:

Disarmament Conference in Quebec
calls for an end to the arms race

By CLAIRE DEMERS

MONTREAL — About 200
Participants, representing some
Organizations and tens of
thousands people of different
backgrounds in Quebec met here
Feb. 4-5 to find the ways to give
Concrete support to the world
Struggle against the arms race.
Organized by the Conseil
\Quebecois de la Paix, (Quebec
Peace Council), the Quebec Dis-
armament Conference was a first
for Quebec, where council presi-

_ dent Edward Sloan stressed ‘‘an

anti-war sentiment has been ger-
Minating for a long time.’”
Romesh Chandra, president of
the World Peace Council, to
Which the CQP is affiliated, ad-
dressed the conference’s opening
Session. Chandra, vice-president
of the committee of United Na-
tions Non-Governmental Organi-
zations (NGOs), and a member 0°
the Special UN Committec
Against Apartheid, had just ar
Tived from participating in the
Latin American and the Antilles
Conference on Peace, Sovereign-
ty, and Economic Independence
held in Mexico and chaired by
that country’s Head of State.

From Montreal, Chandra was
heading for Vienna for a meeting
on nuclear energy. He will also be
attending the World Conference
of NGOs in Geneva, Switzerland,
Feb. 28-March 2.

Millions Starve
Chandra, better known
throughout the world than in
North America, lashed out at the
prime cause of war, the arma-
Ments. industry. ‘‘Who. profits
from the production of arma-
ments’’? Chandra asked. “‘It isn’t
the socialist countries or the de-

- Veloping countries.”

The WPC president poignantly
Teminded the conference that
“every day while millions of dol-
lars are invested in arms produc-
tion, a million human beings in the
world are suffering in the throes of
hunger.’’

Denouncing the U.S. govern-

ment’s intention to produce the
neutron bomb, Chandra pointed
out, ‘‘the arms race nourishes it-
self on the fiesh and blood of hu-
manity.”’ ears

Broken into commisssions
Sunday morning, the conference
discussed Canadas military
budget, the neutron bomb,
NATO and NORAD, and the role
of Québec public opinion in the
disarmament struggle. The com-
missions were chaired by Jean St.
Denis of the Quebec Teachers
Central (CEQ), Laurette
Chretien-Sloan president of the

Quebec Womens’ League, and.

Mathias Rioux radio announcer

and journalist with station

CKVL. :
Following the plenary session,

the delegates warmly applauded

an appeal opposing the neutron _
bomb and calling for an end to the ¢

arms race proposed by the con-

ference organizers and read by || :

Micheline Sicotte of the CEQ, 2) |

and a member of the Quebec
Peace Council. :
Unity Can Triumph

Edward Sloan in closing the
conference called on the rep-
resentatives of the numerous or-
ganizations present to go back
and tell their members of the dan-
gers of the arms race and the neut-
ron bomb. ‘“‘Unity can defeat a
small group of armaments pro-
ducers’’, Sloan said.

Speaking of the Soviet satellite,
Cosmos 954, which crashed in the
Canadian north, Sloan agreed

Romesh Chandra, president of the World Peace Council, addressing

the Quebec Disarmament Conference. Also shown (from left) are Ed-
ward Sloan, Jean St-Denis, and Micheline Sicotte.

completely with U.S. president
Jimmy Carter’s proposal that the
USSR and the USA sign an ag-
reement concerning satellites.
There are some 4,000 satellites
from both countries orbiting the
earth.

““But what hypocrisy on Car-

ter’s part’’, Sloan said, ‘‘for refus-
ing at the same time to discuss or
negotiate the banning of the neut-
ron bomb.”

As emphasized by Sloan and
other conference participants, the
struggle for disarmament should
become the concern of everyone.

SEARCHES LIBRARIES IN MONTREAL, OTTAWA AND NEW YORK

Visitor can’t find Helsinki Final Act

The following letter appeared
recently in the bulletin ‘‘Informa-
tion’’, published by the Peace

Council of the German Dem-

ocratic Republic. It was written
by Gennadi Gerasimov, a Soviet
citizen who outlines his exper-
iences in trying to obtain a copy of
the Final Agreement of the 1975
Helsinki Conference while in
Canada and the U.S. recently.

akg cals cae
When I was in Canada recently
I went to the National Library in

Montreal. I intended to check a
sentence in the French version of

- the Helsinki Final Act.
The librarian on duty was obvi-

ously incapable of meeting my re-

- quest to find the text for me. She

apologized and sent me to the
principal librarian to deal with my
strange request. He made more
serious efforts, rummaging in re-
ference books and making phone
calls to obtain information. Final-
ly, he disappeared for a long time
to come back with an apologetic
smile on his face, telling me that

unfortunately the text of the Final
Act was not available at the Na-
tional Library of Quebec. His ad-
vice was for me to go to Ottawa.

In Canada’s capital the princi-
pal library of the country has been
merged with the National Arc-
hives. A kind, bearded gentleman
received me in its hall and was
most enthusiastic to start a
search, which he stopped after
ten minutes: the Final Act had
been lost.

This was surprising in view of
the fact that Canada’s news-
papers are at times even more
eager than newspapers in the Un-
ited States to. accuse the Soviet

Union of violating the agreements

signed in Helsinki.

My Canadian adventures gave
me the idea of trying my luck in
New York. The town’s City Lib-
rary is not just an architectural
monument and a cultural centre
of local importance: it is the pride
of the nation. .

The librarian on duty at once
proved laudably knowledgeable:
*‘The Final Act is about human

rights, isn’t it? Go to Room 228 on

‘the second floor to the Depart-

ment of Economic Literature and
Documentations.” The librarian
in the next hall consulted
catalogues and other librarians
and then brought me, almost sol-
emnly, the heavy tome ‘‘Histori-
cal Documents of 1975,” a refer-
ence book published annually for
‘*students and lecturers.”

Here I found what I had been
looking for, right after the plan for
the reorganization of railways. An
introduction in italics said that the
Final Act was not at all legally
binding on the United States.

This was followed by — extracts

from the document!

“‘T should like to have the com-
plete text ofthe Final Act,”’ I said.
“We haven’t got it,’ was the
answer. “‘The only advice I can
give is for you to go to the State
Department in Washington,
D:C2:

Of course, you can always go to
Washington!

But this does not alter the fact
that the text of the Helsinki Final

Act is virtually inaccessible to
Americans. And this text says:
“*The text of this Final Act will be
published in each participating
State, which will disseminate it
and make it known as widely as
possible.”’

The Soviet Union published
the unabridged text of the Final
Act not only in the Pravda and
Izvestiya newspapers, but also in
a brochure distributed in 20 mil-
lion copies; and it had it translated
into all the languages spoken by
the peoples in its constituent re-
publics. Anybody who has not
kept the newspaper copies can
find them in bound form at any
library.

The United States has con-
tented itself with publishing ex-
tracts in the New York Times
(whose circulation is a mere
800,000) and in a small-circulation
official bulletin. The New York
library has apparently failed to
obtain the text. My ‘enquiries
have revealed that the Final Act is
a lost document in the United
States.

$70-billion debt — who pays, who benefits?

te
billion

Canada’s federal debt stands at $70-
billion. This does not take into account
the debts owed by provincial and
municipal governments. In the coming
fiscal year beginning April 1 Canadian
Workers will pay interest on this huge
federal debt to the tune of $6.4-billion.
This boils down to $650 each for
€mployed Canadians.

f your income bracket is not taxable
don’t think you’re off the hook. For the

80Vernment has another way to let you"
Pay your ‘‘just’’ share. That’s through _

Cutbacks in social services all down the
ine. For the monopoly money-lenders
Must get their ‘‘pound of flesh’’ even if
dren go without.
* aK *

The $70-billion debt is. made up of
$50-billion of Canada Savings Bonds,
tTeasury bills, non-marketable public

Nds, non-marketable bonds held by
Canada Pension Plan, and $20-

ances in the government’s employee

Pension funds.

Wh €re, we are mainly concerned with
' © collects the interest on the $70-bil-
a Working capital. Simply put, the
On's share of the $6.4-billion in in-

Fest charges goes to those who have

Bot Ownership of the lion’s share of the

nds and tr i none
other then easury bills. They are

the financial fraternity —

Mainly made up of accumulated,

_ Marxism-Leninism in Today’s Worid

banks, insurance companies, trusts and
bond houses (both domestic and
foreign with U.S. finance capital being
the dominant purchaser).

How many reading this column man-
age to hold onto their Canada Savings
Bonds until their maturity date? Preci-
ous few I would think. Because, these
bonds are viewed mainly by working
people as a nest egg for a rainy day, and
when such a day.comes are cashed in at
the bank. As for bonds sold'to the pub-
lic, how many working people are
numbered among that ‘‘public’’. And,
of course, treasury bills are not even
offered to the public. They are taken up

by the banks at a good discount and pay .

better than average interest rates.
Government bonds including Canada
Savings Bonds end up sooner or later in
the coffers of the big financial houses
drawing interest until redeemed by the
government. And, more often than not,
they are redeemed by a new issue of
government bonds. And, as experience
shows, the debt never stops growing.
This means that' the interest charges
grow along with the growth of the prin-
cipal. So that while we will each pay
$650 interest on the federal debt in this
coming fiscal year, in the next fiscal

year it is likely to be higher.
a aka,

The $70-billion debt of the federal
government was accumulated over the
years in large part to pay for goods,
armaments and services bought by the
government from the very same con-
glomeration .of banking houses and
manufacturing. monopolies. So, this
huge conglomerate (finance capital) not
only makes monopoly profit out of
government orders filled, it makes an
additional monopoly profit in the form
of the $6.4-billion yearly interest. So
the huge banking and industrial corpo-
rations get us coming and going.

The state, over and above providing
a guaranteed market for the banking
and industrial corporations, provides
them with interest-free or forgiveable
loans for exploration and development
of sources of strategic raw materials,
such as oil, natural gas, uranium, etc.,
building or modernizing manufacturing
plants, particularly factories important
from the military point of view.

* * *

The state is never able to cover its
expenditures, particularly its arms
purchases and other military expendi-

tures, through taxes and loans alone. It -

has to turn to printing more paper

money than is necessary for normal cir-
culation of money. Furthermore,
government bonds are used as a means
of payment, as security, on loans
granted by banks to other capitalists,
and this too leads to an increase in the

- amount of paper money in circulation.

As aresult capitalist profits grow at the
expense of a decrease of the workers’
share in the national income. This is
inflation.

Inflation is a means for redistributing
the national income in favor of finance
capital. It is a means, in addition to the
incessant flow of monopoly interest and
profits into the pockets of the financial
elite, of robbing the working people.

oe Oe

An objective analysis of the
monopoly stage (imperialism) of
capitalism in Canada proves that all the
material conditions for the transition to
a higher social and economic system,
namely socialism, are present in
Canada.

What is needed in order to open the
door for the advent of socialism in our
country is for the working class and its
allies to assume political power in the’
land, eliminate private ownership of the
means of production and replace it with
common. ownership.

A mighty and noble task. But a task

that will inevitably be fulfilled.
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 10, 1978—Page 9