| ye a CTD Ti ray i 2 WRN, Hane JANUARY 27, 1950 .C. Tel. Prac Deaatd for a thorough probe ‘siphoned off'= profits probe into the corporate structure of the B.C. Telephone Company ’and contracts with affiliated companies. was put forward by T. G. Norris, KC, at the hearing before the Boag of Transport Commissioners in Vancouver. Earlier D. E. McTaggart, -KC, counsel for the city, nea: into the BCT’s system of ‘ Anglo-Canadian, so that the BCT ~ can show “a poor financial pic- ture when asking for a rate in- crease.” : Hearings on the company’s ap- plication for a boost in phone rates (which would raise the av- erage phone user’s bill $1 month- ly) ended Monday, but a decision” may not be handed down for some time. Despite assertion by Senator J. W. deB. Farris, senior counsel, that “all the cards are on the table,” the hearings uncovered . “many aces which BCT had been holding up its sleeve. When these ecards were removed and put on the table, the company spokes- men did some lame explaining. Chief card which the BCT vainly sought to conceal was its system of interlocking director- ates, under which “indirect ben- ‘siphoning off’’ profits to the parent. company, efits” are derived by the parent company, Anglo-Canadian, via a service contract whereby Anglo gets ‘one percent of BCT gross revenue for supplying “technical assistance”, BCT is asking a 243 percent increase in phone rates to ob- tain $2,600,000 in additional rev- enue each year. Under pressure, it was forced ‘to admit that $900,000 of this “gravy” would be paid out as common stock divi- dends. Whatever decision the Board of Transport Commissioners reach, the unsavory revelations at the hearings were convincing proof to the average citizen that no phone rate boost is justified, and that a searching probe into the financial affairs of the BCT . should be undertaken. Coldwell won’t sign Ban-Bomb petition ! -. TORONTO M. J. Coldwell, CCF national leader, has refused a request Fah the Canadian Peace Congress to sup- port the national campaign to outlaw the atomic bomb as°an instrument of war. This was made public last week by the Peace Congress in the Toronto Peace Council’s bulletin No More War. The bulletin carried the full text of the correspondence between Mary Jennison, executive eat of oe Congress; Coldwell, and Dr. J. G. Endicott, chairman of the Congress. \ Rally demands Ottawa recognize New China Resolution calling for recognition of the People’s Republic of ° China and building of a flourishing east-west trade was enthusiastically passed by a meeting of 1200 Vancouver citizens who filled Pender Auditorium for a Lenin Memorial Meeting last Sunday. , ‘The peoples of China have struck a tremendous. blow for peace in their historic victory over. the corrupt and reactionary regime of Chiang’ Kai-shek; 450 millions of people have thrown off the deadening past and are proceed- ing to build’ a new life for them- selves.’ the resolution said. “These millions of peoples have established a new state. They have placed iin office a govern- ment of their choice. This gov- ernment of new China has pro- ferred the hand of friendship and peace to the other peoples of the world. “Therefore be it resolved: that this meeting of Vancouver citi- zens peuites the Chinese people RIESE CZECH CARS MAKE APPEARANCE IN VANCOUVER oe ; New Skoda tops in small car field If you want to. believe the daily papers, the traditional high quality of Czechoslovak manufac- tures: “has deteriorated rapidly since the people’s democracy was established. But if you want to judge fcr yourself, you should take a close look at a new car which has just made its appear- ance on Vancouver streets. It’s a Skoda, made in Czechoslovakia, and for engineering, construc- tion, performance and low cost of operation it’s tops in the high- ly competitive small car field. _ Skoda is a new name to most Canadian motorists, but among Here's the new Skoda roolider Europeans it’s: both well-known and highly regarded as a leader ‘in the automotive field; To give you an ides: the, first popular American cars with four-wheel brakes were put on the market in 1928 (reniember the red warn- ing triangle on the rear fender?) fourteen years after Skoda in- troduced them on its 1914 model. And that’s not all. Skoda has been manufacturing cars with an all-round independent wheel sus- pension since manufacturers only got around to. introducing independent front wheel suspension on _ popular 1923. American — being demonstrated in Vancouver. makes in the fries a belated innovation appreciated by motor- ists forced to use Vancouver’s cow-town roads—and they still have to apply the principle all- around on these super-duper per- ambulating juke-boxes that De- troit fondly imagines represent the latest in automotive engin- eering. Even the British cars, more conservatively designed but generally better engineered than’ the American, have only had_in- dependent front-wheel suspension on the popular small models since Austin led the way with its A-40 in 1948. / “al on their historic victory. We greet their offer of peace and friendship and we call upon the government of Canada to follow the example of Britain by im- mediately recognizing the gcv- ernment of the People’s Republic of Chir.a as the-only lawful gov- ernment of China, thus making it possible to resume friendly ard normal trade relations with 450 million people who are building and tvansforming that mighty land.” Harold Pritchett cheired the meeting, which was addressed by Maurice Rush, LPP provincial organizer. 1 The Skoda has them all seats --and in more ways than this. Obviously, all-around independent wheel suspension makes for smoother riding, better load ad- justment and greater ability to hold the road at higher speeds. But the average working man who operates a car is concerned with durability, ease and cost of repairs, operation cost and per- formance under B.C. conditions and over washboard roads be- yond thé main highways. Finding himself priced: out of the big car market by inflated costs, he still wants big car appearance and performance from a° small car. The new Skoda comes clos- est to fulfilling all these con- ditions of any small car now on the market here. ‘ f t Streamlined and smart without being extreme, the Skoda’s strong metal body is the. best assurance that it will stay smart. “What it offers’ a refugee from ” garage bills in he way of cheap _ operation may be gauged from ‘the fact that it has a one-shot chassis lubrication system that “reduces servicing to a minimum. Its © four-cylinder valve-in-head motor develops 11,4 h.p., enabling _the car to do 60 m.p.h. with 35 miles or better to the gallon. . Naturally, it has all the features : hailed as innovations .on other — ’ small ‘cars—steering column. gear- shift, four - wheel hydraulic brakes, massive radiator grille and concealed headlamps, smart instrument panel. And, an im- ,portant feature not found in * competitive ears is its tubular chassis backbone which puts it far ahead in construction. Price? Well, you can buy the ' sedan for". $1495 (the additional Similar letters were addressed to all political party Tenders: LPP leader Tim Buck was the only other to reply, Unlike Coldwell, the LPP lead- er backed the proposal: “Thank you for the invitation to participate in this great and noble work,” “In the name of the national executive ef the LPP I assure you that our party will cooperate in every way, locally’ .and nationally, in the drive to secure hundreds of thousands of ‘signatures to the Canadian Peace Congress peti-, tion,” he wrote. Coldwell in his two letters bas- ed his refusal to sign or support the petition campaign urging the banning of the bomb, on the argument that “it fails to de- mand... the right of the United Nations to have free access to all,its member countries and to inspect all plants, industries, etc., which may be engaged in the production of fissionable mater- jials and atomic energy.” ” In reply to this point, Miss Jennison, acting for the Peace Congress executive, declared: “We believe the essential point is contained in the Peace Con- gress petition as far as inter- national control is concerned — ‘Press for strictest international control to insure compliance of all nations in outlawing the bomb as a military weapon’ We feel that until a convertion is adopted outlawing the use of atomic weapons, plans for inspec-_ tion are pointless. The two things go together .; .” But the CCF national leader persisted on this point in his second letter: “To me the ban- ning of the bomb is a “delusion without the absolute right of in- spection of every factory in ey- ery corner of every country throughout the world ... Only the Soviet Union favor(s) the technical bomb without any means of en- forcing such a decision.” ! To which Dr. Endicott replied: “First of all the Soviets do not want to stockpile or use the q atomic .bomb. Secondly, they do not wish to deny. to any country the right to full use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes and «re. willing to state how they will use it. Thirdly, they will agree to constant inspection after the bomb has been outlawed.” sales tax.is an item which even the daily press cannot blame on .the Czechs), the station wagon “for. $1600 and the roadster for $1720, The guarantee is good for six months or miles, + Yes, we'll hice the new ‘Skoda a” any time—it’s a fine practical demonstration of what Czecho- slovakia has to offer Capada in trade exchange. PACING TU) JANUARY 27, 1950—PAGE 12 f -banning of the | the first 6250 —