. * i s no issue which zarly exposes the cary character of ‘coalition govern- ne recent contro= Hublic ownership <:R. Here was a -fir. Hart to show Svernment stood— fst the people’s in- r against the mon- ‘colors — for the id against the peo- | the facts? The 1 is a subsidiary rer Corporation, is ost powerful mon- -: province. Its ten- -ato every commufi- ery hhome. For F orporation, which sociated with the - lolt interests, has fx money out of F It has enriched “ders with large _ of B.C., and es- a lower mainland, “is objected to this iFinally, as a re- * and continuous ire, the municipal ‘hired the services - nown engineering -: Gilman and Com- ‘g in a report on ly of public owner- | 3CER. report was com- ved that the -prop- t+ §3CER could be -id run to the pub- » re on a non-profit yutlining the steps could be done the t showed that pub- p of the BCER ork if the provin- ent undertook ’ fi- nsibility. The rea- _ t only the province - lired financial re- © eredit. e. ' proposals put the gevernment on re was a practical ngineering firm of reputation, which at -the provincial alace under public \ -big part of the orporation’s prop- roblem before the was this: Should the public interest she Gilman propos- jart came through © The Gil For the government to have “acted on the Gilman plan would have meant taking action against the powerful hydro- electric monopoly in the prov- ince. The real issme was: Public ownership of the BCER in the interests of the people or maintenance of mon- opoly control with its further exploitation of our resources and people for private profit. _There was not nor. could there have been any other is- sue involved. The situation call- ed for action against monopoly and this action Mr. Hart sab- otaged. The moment the Gilman pro- posals were announced the mu- nicipalities agreed to submit it to referendum. Although some of the Gilman proposals caused considerable controversy, the crux of the plan was that the province assume financial re- sponsibility for taking over the BCER interests. The muni- cipalities therefore, eagerly awaited the needed OK. from Victoria. Finally Hart spoke in such a way as to leave little doubt where he stood. He tor- pedoed the plan by announcing that the province would not as- sume financial responsibilty for public ownership of the BCER. He announced that the onus was on the municpalities, and if they wanted to take over the BCER properties it was up to them: The BCPower Corpor- ation could not have wanted a better statement.. Hart’s posi- tion was right down their al- ley. It was clear to everyone and Hart also knew this, that the plan would go out the win- dow if the provincial govern- ment said no. Seldom has there been so glaring a case of a provincial government openly siding with a large powerful monpoly on a question of great importance to the public’s interest. © The _reason for Hart’s action should be elear. The coalition govern- ment had attempted to act in the people’s interests on this issue the coalition would have split right down the middle as the reactionary Tory wing would have bolted. ; HE LYP has constantly warn- ed that the Tories are using the coalition to creep into pow- er and advance heir reaction- ary policies. This fact was glar- ingly seen in he BCER sell- out, which is only the begin- ning. The coalition will continue to move to the right under Tory pressure, unless unity of the progressive camp is able to counteract it with powerful mass movements to prevent fur- her sell-outs of he people’s in- terests. Significantly the. so-called ‘‘progressive”’ liberals were mum during the whole of the sordid BCER deal. Not a single - one of them spoke up to ex- pose the plot. If the liberals (with a small “1’’) had wanted to rid themselves of the Tories (which some claim to be their objective), here was the excel- lent opportunity of an issue around which ‘they could have rallied overwhelming public support. Instead they chose to go along with the reactionary Tories to sell the people down the river. Indications are that they are also silent over Hart’s proposed stab in the back to the Dominion Government’s proposals for re-allocation of Dominion-Provincial powers. HE labor movement lost an excellent opportunity to deal a blow against reagetion by fail- ing to see clearly the issue and thus failed to become the spear- head of the drive for public ownership of the BCER. (Had the trade unions and other pro- gressive organizations taken the lead they could have ini- tiated a powerful mass move- ment which would have forced the provincial government’s hand and probably sharpened the crisis within the coalition between Tory and _ Liberal groups.) Unfortunately labor did not see its.chance. The propaganda and public relations work of the BCER (which costs a pret- ty penny), succeeded in creat- ing widespread confusion and man Report and The Coalition — even influenced some _ labor organizations to take a stand in opposition to public owner- ship. It was perfectly correct for the unions to defend the in- terests of their membership. But it was wrong to place this as a condition for supporting public ownership of the BCER on the grounds that it would jeopardize union conditions. It was wrong to have taken the position that trade union con- ditions be recognized first or else the unions would oppose public ownership of the BCER. This stand weakened the fight against monopoly and played into the hands of the reaction- aries, If the unions had cham- by Maurice Rush Pioned the fight for public own- ership, they would have emerg- ed in a considerably strength- ened position in the public’s eye and could have created eonditions for furthering la- bor’s fight for its just de- mands. In the fimal analysis the unions win their struggles mainly through their organized strength and the support they gain from the public. Although the issue of pub- lic ownership of the BCER has received a set-back and mon- opoly has won the first round, the issue is by no means dead. The people are still being ex- ploited by the hydro-electric monopoly and the demand for public ownership will continue to grew and sharpen. The next round may tell a very differ- ent story. The working people must strengthen theix fight for public ownership of the BCER, and hydro-electric pro- jects. FirstFree | aborFederation Founded In Japan NAGOY A—For the first time in Japan’s history, a central federation of free trade unions will be estab- lished in Tokyo this month, it was revealed today by Tsun- ekichi Yamazaki, Socialist - member of the Imperial Japa- nese Diet and veteran labor leader, in an exclusive Allied Labor News interview. At a conference of 200 trade union leaders in Tokyo, Oct. 2, a committee was set up to draft. a constitution for the as yet unnamed federation. This outline will be presented to a national meeting scheduled for the middle of this month. “Our plans are incomplete,” Yamazaki said, “but I guaran- tee that the new central union will be democratic. We are studying the forms of foreign unions to determine the best model. We have followed the progress of the World Federa- tion of Trade Unions with great interest. After our union is or- ganized, we shall apply for ad- mission to that international body.” Since the arrival of American THAT'S MY f NAME ! WHAT CANI DO FOR YOU? I HAVEA [ €HI-CHI7F | |MESsaGe { WHy---I 1FOR YOU [| THOUGHT ---FROM | SHE--- CHI-CHI! & WELL WHAT | SHE WANTS YOU TO COME WITH ME TO MEET HERI SHE j SOUNDED VERY ANXIOUS TO SEE YOu! a .D¥VOCATE — PAGE 13 | waLK A LITTLE AHEAD OF The two walk down | | WHATA MESSSIF HE Ie] Have you . ME-.-AND NO TRICKS,OR the street, and tnen,| | SEES ME ,THIS BLOKELL sent tor I'LL BE FORCED TO Johnnie seés..- START SHOOTING—AND IF JI your copy CREATE AN INCIDENT! “4 THE DOESN'T I'M SUNK Jfof Jonnnie’s - —7 REAL GANGSTER {CARLE YWAY-- GOSH! picture ? STUFF EH? ——< ~~ 3 ipa: WRITE TO e ( Vie aS JOUNNIE UA = =| JONES, : WS ‘> Federated = a] Press, , = 25 AsTOR PLACE, | Tew Yorks occupation authorities, Japan’s anti-labor laws have been re- secinded| and the government sponsored Industrial National Service Association abolished, As a result, free trade unions are mushrooming throughout Japan. A Japanese “Wagner Act,” encouraging labor or- ganization and collective bar- gaining, is now being prepared for presentation to the Diet. In 1938, when the govern- ment outlawed trade unions, there were 200,000 workers or- ganized into two separate bod- jes, the League of Japanese Trade Unions, a conservative group, and the progressive Ja- panese Workers’ Conference. In addition, government employees were organized into the govern- ment-sponsored ‘League of Gov- ernment Workers. After 1933, under constant police pressure, free unions gradually dissolved. In their place, the government organized the Industrial Nation- al Service Federation. Member- ship was compulsory, so that the Federation numbered over 3,000,000. Its sole aim was to raise production in war fac- tories. During the war all workers were listed, had labor passes and were under government control. Now free trade unions are growing and outstanding progress has been made by the Seamen’s Union at Kobe, the Municipal Train Workers Union in Tokyo and by railroad work- ers at Osaka. Though the ini- tiative has been taken by the Socialist party, all shades of opinion will be represented in the new federation. Asked about the current strike wave, Yamazaki replied: “It is not organized, but is a spontaneous ‘protest * against the wage cuts which followed the war. While salaries ge down, food gets scarcer and prices rise steadily.’’ Leader of the federation will probably be Kumakichi Matsuoka, former lathe worker who in 1915 or- ganized the first Japanese fac- tory workers’ union. Other vet- eran labor leaders at the Oct. 2 meeting were Suehiro Nishio and Isamo Akamatsu, Iron — Workers’ Union; Kanzu Kato, Railroad Workers; Chozabro Mizutani and Hideo Yamabana. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1945