| Vancouver woman fells
Story of Soviet tour

aUdien,

he Soviet collective farm I saw cotton growing in four colors,” Mrs. Florence Dorland told an
of 1,000 Vancouver citizens in Pender Auditorium last Sunday. She was relating what she saw

e€ ; : é
Only B.C. member of a Canadian delegation of seven which toured Soviet Central Asia last month.

and by

Penner
regains
Peg Seat

Vv WINNIPEG
oo labor alderman Jacob
City cutie returned to Winnipeg
elections Neil in last week’s civic
Over Alq with a majority of 1,062
* two ae . Wagner, the man who

aay ago took the seat from

orkin by four votes.

‘ast
on the a Penner was defeated
ake of second choices
Presentati pe S Proportional re-
. ation s :
SL ystem, b s
Q of 17 Bains. y a slim mar

€nner’
Year oe S strong comeback this
determin Proof of the widespread
ard aon among the electors
belongeg ' that the seat rightfully
to 29 ye,.° the man who, for close

ye
ars, has set an example of

JOSEPH ZUKEN |
Scted to school board

Re.g|
“Voteq ”
of Publi al
te People. Service on behalf
Aastha: «|
Jose Zu School board contest
Rolls With €N once again led thé
the Only * Vote of 5,124. He was
Ward 3 ae trustee elected in
Ver th, & surplus of
© quot of votes
‘ !
eq
represent-
enner and

‘ he re of hysteria
age eliminate Labor
Bininae ee representatives
we Ward oe Clvie government.
io ae ‘Y- C. Ross, Labor

" ee Candidate for

: flved 647 votes, Rel-

trys er, Candi
1 ee for school

(2)
deliberate “or

! addi Not entirely gait
Seat = Ition 0 losi
they hg the Ward 3

ene CEC lost an-
lle Seat in Ward 2
of W OWing as

it
the jg Kardash, 72°

S re-electi
l ction
Cleotign tature,

P member of
in June th . a
ory 3. : Une, the civi
Psurge IS indicative of the
theage Saging ais move-

te re victories

LABOR

BRIEFS

BCE electricians are voting on a
six percent compromise package
deal made public Tuesday this week
by the company and International
Brotherhood of Electrical Work-
ers (AFL). Union officials have
recommended acceptance of the of-
fer, which is expected to set a pat-
tern for settlements with line con-
tractors Hume and Rumble Ltd.
and Peterson Electrical.

* x *

A sharp cutback in labor require-
ments at Trail smelter has resulted
in smeltermen with over two years
steady employment on the “hill”
being laid off.

Says Commentator, union paper
published by Mine-Mill Local 480:

“In a one-industry city such as
Trail, a cutback immediately shows
its effects on the day to day living
of its citizens. A big change looms
on the horizon.”

The union is campaigning for the
elimination of “dual job holding”
in the area, and condemns “double
shifts and overtime” at the smelter
“when there are men waiting and
hoping and even praying that they
may get one or two days work in
a week.”

* * x

All locals of the United Fisher-
men and Allied Workers Union
have been asked by the union’s
general executive board to step up
the campaign to collect signatures
on the Women’s Auxiliary petition
calling for compensation coverage
for all fishermen.

Union and auxiliary spokesmen
hope to meet Minister of Labor
Lyle Wicks on November 13 to
express their views on the com-
pensation issue.

* x x
When Shell Oil Company re-
jected a government conciliation
board majority award this week,

Local 596 of Oil Workers Inter-

national Union (CIO-CCL) applied

for a strike vote among refinery
workers.
* * x

Vancouver Trades and Labor
Council (AFL-TLC) decided this
week it would neither run nor en-
dorse any aldermanic candidates in
the forthcoming civic election.

TLC secretary-treasurer Ald. R.
K. Gervin, “labor” representative
whose NPA backing ensured his
election in past years, is not con-
testing a council seat this year, but
may take a shot at the mayor’s
chair in 1954. ;

Gervin’s ears must have burned
when, during debate, Laundry
Workers business agent J. H. Irv-
ing said:

“Labor candidates who accept
NPA backing are working with the
enemies of labor. You're either
on one side of the fence or the
other—on labor’s side or the capk
talist side.”

* * *

Vancouver City Council's decis-
ion to hold the line on wages and
conditions in 1954 doesn’t impress
Civic Employees Union, Outside
Workers, who are planning to 80
after another pay hike in coming
negotiations.

Council’s strategy seems to be to
press for cuts in wages and condi-
tions, in hopes of making @ saw-off
to keep everything at the present
level, the union’s mimeographed
bulletin says.

ace colored cotton is a product of the Michurin school of science,” said the Vancouver housewife
Sswoman. “It eliminates fading in base colors and saves dyeing. I stood in the middle of vast

fields of cotton and watched the
cotton-picking machines at work.”

Everywhere the Canadian delega-
tion went—Moscow, Minsk, Tash-
kent and Samarkand—its members
talked freely with ordinary citizens
and visited them at work and in
their homes.

“From these talks and on the
basis of our experiences I would
say that the Soviet people are build-
ing for peace and are eager for
friendship,” said Mrs. Dorland.

The Canadian delegation landed
in Moscow September 12, and after
being banqueted and entertained in
that city for several days, were
flown to Tashkent, the capital of
Uzbekistan. Visiting a library there,
they were surprised to find a num-
ber of books on Canada. “This in
a place which a few short years ago
did not have a written language,”
commented Mrs. Dorland.

“One of the most enjoyable ex-
periences any of us had was at the
Children’s Palace in Tashkent. We
had come a long way to visit them
and they wanted to show us every-
thing. They literally swamped us
with flowers on our arrival, and
when we attended their concerts
we realized why the Soviet Union
has so many talented artists—for
the children have the best of in-
structors.

“Soviet children seemed to be
absolutely unspoiled. They are
frank and friendly, and have no
fear of strangers—little children
would run up to US and sing or
dance, proud to show us what they
could do.”

The delegation visited a collec-
tive farm in the area and Mrs. Dor-
land told of the enthusiasm of the
farmers over a recent government
decision whereby the price of agri-
cultural produce will be increased
enormously—and at no increase to
the consumer.

Industry is booming in Uzbekis-
tan, too. The Canadians visited a
textile plant “with one building
containing more than 3,000 looms”
and a printing plant employing 750
people.

Mrs. Dorland brought back ‘the
message of a Soviet war widow to
the Canadian people:

“The Soviet people desire peace
and friendship with your country
and if the common people of our
countries will strive unitedly for

“Soviet children are frank and friendly, and have no fear of
strangers,“ says Mrs. Florence Dorland, who has just returned to

Vancouver following a tour of the USSR.

The photo shows Mrs.

Dorland being presented with a pioneer tie by children at the Stalin
Young Pioneer Palace in Tashkent.

smash this bond. Bonds of un-
derstanding and friendship be-
tween peoples can be far stronger
than guns and fear.”

The delegation went by train to

\Minsk, where members of the Minsk
City Soviet greeted them at the
‘station.

| “This area was completely devas-

tated during the war,’ Mrs. Dor-

land. “Minsk is not a rebuilt city
but a completely new city. We
leould hardly believe that this

beautiful city, with a population
of 400,000,, had been built in seven
years. Wide streets, trees, new
buildings and parks were to be seen
everywhere.

“In the parks young children

saw no war games or toy weapons,
like we see at home.”

Concluding, Mrs. Dorland repeat-
ed the message Professor Desinof,
head of VOKS (the cultural organ-
ization which extended the invita-
tion to the Canadians to tour the
USSR) had given them on parting:

“We have great achievements
and these ‘are our pride. We have
shortcomings in our work, too. It
doesn’t confuse us, for we have the
strength and knowledge to over-
come them. They are the short-
comings of a forward, upward
march of a people. We prefer to
be a living, forward moving peo-
ple with weaknesses, than a dying
people with no faults.”

The film Soviet Uzbekistan and
Mrs. Dorland’s account of her trip
will be featured at a series of com-
munity meetings during the com-
ing week. The schedule is:

Monday, November 9, 8 p.m.,
Hungarian Workers’ Hall, 2625

t Ww ;
play with wagons and dolls—we | seis

Tuesday, November 10, 8 p.m.,
Victoria Drive Community Hail,
2026 East 43rd.

Wednesday, November 11, 8
p.m., IOOF Hall, 100 East Lower
Keith Road, North Vancouver.

Sunday, November 15, 8 p.m.,
South Hill Hall, 5804 Fraser.

peace then no force on earth can

Greetings on the 36th Anniversary
of the Soviet Union

LITHUANIAN FEDERATION OF SCANDINAVIAN
LITERARY RUSSIAN CENTRAL
SOCIETY CANADIANS COMMITTEE

secieeie Dc ee Se
FINNISH FEDERATION OF FEDERATION
ORGANIZATION RUSSIAN OF

OF CANADA CANADIANS YUGOSLAV |

LOCAL 55 STEVESTON BRANCH CANADIANS

For Canadian-Soviet Friendship,
World Trade and Peace

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — NOVEMBER 6, 1953 — PAGE 7