NATO exercises
assist cold-war

MOSCOW (APN) — The
tch 15 issue of the Soviet
Newspaper Pravda carried an ar-
ticle by its Ottawa correspondent
ikolai Braghin about recent mili-
lary maneouvers off the U.S.
north-eastern coast. The NATO
€Xercises included considerable
Naval and air forces from the
SA, Canada, German Federal
€public and the Netherlands.
€ stated purpose was to ‘‘de-
. Fouaate NATO’s readiness to
efend the North American coast
Tom enemy submarines and air
attacks |.”
__ It is not difficult to catch the
ae of holding such exercises
y the NATO generals and of the
fappaganda campaign which is
. ined around them,’ Braghin
a. ‘In conditions of the
Pening relaxation of tensions
‘ween states, of the peoples’
es trust in the peace policy
the Soviet Union, the stability
Consistency of which has
hes convincingly confirmed by
x 2Sth CPSU Congress, it be-
cae more and more difficult for
a TO to justify its militarist pol-
Y, excessive military spending
thi the continuing arms race. For
oe STeason they once again resort
the methods of cold war, to the
“dtications about an alleged
oviet Threat’.
ae It is to be regretted that the
Ga. of Canada’s General Staff,
~€neral Dextraze, has actively
J0ined the discordant chorus of
State ponents of detente. By his
a €ment on the necessity of an
. Nentation on force in the rela-
ONs with the socialist countries,
© Moves away from the trend
wards better relations between

anada and the socialist’ coun-
tties

By FILS DELISLE
| Abe Peking leadership has cal-
ol; Ora world-wide military and
ical front against the Soviet
son to replace world-wide re-
Xation of tensions.
asting aside all the pretences
righ € past, it has issued an out-
get call to arms against the
Viet Union.
nak € manner in which this
to €d, aggressive policy has been
coesed to all the capitalist
Untries is in itself revealing, in
nik pss of observers. It has been
hd on the occasion of the
rep to China of two reactionary
We €sentatives of the reactionary
eS St German Christian Democ-
Uc Union (CDU), Alfred
®gger and Wemer Marx.
tn Chee and Marx were invited
ha, the Maoists themselves
og Clear, as part of a drive to
Bae the anti-Soviet forces in
Th Ope and elsewhere together.
Wer two CDU representatives
in &iven red carpet treatment,
Dec’ to witness military man-
Sa of the Chinese armed
. €s, and had lengthy confer-
Ces with top Peking leaders.
ey have now revealed they
urged to organize western
Pe militarily, politically and

Were
“Euro

the NATO member states’’.
r rman rightists

¢q ¥

hy

‘Considering that realis-
tically-minded people in the
West have been declaring them-
selves against attempts to fan up
the outdated myth of the “Soviet
Menace’, which is incompatible
with the spirit of the present day,

it is hard to understand what these

new outbreaks of militarist
psychosis are caused: by. It is

clear to any reasonable person”

that there is no such threat either
for the West, or for the East,”
Braghin says.

“The Soviet Union does not in-
tend to‘attack anybody and does
not-need any wars. The aim of
certain forces in the West to cling
to the former NATO line is at var-
iance both with the task of further-
ing universal peace and with the
national interests of the peoples of

economically against the USSR.
They were told the Maoist leaders
abhor and denounce all steps to
coexistence. They were assured
the Maoists are for the liquidation
of the socialist German Democra-
tic Republic, as envisaged by the
right-wing in West Germany.
Above all the Maoist leaders ad-
vised the CDU representatives of
“their contempt for the agree-
ments of the FRG with the
socialist states and the results of
the security conference in Hel-
sinki.””

The most direct and most hos-
tile incitement against the Soviet
Union and the socialist countries
during the visit came from Chiao
Guan-Hua, Peking’s foreign
minister. At a dinner for Dregger
and Marx, Chiao disdained dip-
lomatic language to call for the
setting up ofa world-wide military
alliance against the USSR.

Foreign Minister Chiao’s
speech was brought to the West
German television audience by
old nazi Gerhard Loewenthal,
who fittingly accompanied Dreg-
ger and Marx to Peking.

Loewenthal, who has powerful
patrons behind the scenes, has a

How two countries treat young workers

Where have the jobless gone?

By TOM MORRIS

Statistics Canada puts the
figure of Canadians unemployed
in Feb. 1976 at 800,000 — the
highest level in 15 years. In the
clever way figures are calculated
however, thousands of Canadians
disappear from government re-
cords. ©
. In an article “Jobless Figures
Understated’’ the Jan. 19 Finan-
cial Times points out that
thousands of “discouraged work-
ers’, unable to find jobs have
‘‘opted out of the workforce” and
are not counted among the un-
employed.

The largest segment, the Times
says, is the 14 to 24 age group and
prospects for work look even
bleaker in the months ahead. ‘‘Al-
though the 14 to 24 population
grew by 100,000 between Dec.
1974 and Dec. 1975, the labor
force in that age range did not
grow at all and the number with
jobs dropped by 50,000.”” says the
Times.

Overall, the unemployment
population in that time span grew
almost as fast in 1975 as in 1974.
But the labor force grew only half
as fast and the number of jobs
only one-third as fast.

The newspaper makes the
point that the number of people
who would be in the labor force
were it not for a shortage of jobs is
between 180,000 and 190,000. If
such a number were added to the
labor force, and to the un-
employed figures, Canada’s un-
employment rate would stand at
about 8.7%.

Quite a criminal picture when
we consider the young especially
whose future is completely un-
dermined.

About the same time as these
depressing facts were emerging, a
short story arrived from the Ger-

West German TV program on
which he ladles out only reactio-
nary, anti-Soviet and fascist
propaganda and lies. He had only
the highest praise for his Peking
hosts.

On the basis of their talks with
the Peking leaders, Dregger and
Marx reported that the Maoist
leadership ‘‘is not only maintain-
ing its hard policy towards the

Soviet Union: There are many in-

dications that lead one to expect a
sharpening of that policy.”’

The two CDU reactionaries
also reported that Peking similar-
ly, isnot only for the liquidation of
the German Democratic Repub-
lic: it is taking ‘‘a very tough posi-
tion’ on this demand of the most
right-wing groups in West Ger-
many.

The conspiracies against the
Soviet Union and German Demo-
cratic Republic, hatched in Pek-
ing by the Maoists and West
Germans, struck realistic obser-
vers as out of tune with the times.
The plots were certainly seen as
dangerous challenges to the trend
to peaceful coexistence. But they.
were also seen as threats and ap-
peals bound to flounder on the
realities of the contemporary
world.

CLOSED.
Eb TO S,KORA

(

oo

man Democratic Republic posing
the intriguing question: ‘‘How is it
these ‘world-wide’ economic
crises so frequently detour
around the socialist communi-
ties?”

The story cites one area of the
GDR’s economic planning as an
example of the difference in the
capitalist-socialist picture. There,
between 1976 and 1990 over three
million apartments will be built
and modernized. In addition, nur-
series, schools, supermarkets,
health centers, cultural and sports
complexes are planned.

What this immense project
means in building materials,
‘machinery, transport and many
other supportive areas can be
readily appreciated. But, obvi-
ously, it also means an increase in
building workers needed to do the
job.

In Berlin alone, three out of ev-
ery ten boys and 5% of girls will
begin training in one of the build-
ing trades in 1976: The construc-
tion industry in the GDR, like all
other sectors of the economy, is
planned on a long-term basis
which’ applies not only to the
numbers to be trained but to the

curricula as well.

On the basis of a solid 10-year
education for everyone, theoreti-
cal and practical vocational
training reaches such a level that
after four years specialized activ-
ity in a given trade is possible.
Every student finds a job after
completing his studies.

Work does not mean an end to
study. A whole system of re-
fresher courses and ways to im-
prove one’s qualifications exists.
They enable every worker to ac-
quire fresh knowledge, learn to
operate new machinery and grasp
new technology. The technical
revolution doesn’t cause job loss
in the socialist world, but is dis-
cussed fully in advance and new
techniques are acquired by work-
ing people. ais

-This job security, based on
economic policy for working
people, is only possible when the
people own the means of produc-
tion. The conditions which create
unemployment are removed un-
der socialism — namely the pri-

vate ownership of the means of

production with its accompany-
ing exploitation, competition,
crises and unemployment.

Impact of 25th Congress

Wages to be increased,
food costs, rent stable

By JOHN WEIR

Tribune Moscow Correspondent

MOSCOW — The Soviet
people are living under.the impact
of the recently concluded 25th
CPSU Congress, commentaries
on it from various countries and
actions at home to carry out its
guidelines. From the southern
areas comes news of the begin-
ning of farming operations, while
in industrial centers work is under
way to produce better goods more
efficiently. :

While wages, salaries and farm
income will increase by 20-22% in
the next five years, prices of
staples remain unchanged and in
some cases are lowered: one
kilogram of first grade beef costs

two rubles, of pork one ruble, 90

kopecks, fish from 30 kopecks to
one ruble, milk 28 kopecks per
litre, rice 78 kopecks a kilogram, a
400-gram loaf of white bread 13
kopecks. Prices of coffee, tea and
sugar remain unchanged.

Rent has not changed since
1928 and together with charges
for gas, electricity, water, heating
and other services comes to no
more than 3-5% of the family’s
budget.

Fares on transport also stay the
same with a streetcar ticket cost-

ing three kopecks, a trolleybus
ticket four, and a bus or subway
ticket five kopecks.

The socialist way of life pays in
more bread and butter as well as
other ways.

Note: While it is virtually impos-
sible to compare individual prices
in socialist and capitalist societies
(because it would necessitate tak-
ing into account socialism’s free
medical care, free or token-priced
holiday costs, almost non-existent
rents, free daycare, etc.), for those
readers who wish to work out the
purely monetary relationships, we
provide a few equivalents.

Canadian financial sources
quote the ruble at $1.299. On this
basis a kopek equals 1.299 cents. A
kilo equals 2.2 Ibs and a litre 2.1
pints. At this rate, the 400 grams of
bread that costs Soviet citizens 13
kopeks is about equal to 20 cents a
pound. In Toronto, a 16-0z. loaf of
what many call ‘“‘plastic’’ white
bread sells for about 42 cents. Any-
thing digestible costs much more.
That milk at 28 kopeks a litre is
roughly 17 cents a pint. Cost in
Toronto is 38 cents. A trolleybus
ride for four kopeks would be ab-
out five cents — one-tenth of To-
ronto’s price. :

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 9, 1976—Page 9