N the history of British Col-
umbia politics, the independ-
ence of the voters in the Albernis
and surrounding up-Island centexg,.
e long. presented a problem to
old-line parties. And, if the
Present election struggle in the

Provincial constituency of Alberni
any criterion, the voters are

ti
ikely to carry the tradition to

re ad height on June 15 by elect-
eae Morgan to represent
‘s as the first Labor+Progres-
© member of the legislature.
One reason is that Nigel Mor-
Oe known personally to hun-
eh ea working people through-
i - Tidingt They like the
i Re delves into their prob-
icing his quick grasp and inti-
Ay understanding of the dif-
ee they face in creating a
ae secure future for them-
Rice out of the wealth they pro-
ans Their respect for him has
Fe wn because of the proposals
pa bringing forward in his
“Y) aggressive election cam-
ag They know his proposals
ieee sense, and they recognize
Wiktocn, one can fight better at
ee he for their realization
See € man who puts them for-
ers why Nigel -Morgan’s
Paign is being discussed alike
Re Millworkers and fishermen,
Seshoremen and loggers,
siete small businessmen and
ike id the people who form
his : ectorate of Alberni, because
fas ampaign is setting a pace
tion Neither the divided Coali.
Gon nor a punch-pulling official
can match.
Pe, beenle of Alberni rightly
“an at they have been repre-
lists. oe long by men who have
Mina, eagerly whenever Mac-
fi, a and Bloedel had some-
eae 0 say, but who have proven
‘ee except at election time—to
3 Own protests against un-

rb taxation, boss labor legisla-

ion . sos
\ y Partisan road policies and

ab

ae 18 business forest policy which

shee the forests and destroys fish
Nea grounds.
fy feel, and again rightly,

t .
hat they have put up with -

co school conditions and
ena aa hospital facilities long
is orate time they are send-
oa eir own spokesman—Nigel
eae Victoria.
Boe ron people of Alberni _
ee uilt a community second
is ea in its possibilities—that
aa MacMillan and Bloedel.
Weck ave produced lumber, ply-
Site eee and. fish that have
ae 0 the four corners of the
Produc ae the wealth they have
Profits a has brought fabulous
mills, ¢ for the owners of the
.» the canneries and the log-

4 Sing camps, !
ron eeMillan’s take-home pay
‘ae up to eight million dol-
inet ast year, but the workers

Shorter working time and
threat of wage cuts. The
ent pours out hundreds of
for aly of dollars every year

‘ veel: and the stench from
anes, ant that fills the valley
ploit , NO worse than the ex-
‘ Nation it Symbolizes.

the
Pulp

es specter of unemploy-
aunts the working people
ers ee as it does other cen-

the province. They, too,

Mm

hay

ek a read the long-winded

mene €s, the endless columns of
Paper reports about the

rea the Marshall plan
oe estow on B.C. For them
ite. Se is bleak and uninvit-
James sah Tom Christie and
Owat, the Coalition can-

dia
pees talk glibly about war-

thes. My and _ prosperity,
; arket, 2
tty aie . S and that prosper

Wi anishing.
& working population
hat of pre-war days, the
market is fast shrinking
ATR level. No wonder
fai} es workers are worried and
abo Share the false optimism
fecteg an expanding economy af-
Y the Coalition candi-

Gouble t
®Xport

@ Dilapid

such by
ies their education here.

.

ated army-hut schools
the school

teacher told Nig

jled
rni have to be labe
in Albe wnior-senior students

can’t go inside,” =
shabbier in there.

poard. Some 650 J
“Too bad you

el Morgan. “It’s even

dates. Facts are stubborn things.
And the facts are: as the market
shrinks, job opportunities like-
wise shrink.

That is why Alberni people fa-
vor the LPP proposal of extend-
ing provincial credits to bolster
overseas trade. And they want
Nigel Morgan at Victoria to
strengthen their fight to save
B.C. markets and their jobs.

The working men and women
who constitute the vast majority
of the population in this strong-
hold of monopoly capital are
overwhelmingly opposed to the
sales tax—the taxation scheme
designed by the Coalition to save

the profits of men like MacMil-

lan and Bloedel. :

They know what the sales tax
steals from their earnings and
they have all read of the huge
profits made by MacMillan and
Bloedel. The fact that Mowat
voted for the sales tax in the,
legislature and that Christie like-
wise approves of it robs these
candidates of all their elaborate
pretense of concern for” “the:
people’s interests.

Coalition claims that the sales
tax will make it possible to ex-
tend not only social services but
also such community services as
hospitals, have already been ex-
ploded in Alberni.

The West Coast hospital in Port
Alberni is inadequate for the
needs of the community, and the
situation has grown worse since
the introduction of compulsory
hospital insurance. But the Coali-
tion, which has contracted for,
and collected payment in advance
for hospitalization, does nothing
to provide the necessary hospital
beds.

The working people, in addition

_to paying the sales tax, have to

raise the necessary funds to build

‘a new hospital, and. they are

doing this by voluntary monthly
donations of one-half of one per-
cent of their wages.

Last spring, more than 2,500
people in ‘the Twin Cities signed
a petition sponsored by the LPP
for the repeal of this discrimina-
tory tax. Returns from a ques-
tionnaire sponsored by the Mor-
gan Blection Committee showing
that. nine out of every ten per-
sons favor repeal of the sales

tax themselves constitute a scath-
ing answer to all the Coalition’s
claims,

e

Canvassers who are doing a
bang-up job of winning support
for Nigel Morgan as labor's can-
didate report considerable re-
sentment with the CCF policy of
qualified endorsation of the sales
tax. Many: workers ‘point to the
fact that'the Saskatchewan CCF
government -still levies a sales
tax in that province; and rightly
or wrongly, they are suspicious
of CCF proposals: to retain the
sales tax as a first term proposi-
tion.

The working men and women
of Alberni want the sales tax
repealed. They can see for them-
selves that the only party that
fights for repeal of the sales tax
is the LPP. They know that of
the four candidates seeking their
votes in the June 15 election only
one stands unreservedly for re-
moval of this unfair levy on their
earnings. That’s why they are
determined to elect Nigel Morgan.

nt a adry-creek bed,
it’s a Coalition road—‘“Grand-
view Ro
winter it was impass®?
residents were forced to pe
tition the 8°
action.

@ This is

a petition to “shame”
government into
thing.

ad” in Alberni. Last
ble and

yvernment for

Here’s what they
boulders. Canvassing

IGEL MORGAN'S radio broadcasts over
CJAV have won a wide audience by such
political home truths as these:
“In British Columbia this spring we had as
many as 50,000 unemployed. Here in Alberni,
many of you listening to this broadcast spent
from two to five months out of work during the
past winter. We're back to seven-month logging
again.

“The Marshall Plan has lost us the United
Kingdom lumber market; it has lost us the
British! orders which took almost our entire sal-
man pack; it has killed the British order for 30
millian dozen eggs; and it now threatens the sale
of Canadian wheat. Wall Street says plainly,
Marshall Plan dollars are not going to be spent

surpluses of American goods.

“If elected to the legislature to represent Al-
berni I will work and fight for the promotion of
markets for British Columbia products abroad
through the extension of trade agreements and
through the introduction of barter trade with
Britain, Europe and Asia.
machinery and textiles; Britain needs our lum-

ber and fish. Organization of a system of pro-

on Canadian products while there are growing

We can use British '

Labor’s candidate on the air

vincially-backed credits, enabling Britain to give
priority to B.C. products, is urgently needed in
order to create work for our people.

* % %

“Last night as I was rumbling and rattling
along the Beaver Creek road, over my car radio
came the voice of the new Liberal-Labor-Con-
servative-Coalition candidate, full of praise for
the record of the government. ‘We've had ample
experience of how well Coalition works,’ said
Christie’s voice over the either, just as I hit one
of those pot holes which pitched me a foot in
the air. ‘Ample experience,’ is right. The
people of this important farming section in the
Alberni valley are more than fed up with the
administration’s complete failure to build decent
roads in the riding. :

* * *

“The Labor-Progressive party is the only
party in this campaign which calls for outright

-repeal of the sales tax. My party, the LPP,

gathered more than 16,000 signatures on peti-
tions demanding the repeal of this tax. I hope
that after June 15 I'll be on the floor of the
legislature to go after those heartless men who
are responsible for this ‘tax the needy to save
the greedy’ tax. It must be removed.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — MAY 27, 1949 — PAGE