By NIGEL MORGAN
B.C. Communist Leader

Tttce-auarters of a century
ee the first May Day demon-
* Ons were launched by
eeroan labor, with hundreds of
iii: coming out in the main
a Strial centres in support of
eee rour day, Out of this
Co rete arose the Mc-
aa - pavester: Company
mere in Chicago, with its four
ne of the HaymarketSquare
Spi ng — Parsons, Fischer,

€S and Engel—victims of capi-

talist Provocation, violence and
frameup,

«
There will come a time when

a pace will be more power-
ae, - ane voices your are
ae ing,” were the defiant
a na they carried on their lips
Fr €y were led to the gallows,
Om that day on (1866) May
: eee destined to become the
ae ol of struggle, of hard-won
a Sean of a world to win, It
i © become the symbol of
yea National solidarity and unity
Sg € working people of the world
; @ unity that has cut across all
© artificial racial and national
Oundaries,

Now—78 years later—May Day
Se Become the biggest and most
joe demonstration in human
fae And, while demonstra-
a in America have grown

2 ae for the present, May Day
bs te acclaimed by hundreds
oc lions the world over who
a at long last won their free-
mith and are marching forward
Seven-league boots,

a tides of battle may ebb
se but the great historic
a icance of May Day loses
€ of its inspiring traditions,
pect not be otherwise be-
ae May Day symbolizes al-
aE 4 century of international
Tuggle by the working people of
* World—a struggle that has
Ought tremendous changes.

PT the ‘spark’

Like the history of May Day,
‘ et history of our “Pa-
ES Tribune” is a history of
ee for social progress,
a Om and peace, Many years
aaa 1903) Lenin wrote on the

a ead of the little illegal
eee paper “Iskra” the famous
ae of Pushkin—*The Spark
ke Become a Flame,” as, in-

eed it did!

the through the back files of
ee acific Tribune (as I’ve been
ape in preparation of this

Cle) and you'll find a hand-
oe Of history, a story of great
ye of triumphs and set-
ee eat always a record of
ee for policies and de-

ds which would help the work-

NE class, their province and
Country,

The “Pacific Tribune” has the

distinction of not only being Brit-_

‘Pacific Tribune inspires today’s

struggles for peace and a better life’

May Day - milestone

in a changing world

ish Columbia’s leading labor

‘weekly, but of having the longest

period of continuous publication
of any working class paper in the
province, For 30 years ithas been
striking sparks—and thousands of
them, All through the struggles
of the Hungry Thirties; the great
war that destroyed fascism as a
world force; the building of the
labor movement, and more re~
cently the difficult years of cold
war,

During the “Dirty Thirties”
(as the depression years were
known) it was the “Pacific Tri-
bune,” and its predecessors, the
® Advocate” and the “ Worker” that
gave heart and encouragement to
the unemployed, On hundreds of
street corners, inthe unemployed
“slave camps,” in the flophouses
and soup-lines it was the Com-
munist press which led the battle
to organize the unemployed,
“work or Wages” was the battle-

cry.

Inspired struggle

In those days, malnutrition dug
deep into the health of the people
—over a million of thei living
on macaroni and beans. Thous-
ands of boys and girls beat their
way from east to west, and from
west to east, and back again, But
those days are gone,

The “PT"’ has led the fight in B.C.
against the sellout of our natural re-
sources to the U.S. and for nationat
independence.

Tremendous changes have been
forced, The basic industries have’
been organized, Braving the
placklist, intimidation, hunger
and often naked violence Com-
munists went into the “company
towns,” to the logging camps and
sawmill towns, to the mining
camps and fishing grounds,
among the longshoremen and sea-
men, and many other industries
to establish the early industrial
unions which form the backbone
of the B,C, labor movement to-

day.

Communists, helped and in-
spired by their press, led great
struggles which improved con-
ditions, raised wages, won

‘shorter hours, and recognition for

the unions,

As we look back over 30 years
of publication, we can be proud

20

nomic domination; and HOW Ca-
nadian monopoly power can be
crimped and curbed to permit
these economic changes to take
place,

In this we too need abigger and
more influential press to pinpoint
and publicize our proposals,

We need to spell out what Ca-
nadian independence means to
British Columbians—in terms of
jobs, trade, security, and higher
living standards, We must show
what independent economic de-
velopment of our country means;
how it can be directed against

WORKING FOR the power of the monopolies, Ca-

LABOR UNITY

of the fact that it was the “Pa~
cific Tribune” which first warned
of the cold war; which first pio-
neered the fight for peace, for
panning of nuclear weapons, and
for disarmament, It was the* Pa-
cific Tribune” which first raised
the fight against the sellout of
our natural resources; against
so-called economic“ integration”
of Canada with the U,S,; and for
defence of the interests of the
people against the Canadian and
foreign monopolies,

In the new conditions of today:
the “Pacific Tribune” carries a
message ‘which needs to be spread
to ever wider circles, It reveals
the truth about U,S, aggression in
South East Asia, and serves to
mobilize public opinion to stop
the war in Vietnam, It exposes
the brutalities being perpetrated
in the Congo, and arouses public
opinion against thenefarious US,
scheme (which with the aid of
Liberal Pearson and Laborite
Wilson) aims to handover nuclear
weapons to the West German
militarists,

In this it gives invaluable di-
rection to the struggle for peace
and peaceful coexistence, to im-
pose peace on the warmakers,
and thus help eliminate world
war as a factor in human re-
lations, : :

Fight for peace

The world willexperience
something quite new when weap~
ons and armies are done away
‘with, We will have an exciting

nadian and U,S, alike,

We need to show the Canadian
people that Canada has sufficient
potential capital to underwrite its
own development, round out our
economy in abalanced way, stim-
ulating manufacturing, creating
new jobs, helping toindustrialize
the newly-mdependent countries
and exchanging with them our
respective needs,

National unity

Still another characteristic of
this time is the rise of the great
movement for French-Canadian
liberation from Anglo-Canadian
domination — the democratic
revolution that has brought on a
crisis of Confederation with its
demand for final settlement of
intolerable conditions of injus-
tice and inequality,

The only basis for a new unity
between our two nations is a new
Constitution adopted in a Consti-
tutional Conference where Eng-
lish and French Canada sit down
as equals—as two nations—with
recognition of the right of self--
determination,

We need our press to speak
out clearly and widely on the

-erisis of Confederation; to ex-

release of freedom from fear,

Today’s “all for war” could then
become “everything for people,”
What are we waiting for? For
people to speak up in such num-
bers that the few who make for-
tunes out of preparations for war
will be forced to pay heed to that
great majority of us who do the
paying, the suffering and. the
dying. What. better way of winning
people than the written word?

’ The road is opening to new
struggles of Canadian indepen-
dence, around the question of
HOW Canada can be developed;
HOW it can be liberated from
U,S, control; HOW we can gain
new markets in the socialist and
newly-liberated countries; HOW
nationalization can be put into
operation to eliminate U,S, eco-

plain the two-nation character
of the Canadian state, our pro-
posals and how they link in turn
to the big political issues of
pension rights, medicare, educa-
tions needs, municipal aid and tax
reform, We must show howout of
these democratic actions the
people of Canada can go forward
to a socialist future,

The class struggle goes on,
even though its forms are alter-
ing, With the advance of tech-
nology and automation, the labor
movement has to move with the
times. Unbridled monopoly,
changing composition of the
working class, the technological
and scientific revolution and
speedup—all these require a new
kind of leadership,

What is needed most is an all-
round battle for real working
class policies on the issues of
the day—for peace, and an end to
the cold war; trade and jobs;
struggles for the economic and
social needs of the people—good
pensions, medicare, a shorter
working week, more provisions

for the leisure time of workers

and farmers, a purposeful place
in society for our young people,
and security for the sunset of
life,

New chapters

This is the working-class ap-
proach, a working-class policy
directed in the people’s interests
and against the greedy, grasping
monopolies, It runs counter to
the shamefaced collaborationist
of the right-wing of the labor
movement, involving as it does
independent working class politi-
cal action aimed at winning seats
in governing bodies, and even-
tually government itself,

These are the paths the “Pa-
cific Tribune” is dedicated to
opening in a rapidly changing
world in which socialism has be=-
come the decisive force, This is
proud tradition bequeathed to us
by the legions of struggles that
have engaged millions of mankind
in the 78 years since May Day
was first initiated,

The next decade belongs to us,
It will be the decade which will
see peace made secure, the re-
maining colonial countries freed,

‘imperialism smashed and social-

ism advance by leaps and bounds
in every country of the world,

In this decade the “Pacific -
Tribune” will undoubtedly write
many more heroic chapters in the

‘struggle of the working people for

social progress,
socialism,

peace and

NEWS ([TEM!~

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— PACIFIC TRIBUNE

GENERAL* PROFESSOR, CAN YOU READ THAT SIGN, BACK THERE?”

_ PROFESSOR: “YES... !T SAYS —“ GET OUT OF VIET NAM: ”

April 30, 1965—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 9