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Crucial lumber market V!. COMMUNISTS AT MAGNA HEARING

hearing opens in U.S.

U.S. astronaut Walter Schirra
is shown above just before
being launched on his 6-orbit
flight Wednesday.

Hearings in Washington
opened Tuesday before the
U.S. Tariff Commission to
consider an application by the
U.S. Lumber Manufacturers
Association to cut imports of
Canadian lumber.

Representatives for the’
lumber interests urged this
week that a 14-year old tariff

5 SERS negotiated with
anada be lifted, and that
Canadian softwood lumber

imports be cut by from $60
million to $100 million.

They also urged additional
restrictive measures, such as
imposing a strict ‘Buy Ameri-
can” act in Congress, and
additional tariffs aimed at
curbing Canadian sales in
the U.S.

The largest portion of soft-
wood entering the U.S. comes
from B.C. A cut in lumber
imports would reduce many
of B.C.’s lumber towns to
ghost towns.

Rankin hits
homeowner’

“The City of ar oer is
already deteriorating at a rate
of close to 10% faster than
its works program carries out
repairs and improvements”,
stated Harry Rankin, Presi-
dent of the Vancouver central
Council of Ratepayers.

“The two solutions put
forth by Vancouver Aldermen
scrambling for the mayorality
nomination of the NPA this
year is one, to curtail spend-
ing still further as proposed
by Alderman Rathie, and two,
to soak the home-owner still
more, as advanced by the
other group’”’.

“Neither one of these pro-
posals offer any advantage
to the people of Vancouver.
What is required is more
money from senior govern-
ments for municipal require-
ments and the shifting of the
tax load from the _ over-
burdened homeowner to the
business and real estate com-
munity. :

“Exactly the opposite took
place last year as business,
downtown and elsewhere had
a cut in taxes while the home-
owner got an average tax in-
crease of $25.00.

“Alarmed by the anger of
the people over this action

Obituary

HENRY MATTSON

Logger and shipyard work-
er, Henry William Mattson of
1743 Westover Rd., North
Vancouver, passed away on
September 30 in his 57th
year.

In the early days of the
IWA Henry Mattson was one
of the organizing crew on the
logger’s “navy”, pioneering
the IWA in the coast camps.
During the war years he
worked in the Northshore
shipyards. For many years
Henry Mattson was a member
of the Communist Party and
an active worker for the Paci-
fic Tribune. :

He is survived by his wife
Vera, his mother, Mrs. Annie
Hanson, six' brothers & three
sisters. Funeral services were
held Wednesday ift the Bur-
rard Chapel on Lonsdale, fol-
lowed by cremation.

Ant 1089__PACIFIC

“soak the
policies

HARRY RANKIN:
and aware of the increasing
resistance of homeowners to
further tax increases Alder-
man Rathie, seeks to serve the
needs of his.supporters by
blocking any shift of taxes to
business, etc., at the expense
of the entire community.

“This kind of penny-
pinching can only lead to a
steady deterioration of our
city and a deeper crisis which
taxpayers will be called on
to resolve at impossible costs
at an early date.

“At the same time the
solutions of Mayor Alsbury
and other aldermen -who
stand prepared to up home-
owner taxes’ by as much as
$82.00 over the next five years
must be equally rejected by
the taxpayer.

“The institution of such
measures as a $2,000 basic
exemption on residential
property, a graduated busi-
ness tax, the application of
the machinery tax to the
general purpose mill rate,
would - help shift the tax
burden on to those most able
to pay.

“Distribution rights in the
city for gas and hydro electric
power along with a rebate of
road users taxes such as gas-
oline, and other motor fuels

* would provide other needed

revenues and such demands
correspond to practices in
effect in most other provinces.

“These demands, along
with the insistence that
both Federal and Provincial
Governments accept respon-
sibility for financing educa-
tion costs, offer a program

for the homeowner.”

R BUNE—Page 8. ——

Speculators make $7 million
without laying an inch of pipe

VICTORIA — The Pub-
lic Utilities Commission
held an important hearing
here on September 25 to
decide whether or not the
rights of Magna Pipelines
to pipe Canadian natural

gas via Washington state

should be reviewed, varied
or rescinded.

The Victoria Communist Party,
which was told political parties
were not allowed to appear be-
fore the hearing, sent its secre-
tary, Ernie Knott, to speak as a
consumer.

Facts brought out at the hear-
ing showed that Magna, although
it did not own a single pump,
compressor, inch of pipeline, a
cubic foot of gas or contracts, had
milked the shareholders of $7
million.

The directors of the company
had made a fortune out of Mag-
na, and had now merged with
Cascade Natural Gas of Wash-
ington State. Cascade stated at
the hearing that if Magna’s
rights were rescinded it would
apply to bring gas to the Island.

An article in the Victoria Daily
Times, Thurs., Sept. 27, by bus-
iness editor Gordon Bell, points
out that at present market prices
president Ralph Farris’ original
$11,750 investment has grown to
$106,775, vice-president C. Clark’s
$5,700 is now $64,125, John Far-
ris‘ $2,000 is $22,500. Charter Oil’s
original $20,000 investment at

ERNIE KNOTT
j . urges Island natural gas
policy.

present market value is worth
about $225,000.

(Charter Oil Co. Ltd., is a com-
pany of which Ralph Farris is
president: It received 20,000
shares at $1 as one of the first
“Jimited’’ groups).

The Victoria Times _ business
editor points out that ~‘all this
without a mile of pipeline being
laid, or one cubic foot of gas
contracted for.”

COMMUNIST STAND

Ernie Knott, Victoria secretary
of the Communist Party, speak-
ing as a consumer, made a state-
ment at the hearing. which said,
in part, ‘“‘that the commission
should consider not only engineer-

Gollan says unity needed

The British Labor Party’s
new policy of non-support for
British entry into the Com-
mon Market “unless proper
terms are arranged’ solves
nothing, British Communist
Party leader John Gollan told
a public meeting in Manches-
ter recently.

“What is needed from the
Labor party conference (now
meeting) is a clarion call to
the British nation for a sup-
reme effort to prevent Bri-
tish entry,” he said.

At long last the Labor par-

the imperialist powers are continuing

ty executive had been forced
to condemn the present con-
ditions negotiated as a men-
ace to Britain and the Com-
monwealth.

“But the terms advanced in
the statement as conditions
for entry have not a cat in
hell’s chance of being granted
by Adenauer and de Gaulle,”
said Gollan.

Gollan also made the point

that Labor should serve no-

tice that it would cancel any
agreement made by Macmil-
lan to enter ECM, if elected.

yas ee

[. MABE RIM

AFRICANS CONDEMN IMPERIALIST PROVOCATIONS. Photo shows 4 *
monstration in Mali against an imperialis
new republic. Recent events in Ghana and other independent African state
to work behind the scenes to block the

ment of these states towards full indpend-ence.

t cOnspiracy uncovered to undermine

ing and. economic practicablil
of the plan, but also other

which in the long pull count |
much in terms of the national
terest. He urged: :

ownership over energy 1eS0™~
and their distribution;
© The need to pass all
the consumer some of the
fits of the rich deposits
tural gas which have beé
covered in B.C., preferably
form of cheaper gas.
Knott’s statement call
public ownership of the
natural gas to Vancouver
He stated that to grant @
to a private company W®2
in contradiction to the ™
trend . of public owners
energy production and dist” |
tion, and would be a 7
step.
ISLAND NEEDS
The statement further |
that the commission shoul
in mind the distortion ° anf
economy on: Vancouver Ish
because of heavy emphasis is :
extractive industries which ee
to heavy seasonal unemple: :
and the subsequent need {0° fut
ondary manufacturing 4? ial |
ther processing of raw mater | :
Knott said the rich coal, oy
per, iron and wood resoure
the Island could be advantage ral |
ly combined with cheaP ne aus
gas to build a powerful ? we
trial manufacturing bas® ont x
The Public Utilities a’
sion recommended that MM be
rights be rescinded and "si
Cabinet has agreed. The t
now wide open and at leas
other firms, including O° iq |
Nanaimo, have stated (he
tention to apply, along “i ce |
U.S. firm, Cascade Natura ‘
Corp. of Seattle, to pipe ° y
gas to the Island.
Knott has appealed t?
and consumer groups a ;
Island to make sure th ial
heard when the new nearill
place. ~

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Of all taxes paid PY Co!
=| a
dians something ¢ aft
15% goes to school
education.

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