Would-be fascist leader
seeking support of vets,

former member of RCMP

“Only bullets can stop me!”

exclaimed the self-appointed “leader”

of the newly formed Independence

Party of Canada, as he paced nervously back and forth in front of an audience of 20 veterans gathered
ina cellar “banquet room”’ at the non-union Peter Pan cafe, 1180 Granville Street here, last Sunday after-

noon,

“About 40 veterans answered my advertisement in the Vancouver Sun,” said J. A. Steeves, ex-RCMP,

ex-officer in the Canadian Army
and ex-patient in military hospit-
als here and in England. “But
when I get 50,000 or 75,000 in this
organization, believe me, we'll go
places!”

The LEADER clutched his head
as though something was hurting
him (“I had a piece of bone re-
moved by an English surgeon not
long ago, as a result of a head
accident in Italy,” he told me
later). “Ladies and gentlemen,” he
began again, “I’m not a_ public

speaker, but I’m going ‘to sit down)

and read to you from my book,
which will give all the answers
you’ve been looking for on the
questions of war, unemployment
and politics.”

Steeves read for more than two
hours; in fact, he read his '62-page
pamphlet, Centralized Security or
War, from beginning to end. And
what does his pamphlet say? Here
are some quotes.

From page 16: “The ‘dictator-
ships’ of fascism are no more but
the old evils of DEMOCRACY still
remain.”

From page 18: “Upon my return
from the war I was convinced in
the utter futility of the policy pur-
sued by our democratic social sys-
tem.”

From page 40: “What was the
meaning of Yosif Visarionovitch’s
speech (Stalin) in Moscow Square

on the 25th anniversary of the}

‘Red Revolution’ when he stated,
‘I have been. asked to give a: re-
_ view of our country from the last
of November to this month.’ By
whom, may we ask, was he ask-
ed? Was it his confidential secre-
tary, Kaganovich, or was it Ilya
Ehrenburg, Soviet propagandist.
Obviously the key men of the
‘inner heirarchy’ of the Politburo,
that one and the same ‘Interna-
tional Brothérhood’ who sit in the
‘inner sanctums’ of Wall Street
and Washington .. .”

From Page 41: “This colossal
scheme of gross international con-
spiracy now exposed on the out-
raged conscience of the veteran, is

the product of a RACIAL MINOR-
. Pe oS
From page 41 again: “Their crit-
ies have been subjected to violent
repercussions and scathing jibes—
the most popular being ‘Fascists’
which however is fallacious, be-
cause those who seek to expose
the machinations of this INTER-
NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD do
so, With the earnest desire in|
their hearts to free forever their
fellow beings, whether they be
black, white, or indeed the ‘YEL-
LOW RACE’.
the shackles with which these fol-
lowers of an ALIEN CREED have
so successfully pinned humanity

To free them from

to their wagon wheels of GREED
down through the centuries.’

Enough, I think, to show the
trend of LEADER Steeves’ think-
ing: a garbled assortment of
ideas propagated long ago in the
discredited Protocols of Zion, and
revolving around the central idea
that a sinister handful of Jews
control the world’s wealth, man-
ipulate governments, cause de-
pressions -and create wars.

This hodge- podge of insane non-
sense could be shrugged off ex-

cept for one thing—the madman

Hitler rode to power on a similar
program of anti-Semitism, plus a
similar mulligan of economic and
political fallacies.

LEADER Steeves and his dozen
followers could be dismissed as
just another “crank” group, if
they had ‘no shrewd backers who
might want to use them for some
ulterior purpose. But perhaps there
are such elements behind the move
to set up the Independence Party?

* * x

When a Vancouver Sun reporter
and I talked to Steeves during an
intermission period, a middle-aged,
well-dressed, prosperous’ looking
person hovered around, beaming
at us and expressing the hope that
we would give Steeves “a good
write-up in the press.”

This man, I found out later, is
one John Westaway, leader of a
religious cult known as the “Christ
Healers” whose headquarters are
located at 675 Davie Street, across
the hall from the office of Scarlet:
and Gold, semi-official RCMP an-
nual. Westaway is himself an ex-
RCMP. What is his interest in
Steeves?

Talking to Steeves convinced me
that he is a sick man. He obvious-
ly believes in his own writings,
and knows pages of his book from
memory. But he has only vague
plans concerning the building of
his Independence Party to “50,000
or 75,000” members. ;

“IT. am _ concentrating on my
book,’ he’ says. “It cost $1,500 to
publish 5,000 copies. Members will
get a book free when they pay $2
for party membership.”

Steeves talks about himself. “I
was in the RCMP from 1930 to
1939, in Alberta. I joined the army
as a private with the Loyal Ed-
monton Regiment and later be-
came an officer, In Italy, I was
accidentally hit on the head with
the butt end of a machine-gun.
That was the end of the war for
me. I had an operation on my
head in England. A piece of bone
was removed. Veterans have to

stick together. No, my organization
isn’t against individual Jews, but
of course everybody knows a group

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| Union

Peace body
protests bar
on delegates

~ The
this week reported it had received
cabled confirmation of reports from
Paris that the U.S. embassy there
has refused a visa to the Rev. Hew-
lett Johnson, Dean of Canterbury,
to visit the U.S. The cable, from
World Peace Congress Secretary,
Jean Laffitte, also reported that the
entire U.S.-bound international de-
legation from the World Peace Con-
gress had been refused visas.

Mary Jennison, Congress execu-
live secretary, announced here that
on behalf of “millions of Canadians
who want the world’s peoples to
talk peace together” she had sent
the following wire to U.S. Ambas-
sador Steinhardt at Ottawa.

“We ask you to forward to the
U.S. state department the fervent
protest of the Canadian Peace Con-
gress against refusal of visas to
world peace delegation to lay peace
proposals before U.S. Congress.”

“Canada’s Dr. Endicott is already
part of a delegation to the Soviet
and other delegations are
bound for France, Italy, Belgium,
Holland. These delegations carry
the sentiments of Canadians too,
and we demand that the state de-
partment allow congressmen and
senators to know these sentiments.

“If the U.S. government barri-
cades itself against world opinion,
disaster is certain. We appeal to
the finest traditions of U.S. demo-
eracy and will of the big majority
of Americans for peace. This is
acid test of free exchange of opin-
ion and who wants war.”

The Congress is calling upon
local peace councils, committees,
and supporters to back its posi-
tion by their own representatives.

The delegation to the U.S. Con-
gress was to include, besides the
Dean of Canterbury, the following:
Pablo Picasso (artist), Professor
Aubel (Franée), Swiss painter Hans
Erni, British film producer Ivor
Montagu, Italian senator Mme. Pa-
lumbo, University of Bologne Pro-
fessor Olivo, socialist deputy in
Italy M. Cacciatori, M. -Montosi
(head of the Italian Chr istian Move-
ment for Peace), and Soviet Pphysi-
cist Max Cosynx.

of Jews control all the money
and work behind the scenes .. .”

Sick man or not, Steeves could
become a dangerous man under
certain circumstances. Hitler was
an hysteric, a psychopath, but he
became the dictator of Germany.
Individuals who dream grandiose
dreams of becoming LEADERS of
anti-Semitic organizations should
be exposed while they are still in
the embryonic phase of their car-
eers, in order that the dream may
die before it becomes a ashe gown
for the people.

EAST END

| PAX
. UNION DRIVERS
033 :
FULLY : 24-HOUR

INSURED SERVICE
811 E. HASTINGS ST.

Canadian Peace Congress |

ty dp, Labor inaidat
Mié_él PR ge Labo cin ;

VETERANS and OUR eopie
AWAKE! Let us turn the tide of
destructive THINKING by en-
li, RROWL De population with the
of true facts RE-

SPONSIBLS for the PLIGHT of
some andthe urgent WAR-LIKE
preparations of others. I have the
ERS. Assist ME in the for-~

mation of THE INDEPENDENCE
PARTY OF CANADA and thereby
achieve those EXALTED Democra-
tic Ideals of FREEDOM from WANT
‘and FEAR. for which WE fought
but haven’t GOT. All clear think-
ing. CANADIANS ARE requested to
, communicate in care of Box No.

2375,.Sun. Fed. ASTSIG-STO

2 .

Anti-Semite

This is the advertisement J. A-
Steeves ran in the Vancouver
Sum in an effort to launch a fas-
‘cist, anti-Semitic “Independent
party”. Only 20 veterans ‘atten-
ded his meeting.

PEACE

Typically, the U.S.
ment’s announcement employed
the “communist smear” technique
to obscure the fact that the Dean
of Canterbury, Picasso and others

state depart-

lof the delegation of twelve have

consistently opposed fas ciana, and
striven for peace.

Other delegations are caine
for capitals of France, Italy, Hol-
land and Belgium. All this is in
the name of the 600 million affilia-
ted supporters of the World Peace
Congress including Canadian
peace partisans) on behalf of the
peoples of the world.

Program includes banning of
atomic weapons, for which Cana-
dian Peace Congress seeks 200,000
names on its petition.

At a press conference before
leaving Dr. Endicott said he consi-
ders his participation in the dele-
gation affords a final answer to
the recent suggestion of Prime
Minister St. Laurent that demands
for banning of the H-bomb should
be addressed to Moscow, not Wash-
ington.

St. Laurent said this when the
Peace Congress asked his govern-
ment to intervene with President
Truman against production of the
Hell-Bomb).

Dr, Endicott said he had “high
hopes” that the Supreme Soviet
would agree with the peace pro-
gram but did not predict what re-
sults would be for the other dele-
gations.

He said this was the first time
in history there had been such a
worldwide grdssroots movement
and results met by the delegation
would give every man and woman
a chance to judge where each gov-
ernment stood and act accordingly.
He was “certain” the Canadian
Peace Congress would succeed in
getting 200,000 signatures on its
petition by V-E day.

With him to Moscow will go the
French Peace Congress President
Yves Farge, British labor spokes-
man Platt-Mills, and Father Pierre
Groues and several other renowned
figures.

The demands are:

e@ Reduce armaments and military
forces,

@ Ban atomic weapons.

e be: negotiations to end war)
vu e id saaateee hl Malayans,

@ End repression of peace Pere
sans,

@ Sign a five-power peace pact to

end the se war.

JOBLESS

legislature and pressuring them to _
support their demands,

“During the recent provincial
elections definite promises were
made committing your government
to take the necessary measures to
insure prosperity and continued
economic security,” Collins told the
cabinet. “This delegation is con-
vinced that the time has not only
arrived but is long overdue for the
full enactment of such measures.
by your government as will guar-
antee the complete fulfillment of
those promises.”

The five-point program submit-
ted by the unemployed called for:

@ Immediate enactment: of the
public works program contained
in the report of the Postwar Re-
habilitation Council, such public
works to be paid for at the pre-
vailing trade union rates of wages. ~

@ Provincial pressure upon the
federal government to amend the
present scale of unemployment in-
surance by an increase of 50 per
cent. ;

@ Extension of unemployment in-
surance benefits to cover the en-
tire period of unemployment.

@ Inclusion of all people who
have exhausted their benefits back
into benefits on the increased scale.

@ ‘Unemployed who do not come
within the scope of any of the
above categories to be placed on
civic’ relief, and the scale of such
relief to be: to families, $20 a
week, with an additional $2.50 a
week for each child; to all single
unemployed, $15 a week.

Following Collins’ presentation

of the brief, other unemployed —
|spokesmen took’ part in the dis- —
/eussions with the premier and
/cabinet members.

A delegate from the West Coast
Seamen’s Union told of the plight
of whundreds of jobless seamen.
Cabinet members feebly responded
that shipping was “a Fegeral. mat-
ter.”

Stan Forkin spoke on unem-
ployment among the yourlg peo-
ple of this prevince. One cabinet
minister suggested that perhaps ~
they could leave the cities and
“eo north or into the Interior.”
When Miss Jackie Robson asked

what young unemployed girls were
to do when no jobs were available,
another cabinet member murmur-
ed something about “going into
| domestic service.”

Loggers Jack Merner and Ernie.
Knott were sagely advised that if
there is no work near the cities
where they lived loggers should —
“go where the trees are and settle
| there.” ;

Afterwards, the unemployed
delegation left. the parliament
buildings and. marched back to the
hall which had been _ provided
them as a temporary headquarters.
Here a spirited meeting was held,
resulting in the formation of a
provincial unemployed organiza-
tion, Fred Collins was elected pres- —
ident and Tommy Siebert secre-
tary-treasurer. Each locality repre-
sented on the trek has two dele-

gates on the council of the pro-
vincial organization.

“Weire going back to our local-
ities and will continue to organ-
ize the unemployed,” said Col-
lins. “We'll only win. our demand
for work and wages ‘when we
are strong enough to compel the
government to act on Our DEG
gram,

“This demonstration has achiev-
ed some results. The government,
by meeting our delegation, has
acknowledged that we are the or
ganization which represents th®
unemployed in this province. “The —
premier did assure us that the
government planned to spend $10,
000,000 on hospitals, $10,000,000 on
schools, and some $7,000,000 on
highways this summer.

“We impressed upon the coven
ment that loss of our export mal
ket has been the greatest factor —
in creating unemployment in Brit-
ish Columbia. This is the crux, of |
the problem. The provincial gov-
ernment must pressure the federal
government to open up trade with —
China, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bile
garia, the Soviet Union, and all
other countfies ready and. willie
to trade with us.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 10, 1950—PAGE &