Cu
a ee IL

~ kederal govern

ment knew

of foot - mouth disease
outbreak last November

By NELSON CLARKE

No new outbreaks of ‘foot and mouth disease h ave been reported. There is hope th
will be localized to the Regina area, although it is much too early 'to be sure. But the terrilble economic
problems which constitute nothing less than a national emergency of the first order, remain. The

brutal fact is that Canada’s $125 million market for livestock and meat has ‘been lost.

The responsibility for the
disaster that has struck the
livestock industry is ‘being
placed squarely on the should-
ers of the St. Laurent govern-
ment by western farmers. No
one can understand why it took
federal authorities three
months to diagnose the disease
after its first appearance last
November on the farm of
Leonard Waas near Regina.
Every farmer here asks: Why
were not immediate measures
taken last November? Why
was the whole problem hushed
up? ‘

There is full agreement here
with the demand for a thorough
investigation advanced by the
Saskatchewan Farmers’ Union
and the Labor-Progressive party.
The source of the infections must
ibe firmly established.

But the’theory that the disease
‘was. brought to this country by
a. German immigrant has ‘been
viewed here from the outset with
considerable reserve. - Farmers
ask: If the virus of foot and
mouth disease can' be so easily
brought into Canada by immi-
grants, why is it that in all the
years of immigration into West-
ern Canada this has never ‘hap-
pened before? Between three
and four million immigrants have
come to Canada in the past 50
years, but none ever ‘brought
foot and mouth disease.

Saskatchewan farmers are de-
manding that Ottawa give a full
account to the people of the long
delay in coming to grips with
the disaster. They’ feel the fed-
eral department of agriculture
showed nothing but bungling in-
competence. They charge ithe
government with a deliberate at-

tempt to stall off action. There '

is a good deal of talk that now
would be a good time to fire
Jimmy Gardiner.

So far, federal authorities have
failed to take the action requir-
ed to save the Canadian live-
stock from destruction. It will
be remembered that even before
the outbreak, hog and cattle mar-
kets were beginning to: weaken.
Cattle prices had dropped from
around 30 cents to 20 cents a
pound and were just ‘beginning
to edge up again when the -ter-
rible news of foot and .mouth
disease broke.

Exports to the United States
has already stopped and there
was even the beginnings of U.S.
exports of cattle into Canada.
It was clear the U.S. no longer
needed nor wanted Canadian
cattle and was already taking
steps to limit the competition
of Canadian beef. The outbreak
of foot and mouth disease gave
it the opportunity it had- been
waiting for to clamp an em-
bargo on Canadian exports,
thus destroying completely the
market upon which the pros-
perity of the Canadian cattle
industry is based.

The LPP thas warned for years
against any notion that the US.
provides a stable market for Can-
adian fart products, and the
warning is now receiving tragic
confirmation. In Mexico, the
US. beef trusts used foot and
mouth disease as the occasion

| Why not ection sooner? |

TOP: This animal shows symptoms of foot and mouth dis-
ease: foaming at the mouth and blisters on the tongue.
BOTTOM: Inspectors working to prevent the spread of the dread
foot and mouth disease from the centre of its outbreak in south- ‘

ern Saskatchewan are taking
tagion.
taken sooner.

every precaution against con-

But western farmers are asking why action was not

on imports of Mexican beef.
The Saskatchewan Farmers’
Union is now demanding an im-
mediate floor price under cattle
and hogs. Such actions. will need
‘to be accompanied by a ‘federal
meat subsidy in order that Can-
adian workers can afford to buy
more Canadian meat. Expan-
sion of the home market is all
important, now that export mar-
kets are gone. But it cannot be
expanded unless there is a re-
duction in the price of meat to
the urban consumer through sub-
sidy and not at the expense of

for destroying 900,000 cattle, the farmer.

hogs, sheep and goats. They
have never lifted ‘their embargo

’ The St. Laurent government
has already shown that by its

subservience to Washington it is
willing to sacrifice the Canadian
livestock industry. It will take
the fullest, widest action by the
people and their organizations to
compel the St. Laurent govern-
ment to enact measures that will
meet the immediate crisis:

@ A floor price and subsidy
on beef.

@® Full compensation to
every farmer.

@ Maintenance of employ-
ment for every packinghouse
worker. :

SASKATOON
at the disease

nygemeoss fi nf

SPORTLIGHT |

By BERT WHYTE———@

D®: Edith Summerskill, an extremely vocal member of the Labor

party in England, recently wrote an article entitled “Why I Say
Boxing Should Be Stopped” for a London Sunday paper. In a Daily
Worker story published last week Joe Kay, former boxer with wide

experiences of the ring, answered Dr. Summerskill. Here is part
of his reply: ;

“To talk of making boxing illegal is wrong. The history of
the fight game Shows in any case that even when prizefigthting
ee illegal 'thousands of people still carried it on despite
the law.

“Dr. Summerskill seems to think that ‘by making boxing
illegal much of the ‘brutality in society today would cease. I
‘cannot agree that boxing is the cause of such brutality; many
people are brutal who never see boxing maltches. What about
Bees presenicday, fiction and films, don’t they damage people’s
minds?

“Tt is true, of course, that fighters are often exploited and
sometimes corrupted and that many receive permanent injury-
But all these things can be eliminated. Rules can be revised and
strictly enforced so:as to ‘protect the boxer. :

“The doctor says: ‘Injured boxers represent only a very
small section of the community, but for every injured boxer
there are, in the vast boxing audiences, thousands of young
men who have become inured to (the ugly scenes associated
with prizefighting and whbse finer sensibilities consequently
become (blunted. Our prisons are grossly overcrowded. Gangs,
even in those in prisons, commit vicious assaults on fellow

‘prisoners and- wardens alike. Aippalling cases of cruelty ‘to
children, reported ‘in the press, ‘harrow our feelings ‘almost
daily.’

“This amounts to putting the ‘blame for the baseness and

* corruption of society on to ‘the fight game. And that is a charge
* thalt cannot be substantiated.

“Clean up boxing as much as possible under prevailing

conditions, but it will never be a really ‘honorable sport until
we have socialism in Britain.

“There is a greater danger to humanity, ‘the danger of war
which would create inhuman suffering for millions. The doctor
would do well to take a lead in the fight for peace if she wishes
to wipe out brutality in the world.”

* * *

People’s China will take part in the forthcoming Olympic -
Games meet to be held in Helsinki this July. Pointing out that the
All-China Physical Culture Association is the only organization
representing China, a telegram sent to the International Olympic
Committee states that no other group, including any organization
of the Kuomintang clique on Taiwan, can legally represent China
in any way and should not be permitted to compete.

€

* * KK me

Eddie’s Boy stepped out of his class at Santa Aniita last Saturday
when he tried to run down a bunch of better horses in the $50,000
San Juan. Capistrano handicap. The Vancouver horse didn’t dis-
grace himself—he finished fifth in a field of eight—but he was
never a serious contender. At the mile mark he was running fourth,
but when®called ‘on couldn’t respond, and fell ‘back to fifth in the
stretch drive. :

* ee a

British fight filberts were sorely disappointed by the poor showing
Randy Turpin made recently in a tune-up bout with Alex Buxton at
the Harringay Arena. Randy won when Buxton had to retire at the
end of the seventh nith a badly cut left eye. But the British and Euro-
pean middleweight champion who whipped Sugar Ray Robinson in —
1951 to hold the world crown for a few months, before losing it to
Sugar in a return bout, didn’t look anything like championship calibre
against the unknown Buxton... , ;

Since the last Robinson fight, Turpin has been doing a turn itt
the music-halls. He stepped into the ring with Buxton looking confident
enough, but right from the start it was cpparent that his timing was off
and his footwork. faulty. By the fourth stanza the fight had slowed up \
so much that referee Jack Burt warned both men to’ get cracking or
be thrown out.

Buxton’s eye was cut in the opening ‘round and troubled him allt
the way. Once or twice he had Turpin hanging on for dear life, but
failed to follow through and score an upset. Actually the Watford
belter isn’t in Turpin’s class, but Randy was so bad he made ‘Buxion
look almost good. :

* * *

Vancouver will produce. better hockey players when hockey
moguls begin to pay some attention to the primary job of develop-
ing youngsters in their early ’teens. Because of the mild climate,
local junior pucksters can’t build backyard rinks, but have to depend
on hiring an indoor surface for practice and play. Trouble is, there
just aren’t enough rinks. So the kids get up as early as 5 a.m. in
order to get their precious hour of practice in the overcrowded
Forum and Kerrisdale arenas. If they can squeeze in two hours a
week they’re lucky, for most kid teams can’t dig up the $14 or $16
an hour rent. Until the hockey brass hats wake up and do something
to assist the development of these local teams, don’t expect many
ice stars to develop in Vancouver.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — MARCH 14, 1952 — PAGE 10