Cardinal Minds-

_ now beginning

nnn nnn

my Department of External
Affairs at Ottawa has taken
on itself “personality” and ac-
cording to the C.P., is now issu-
ing statements. The first one to ‘
come to my attention, in the press
last week, says it regards Card-

. inal Mindszenty as a.“fighter for

freedom!”

A’ spokesman
for the: Depart-
ment

which he :

branded bluntly
by the Hungar-
ian government
as a liar, that

zenty’s. arrest F '
has nothing to ‘do with t e
charges of treason and espion-
age placed against him.

Besides his conspiratorial asso-
ciations with the world imperial-
ist enemies of the Hungarian
government, Mindszenty has usad
his official position as head of
the Catholic Church in Hungary
to circumvent and destroy the ef-
forts*of his own government to
improve the education of the peo-
ple, Under Horthy education was
entirely in the hands of the
priests and religious education —
was instilled in the children all’
-day long. :

The Hungarian People’s gov-
ment changed that program
with new education laws but still’
allowed, out of deference to the
a sentiments of the Hun-

Now that the Yule saint is

no longer with us and we
are back to the hit-and-run
whirl of “business as usual,” we
note a growing awareness among
the citizenry generally that there
is something (other than the
weather) radically wrong with
“our way of life.”

A lot of peo-
ple are “talking
crisis’; many
who have
whooped it up
for the “dollar”
plans of the
Truman - Mar-

shall - Abbott
Houdinis, are

to look with
Suspicion upon such schemes. As
one of our neighbors neatly put
it “anti-communist dollar diplom-
acy is a damn poor substitute for
bacon and eggs.”

Crisis, Some of our top-level
‘capitalists are already yearning to
get back to the middle ages with
its barter trading system, because
a Marshall Plan dollar has jam-
med the mechanism of their cash
register. Their staffs are hitting
the streets—jobless,and with dim
Prospects on the next job!

On the one hand we see the
real big shots of corporate fin-
ance and industry reporting sup-
er-profits for the past year—while

HULA

garian masses, two hours of re-
ligious teaching each day.
Most of the teachers were poor
priests, a heritage from Horthy
the head of the first fascist gov-
ernment in Europe, and most of
them agreed to work with the new
program, What did Mindszenty

do? He issued an order of excom+

munication against all priests
who taught in the schools and
conducted the education of the
children according to the laws.

It is quite natural then, to find
the kind of ‘bureaucrats who
make up the personnel of the De-
partment of External Affairs in
the St. Laurent government
claiming that this reactionary
Cardinal is a “fighter for free-
dom”. Théy use the term in a
most abstract form. If they gave
it a concrete form they would
have to say that it was “freedom”
to keep the people doped and
stupid mentally; forbidden to or-
ganize politically and industrial-
ly, so they would continue to
grind out profits: for the class
who make the pronouncements
for the Department of External
Affairs; “freedom” to make the
people available at all times as
cannon fodder for the achieve-
ment of the aggressive plans of
the imperialists, of the Minds-
zentys, the Marshalls and the
St. Laurents.

If these birds are actually in-
terested in “fighters for free-
dom” let them turn their eyes
to B.C. There they will see one
man standing as the embodiment
of all the four freedoms of the At-
lantic Charter, fighting for a free-

dom that is not an abstract idea,
| ill oe ce at re age eames eee

We See lt

NA

Sea some of their aa
level tycoons like H. R. MacMil-

lan, Standard Oil, International
Nickel, Consolidated Mining and
Smelting, and kindred outfits, are
spending countless thousands of
dollars to popularize the idea
that profits and free enterprise
are priceless gifts from the gods
+ .. administrated by these cap-
tains of industry for the commion
weal. Their profits are so big
they can no longer hide them,
even with the most expert book-
keeping, so now they have taken
to howling that if labor wants
more wages—-a bigger cut out of

§ their profits, labor is depriving it-

self of jobs?

The other side of the picture
is like a’ piece of surealist art,
depicting a plethora of January
“sales,” numerous devastating
fires, and a growing mass of job-
less men and women (compelled
to subsist on slim fare while the
red-tape wrapping on their “so-
cial’ insurance is unwound). All
is super-imposed upon a gigantic
“ted” bogey. A very striking
picture indeed — indicative of
chronic social decay.

Newspapers across the country
during recent weeks have carried
“news” stories of some unfortun-
ate worker or other managing to
get a few extra dollars out of his
unemployment insurance— which
the powers-that-be opined he or
she wasn’t entitled to. Hailed in-

Hitt | il

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UIINIBE

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Short Jabs

AA A

a cover for lies and hypocrisy.
They, will see the four-year vet-
eral law student, Gordon Martin,
carrying the fight for the free-
‘dom to engage in a chosen pro-
fession without prejudice to his
political opinions.

@ ,

The Martin case, as it has come
to be known, was listed among
the ten greatest news stories to
break in B.C., during the past
year by the editors of the Sun.
It was not listed at tHe top as it
should have been because of its
long-term consequence to thel
civil rights of the Canadian peo-
ple. It certainly is of more con-
sequence than the change of
ownership of a department store,
the visit of a “groaner” or the
birth of a royal baby.

The facts of the case are al-
ready well known to the readers

- of this column. The Civil Liber-

ties’ Union is going to fight it
to the end so that,no group of
reactionary law benchers or par-
liamentary tricksters can take
upon themselves to deny any Can-
adian citizens’ rights and _ priyi-
leges that have been won at

great sacrifice by our forbears.

’And what can we do to help?
Well, money is needed, without
which the CLU cannot success-
fully accomplish its task. How
about the readers of this column
undertaking to raise a couple
of hundred dollars?

_ That would help. Send dona-
tions to me at this office and I
will hand them over to the
CLU treasurer who will send re-
ceipts to all donors. Vl start
it myself with a five-spot,

to court, these unfortunates
either had to pay up or land in
the cooler. Sometimes both.
But we'll give a lifetime sub-
scription for the Pacific Tribune
to any one notifying us “when,
who, and where any member of
the baking, dairy, meat, lumber,
clothing, or other trust, has been
brought to book for profiteering
—even when the enormity of his
crime has been made public prop-
erty by government commission!
To see one of those belly-rob-
bing outfits on trial for profit-

eering, and whining in court that .

they only rooked the public in
order “to provide jobs” would in-
deed be news. Yet even “socialist”

. Saskatchewan is proceeding gin-

gerly along that path.

Gn speaking of “socialist” Sas-
katchewan, we ran across a news
item the other day which the ed-
itor of the CCF News seems to
have slipped up on. It appears
that the Saskatchewan “socializ-
ed” shoe factory and tannery has
been closed down for the winter.

“W. S. Loyd, commisar of state

industries is quoted by the Cana-
dian press as saying that: 4

“Ample stocks were on hand
to fill all sales until the spring
season opened” and that “The
board of directors very much
regret the personal problems
this may cause for some of the
employees during the next
three months, but are doing
what is possible -to mitigate
the circumstances.”

Thus some 50 Reginans are hav-
ing a taste of “socialized” unem-
ployment, and we don’t think they
will like it (even with official
regrets) any better than 50 of
MacMillan’s loggers who tramp
the skid-road while the red-tape
is being unwound at the UIC of-
fices, so that they can draw a
weekly pittance from the amounts
deducted from their payrolls to
help them “over the hump”. of
economic crisis, :

Time for a housecleaning

FULL dress public investigation into the administration of

Oakalla prison is long overdue. Recent events in this “Vice
House” demand it. The numerous periodic disturbances, culminat-
ing the most recent jail ‘break,’ and the criminal immoral assault
upon.a young first offender within the confines of that institution are
sufficient warrant for something more than a mere departmental white-
wash with profuse “explanations,”

During the last 18 months no less than 32 inmates have escaped
from Oakalla. A number of these are still at large. Men who
have been confined there-‘tell a sordid story of vice, immorality and
maladministration.

Events at Oakalla during past weeks place the problem squarely
on the doorstep of the Coalition and its attorney general, Gordon
Wismer. In the final analysis they, and not the warden and staff
of Oakalla, are answerable for the moral and physical rot that seem-
ingly prevails.

It is Wismer’s reponsibility that a prison designed to hold
approximately 450 inmates is crowded to ithe extent of 7/5!
And a prison hospital designed for 50 ‘patients—which has often.
to accomodate 100 or more!

: It is Wismer’s responsibility it members of the staff of

Oakalla are more often selected on their rating as good party
heelers, than as trained supervisory personnel, capable of giving
guidance to youthful offenders.

And it is Wismer’s responsibility that prison discipline is
such that degenerate sexual perverts (often_listed as ‘‘star’’ in-
mates or “‘trusties’’) have the run of the prison to such an extent
as the recent immoral physical assault indicates. ~

“Oakalla prison requires a thorough housecleaning —from the out-
side—a public fumigation, conducted by interested outside bodies,
having full authority to examine the moral and intellectual fitness of
staff personnel, to study departmental records, and to hear the views
of any or all inmates.
mental and prison officials about the efficacy of the ‘‘paddle,”’ ‘higher
walls,’ “‘Borstal’’ systems, is just so much balderdash in the light
of present conditions.

The lid needs taking off at Oakalla.

. Replacement of social

consciousness and obligation in youthful delinquents is much more
important than the~replacement of soft iron bars with hard-core steel.

The Coalition has offered more than enough
Action is what is needed now. ‘

ee J ”
explanations.

“There’s something to be said for living in mud holes, J. B.,
especially if they haye tile walls”.

“Our way of life’ 4

The trifling sum $8,484,839 represents the net profit of the H. R.
MacMillan Company Limitea for 1948. This was revealed this week
by the Big Shot himself in his annual report to the shareholders.

Then came the blast! Mac tore into socialism with the vigor. of
a power-saw going through a hardwood knot. H.R. “doesn’t believe
in socialism”! But then, with a net profit of 844 million dollars

gouged out of the unpaid toil of thousands of workers—who does?
.Then he gave us this gem to sharpen up the incentive: “If it

weren’t for the profit system there would have been no fur trade,
no gold rush, no lumber business, very little population. |. .” In
fact, according to H. R., with 8% million smackers net tucked away
in his hip pocket, there would have been exactly nothing! What
@ nightmare! ; :

/

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JANUARY 14, 1949 — PAGE 8

‘

Recent alleged press statements by depart-