of contributary unemployment imsurance than that econeocted by Bennett. Even when the worker leaves the employ ot the government he would not be paid the balance due him ; it would de doled out to him in driblets on a slow-staryva- sion basis. The work the camp workers would be expected 70 do, say the government, would he “deferred” work, work that otherwise would not be done and qasn’t been done. This is so much eyewash. If 1ot, why wasn’t it done? The C.P-R. is piling ip more millions in profits than usual. If work, such as maintenance of way worl, was ne elected it means that the lives of passengers and train crews were endangered. This latest scheme of disposine of Canada’s youth, worked out in cahoots with the C.P.R. for the procuring of cheap labor and the lowering of wages on the section, must be combatted just as vigorously as was the other slave camp set-up, and this calls imperatively for trade union unity ot the camp workers and the section hands. “ TWO ANNIVERSARIES URLNG the coming week two important dates in working class history will be commenior- ated by the workers of the world: March 14, the 53rd anniversary of the death of Karl Marx, and March 1S, the 65th anniversary of the elorious Paris Commune. Marx devoted his whole lite and towerlme genius to the great cause of working class eman- cipation. He furnished the scientific basis of revolutionary organization, theory, tactics and practice of revolutionary struggle, taking the desire for socialism out of the nebulous realm of utopian wishful thinking on to the solid ground of science. Time only adds to the lustre of his name and the value and soundness of his work. The Paris Commune was the first successful attempt of the workers to take power into their own hands. They failed to hold that power, chiefly through political immaturity, the theor- etical shapelessness of their program, and above all because of the lack of a well-disciplined revo- lutionary party to lead the struggle. Holding. elections instead of setting up a dictatorship and erushing al] resistance to their rule, borrowing money from the Bank of France instead of con- fiseating its funds and expropriating all expro- priators, permitting the defeated bourgeoisie to reorganize its forees—these were some of the reasons for their tragic failure. Marx, watching the events in Paris, did not say, after the failure, what the renegade, Plek- hanof, said after the defeat of the 1905 revolu- tion in Russia: ‘They should not have taken up arms,” Quite the contrary. He also saw the form the revolutionary dictatorship would take after the conquest of power by the workers, viz., the Communes, or Soviets. The workers and peasants of Russia learned from the mistakes made by the Commaunards and. led by the iron-villed Marxist-Communist party, at the head of which stood Lenin, con- solidated their yictory of October and main- tained it. The vindication of the teachings of Marx is seen in the successful building of socialism in the Soviet Union, where his work was carried on and extended under the leadership of Lenin, and today under the leadership of the world’s ereat- est Marsast, Stalin. Radio Broadcast FRIDAY—8:45 to 9:00 P.M. CKMO News Y 199 O9OOOFOO09046 p Oo The World This Week By F. B. On March 3 the League of Na- tiens notified fascist Italy that if peace with Abyssinia were not ne- gotiated by March 10 it would pro- ceed ot impose oi] sanctions against her. On March 7, three days before this ultimatum expired, Hitler dra-— matically announced the remilitar- ization of the Rhineland by Ger- many, news so startling and appar- ently so threatening to the peace of Western Europe, that the Abyssini- an war is shoved into the back ground. Was there not a connection be- tween the two events? France in great alarm mans her 200 miles of fortifications along the German border, The British goy- ernment takes the news calmly, so ealmly in fact that it looks as if it knew all along about Hitler’s con- templated action, as if it had actu- ally connived in it to stop once again the imposition of oil sanctions against Italy. While the Italian armies have had some successes recently, the home economic situation has steadily gone from bad to worse, becoming so serious that a continuation of the campaign would bring about a col- lapse of the Italian state, a condi- tion that would be a greater men- ace to British and French capital- ism than Hitler’s occupation of the Rhineland. A collapse of Italian fascism means another Socialist country in Hurope. Right now Mus- solini is as good as having Abys- Sinia “‘in the bag.” The Locarno pact was signed in 1925 by Britain, France, Belgium and Germany. It guaranteed the Franco-Germany boundary, both of these nations promising to respect that boundary, the others agreeing to oppose either one that violated it. Hitler’s move is a violation of this pact, as one of its provisions was that the Rhineland was not to be militarized, which was also stated in the Treaty of Versailles of 1919- Hitler justifies his action on the ground that the Franco-Soviet mu- tual assistance treaty was already a violation of Locarno, and is also a threat against Germany. It is, of course, nothing of the sort; it is to provide mutual assistance against Wazi attack upon either of the con- tracting parties, but Hitler could just as easily have found some-other excuse if there had been no F'ranco- Soviet agreement. When Nazi troops moved into the Rhineland, France immediately de- cided to ask the League of Nations for military sanctions against Ger- many, although she has never ex- pressed herself as being strongly in favor of either oil or military sanc- tions against Italy; and Mussolini, hoping to win continuance of French Jukewarmness towards oil sancitons, agrees to back up Hrance’s actions towards Germany. He knows quite well that the League will not enter- tain military sanctions against Ger- many, that the farthest it will go will be to protest against and criti- cize Hitler’s action. Both Hitler and Mussolini will gain by the Rhineland event. Mus- solini will get Abyssinia, and Hitler is strengthening his military posi- tion with relation to French aggres- sion when he attacks the Soviet Union. Anthony Eden flits from capital to capital giving the appearance of great concern and activity, but it looks very much as if the age-old leadership and initiative in Euro- pean capitalist diplomacy were pass- ing from Britain’s hands into those of the fascist countries, who, how- ever much they are jealous and sus- picious of each other, will work on close terms to save each other from economic collapse and revolution. War in the near future is not a likely result from German occupa- tion of the Rhineland. Besides res- cuing Mussolini from his predica- ment this will have a stimulating effect on the Freneh fascists, en- couraging them to try and set up a fascist government if they are de- feated by the People’s Front in the approaching elections, on the out- come of which depends the immedi- ate future history of Europe. * * + Although the Japanese militarist fascists surrendered to the govern-— ment, evacuating the Tokio build- ings they had occupied after assas- sinating prominent government leaders, they still hold the whip- hand in Japan politics. Premier Okada has resigned but still remains in office until a new cabinet has been formed, which task has been entrusted to Hirota. Hirota has proposed his cabinet several times, but the militarists re- fuse to support it until it is com- posed of men of their own choosing. Thus, when a cabinet is finally formed the militarists will be com- pletely in power, and fierce fascist reaction will rage over the country. Do Yeu Want To Know? —If Soviet Russia is going cap- italistic? —How religion is faring in * Soviet Russia today? —What the peace policy Soviet Russia is? —The position of the following: (a) The writer; (2) the teacher; (8) the doctor; (4) the engineer, in the Soviet Union? IF YOU DO, then come to the mecting to be held in the Crystal Ballroom, Hotel Vancouver, March 20th, at 8 pm., and hear Dr. Anna Louise Strong speak on “J Change Worlds.” Miss Strong, author, lecturer, traveller, social organizer and as- sociate editor of the Moscow Daily Wews, was born and educated in the United States and has spent the last 15 years in the Soviet of ~ ee roe a ar nurse. i—The last banner of the Paris Commune. It is now in the Marx- Engels Museum in the Soviet Union. 2—fouchard, the last of the Com- mnuards. He died in the Soviet Union January, 1935. 3—Around the city of Paris where the workers ruled from March 18 to May 28, 1871, is a ring of municipalities each of them with 100 per cent Communist council. 4—Louise Michel, one of the leaders of the Paris Commune and who fought on the last barricade with 2 rifle in her hand, died in Paris in 1905, still a militant worker in the revolutionary movement. She was 2 of a well-to-do middle class family. He was educated at Leipsig Uni- versity where he received his degree of Doctor of Philosophy. At the age of 25 he became interested in the workers’ movement, and for years played a leading prat in it, being edi- tor of several revolutionary jour- mals. For this activity he was eventually exiled from the country, and after living a while in Belgium and France, finally settled in Lon- don, England, where his greatest work was accomplished. Marx deliberately chose England to live in as it was there that the capitalist system was oldest and most advanced, and for years he de- voted his whole time to intensive study and research into the work ings of past social systems as well as of capitalism, gathering material and formulating plans for his giant work on political economy, Capital. His life in London was a con- tinual struggle, an unceasing wor- ry, to provide for his family. For years his sole income was the one pound a week he received as corres- pondent on Huropean political events from a New York paper. With the outbreak of the American civil war this source of income was cut off, and he was faced with the prospect of having to give up the idea of writing Capital and of seek- ing some kind of work in London. In his letters to Kugelmann, now published in book form, he says that he would have had little diffi- eulty in obtaining work if he were to drop everything else. However, he had chosen his path in life, and with superhuman determination he made up his mind to remain on-it. If the writing of Capital had been his only work during a period of abject poverty and want, it alone would have been a monument to his revolutionary zeal; but while it was being written he was directing the activities of the First International, of which he was the leading or- ganizer, writing its program and manifestos, guiding its immediate policies, and conducting a volum- inous correspondence with its bran- ches all over Europe and in the United States, and all this without the aid of secretaries or typists. It is not to be wondered at that How “Capital” Was Written “a Karl Marx was born in Germany KARL MARX - his health gave way under the over- work, the lack of proper food, and the unceasing worry over monetary affairs. In hot weather he was afflicted with a colic, in cold weath- er he had repeated attacks of the grippe, and at all seasons of the year suffered * greatly from car- buncles which broke out in various parts of his body. On numerous oc- easions his close friend and co- worker in the revolutionary move- ment, Frederick Engels, who lived in Manchester, came to the rescue with a timely gift of money. Marx had hoped to derive suffi- cient royalties from the publication of the first volume of Capital to en- able him to go right ahead and complete the work, but in this he was disappointed. The publisher delayed on various pretexts a whole year before printing it, and even then the capitalist press refused to review it or help to advertise it, and one of the wavs Marx used to cbtain publicity “cr it was to get his friends to wrile Letters co the Editor about it. The second and third volumes of Capital were com- piled and edited by Engels after Marx’s death, from motes left by Marx and according to his plan. Shortly before his death Marx was assisted by a wealthy scientist, Sir Ray Lankaster, who financed a recuperative trip for him to Medi- terranean health resorts. But this help came too late, his constitution was already wrecked, and he died shortly after. His grave is in High- gate Cemetery, London.—¥’. B. SHORT JABS SOD By OL’ BILL The passing of a great scientist - who has not been interested in Money-making is always a maitter- for regret. In this catezory belongs- T. FP. Pavlov, doyen of the Soviet. Academy of Science, undoubtedly the most outstanding physiologist this century has yet produced. To us laymen ithe work of Paylov is about as understandable as that. of Einstein, but we can at least Zrusp the significance, the pos- Sibilities for fortifyine man in his struggeles with nature, of the dis- coveries of Pavlov on the physi- ology of the brain. Amnatomists cannot iake the braim cut of the skull-shell in which it is encased, and study it as a work— inf meclianism. They cannot dissect it with the scalpel and find out how it “thinks.” They cannot subject it to chemical analysis to see “thought” © in process. But Pavloy came near to. doing just that. By “conditioned reflexes, by arbitrarily stimulating the brain, by experimenting on the ductless glands and by the use of chemical reactions in the laboratory he, and his associates, have been able to learn just how the grey mat-— ter in the cortex works. This en— abled him to devise curative means for dealing with some forms of what we used to call generally “lunacy.” As a result, previously incurable Mental diseases are now being cured, so there is hope even for Gerry McGeer. Pavlov was not a Communist; he was not a revolutionist; he took ne interest in politics; he was merely a physiologist steeped in his work. The Soviet government gave hint every encouragement and when his old laboratory was falling to pieces built a new One for him at Koltushi near Leningrad. At the time of his death he was preparing” to go to Spain to take part in a physiological congress to be held there soon to give to the world the benefit of his discoveries. Banting, the discoverer of insulin, is fully justified in saying of him when learning of his death, “His name will live for ever.” es & The tactics that led to the success: of the People’s Front in the recent Spanish elections are worthy of note to all-in Canada who are op— posed to fascism. “Claridad,’’ organ. of the left-wing of the Socialist Party of Spain, the spokesman for~ the Caballeros group, the most pow-- erful section of the Party, had this: to say before the united front was: formed on the election issue: ‘‘The- conditions of an election pact must. be agreed upon as soon as possible,. so that, if events come quickly, the- Left Republicans will find them-- selves obliged to seek an under— stand with the proletarian parties in- view of their strength.’ Here and in the United States we are more used to hearing the argu- ment that close agreement of the proletarian parties, that is, the So- Cialists and the Communists, is likely to frighten away the anti- fascist elements among the petty bourgeois, professional and intel— lectuals, the classes that make up the Left Republicans in Spain. The lesson of the Spanish election is that these elements will be more readily impressed by the unity of the proletarian forces and this point must be driven homie. The efficiency of the working— class press in spite of all the handi- caps it suffers from becomes more apparent every day. From Zurich, WINNIPEG, Man., March 6— Winnipee’s wealthy are not finding it easy to find a Suitable plan 19 oust the labor majority on the City Council and replace it by a financial dictatorship, but they are persistent. A third such scheme met with short shirft, when it came before the civic legislation committee Thursday ef ternoon. In the words of one alderman: “the committee gave it the horse- lauzh.” Even labor opponent Ald. MeLean thought it so undemocratic as to merit being sent to certain European countries. It was too erude. The first plan appears to have fallen flat. It proposed a non-elec- tive city manager assisted by a board of “business men.” What Reactionaries Propose The second, sponsored by the Board of Trade, aimed at talking tne vote away from people reduced to living in one room. It was brushed aside when both (Communist and J.L.P. aldermen took the offensive three weeks ago with efforts to ex- tend the franchise. The third ruse was given the sate by the civic legislation commiuttee yesterday. As presented by two dele- fates from the “Home and Property Owners’ Association,” its Sponsors, this attempt is cloaked as follows: « ._... Proposed _ amendment to the City Charter. (1) “That the members of the Board of Valuation and Revision be appointed by a judge of the court.”” At present these are ap- pointed by the City Council. (2) “That the number of alder- men be reduced to 12, two to be elected from each of the three wards in one year, and two to be elected similarly in the alternate Union. year. Of these, one shall be elected Reaction Seeks To Limit Powers Of City Council by the ward elections at large and one shall be elected by the rate- payers only. The six aldermen, thus elected by the ratepayers. shall form the city’s Finance Committee and shall have full control of all civic finances.” Substitute ‘‘property owners’ for “ratepayers” and the scheme is ob- vious, a body elected only by prop- erty owners to be all powerful in financial matters over the City Council proper. Defending Home Owners But although the civic committee on March 5th a cable was sent out to the labor papers throughout the world telling of a secret meeting: held the previous day in the Wil- helmstrasse, Berlin. At this meet— ing were present the chiefs of the Wazi murder gang—Hitler, Goering, Goebbels, Blomberg, Fritsch and’ Ribbentrop. It was understood that the purpose of the meeting was to take steps to counter the Franco— Soviet Pact. Two days later 1800 German soldiers moved into the de— militarized Rhineland. The labor press may not be as competent at concocting lies and slander as the Hearst services but its technique for news supply is becoming perfect. * * * = With the building of socialism it the Soviet Union great changes are taking place. No longer does one have to line up in a queue before a gave the idea the hee-haw, that does not necessarity mean the end of the Home and Property Owners’ Association. This organization offers the mo=t dangerous threat to date. It is im the midst of an organizational campaign. It does not lack money. Tt is on the air for half ap hour every Thursday. By the naive ruse of “associating’’ the needs of the distressed home owners with the de- sires of large property owners— some of whom have completely tax store: food-ration cards are no longer needed. It is rumored that the People’s Commissar of Foreign Trade, Rosenaltz, is wiling to sell to the Nazi government a stock of un- used ration cards for which the Soviet workers have no further use put are called for in Germany now and will be needed in greater quan~ tities if the Nazis remain in power- AVIATORS URGED mind, Tukhacheysky urged Soviet pilots and mechanics to the utmost vigilance and scrupulous care of planes and guns. Soviet Tiion does not put much faith in the suppression of the mili- tarist uprising in Japan, but will continue strengthening all defenses. the Bakery and Confectionery Workers’ International. Union was reached Friday, at a meeting of 45 bakers, members of the Food Workers’ Industrial Union, Www. L. Officers making the announce- ment today, said the decision was unanimous. free property, Le., CNR. and CPR. KEEP POWDER DRY —it has, according to its own state- ments, raised its membership to ae: : 3000. MOSCOW, March 2. — (ALP) — “Keep your powder dry,” was the