Greatest Political Swindle ‘he Denial Of La oer By.C. A. SAUNDERS - bor Unity it MacNeil, presumably acting as spokesman for the CCF Province Executive, has wo articles recently——one, entitled ‘Political Blackmail,”’ in the June 21 issue of iF News,” i these articles, through ‘of tortuous argument ivard a case against La- as proposed by the Committee of the .¥e the federal elections, f.cial Committee of the izressive Party met to id evaluate the cam- a result of this meet- »lution was passed and pointing out the dis- sults to labor of the Ge progressive vote and 70 “meet with repre- -of other labor and pro- roupings in order that ( labor and -progressive vind one candidate in te may be realized in $= provincial elections.” Wavestigation will reveal pffer expresses the de- the vast majority of plhe question has been ‘“@ic discussed ‘on the job, g:ions, in LPP clubs and iands and thousands of Es, the Summer’s big- 7 best fun! Health and B|! for .the taking... Behly qualified men and OUR boys and girls these classes, con- Dye oe ae incouver > ie MArine 1161, for iy Home Delivery. |- PACIFIC ADVOCATE irsion of fact, endeavor and the other, ‘Electoral Agreements, a Political Swindle,” in the issue Grant MacNeil notwithstanding, in CCF clubs. The election§ are -over now, and among other things it has made obvious that the CCF slo- gan of “Socialism Now” was ab- solutely unrealistic. It revealed that the CGF had failed to gain support in the two key provinces of the Dominion, .Ontario and Quebec. It revealed that the main CGF support lay in the prairie province of Saskatchewan. It also revealed that the total pro- gressive vote of British Columbia could have ensured majority re- presentation for labor from this province. There is every possibil- ity that a progressive govern- ment can be elected in the coming provincial elections. The LPP proposes that this by ensuring that the progressive vote is not split. This is not “political blackmail,’ Grant Mac- Neil, this is an offer to do away with an intolerable ‘situation which only sows confusion in the ranks of the workers, and throws votes to reaction. On the other hand it is political blackmail which threatens to abjure all of- fers of unity at the polls and poses the CCF as the only alter- native to a split labor vote. MacNeil skates around the edge of his arguments and re- fuses to discuss such things as the Ontario provincial elections for instance, where the CCF op- rosition defeated such a_ well- known trade unionist as George Burt. It ts still the same old ar- gument, dressed up in new phraseology. “THE PEOPLE WILL PAY” The CCF claim the sole right to represent progressive thought in this country, and their attitude toward those who are not ready to vote CCF can be summed up in Jolliffe’s statement following the Ontario elections:: “The people will pay.” But what they wall and are paying for is the refusal of the CCF to, cooperate with other progressive groups :to keep re- action out of power. The only way B.C. can be as- sured a progressive government is on the basis of electoral agree- ments. This is the lesson of Que- bec—Grey North—Ontario—and the Federal elections. But Grant MacNeil says this “Ts designed to present an at- possibility be made a certainty | 'tractive idea which cannot bear analysis because in application it means the opposite of unity.” He says “the slogan of ‘Unity on the basis of electoral agreements’ is in itself empty of meaning. It evades the facts of political life.” We.wonder who is trying to evade the facts of political life. If the results of the federal elec- tions mean anything, they dem- onstrate beyond all argument, that electoral agreements could have worked to the benefit of the people of Canada, by ensuring strong labor representation in parliament. Grant MacNeil says that “the invitation to the CCF :te enter electoral agreements is an _ in- vitation to abandon the purposes cf the CCF. He goes on to point out that the CCF was formed ‘‘as a federation to include in a na- tionwide organization, political, educational and economic groups with a common purpose.” This is true. and the present policy of the CCF bears no relation to the original purpose. This was aban- doned long ago. Today the CCF is a closed corporation, with no affiliated groups and absolutely unrepre- sentative of the powertul trade union movement, which: itself must form the background of any workers’ political organiz- ation. The fact that they failed to elect candidates in the big industrial centers is ample evi- dence of this, and fully exposes the forced backing of the CCL as a “political, swindle” of the worst type, Since it was an attempt to blackjack the major unions of Canada into an un- wanted affiliation. In calling electoral agreements | a political swindle, MacNeil ques- tions the integrity of practically every government in , liberated Europe. According to his line of argument, the different leftist parties should have stood on a purist platform, fought among themselves for the ‘‘sole right” to represent’ progress and allowed the reactionary quisling elements | to establish themselves on the backs of the people once more. Fortunately the people of Europe decided differently. On. the basis of cooperation, in spite of differences, the work- PA OFFICE 104 Shelly Building = SS ccal ain Dance SATURDAY, JULY 21 st, Sp m. OLYMPIA HALL 2303 EAST HASTINGS GRANDVIEW CLUBROOM 875 EAST HASTINGS REFRESHMENTS TICKETS ON SALE AT PEOPLE’S BOOK STORE 420. West Pender ers are in the ascendancy in most of the liberated countries of Europe. STRAW MEN Then MacNeil goes into a long argument. based on supposition, erecting a number of straw men on the basis of what the LPP might want, might suggest, and what their motives might be. The | way to find out. what the LPP are willing to do, is to meet with them and discuss the question. This is something the CCF have consistently refused to do. They have turned down every offer, and even went to the length of suppressing correspondence on the question. of united action, be- cause they knew that it would re- ceive support from a goodly sec- tion within their own ranks. Obviously the first step toward unity must be a meeting between ‘the parties concerned, and ob- viously if such a meeting is to be held in good faith, with any hope cf success, it will not be helped by useless speculation and crea- tion of obstacles. Faets are’ stubborn children, MacNeil, and the whole history | of the past few months shows that the demand for unity ‘is becoming an irresistable force, even within your own ranks. There have been schisms caus- ed:exactly by this issue in ev- ery province in Canada. The B.C. example is a classic in this regard, since the man who was expelled and reviled because he sought to unite the Jabor vote, was elected to the Federal House with the support of both the CCF and LPP clubs in West Kootenay. MacNeil in the course of his article refers to CCF policy as “based on unity of thought and action represented by the mem- bership.” We might be excused, - . . Compliments : e i | Dr. R. Llewellyn Douglas : RICHARDS and HASTINGS in view of the Herridge incident, in questioning this Statement, and substituting instead “based on thought and action represent- ed. by the provincial executive,” since the CCF membership in West Kootenay obviously favored supporting the unity candidate Herridge, to the point of electing him. MacNeil recognizes the weak- nesses of his own argument. As a proponent of following the British Labor Party, the contra- dictions in his own line must be- come more and more apparent to him. The British Labor Party is formed solidly on the trade un- ions, its leading members came from the ranks of organized 1abor. So in desperation and a vain attempt to bolster a weak case, he drags in a red herring. He, trys to obscure the issue, Labor nity, by reference to the dis- cussions going on in the Amer- ican Communist Political Asso- ciation as a; result of the critic- lisms of the French Communist Duclos. OPEN DISCUSSION First let us say there is noth- ing secret about these discus- Sions, they are being carried on epenly through the pages of the | Worker, organ of the CPA. They are being carried on as a Marx- ist party must decide its policies and evaluate its work—freely in front of the workers, and mis- takes that have been made are being freely acknowledged and rectified. The U.S. party will come out .of these discussions stronger and more unified as a result of them. : But why drag this in to try and justify an anti-labor unity posi- tion? The bulk of the CCF mem- bership and supporters are be- hind an idea and an ideal—an ideal that was contained in the Regina Manifesto. A federation of labor groups — farmers and progressive parties—each retain- ing its identity but working to one common goal. The CCF lead- ership have strayed far from this concept, to the isolationist posi- tion of no cooperation with any- one. z = The Labor-Progressive Party will continue to fight for labor unity as a fundamental concept. The CCF will have to face this issue realistically, for the work-— ers will find little to convince them in the diatribes. authored by Grant MacNeil. HAst. 0340 766 E. Hastings Hastings Steam Baths Vancouver, B.C. OPEN DAY and NIGHT Expert Masseurs In ~ Attendance DUCURERRESOGESCGRER OOO RSET ECEEEGSSORSCRROGROERERSSRDESRES STOR KE Adeline Beauty Salon We Specialize in PERMANENT WAVING 1148 Granville St. Opposite St. Helen’s Hotel hAArine 6612 VOPPUCCUETOCEUTOPUEUN CUETO EON UOBUERUGDEREZOECAEESESE PACIFIC NORTH STAR AND B.C. OWNED AND OPERATED PACIFIC MEATS 8950 ‘Shaughnessy BRANDS 14, 1945. SATURDAY, JULY ry