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FRIDAY, MAY 2, 1958

% Sir Grantley Adams (above) of Barbados is the first prime

minister of the new West Indies federation. Adams, Norman
Manley and other leaders have set full freedom and creation of
a multi-racial federation as their aim. (See story on page 3.)

World peace leader
to visit city May ff

Vincent Duncan-Jones, secretary of the World Council of
Peace, will visit Vancouver next weekend and B.C. Peace
Council will hold a reception for him at Baker’s Summer Gar-
dens, 641 Granville street, Sunday, May 11, at 8 p.m.

Duncan-Jones recently returned to his headquarters in

Vienna from a meeting with
Prime Minister Nehru of
India.

At present, Duncan-Jones is
busy organizing a Congress on
Disarmament and International
Cooperation, which will be
held in Stockholm, Sweden,
July 16-22. This congress will
become the rallying point for
the tremendous protest actions
against nuclear weapons which
are taking place in most coun-
tries today.

Duncan-Jones has been as-

sociated with peace activities —

for many years. He was

chairman of the British Youth
Peace Assembly and the First
National Youth Parliament of
Great Britain. In 1950 he was
made secretary of the British
Peace Committee and in 1954
became secretary of the World
Council of Peace in Vienna.

Before this he was connected
with the Church of England
and edited its official monthly
publication as well as the
official Year Book.

Because he has devoted his
life to public activity, only
three years of Duncan-Jones’
life have been spent at his
chosen profession, farming.

HEARING MAY 20

Bell loses hike,

B.C. Tel alarmed

Action of the federal cabinet in rescinding a rate increase granted the Bell Telep

fron?

Company in Ontario and Quebec may help block B.C. Telephone Company’s applicat®
tor a rate increase in this province.

Hearings on the BCE application for a 15 percent average rate boost will open
the Board of Transport Commissioners here May 20. The B.C. government and the

of B.C. Municipalities are op-
posing the application.

Bell Telephone, was allow-
ed a rate increase by the
Board of Transport Commis-
sioners in January. When the
federal cabinet disallowed the
hike this week (and also re-
cinded a freight rate increase)
it set the pattern for the
coming hearings here.

(As a result of the cabinet
decision against Bell, B.C.
Telephone announced this
week that it would reduce its
demands.)

Theo Adams, secretary of
the Union of B.C. Municipali-
ties, suggested that the Ot-
tawa ruling would apply to
B.C. Telephone rates.

B.C. Telephone’s application
for a 15 percent hike in rates,
despite a rise in earnings in
1957 over 1956, aroused a
wave of anger among” this
province’s 475,000 telephone
subscribers.

If B.C. Telephone won its
rate increase, Vancouver
phone charges would be $6.25
monthly for a residential pri-
vate line, $4.90 for a two-
party line and $4.30 for a
multi-party line. A business
phone would cost $16.75 for
unlimited service and $9.50
for “measured service.”

By comparison, telephone
costs in Regina (Saskatche-
wan Government Telephones)
ere $3.50 monthly for an in-
dividual residential phone and
$6.50 for an individual busi-
ness phone. There is no multi-
party or two-party line serv-
ice in the Regina exchange
area, except on a temporary
basis where congestion may
exist.

In Winnipeg (Manitoba
Telephone System) a residen-
tial individual line costs $3.90,
a business individual line
$7.65 and a business multi-
party line $4.50.

In Edmonton (Edmonton
City Telephone System) costs

are: residence basic straight.

line, $3.25; residence basic
two-party line, $2.50; busi-
ness basic straight line, $7.00
and business basic two-party
line, $3.75. There is no multi-
party ‘service.

hefot?
Unio#

Continued from page f

BCE HEARING

crease by B.C. Telephone

Company.

Organizations perparing
briefs opposing the BCE pro-
posed rate increase will cer-
tainly discover plenty of ma-
terial to work on.

For example, here are tha
present monthly bills for 300
K.W.H. in Canadian cities:

Vancouver? == => $8.72
St; Jolins ®i22-.22-2scs 6.31
Charlottetown —__.__-_- 9.40
Halifaxs 33 eS 4.35
St. Johiite= 25. 4 So 6.21
Montreal: 2224480 22 4.33
Toronto 22 se AE
Winnipegis =) - 2 et 4.07
Regina 64.22 2 6.85
Edmonton  _-__~----.--- 5.04
Nelson : 2-2 Sets 6.92
Nanaimo: 2222 er. 8.82

Electricity sold by the B.C.
Electric has almost exactly
doubled since 1950, with only

Pensions issue
in Swedish vote

STOCKHOLM — A general
election is expected following
defeat of the Social Demo-
cratic government in the
lower house on a supplemen-
tary pensions bill. Right-wing
parties mustered 117 votes to
the 111 of the Social Demo-
crats and Communists.

A big issue in the election
will be the government’s pro-
posal to bring workers’ pen-
sions to 65 percent of the av-
erage working wage over the
past 15 years.

The Communist party has
agreed not to contest certain
seats in order to obtain the
maximum vote for Social
Democratic candidates, put-
ting forward its own lists
only in seats it is confident
of winnng.

4 abo
a 28 percent increase 17 Be

and material costs 1 nd:
period. On the other ha
dividends have increase
180 percent, and undistrib!
profits by 567 percent.

In a BCE pamphlet malt
to all householders, the -
pany -argues for an incre
in these words:

“The PUC has establish
that the company is & ae
to earn as fair and reason of
return, an earnings rate he
6% percent.’ Howevél: .

rate of earnings has dee ye

from 6.1 reent in @ 4
to 5.9 ee in 1956 e
about 5 percent in 1957) Ng
is showing a contin
downward trend in 1958:

by
However, shares issued oo

the BCE in 1953 were P™ ig
the market at $16.02 é
1957 earnings on these sf
amounted to $2.33, or 14.5 P°
cent after taxes. .

jaro

Back in 1952 Emil Bi,
son and Elgin Ruddell, rep.
senting the Civic Reform |

sociation, had the BCE UP. 4 |

ee ne
fore the provincial cab} of

on the precise grounds iis
by the federal cabinet ele
week to disallow Bell ei
phone and freight rate chats 95
namely, that the company

improperly charging def
income taxes as a curre?” 1,
erating expense for’ rate he
ing purposes. Last yea! aes
BCE charged $6 millions un

this heading. ;

Under a 1949 amend
to the Income Tax Act © so?
panies are allowed to “© sof
higher increased deprec!# oi
rate, thereby reducing

income tax. 4

What the BCE did w® ip

take advantage of that, PY jp
income t@* wet

report their
PUC at the figure they wot
have paid if they hadn't ©
s0. The total to date of ao)
BCE tax deferrals is ove”
millions.

pf
May 2, 1958 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PA®

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