Page Six PEOPLE US ADVOCATE The Peoples Advocate Published Weekly by the PROLETARIAN PUBLISHING ASSN. Room 10, 163 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C. Telephone: Trinity 2019 One Year ..-------- $1.80 Half Year Three Months -00 Single Copy -------- 05 Make All Checks Payable to: The People’s Advocate. Send All Copy and Manuscript to the Chairman of the Editorial Board. Send all Monies and Letters Pertain- Ing to Advertising and Circulation to Business Megr- "Vancouver, B.C., Friday, June 18, 1937 The Press and Hitler's Spies HE DISCOMFITURE of Hitler and ot Trotsky and his fellow fascist counter revolutionary plotters, wreckers and assassins is shared by the capitalist press which sees 10 discovery, conviction and execution of another bunch of [itlerist spies a break-up of the Soviet regime. In his hide-out in Mexico the arch-traitor Trotsky, as is his practice, gave the cue to the capitalist press when he screamed that the shooting of his spies signalized the be- ginning of the end of the Soviet power- With Trotsky, as with Hitler, Hearst, and the Vancouver Sun and News-Ierald, the wish is father to the thought. Hyer since the over- throw of capitalism im Russia nearly twenty years ago, the enemies of the workers, inelud- ing the paid propagandists and apologists ot capitalism, predicted the downfall of the Sov- jet government every time that the government met with the inevitable difficulties that follow fhe overthrow of a class and the administration of a country by a class new to power and faced with sabotage and wrecking by the dis- possessed class. But the Soviet Union survived. And the capture and execution ofthe Trotskyist spies of Hitler is not a manifestation of widespread mass dissatisfaction with the Soviet regime any more than the killing of the gangsters or the Dillinger mob and the imprisonment of Al Capone was a manifestation of imternal up- heaval in the United States. ; Tt means that the Soyiet Union is able to ferret out the spies and wxeckers and remove them. In this merciless rooting out of the nests of spies and traitors the Soviet government has the solid support of the mass of the 180 ynil- lion people who are building socialism. It re- veals, not a weakness of the Soviet power, but jts strength and revolutionary vigilance. Capitalist states, even when friendly rela- tions between them exist, continually carry on espionage on each other. How much sreater must be the espionage carried on by the great capitalist states in a country whose territory they covet, whose people they wish tO enslave and exploit, and whose political, social and economic systems they wish to destroy ? The worst and most inveterate enemies of the Soviet Union and socialism are Japanese jmperialism and German fascism ; and it is with these predatory powers that the Trotsky- ists allied themselves. The Soviet Union is immeasurably stronger as 4 result of the dis- covery and execution of the spies and wreckers. As long as the Soviet Union is surrounded by capitalist states, espionage will be earried on against it, and foreion spies will find their way jnto Soviet territory. This can be expected, but the hunt for their Trotskyist allies will be carried on with revolutionary determination until the last traitor is exterminated. The Fight Against Unionism WN AN editorial which reeks of philistinism, hypocrisy and canting humbug, appears in the Sw newspaper of June 16, the big im- terests, the open shoppers and promoters of company unionism continue their anti-uniop propaganda. The Sun graciously admuts that it is “possible” that erieyances exist jn. the in- -dusiries in the United States and Canada in which strikes are takine place, but appears confident that the strikers would have remained quiet and at work, while the owners reaped fabulous profits, were i¢ not for the “simuster’ activities of John L. Lewis, head of the Com- mittee for Industrial Organization. The Sun betrays its low estimate of the in- telligence of the workers and their capacity for organization and struggle when it says that “one single man can sit back in a chair and order 10,000 miners to sivike, 5 . 52 aloan iE, Lewis can do nothing of the kind unless he 1s expressing the will of the union members. And when a uni0n official fails to act when action is desired by the workers, they very often will strike anyway, as the growing number of ~un= official strikes” attests. When Lewis or any other union official calls a strike he is but ex ercisine the authority vested 12 him by the men concerned. The Sum, of course, has no fault to find with the owner of industry wyvho ‘sits back im a chair” and orders the wages oi the workers reduced; nor does it say that the workers are but trying to eet back the wages that were cut during the depression and seeking wage 10> ereases to meet the mounting cost of living. What causes the greatest flow of crocodile tears from the Sun is that Tabor is losing its ~hu- manitarian qualities.” The qualities meant by the Sun are the qualities of sweet content, ot satisfaction with remaining im an unorganized, helpless mass except for herding into company anions set up by the posses, of meek and lowly acquiescence in wage-cutting and speed-up, 10 slavish submission to a ruthless and insatiable exploitation, and when Labor departs trom that spirit it becomes “antisocial, feudal and aristocratic. Knowing the popular hatred of fascism, al- though slyly favoring and adyoeating it itself, the Sun ‘declares that the program. of Lewis (the program of industrial unionism and strugele) is “sheer fascism” and “downright dictatorship, thus diverting attention from the real and only source of danger of fascism —-the finance capitalists who see in fascism a more direct and effective means of crushing June 18, 1987 the resistance of the workers to degrading ex- ploitation in the period of the disintegration and decline of capitalism. The purpose of the Sun's attack on Lewis and the CLO is clear. The workers are on the march, not only in the United States, but in Canada. The swing to industrial unionism is indisputable. Organization is proceeding apace. Already the CIO unions have wrested wage increases and collective bargaining from such powerful and arrogant corporations as U.S. Steel. General Motors and others. The workers of Oshawa, organized into a CIO ymion, struck for and gained wage increases and union recognition against the united front of General Motors and Premier Hepburn and the Ontario government. — Unionism is growing in British Columbia and the corporations do not like it. It is for those resident and absentee bleeders of the province that the Sun speaks, and its editorial is a part of a sinister campaign that has for its purpose the introduction of legislation at NVic- toria similar to that proposed by Duplessis im Quebee whereby trade unionism is virtually outlawed and the fate of workers in industry determined by a dictatorial Board appointed by the government which is the tool of the ereat corporations. The trade unions of B.C. would do well to be on guard against such legislation for which the Sun editorial paves the way. Fascist Police Methods HE PATTULLO government have in their four years of administration used the pro- vineial police against the working class. Police terror against striking workers has been car- ried on in every strike of any consequence. But it is not only in a strike situation that the police interfere; in the interior of the province even in times of industrial peace, they work to prevent workers from exercising thei: leeal and democratic rights to organize into trade unions, to hold meetings and engage in other activities. Intimidation of the most brutal sort is used in order to terrorize the workers. A flagrant instance was the molesting of Arthur Evans recently in Princeton where he was prevented from holding a meeting for the purpose of rais- ing money {0 assist im purchasing and equip- pimg an ambulance to send to Spain for the Canadian Mackenzie-Papineau battalion which is assisting the brave Spanish people to erush the revolting generals and invading fascist hordes of Mussolini and Hitler. Pattullo’s uniformed tools dog the steps of working-class organizers, frighten the people of the town into staying away from meetings. And when those methods of intimidation fail, they arrest on a trumped-up charge of yag- raney the worker who is billed to speak, throw him in jail until the time for holding the meet- ing has passed, then order him out of town or give him a jail sentence. Nor is this all; in order to serve the mine owners or other employers they try to implant feay into the minds of the workers. To this end workers’ homes have been raided at all hours of the night, women and children terrorized and working-class papers, periodicals and books seized and confiscated without legal au- thority. The mining bosses and other em- ployers have the proyineial police, maintained by the taxpayers at enormous cost, at their beck and call to prevent working-class or- ganization and keep the workers subjected to the severest exploitation and the imposition of rotten working conditions. The police inter- ference with the peaceful and legal business of working-class organizers is modelled after the methods of Hitler and his Gestapo and should not be tolerated one day longer by the people of British Columbia. The organized labor movement should move to end the reien of terror in the interior. Tf it does it will have the support of every defender of civil liberty in the province. Murder For Profits N the book, Builders of British Columbia, the author, Bill Bennett, tells among other things, the story of the wanton destruction of workers’ lives in the coal mimes of Vancouver Island during the last fifty years. Tt is a story of capitalist rapacity, of the sacrifice of human life for dividends, and of the murderous use of soldiers, police and gangster plugnglies against the miners whenever they dared to organize and struggle for a living wage and for satety of life and limb in the underground torture chambers where they toiled. That the situation bas not improved is shown by the murder of more miners in the Nanaimo area last week. Deep in the worlaings of a mine, they were trapped and killed by a rush of welled-up water from a worked-out section. The company could easily haye kept the water pumped out, but that would have eaten into their profits—and miners are many and their lives are cheap. Of what conse- quence to those profit-hunery exploiters are the tears of working-class widows or the eries of fatherless children ¢ The provincial government, and particularly Pearson, Minister of Mines, share in the erime. For it is the duty of that department to compel the company to safeguard the lives of the min- ers. This was not done amy more than it is done in the logeine camps where the loss of lite is appalling. The blood of those miners slain drips from the hands of Pearson as it does from the hands of the mine managers and stockholders. The Minister of Mines is n0w going to go through the motions of an investi@ation—aiter the damage is done. The people of B.C. are disgusted with the farce of investigation, the sole purpose of which is to @ive a clean bill of health to the criminals. The miners of Na- naimo and other coal mining towns haye or- ganized themselves into strong unions, and one of their jobs will be to see to it that Pear- son entorces the satety provisions of the min- ine laws. Elections Prove Need or Unity In B. C. Tee following analysis of the recent p) ronto, while somewhat late in the day, 1s pub ers, disappointed over the failure of the CCF to see in the accurate conclusions drawn by the writer, who is pro party here.—ditors. OW well the Communist party estimated politi- eal currents in the recent provincial elections, how ac- curately it foresaw dangers facing the people of British Columbia, is shown in pre- election statements issued by the Communist party provincial executive and in Mal- colm Bruce’s abalysis appearing in a recent issue of the Advocate. Return of the Pattullo govern- ment with a reduced majority was anticipated. Division in the gov- ernment’s ranks over the question of health insurance and other legislation was obviously not to the liking of the big financial in- terests. While these interests had no quarrel with Pattullo in his smashing of the relief camp workers, loggers, miners and Jongshoremen’s strikes, neverthe- Jess they. required more reaction- ary decisiveness. Mence the in- tense drive to secure a Tory come- back which was successful to the extent that the Tories with eight seats now constitute the official opposition. Wiping out of the BC Gonstruc- tive party led by Connell and his little group who attempted to split the GCF and throw their follow- ers into the arms of the Tory party is a gratifying feature. A treacherous coterie of disrupters has been decisively effaced from jabor polities in BC. Any attempt at a come-back is unlikely. Social Credit was unable to es- tablish itself as a political force in this province. its spokesmen gloried in the rise of Social Credit in Ganada, particularly in Alberta, and then proceeded in true oppor fenist fashion to disown ‘:Alberta Social Credit and the betrayal of Aberhart” and to expound a So- cial credit theory of their own which lacked appeal to the BE electorate. While the crisis in the Alberta Social Credit government has un- doubtedly dampened the enthusi- asm for new economic nostrums as a substitute for immediate eco- nomic needs, the BC Social Cred- iters succeeded only in furthering: confusion and splitting the pro- gressive vote. The CCE “held its own’ in the number of candidates elected. Its total vote was reduced from that of 1933 by approximately five or six thousand votes and it surren- ders its position as the official op- position to the Tories, to take third place in the new legislature. In Mackenzie and Victoria, seats lost by the CCF, practically no united front activities were carried on. Provincial Secretary Gargerave, contesting Mackenzie, repudiated all appeals of the Com- munists for unity. Statements are attributed to Gargrave that, rather than unite with the Com- munist party, he would join the Liberal party. The outcome of the election in these constituencies shows the results of this position. Election of Colin Cameron in Gomox and of Sam Guthrie in Gowichan-Newcastle where strong united front activity between the CCE and the Communists in eco- nomic and political struggles was ergaged in, is a victory for the united front. Unionization of miners and log- gers in these constituencies and their struggles for higher wages and improved working conditions have laid a solid basis for united front activity in the political field. In these unionization campaigns ihe role and work of the Com- munists have been shown clearly and the “red hogey” is no longer 4 useful weapon in rejecting working-class support for a few “respectable” votes. Concentrated .gainst Baker It was no accident that the big guns of the CCGE—Woodsworth, Garland, Coldwell et al—-concen- trated the greater part of their efforts during the election cam- paign upon two eonstiuencies, Vancouver-Gentre, with its Trot- syist standard-bearers, and New Westminster, against the only Communist candidate in the prov- ince, Rev. Edwin Baker. In practice, it would seem that the CCE was more intent upon de- feating the Gommunists and “proving them in error’ than in winning a number of seats which could have been won had they ac- cepted the granite-hard lessons of the united front—the only weapon with which the working and middle-class electorate of BE -ovin cial elections written by T. A. Ewen from To- lished Gecause we believe many of our read- ure greater representation, wll be interested rincial secretary of the Communist could haye delivered a decisive blow to growing reaction. The poor showing made by Rev. Edwin Baker in New Westmin- ster is no reflection upon the Com- munist party as a force in pro- yincial political life. The whole attack of the CCF leaders who placed a candidate in the field after a Gommunist had been nom-— inated was against the Commu- nist party, rather than against the parties of finance capital. Desire of the CCF leadership in its campaign against Baker was to prove its contention that “unity with the Communists is quite un— necessary because the Commu- nists have no votes.” But, to “prove” this, the GCF Jeadership had to adopt the role of open splitters, a fact that will not be lost upon the working peo- ple of New Westminster. The “victory” of ©CF-candidate Stan- ley Blake over Baker will be short-lived and will add no lustre to the GCF in New Wrestmrainster. Strugsle For Unity Continues Lessons of the provincial elec- tions bring one fact into sharp re- lief_that the struggle to build unity must go on with greater in- tensity than ever before. The gains that have been made in fhose constituencies where CCF unity candidates have been elect- ed are extremely important. They ean be consolidated by the mobili- zation of working-class action out- side of parliament and give im- petus to and gain support for work of the labor bloc elected. The struggle for unioniza- tion in British Columbia’s basic industries must proceed apace and the speedy development of independent political action by the trade unions must become the order of the day- As the basic section of the working class of BC, the trade unions must begin to assume their proper role in determin- ing the political future of the province, making their collec- tive opinions and desires on every issue known, playing 2 greater part in charting the course of labor’s parliamentary forces in British Columbia and affecting legislation introduced in the house. Stephen HB following letter wv which he states ..-.- - “Things have come to @ pretty pass when @ CCF member has to seek honest expression 0f opinion through a medium other than the official CCF or- gan,” was received by the People’s Advocate this weele from A. M. Stephen, CCE candidate for Alberni-Na- naimo im the recent elec- tions and provincial presi- dent of Canadian League Against War and Fascism. —Hditors. fe last issue of the Fed- erationist, CCF official organ; contained an analysis of the recent elections. No greater indictment of the present CCF executive and its policies has ever appeared in print. With supreme super-egotism the executive takes to itself eredit for the votes cast for CCE candi- dates, knowing full well that the protest against our present sys- tem could only be registered by the electorate through the medium of a vote for the one party in the field recognized as the mass movement against the old line Liberal and Conservative ma- chines. A vote against the old line parties is not necessarily an en- dorsation of the provincial execu tive, which is an unknown quan- tity to the vast majority of the people in BC. Tf actual figures were presented, in view of the fact that some 50,000 voters were added to the list since 41933 it would be found that the, CCE has failed to hold its own and has done this to the extent of permitting the resurrection of a Conservative op- position at Victoria. With intel- Jigent leadership during the last year, there would have been 2 CCF government in this province today. The one consolation in the pres- ent is the fact that the common people are still sound in their in- stinet for change in spite of what the GCF leadership has done or undone. Straight Betrayal But, the bitterness of the fac- tion that controls the present €x- ecutive exceeded itself in its anal- ysis of the Wanaimo results. Don Smith's gapacity for distortion of fact achieved a tour-de-force in this instance. When Dr. Lyle Tel- ford ran against George Pearson in Alberni-Nunaime in 1933, the CCE was at the peak of its growth and Hon. G. S. Pearson had not the prestige of being a cabinet minister. But Dr. Telford was Writes on Nanaimo beaten by some 700 of a majority. In spite of the fact that almost 400 votes were stolen from me by the BCG Gonstructive candidate, I reduced the 1933 majority of Hon. G. S. Pearson by several hundred and polled approximately 3000 votes for a progressive CCE policy of unity with all working- class parties and groups. > The story of the constituency of Alberni-Nanaimo in this ‘election is one of a straight betrayal of the working-class, besides being a complete abrogation of the democratic rights of the rank and file of the CCE. Probably this is why the Federationist omitted the fizures of the poll in this riding from its published list alongside of its fulsome article and analysis. I was the unanimous choice, without a dissenting voice, of the CCF clubs of Alberni-Nanaimo at their regular nominating conven- tion. The clubs asked that ~ be reinstated— that my suspension for exercising freedom of speech be lifted. I backed their request by a letter to the executive. But petty prejudice and red tape in the executive prevailed over the wishes of the rank and file. I was refused assistance in the form of speakers or literature, although my campaign committee had the money to pay for services such as these. In the Sun and Province, re- peatedly during the campaign there appeared statements from the executive repudiating my candidacy, while Mrs. Mary §E. James, close associate of Mat- thew Glenday, kept up 4 red-bait- ing campaign against me in the local Nanaimo press. During the campaign IT fell ill with pneumonia and was in bed for over a week. Unique Campaign To their everlasting credit, there were CCF candidates and speak- ers who disregarded the wrecking tactics of the executive and came into the riding to help- Colin Cameron, Sam Guthrie, Jas. Cam- eron, Don Maxwell, left their own constituencies and came TO our as- sistance. Througnout the cam- paign, James Cox, of Grandview, rendered magnificent service to our cause. Tim Buck, Communist leader, and Harold Griffin, assistant edi- tor of the People’s Advocate, also spoke in support of my candi- dacy- I must also pay tribute to the United Church ministers, the Rev. Mr. Allen, Wansimo, and the Rev. R. N. Matheson. Vancouver, for their aid to our campaign. The trades unions, the Industrial and Mconomic council with its many affiliated bodies, the Com- munist party, the progressive Ghurch groups ,the solid front of the united CCF Clubs — these, united and working together, were the factors which made this campaign unique in BC politics. Let Don Smith and his col- leagues note that the candidates who stood for unity and for the principles that I advocated were elected in Comox, Cowichan, and orth Vancouver. L. Shepherd, too, was elected in Delta by a united front committee. These members of the legislature, four in number, comprise a majority of the elected CCF candidates. Byery one of the violent anti- unity candidates, who represent Don Smith policies, went down to defeat. This should be a lesson to all who imagine that the CCF can go forward to victory on a nar row, sectarian basis. This letter would have appeared in the Federationist if that paper represented the CCH rank and file. But, at present, the regret- table fact remains that the CCF official organ is not a medium for the progressive elements in the movement but is merely the mouthpiece of the clique within the provincial executive. However, the rank and file have an opportunity at the forthcom- ing convention. With a progres” sive executive, the CCF can still accomplish its destiny in BC. OPEN NOTE TO PREMIER KING Proof that Canadian boys fight- ing for Spain’s democracy are closely following the political situ- ation in their homeland, is fur- nished by the following letter re- ceived by “Friends of the Mac- kenzie-Papineau battalion in Spain,” 929 Bay street, Toronto: Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, Lincoln Brigade, 17 Point 1 Albacete, Spain. Q@pen Letter to the Prime Minister of Canada; We, the French-Canadians fight- ine the Fascists in Spain, demand of you that pressure be brought to bear upon Premier Duplessis of the Province of Quebec to discard the padlock law he uses to sag the people of our province. We are sire that in such a mis- sion the people of Canada would support you as they supported your grandfather in 1837. We salute the memory of Wil- liam Lyon Mackenzie, Louis Papi- neau and Pierre Bedard, who fought for the liberty of our peo- ple. We, the descendants of the Quebec patriots were born to be ready at any time to fight traitors like Franco and his kind. We in the Mackenzie-Papineau battalion and all anti-Pascist fight- ers swear to double our enersy in the struggle against Fascism here in Spain and at home in Ganada From the front line trenches we assure you that Fascism shail not pass. Wours for the defeat of Fascism. JOSEPH T. BEDARD. nn n OL’ BILL Mrs. Addresses 4. Wanted. Campbell and Stewart, who made donations to the Ol’ Bill quota in the recent Press Drive, are asked to send in their addresses as there are photos of Ol’ Bill at the of- fice for them. Political officers — Political are an innoya- Commissars, ton in military forces sincs 1917. In the Red Armies of the Soviet Union and China and the Loyalist militia defendine democ- racy in Spain, their function is to inspire the fighters, to be at the most dangerous positions, to act aS vanguard leaders in all ths pinches and to raise the political level of their fellows. To fill that job well means that they must at all times be in full view and their purpose be known to everybody. Such an one was Ralph Fox; Bob Kerr is another. Fascist armies have their peli- tical service too. But how differ- ent! Over 100 documents, out of 2000 captured from the defeated Fascists in the Guadalajara battle, were placed before the League of Nations by del Vayo, the Spanish representative, at its recent ses- sion. One of these, “Document 37,”’ is an order signed by the Fascist General Coppi on Feb, 11 this year. It reads: 5 “It is mecessary to establish political services for every com- pany. Carefully selected personnel must be used for this service, who should not be Known to anyons and should be men in whose faith- fulness and secrecy complete con- fidence can be reposed. Their func- tions are to watch and listen and make detailed reports on every- thing. I haye reasons for believing that subversive cells and agents provocateurs exist ins the region whose mission is to make defeat- ist propaganda among the troops. It is necessary to be vigilant in order to know everything—both what the soldiers think and what the peasants think. For this rea- son the chosen personnel must frequent canteens, meeting places, taverns and inns, and listen to everything said therein.” . Thus stands out the difference between two systems, one upright in the sunlight, the other cowering in the sewer! eee z 3 ome oubt has Expleitation been expressed Through by a reader about Murder. the correctness of the statement made in thiS column a few weeks ago that the clothing manufac- turers in New York hire thugs and gangsters to murder trade union leaders; he thinks they are not so brutal as that statement im- plies. Well, it was quite a long time ago and it would be difficult _ to lay hands on positive proof at this time, but here is some recent news that may dispel such doubts, Two months ago a committee of the US Senate, the Lafollette Liberties Committee, collected evi- dence from coal operators and their hirelinges in Harlan County, Kentucky, in which they admitted under oath that thousands of dol- lars were paid to a deputy-sheriff named Unthank to be used to pre- vent unionization of the Kentucky coalfields. George S. Ward, secretary of the Harlan County Coal Operators’ Association admitted that Un- thank’s wages as sheriff, $150 a month, were paid by the Associa- tion and that of the thousands of dollars paid to him no accounting was demanded nor was he asked who his assistants were. The money was to be spent in dealing with CIO organizers who had ‘in- yvaded’ Harlan County. Three of the thugs told the Committee how they had been given 15 sticks of dynamite by “on officer of the Harlan County €oal Operators’ Association and told to blow up a veteran organizer of the UMWA, 72-year-old Law- rence Dwyer.” Dwyer was living in the Parrot Hotel, Pineville, at the time and, although the dynamiters did their best, they only succeeded in blow- ing out the side of the building, their intended victim escaping: with only a few scratches. Dwyer told the Committee he “had been ambushed so many times, I can't recall them all.’’ This evidence is to be found in the American press about the middle of April and will be acces- sible to anyone who desires to know more about it when the La- Wollette Committee makes its Te- port to the Senate. The clothing bosses are no less brutal than the Harlan County Coal Operators and this evidence proves that the capi- talists are not averse to using murder as a2 means to ensure the most intense form of exploitation of the workers—of all workers. Secret Arms For French Fascists A mysterous traffic in arms be- tween Italy and Switzerland has been covered up by the Swiss po- lice, but it is now common kEnowl- edge that the weapons were sent from Italy with the approval or connivance of Italian officials, and that the destination of these weapons was not rebel Spain, but the Fascist parties of Jacques Doriot and Count De la Rocque in France. add Lace YP ai ee Fd cc ah