March 14, 1942

THE B.C. LUMBER WORKER

5 Page Three

“Make Democracy Work For Total War”

By NIGEL MORGAN
Spokesman for the N.C.D.R. Delegation

An assurance that our representations would receive careful considera-
tion by the government was given by Minister of Justice St. Laurent to
‘the delegation elected to present the memorandum to the government
from the National Conference for Democratic Rights. The delegation,
elected from the 173 delegates attending the two-day conference which
met in the Chateau Laurier at Ottawa on February 22 and 23, was com-
of 25 prominent trade union, farmer, professional and cultural
leaders from all parts of Canada, and represented more than 140,000

Canadians,

Accompanying the delegation were
Arthur Roebuck, K.C., formerly Attorney-
General of Ontario and now MP. for
"Toronto, who associated himself with the
submission and praised the proposals of
the N.CD.R. for “total war’; Dorise
Neilson, M.P., and two Social Credit
MP's, Victor Quelch and S. C, John-
son,

The delegation, whicn presented a spe-
cific program for the devlopment of a
genuine war partnership of the people
through labor-management and farmer-
government cooperation, received an ex-
tremely courteous and sympathetic hear-
ing.. The Minister of Justice, represent-
ing the cabinet, admitted the govern-
ment had made a number of mistakes
which he said he hoped would be righted
at the earliest possible time. He said
the memorandum would be carefully con-
sidered and that in it he had not heard
“one word In the principles of which any
real Canadian could be in disagreement.”

The memorandum “appealed to the
government to launch an aggressive cam-
paign to explain to the people the need
of voting ‘yes’ in the forthcoming pleb-
iscite for an all-out war effort.” It also
quoted the demand of the NCDR confer-
ence for the opening of a second front
on the European continent “as a neces-
sary step to achieve victory.”

The brief went on to state further:

“We pledge to do our utmost to mob-
ilize the people of the Dominion to give
an overwhelming ‘yes’ vote in the com-
ing plebiscite. We are wholeheartedly
in favor of réleasing the government of
previous pledges, which now limit our
war effort and make it impossible to
fulfil our duties to our Allies and above
all to Canada itself. For we are all firmly
convinced that to preserve the peace and
security of our shores, our armies to-
gether with the armies of the Empire,
the United States, the USSR, and the
United Nations, must attack and destroy
the armies of our main foe, Hitler, in
the year 1942.”

Revise Production Methods.

Tn regard to Canada’s production prob-
lems the memorandum stated:

“Canada, as the fourth largest con-
tributor to the war production of the
United Nations, has an important role
to play in this gigantic struggle which
only can be realized if every available
source of material, manpower and equip-
ment is immediately turned to produc-
tion of the essentials of war. With the
same end in view there must be an im-
mediate revitalization of the old atti-
tude toward the production of food as
‘an integral part of a total war program,
through full utilization of the farm lands
and farm labor to achieve the utmost, as
set forth in the program of the United
Farmers of Canada in their recent con-
vention.

“Particular emphasis must be placed
upon the need for developing fully the
food industries on the basis of natural
products and the development of by-
products and synthetic products to re-
place materials from sources which have
now come under Nazi control. To back
up our armies in the field, Canada’s war
production must continue to grow and
expand,

“In order to achieve these goals, in
addition to planning and organization

of industry, there must be the fullest
participation of labor. We submit that
the government should do all in its
power to bring labor and agriculture
into full partnership ‘in the present war
effort.

“This can best be done by full repre-
sentation of labor and farmers on the
various government production and war
boards. The government should en-
courage the organization of labor-man-

collective bargaining on wage questions
for all workers below $25 per week in-
come,

“(c) Amend the present cost-of-living
bonus system by giving full cost-of-living
bonuses to all workers regardless of age,
sex or earnings, on the basis of the rise
in index from August 1939, to date.”

The delegation, in addition to making
suggestions as to revisions of the Defense
of Canada Regulations, urged that these
regulations be only used against the
enemies of Canadian unity, The delega-
tion stressed the importance of the re-
lease of the interned labor leaders and
urgd the government to lift the ban on
the Communist party and other labor
organizations.

The brief went on to state:

“It is the opinion of the conference we
represent that the RCMP does not fulfil

Nations, where the Communist party
and other organizations with an anti-
Fascist history ‘are held to be illegal or-
ganizations,

“The continued internment of the anti-
Fascists in the Hull Internment Jail and
the anti-Fascists imprisoned in the jails
and penitentiaries throughout. Canada is,
we believe, a serious hindrance to unity
and an all-out war effort. The govern-
ment must not continue to ignore the
pledges of loyalty which these Canadians,
anti-Fascists and trade unionists, have
affirmed many times, Canada urgently
needs the services of every able-bodied
person in the armed forces, in the fac-
tories, and on the farms, To reject the
services of these people, many of whom
were fighting Fascism long before the
war started, and to deprive the country
of their support in the war effort, is

Rigby, Miss Dorothy Rachlen.

Members of the delegation appointed by the recent National Conference on Democratic Rights that asked Minister of
Justice St. Laurent to release interned and imprisoned anti-Fascists, remove the ban on the Communist Party and other
workers’ organizations and make democracy work for total war. Shown standing are, from left to right: John Rawluk,
Wm. Simpson, Jas. McPherson, Albert Elson, G. A. Harris, Frank Hadesback, Harry Peace, A. L, Menard, W. G. Mc-
Cutcheon, J, Boychuk, Dewar Ferguson. In the second row are: H. Plate, Beckie Buhay, Joseph Zuken, O. Vallieres, R.
Desormeaux, Mrs. Jennie Freed, T, E. Dodd, Arthur Mould, Mrs. John Weir, E. E. Leary, Thomas Bain, Robert Stacey,
Mrs, E, Saunders, Pearl Wedro, H. J. McKinnon. Seated are: Mrs. Butler, Mrs. M. Prokop, Mrs, David Sinclair, Mrs.
B, Swankey, A. E. Smith, Mrs, Kate Magnuson, Nigel Morgan, Mrs. John McNeil, Mrs, N. M, McKean, Mrs. William

agement-government and farmer-govern-
ment cooperation in every phase of war
production and the guaranteeing of the
complete utilization of both the plant
capacity and agricultural resources. and
of labor-farmer genius and ability which
our Dominion so highly possesses.

“This conference firmly believes that
to win this war for democracy we must
make our democracy work for total
war, :

“This means that every Canadian
willing to contribute his or her share in
this great struggle must be free to do go.
We can and must, in this hour of great
national peril, lay aside all differences
that hitherto divided us and, as one great
family, employer, employee, farmer, and
government, work and fight for one na-
tional preservation. It is because of this
conviction that we beg to place before
you the following, hoping it will receive
your earnest and favorable considera-
tion:

“(a) Guarantee and protect labor's
rights to organize and bargain collec-
tively through the organization of their
own choice as is the practice in Great
Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the
United States, and in line with the policy
of our government as embodied in the
principles enunciated in PC 2685,

“(b) Amend PC 8253 to permit of full

its duty as a security police in a country
at war, so long as it ignores this real
menace of enemy aid and potential sabo-
tage and diverts itself instead to the de-
structive tactics of spying on, and aiming
to discredit the labor movement in gen-
eral and the left wing of the labor move-
ment in particular; forces ardently anti-
Hitler and anti-Fascist, potentially effec-
tive in the mobilization of the nation
to a maximum war effort, yet hounded
and persecuted to the detriment of the
nation and the war effort by the present
ROMP policy. A recent example of the
misdirection of this RCMP policy is
found in the report of the Commissioner
of the RCMP, lately tabled in the House
of Commons, wherein the main fire is
directed against people advocating such
basic democratic tenets as “freedom of
speech,” while neither concern nor ac-
tivity is manifested about the real danger
of enemy and spy agents or associates,
who have continued to overflow into and
even to foster within the boundaries of
Canada.

“Recent events have shown that the
Communist parties in Singapore and
Malaya, for example, have played an
active and vital role in their defense.
‘The conference calls attention to the fact
that Canada is alone of the English-
speaking Dominions of the British Com-
monwealth, and of the powerful Allied

folly. Based on all these considerations,
we urge the government to adopt the fol-
lowing policies in regard to these mat-
ters:

“(1) The immediate release of all
anti-Fascists interned in the Hull In-
ternment Jail and the remission of the
sentences of other anti-Fascists incar-
cerated in Canada.

“(2) A revision of the Defense of Can-
ada Regulations, with the view of elim-
inating any unnecessary infringements
of our civil liberties, Section 65 for ex-
ample, and with the view of the proper
utilization of the regulations against the
real enemies of the country; and to this
end the Federal government should in-
struct and direct the Commissioner of
the RCMP.to utilize the force most ag-
gressively and effectively to unearth, ex-
pose and prosecute Nazi-Fascist and
Japanese spies and native Quislings
whose activities, it would appear as
shown by some recent events, have been
ignored ‘and tolerated by the RCMP,

“(3) The lifting of the ban presently
imposed on the Communist party, the
Ukrainian Labor-Farmer Temple Associa-
tion and- all other organizations which
have an anti-Fascist record, or which
represent sections of the working class,
so that these organizations ‘and their

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