Z FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 1956 gs ae Supra | Continued from page I CONSCRIPTION | In this period of relaxed inter- national tensions, we should be thinking about building an ath- letic program — not military camps for youth. “Canada should cut military expenditures and use some of the money saved to provide a national sports program in a peaceful economy.” Simonds, veteran 52-year-old career soldier, made his-provoc- ative proposal while addressing a Canadian Legion convention here Tuesday this week. He proposed that all medic- ally fit youths of 16 should be sent. to training camps during the summer school vacation for “indoctrination.” He also proposed conscription for one year at least and two vears as a maximum between the ages of 17 and 25, and urg- ed legionnaires to “go to the country where you will have to make it popular.” ‘ GLYN THOMAS Knowing that conscription is unpopular (“No country that ‘has it likes it,’ admitted the general) he studiously refrained from using the word “conscrip- tion” in his speech, and later replied to reporters’ questions by saying: “I regard ‘conscription’ as a naughty word. I never use it and think we should find an- other word to take its place.” Public reaction has been over- whelmingly opposed to Simonds’ scheme. On Friday, June 22 at 8 p.m. in Clinton Hall here Annie Bul- ler, LPP national committee member, and Tom McEwen, edi- tor of the Pacific Tribune, will address a public meeting on the subject, “Should We Conscript Our 16-Year-Olds?” * Opposition is rising through- out the city to Simonds’ con- scription, and even greater anger has been aroused by a Canadian Legion resolution calling for national registration of all boys and girls above the age of 16, zs well as all adults. — “Boys of 16 are still children. Their place is at home with their mothers,” said Rev. Shaun Govenlock of Montreal, national president of the Canadian As- sociation of Social Workers, who is visiting in Vancouver. » “A boy of 16 is too young for army training,’ commented George Jones, chairman of the Association’s B.C. committee. YMCA instructor Don Ternan, 25, said: “The word “indoctrin- ation’ is what turns me against it. You can’t make 16-year-old boys do something they don’t want to. That word is too strong for me.” COST $200 MILLION Mid-Canada line already obsolete - Canada’s $200 million mid-Canada radar defense line is already as obsolete before full completion as the unfinished American DEW line across the Arctic Circle. This conclusion is drawn from a report, made public Continued - JONES test a council seat next Decem- ber, when I believe unity at the polls between all labor and pro- gressive forces can result in a progressive sweep.” Seven candidates are. con- testing the seat. In addition to Sam Jenkins they are: Frank Baker, NPA, caterer; Arthur Riley, accountant; Peter McAl- lister, oil promoter; Albert Dunn, retired; Dr. Edwin Henry Funk, surgeon; and Stephen Halom, epartment house operator. Vancouver Céntral Council of Ratepayers Associations is hold- ing a public meeting at Man- hattan Hall, 1727 West Broad- way, on Thursday, June 21 at 8 p.m. for the purpose of in- viting all candidates to express their views on the revision of civic administration. The association opposes the changes which have recently been made, and resents Van- couver City Council’s refusal to hear the opinions of rate- payers before rushing through the four-man. board scheme. UFAWU to ask for assessment General executive board of United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union will ask union members for a voluntary assess- ment to meet extraordinary costs resulting from the _ federal government’s investigation of the UFAWU under the Com- bines Investigation Act. Stamps ranging from $2 to $5 will be printed and issued to members making voluntary con- tributions while the vote for a compulsory minimum is being conducted. Locals will vote on @ proposal for a minimum $2 per member compulsory assess- ment. last week of hearings on air- power by the U.S. Senate arm- ed forces sub-committee. It de- clered the DEW. line presently “ineffective.” James Minifie, a Canadian cor- respondent in Washington, re- ported: “By the time it is ade- quate it will be obsolescent, and a few years later it will be use- . less.” The DEW line is a U.S. pro- ject, being paid for by the U.S. government. The cost is esti- mated at something over $500 million. The mid-Canada line, mid- way between the 49th parallel and the Arctic, is a Canadian project. Prime Minister St. Laurent in 1954 estimated the cost at $200 million. A third line at the border Known as Pinetree, is jointly operated by Canada and the U.S. The astronomical cost to Can- ada of expenditures on elec- tronic and communication de- vices is shown in the available figures for this item in the years 1951-56. The total was in excess of $314 million. This year the RCAF alone is due to spend $45 million on the mid-Canada line. Now the United States is ask- ing Canada to spend additional willions on what is known as SAGE—Semi-Automatic Ground Environment — a highly com- plicated = electronic computer used together with radar. The reason given for the use- lessness of the DEW line is that it is ineffective against either low-flying or high-flying planes or guided missels. (Last month the Pacific Trib- une carried a report from a correspondent who had worked on the DEW line construction. He declared: “It’s obsolete now and it’s far from completed. Everyone on the job knows that the whole project is useless. What chance has radar against riissiles flying many times the speed of sound?”) Gen. W. H. S. Macklin, Can- adiar adjutant-general recently retired, has compared the DEW line to the old Chinese wall which could not prevent inva- sion of China. ‘ Despite the evidence of use-' lessness produced by the U.S. Senate committee, the U.S., ob- sessed with the idea that the Soviet Union may try an “end- run” invasion from the south, has announced consideration of a Southern DEW line along the Mexican border and across the Gulf of Mexico. Labor seeks subsidized . hay for dairy farmers Teamsters’ Union this week | asked provincial Agriculture | Minister Kenneth Kiernan to subsidize importation of hay to help out drought-stricken dairy farmers in the Fraser Valley. Cattle buyers from Alberta and the U.S. have taken more than 1,000 heifers from the forage-short valley in the past Clip and Mail Circulation Department Tribune Publishing Company, Ltd. Suite 6 - 426 Main Street, Vancouver 4, B.C. Please enter my subscription to the PACIFIC TRIBUNE. Name six weeks. Most of the cattle - went to prairie dairymen but U.S. buyers took a carload of ‘ Holsteins from the Abbotsford auction to Arizona, at prices ranging from $40 to $80. Teamsters’ secretary Charles — Gower wrote Kiernan that a hay shortage will cut milk pro- duction and this might result in a rise in consumer prices. Address $4 for one year [] $2.25 for 6 months [J June 15, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 12