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TOM McEWEN, Editor — HAL GRIFFIN, Associate Editor — RITA WHYTE, Business Manager.

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Tom
McEwen

« have abolished the domestic

sweatshop, but are asked to en-
dorse the international sweatshop—in
the name of freedom.”

The above is from an editorial in
the November 15 edition of Justice;
official organ of the International
Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union
(AFL). Needless to say,
published inthe U-.S., hence it rarely
features anything worthwhile about
needle trades conditions in Canada.
If it did so, factually and in keeping
with its title, Justice could scarcely
make the boast of having “abolished
the domestic sweatshop,” to say noth-
ing of the international one, to which
_ the policies of ILGWU top brass give
undivided support.

However, I will leave the “domes-
tic” scene for the time being and take
a look at the complaint of Justice at
the “international sweatshop.” And as
Shakespeare observed in Hamlet: “I
must be cruel, only to be kind. For
tis the sport to have the engineer
hoist on his own petard.”

The Yankee: war trusts did not
move into Japan with their billionaire
administration “to raise labor stan-

dards — and conditions” as Justice -

complains, quoting AFL president
George Meany, but to secure a vast
potential. of cannon fodder,

anti-Communist “Drang nach Oesten”
(March to the East); to use these
against People’s China and the Soviet
Union while ravishing Korea en
route.
These aims, *as can be seen from
past and current columns of Justice
had the full backing of ILGWU top
brass, with President Dubinsky ex-
uberently vocal in his “anti-commun-
ist” tirades.

Thos aac ae

Thus the cycle makes its complete
turn. Dubinsky and his Justice col-
leagues who have been whooping it
up without pause for Dulles’ “Holy
crusade against Communism in Asia”
are only now beginning to“learn what
they have been whooping about.

With Justice it is blouses, ladies
blouses... made-in-Japan. The dump-
ing of other sub-standard products
from U.S. colonial cold war outposts

haven’t disturbed the Dubinskys too ©

much. It was all in the business of
“fighting communism” to which (aside

om per capita collection), they are
chiefly dedicated.

“But in the vast and sudden in-
Crease,” as Justice wails, ‘in the im-
Portation to this country of blouses
Produced under sub-standard con-
ditions of labor in Japan is a pointed
Warning that in international trade...
.anarchy must not. be taken for free-
dom.” In other words, the U.S. ex-
Ploiters of Japan are not playing ball
With their cold war “labor” allies at
home.

How naive! As a onetime self-
Styled “Marxist,” president Dubinsky
Should give his Justice editor a few
Simple pointers on the basic laws of
Capitalist exploitation. Such an outline
feet Show that anti-communism,

Omania and Japanese blouses are
Stist from the’ same mill, affecting all’
Workers alike. It would also help re-
Move the blinkers from Justice and
Sive labor unity a new meaning and
apunetns. to halt the extention of the.

€atshop, rather than boasting of
aving “abolished” it.

Justice is.

cheap —
labor and industrial resources in its

on SperS ss

Where right-wing policies
have led CCF News

OME time ago, as a consequence

of falling circulation, the CCF
News suspended weekly publica:
tion and went over to a twice
monthly basis. Now it is report:
ed that it will be reduced to a
monthly publication. It is a far
cry from the old B.C. Common-
wealth which, at the height of its
influence 20 years ago, had a cir-
culation of 20,000. ‘

Since it long ago narrowed its

scope to become little more than

an inner-party organ dedicated to

CCF top brass politics, backslap- —

ping and eulogistic exchanges, it.
was inevitable that the CCF News
should fail to hold the interest of
readers who were not CCF mem-
bers and that it should prove equal-
ly unsatisfactory to a genuine so-

-cialist core of CCF members and

supporters.

In its advocacy of current day-.
today policies the “‘Socialist’’
editors of the CCF News have
outdone themselves in the field of
anticommunist innuendo, smear
dnd distorition. One has only to look
at the latest edition, the editorial
headed ‘Soviet Warmongering,”’

or its choice of Pat Sullivan’s Red |

Sails On The Great Lakes as a
book review to understand why
the CCF News is steadily losing
ground. ere

That editorial, and unhappily
it is only one of many such, could
well have been written by John
Foster Dulles or Sir Winston
Churchill, both of whom have al-
ready said exactly the same thing.

. Little wondet then, that readers

drop their subscriptions when they
find the ‘‘Socialist’’ CCF News

_ sobriety. ;
Add to the contents of the CCF —

echoing cold war spokesmen. Cir-
culation of a paper presuming to
speak for socialism always drops
when right-wing social democracy
lands the ailing patient in the same
bed with the enemies of the work-
ing class!
It is also a remarkable coinci-
dence (or is it?) that the CCF
News should now “‘review’’ and
give fulsome praise and endorsa-
tion to an anticommunist literary
smear, ghost-written and featured

-in serial form back in March of

this year by that ultra-reactionary
tory journal, the Toronto Tele-
gram.

If CCF members are concerned
over the failing circulation of their
paper, they need look no further
than the CCF News recommen-
dation of Red Sails on the Great

Lakes which touts the renegade

leader of the Canadian Seamen’s
Union, Pat Sullivan, as “‘author’’

_ although it is well known that his

literary talents were and are as
limited as his brief periods of

News a recent news item announc-
ing that CCF leader Tom Alsbury
will address the Burrard Liberal
Association on ‘‘Labor’s Views on
the Sinclair Report on Russia,”
and the picture of falling “‘Social-

ist’’ arches is complete.

Most people, even those U.S.
dollar intimidated Liberals, would
prefer the minister of fisheries’
own version of what he saw in the
Soviet Union rather than what
Alsbury thinks he saw, particular-
ly since neither Tom Alsbury nor
the expiring CCF News can claim

to represent “‘labor’s views’’ on

anything.

ROMs of those who are for ever be-

moaning the apathy of the voters
in municipal elections should have
been with me in the Burnaby poll
where I scrutineered for Bill Turner
last Saturday. ;

It was a typical small poll in a
school basement where the returning
officer; a tall, thin elderly woman;
obviously knew most of the people to
whom she handed ballots. She had a
ready greeting for almost every one.

“Busy at the store today, Mr.
Blank?” she would ask in her pleas-

‘ant fashion, or, “How’s Mrs. Doe? Is

she able to get about the house yet?”

The issuance of every ballot be-
came the occasion for an exchange of
neighborhood news, and occasionally,
some caustic comment.

“Paper work all the time and now
more paper work,” grumbled the
storekeeper as he took his ballots —
white for reeve, red and white for
council, yellow for school board, blue
for parks board, one referendum and
three bylaws—to the booth.

“Pll need a brief case for these,”
said Mr. Doe. “I guess they'll put
the taxes up again to pay for all the
paper.” J ‘ . 7 id

One man sauntered all around the
basement, carefully examined the
paintwork and observed, “My, they’ve —

“fixed the old school up real nice.”

“Yes,” retorted the elderly woman,
“and they’re asking you to vote more
money so they can fix it up some
more.” Bas

ae oe

There was a moment of excitement
when a man came up to the table,
gave his name and found it was not
listed.

“T’ve owned property in Burnaby for
26 years,” he shouted. “So they’ve
taken my name off the list. The hell
with them!”

“Ten minutes later He was back.
“Take a look at those,” he commanded,
thrusting two books at the elderly

woman. She looked at them and
“handed them back. ;
“They're in French,” she noted.

“But, George, what’s that got to do
with your name not being on the list?”

“There are a lot of smart people
voting here, and I figure a man who's

smart enough to know what’s in those _—.
books is smart enough to be able to

vote.”

The elderly woman looked at him.
“Well,” she replied, “you may be smart, |

‘George, but you're just plain stupid

if you don’t go over to the hall and
see they put your name on the list.”

In the couple of hours I sat there
I heard much to indicate ignorance
of the records of candidates, preju-
dice against some and uncritical sup-
port of others. But the only apathetic
voter was the old Scotsman who came
in, sat wearily down and said, “I
verra nearly didna bother tae come.
What's the use?” ‘hem

Yet when we counted the ballots,
the use was plain. Not apathy, but
confusion over the issues had put the
Non-Partisan slate back in office, with |
the majority vote against it spread
over a divided opposition. _

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — DECEMBER 16, 1955 — PAGE 5

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