representing J abor, ‘ement and the Government, for each ‘ial region. Each advisory commit- gil study all the problems of recon- 2 in the industry it represents. It mike into account and plan in the if the civilian production possibili- f the industry, the needs of the ;S now employed in it and the com- f2s of which they are a part, the mar- ssibilities and government plans for ling them. | each industry as the need for war i : In this way we will = general shutdown of industry and a ;of mass unemployment before civil- poduction gets under way. er of Reconstruction should see to the PP Federal Election Platform |Reconversion Preparation Must Begin Now “pansion of iron ore smelting, modern syn- ind in hand with reconversion the establishment of vital basic industries in Canada production of aviation engines, exX- thetics and plastics, more extensive use of Canada’s vast resources of coal and petrol- eum, too. Postwar utilization of government- owned plants must be planned on the basis of national interest and needs with the specific aim of maintaining a high level of employment. The decisive consideration must be that those valuable modern plants and machinery shall be utilized for im- mediate peace-time production. Greatly increased governmental assist- ance must be given to the development of science, and particularly scientific research, in Canada. : The Canadian Merchant Marine must be maintained after the war, so that Cana- dian goods shall be carried by Canadian ships and seamen throughout the seven seas. The trade unions must be given an equal place in such planned reconversion. The principle of severance (temporary lay- off) pay as advocated by the unions to be adopted and put into effect by the Domin- i0n Governments at Yalta, with some amuse- properly, ‘wSpaper report: that rett congratulated i; the Old Age Pen- Zanization on their sive” im forming a _ dend corporation to sntal homes. any the congratulations 2 it definitely shows 7 wishfully thinking and hoping - that no plans of any coordi- nated action were agreed upon to finish them off so that a world fit to live in can be reconstructed on the devastation they have wrought. We Pearl Harbor, and I doubt if individual will, poohing any agreement by the Big Three succeed in mitigating the stern justice due to the ad- yvocates of Nazism. It would be far better in my humble opinion if every citizen of the whole world, regardless of their position in society, would give their unstinted sup- port to effecting the plans laid down at Yalta, instead of carp- all remember ing about them. It is so much easier to critic- ize and destroy than it is to plan and construct that some people use dubious ways to dis- play their intelligence. D. M. BARBOUR. by pooh- tive and foresight. from our mayor for itive is like the calling for public of power. In both ecord is one of initi- ost. : for citizens showed i going at it on their ley waited for Gor- We .. well, I only live that long WELL WISHER. Fructive > the Big Three have another meeting been greeted by an ng majority of the the world as a great rd to the successful. Of the war, as well in motion the ma- the winning of the * rather odd to find Posedly intelligent h=-poohing the whole anything. good may out of it. ' Hirohito and Hit- the drowning man 5'HELe ME-VLL Maw ‘EM TOWN ! THEY JUST GUT 10 LEAVE A PLALE FOR US yEAMIN / at a straw,” are Saturday, February 24, 1945 — Page 5 CSEAVSNEESAUORTESSEQREDEESSSyeussesreninyaspuserrs2s2sUestaeroreassiesvsseessaserverteatersszs>pxvavaasayervern Shor t Jabs by Ol” Bill ANUAUNEAAANESANSRUauyeaeonuesesaeecserAseaUyesscgeniseesarysusiegeavsaayssysesatereassageaurisassosseasaesiieeas Reaction Threatens HERE are financial and industrial wizards who seem to have learned nothing from the war years and what took place during their course. A copy of a letter from a prairie manufacturing firm came to my notice a few days ago. It was an advice to their clients about possible large orders in which their line might be used. They were very specific that this was a development for after the war so their clients were not to use the present inflated cost of living in figuring on these contracts. Next to the actual waz itself, more has been written and spoken of the changes that will be seen in the post war era than anything else, It is admitted that the soldiers who are fighting on the war fronts and the workers who are producing the goods to carry on, will have a greater part in deciding the issues cf the day when peacetime conditions return to our war-torn world. The signs all point to a reccgnition by the more thoughtful ele- ments among the capitalists that the progress which has been made in collective effort as a result of the war needs, is a benefit to society as a whole, a society not yet ready for socialism; that the cut-throat com- petition of the past was 2 social cancer which must be excised; that labor-management co-operation in production is a benefit to society as well as to industry. ; The letter quoted, however, indicates that amongst the employers, there are those whose plans, already thought out and being put in opera-= tion, would take this country back to the living standards of the lean years of the third decade of the century. Only with such a purpose in view is it possible to speak of the present wage scales in industry as, “inflated cost of labor.” So too, the gains of the workers in bettering thesr conditions are to be subject to attack. That is why a bosses’ lobby, representative of every anti-labor force in the province—the Consolidated, the B.C. Collectric, the Boss Loggers, the Shipping Federation, and so on called at the Parliament Buildings in Victoria last week to try to prevent the compulsory check-off and other improvements being incorporated in the labor laws of the province. And this is also why ‘glaring advertisements are appearing in our local newspapers, pleading for a fair trial for “free enterprise,” over the signature of the British Columbia Federation of Trade and Industry, allegedly, as the advertisements say, “a non-political organization.” This description of the B.C. Federation of Trade and Industry is a barefaced fabrication, for the document is essentially a political one, not a party statement, but purely political propaganda. “What is wrong with free enterprise?” asks this document. after admitting that free enterprise has not functioned well since 1914. We are told that “the system operated most satisfactorily for a hundred years.” But “nobody under fifty years of age has seen free enterprise in normal operation.” Unless one is “a student of economics” or is over fifty-five he is not competent to judge this badly-dealt-with system, and gem of gems, “it is a peacetime system” that showed to advantage in “a great century of peace, the century before 1914.” Tt “has developed a humanitarian spirit and sense of personal dignity beyond men’s thought before” so claims this non-political advertisement of the B.C. Federa- tion of Trade and Industry. Whoever the scribbler is who foisted this farrago of nonsense on to the B.C. Federation of Trade and Industry, he may be “a student of economics” or over fifty-five, he may be a poet, although there is ‘no evidence of it in the advertisement, but certainly he is no historian. “A great century of peace,” says he. Was there one year in that hundred when war was not being made by the people for whom he speaks, on some helpless people in Africa, in Asia, or in the fEslands of the South Seas? Or fighting among themselves? That cen- tury was the century of the Indian Mutiny; of the Crimean -war: of the Russo-Turkish war; of war between Germany and Austria and Denmark; of the Franco-Prussian war; of the Spanish-Ameriean war and the Mexican wars; of war between Russia and Japan; and of all ef them against China. Of a hundred British wars. And civil wars, too, were a-plenty; in the United States; in France; in Germany; in Austro-Hungary; in Italy and other countries. Perfect peace! And what cof the “sense of personal dignity?” The century of the “hungry forties.” The century when, in Britain, children of eight and mine years of age worked 12 hours a day in harness, hauling tubs of coal in the mines; when six-year-olds, boys and girls alike, were chained to textile machines to prevent them from leaving the job; when seven, eight and nine-year-old kiddies, according to the Factories Inspectors’ Reports, in the Staffordshire forges making nails and chains, were fed by their employers, “almost exclusively on meat from diseased animals and such as had died a natural death, tainted fish, veal from calves killed too young and pork from swine smothered in transportation.” The “sense of personal dignity” flourished under that unrestrained free enterprise. It flourished on the “blood, sweat and tears” of mur- dered little children, children, according to the Factory Inquiry Com- mission, “usually of eight and nine, very often of seven, often of SLX and sometimes of five.” It flourished so that even members of their own class like Lord Shaftsbury had to take a hand in putting a stop to it. Just as Shaftsbury and his associates helped to curb the greed of the unrestrained free enterprise of his time there are elements in the ranks of the employers today with the same kind of outlook as the speeeh of H. R. McMillan a few days azo shows. Science for Boys and Girls Some years ago Bishop William Montgomery Brown wrote a book with the above title. Has any reader of this column a copy that I can have a loan of. I promise to return it in good condition or replace it wath a brand new one right from the printing press.