VIENNA LETTER

Only one ambassador stayed--
to discuss treaty with people

VIENNA

UR foreign ministers met in

Vienna to sign the Austrian
tate Treaty. Afterwards three
ot them slunk off home; the
fourth stayed behind to talk to
the people of Austria.

Harold Macmillan. slipped
quickly back to London. Antoine
Pinay scuttled off to Paris. John
Foster Dulles hurried home to
Washington.

They had come with a precise,

diplomatic purpose — to sign the -

treaty. How it affected the
Austrian workes was no concern
of theirs.

For what purpose could they
have stayed? The martial Harold
Macmillan, for instance—it would
be hard to imagine him chatting
with warmth and humanity with
the workers and discussing their
problems intelligently.

And ‘that slick corporation
lawyer, John Foster Dulles — he
is at home with managing direct-
ors and balance sheets, but what
could he talk about to the work-
ers beyond Power politics and
positions of strength?

But V. M. Molotov, the Soviet
foreign minister — though every
bit as busy as his Western coun-
terparts — asked to see- Vienna
and to find out from the workers
themselves what they thought of
the treaty he had just signed.

; m % es :

When Molotov visited the
’ workers in the USIA plants and
the oilfields (administered by the
Soviet Union under Allied occu-
pation) there was a sensation in
the Austrian press and surprise,
but delight among: the workers
he met.

Typical of the reaction was the
oft-repeated comment that here
is one of the most distinguished
statesmen of our time coming
around asking us, the workers,

what we think about things and
listening attentively to our re-
plies and opinions. es

Just before the lunch break in
Siemen’s engineering. works the
news gets around — “Molotov’s
here.” Soon all the workers have
gathered round as he answers an
unceasing stream of questions.

The dominant theme of all the
questions in this plant, which
since the end of the war has been
administered by the Soviet Union
and now goes back to the Aust-
rian government under the terms
of the treaty, was whether the
jobs of the workers would be
safe with the signing of the
treaty.

Molotov’s reply was clear and
to the point:

* “Tf the price and quality of
the goods delivered are suitable
then it is Obvious that the Soviet
Union will continue to place
orders with the USIA plants
now in Austrian possession.”

Someone asked Molotov wheth-
er, with the conclusion of the
treaty peace is now secure in
Europe.

Sources of danger still exist,
he replied, but the Austrian
treaty is an important step in
safeguarding peace.

At one stage, when the inter-
preter spoke rather quietly, there
was a roar from the crowd telling
him to speak up and Molotov
joined in with the workers.

He had long conversations with
Socialist, Communist and non-
party workers.

He asked the women about
their working conditions and pay
and in reply to one of them told
them that in the chemical indus-
try in the Soviet, Union women

work only six hours a day and.

only eight in other industries.
bes beg

Here are the impressions of

New wonder fextiles
treated with silicones

§° many new materials and pro-
\ cesses are creeping into the
daily life of a housewife that

she is beginning to accept them
almost without a thought, and
will soon wonder how she ever
did without them.

Plastics, for a start, perspex-
polythene, nylon, and now sili-
- cones — amazing chemicals be-
longing to a family related to
_ glass which have the outstanding
properties of repelling water and
resisting heat.

These are slowly finding their
way into our homes in various
forms, and will very soon be
making life easier for everyone.

The commercial development
of silicones took place ‘in the
US. during the war but the or-
iginal research work was done in
Britain as early as 1900.

Development of silicones is go-
ing on today on a large scale in
Germany, France, Japan andthe
Soviet Union, as well as in Brit
ain and the U.S. :

Today, silicone fluids; which

_do not change at varying temp-

eratures, are being used in medi-
cine and pharmacy; phials are
silicone treated to make it easier
to pour our their contents;
syringes are lubricated with sili-
cones; silicones are used as bases
for barrier creams to protect the
hands of workers in inductry;
silicone paints are already in use
for aticles subject to intense
heat.
5o3 0d 5°3

How are silicones being used
on the consumer market, and how
will they affect the housewife?

They are already widely mar-

keted in floor and furniture
polishes, which are easy to put
on, prevent heat marks, and re-
pel all liquids. :

They are being used in bak-
eries to coat the insides of bak-
ing tins and prevent things stick-
ing to them, and soon frying pans
and baking tins treated in the
same way will be available.

But it is in the treatment of
textiles that silicones promise
the most.

Much rainwear, particularly in
gabardine, is treated with sili-
cones, so that the rain bounces
off the fabric like water off a
cuck’s back.

The treatment also gives lustre
to the fabric and, adds to its drap-
ing auapee besides increasing
its resistance to hard wear and
tear.

I have seen velvets made from
Terylene, nylon, rayon and cot-
ton, which, when water is pour-
ed on them, are left dry and un
marked. The water rolls off like
beads of mercury.

I’ve seen lighter dress fabrics,
too, including net, silicone treat-
ed with the same happy results.

Think of the possibilities this
Offers for children’s clothes, soil-
ed in a moment by a spilt drink.

_Think of the furnishing fab-
ries, tablecloths and carpets, on

- which you could spill a bottle of

ink and mop it up without doing
damage; the chair covers, on
which the greasiest head would
leave no stain. ° ;
: Although silicones are not en-
tirely dirt resisting, fabrics treat-
ed with them need only a soft
damp sponge to clean them. f

OLGA JEANS

one of the. workers:

“T have read in the Arbeiter
Zeitung (Socialist party paper)
that Molotov was shadowed
everywhere he went by body-
guards fingering revolvers in
their pockets.

“And then, all of a sudden,
here is Molotov in front of me,
without .a bodyguard in sight,
absorbed in conversation ‘with
the workers of our factory.”

An old Socialist worker, Haun-
ald, told how he talked about the
Anschluss and told the Soviet
foreign minister that the Aust-
rian working class is against any
link up. with Western Germany
and for an independent Austria,

As he walked about the plant
there was a desperate search to
find flowers in the factory to
hand to him. They were hastily
plucked from a garden and hand-
ed to Molotov in an atmosphere
of great enthusiasm.

‘At the oilfields, it was the same
story. Here is what one worker
said:

“I am 53 years old, but never
did I dream that one day I
should shake hands with one of
the great men of our time,” and
he spread out his oil-greasy
hands just as they were when
Molotov grasped them.

At one of the pumping stations
Molotov spoke with the workers
for more than half an hour.

“Everything interested him,”
said one young oil worker. “How
much we earn, how we. manage

on our wages; everything.”
One of the oilworkers wanted

Note on Olive Schreiner

ARTHUR STRATTON, To-
ronto: I read with very great in-
terest Sylvia Lynd’s article on
Olive Schreiner in the PT of
April 22. k

I would like to point out that

- Women and Labor was really

just a condensation of the book
Miss Schreiner had originally in-
tended to publish.

Miss Schreiner had spent
years in research and writing
what I presume should be call-
ed a monumental work on that
subject, but the manuscript and
many other important papers
and nearly all her belongings
were burned by British soldiers
during the Boer War.

‘After the war Miss Schreiner
had neither the health nor the
time
manuscript and contented her-
self with the book Women and
Labor.

His last five-spot

_O.S., Sardis, B.C.: Enclosed is
$5 for the financial drive. I only
wish I could send you a bigger
donation. I have had no job
since. November so you see the
$5 is almost my last one. There
is no better way I’d rather spend
my last $5. In the near future
I hope to be able to send you
more.

Maclean's disgusted him

K.K.J., Salmon Arm, B.C.: En-
closed is $5 for your press drive.
I intended to make it $2, but
after reading the latest Mac-
lean’s magazine, which contains
a so-called science-fiction story
openly suggesting that only a

to rewrite her original .

to know what would become of
the oilworkers in the future.
Molotov replied:

‘Tt was specifically laid down
in the talks with the Austrian
government that no oilworker
would be discriminated against.
Markets for Austrian oil could
be assured for a long’ time
through favorable trade agree-
ments.”

When Molotov asked one of

monstrous rocket-load of H and
Cobalt bombs can “save” the
world, I made it $5, and I have
also sent $5 to the B-C. Peace
Council. This is a large part of
my income, but life is getting
so disgusting, what with H and
C-bombs and all, that I hardly
notice the pangs of disburse-
ment.

Worth remembering

J.W., Vancouver, B.C.: Your
story on Olive Schreiner could
well have quoted some of her
writings on the labor movement.
Here is a passage which she
wrote in 1905: it still remains a
live message for trade unionists
50 years later:

“There must be organized
union among all workers—union
among all the workers in each
branch of labor, a larger union
among all the workers in differ-
ent branches inthe same _ so-
ciety, and a yet larger union
among the workers of all na-
tions and societies, without
which our labor problem can

~ never fully be solved.

“For as long as there is an
Italian girl ready to take the
work for five shillings which a
French girl did for ten, or a
Chinese who will take the
miner’s work for half that Eng-
lishman or African demanded
there is always a hole in the bot-
tom of the boat through which
the water will ultimately creep
in:? .

On another occasion she wrote
a message to a demonstratjpn of
Johannesburg shop assistants
encouraging them to continue
their efforts towards organiza-
tion.

“A just return to the worth
of his labor should be made to
the worker,’ she wrote. “The
man who lives and grows wealthy

“ © PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JUNE 10, 1955 —

Soviet Foreign Minister V. M. Molotov was the only °
the Big Four foreign ministers who remained in Vienna to
cuss the Austrian Peace treaty with ordinary people like f Bie
shown here celebrating their regained independence. — ae

' that he had fought on

ne of
dis

the workers if he had eve! ed
to the Soviet Union, he | pus
‘pris :
sian front and been taken *
oner. | a up
Molotov’s reply summe iit BS
a few words the whole SP .
Soviet policy toward Aus ie
“We invite the au if,
visit the Soviet Union, é
time as our friends.
. ALAN CR

on underpaid human ue
essentially a parasite.

Worth weight in gold
CECILIA CHRISTOPHER
Nanaimo, B.C.: I think wold, ‘
is worth its weight in jos
more, as its wels
amount to’ much.
message carries”
weight behind it,
nothing more
Toul as prety
_ I particularly apprecity
cultural page, and also ie fa
torical sketches of B.C. abl
young enough that cae :
to remember the
which apparently were?”
“good.” ~ v

Not until the last }
has been silenced oe pb
you run enough artic! of TH
devastation and dange™ “od
tion effected by the ‘son’
bombs, and in compan nh a
wonderful nas oa it
energy could be pul. J.o, BE
I o have one susse Pe
about printing the Ore eae
edible material, such ie “myst
leaves, so people “". ett
a 00!
8

after having consumed
ly could do so physi!" the
and pass the savings ° sust@l
budget on to your ~~
fund? ye

Word of thanks

ont
MYRTLE SOUTHERN, Ts
or, Shower Of Dimes: “pido?
helping the Solariv™ sitorit
Your splendid hel:
and person rae 4
in making the ts |
Dimes the most SUCt E75
date. So fat, 0VE> 2 sata
been donated’ _ “piles
Front the crippled ol@!
the Queen Alexandra 0%
Victoria, and from
committee we can
“Thank you and