Effie Jones for mayor ANCOUVER citizens will have the long- awaited opportunity on December 10 to register their opposition to BCElectric power politics in civic administration. Stripped of all Civic Non-Partisan Associa- tion (CNPA) verbiage about “keeping politics out of the city hall,” the issues are clear cut. Is the BCElectric, through the medium of its CNPA hand-picked mayor and aldermen, going to be permitted to continue its plunder of Vancouver’s utilities and taxpayers, or shall the voters on December 10 write finis to this evil consortium which has bedevilled Vancouver for a decade or more, by electing to civic office true representatives of the people? That is the basic issue in this civic election. It is no longer a question of “keeping politics out of the city hall,” but of terminating the CNPA-BCElectric power politics which has pea- etrated every administrative corner of the city hall like a dense fog. Charles ‘High Fare’ Jones, BCElectric yes- man, has been selected by the CNPA to continue in the mayor’s chair because he does what they and the BCElectric tell him. No more, no less. Similarly with the CNPA hand-picked slate of aldermen, including Alderman R. K. Gervin, who won his seat with labor backing—and votes the CNPA dictum every time the BCElectric calls for a handout. A brand of ‘labor represen- tation’ labor can well dispense with. Against this CNPA array of BCElectric mayorality and aldermanic bell-hops stand Ef- fie Jones for mayor and Elgin Ruddell for al- derman, candidates of the Civic Reform Com- mittee and trusted fighters in the interests of the common people. Their past record in the struggle for decent housing, tax reform, public ownership of the BCElectric and other issues of vital importance to Vancouver’s prosperity and well-being, is well known. _CNPA candidate for mayor, Charles ‘High Fare’ Jones did as he was told and handed the BCElectric 1%-million dollars of the people’s money by saying ‘yes sir’ to Grauer’s fare hoist. Effie ‘Low Fare’ Jones proposes this loot be immediately returned to the people, and the BCElectric compelled to supply safe and ade- quate transit service in accordance with the terms of its franchise, and until the people of B.C. take it over as a public utility—run in the sole interest of the people. On December 10 register your opposition to BCElectric politics in the City Hall by voting EFFIE JONES FOR MAYOR .. . ELGIN RUDDELL FOR ALDERMAN, Hane One hundred years ago N November 29, 1847, one hundred years ago Saturday, the second congress of the Communist League met in London to receive from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels the draft of the Communist Manifesto. The theoretical and practical party program was completed in its final form in January 1848, arid sent to the printer. The first two paragraphs of the Manifesto are; “A spectre is haunting Europe—the spectre of( Communism, All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise: this spectre: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police- spies, “Where is the party in opposition that has not been decried as communistic by its oppon- ents in power? Where is the opposition that has not hurled back the branding reproach of Communism, against the more advanced opposr tion parties, as well as against its reactionary adversaries?” Substitute U.S. imperialism for the Tsar, Bevin and Blum for Metternich and Guizot, and . Marxist analysis is seen in all its continuing. power. ; He hit . As we see 7 | ’ but it did’, right here in British Columbia’s key cities of Vancouver, New Westminster and Victoria. In every instance ‘where the ordinary people:.\had an, oppor- tunity to express their. will by popular vote on whether or not the BCElectric transit monopoly should have its franchise extend- ed ..... the people voted it down | with a thumping majority. Nevertheless the BCElectric sion. We venture to say that had the issue of the BCElectric fare boost “been submitted to a popular vote ‘of the people, it would have been turned down three to one _ Nevertheless the BCElectric got ‘its 33 percent fare increase. To get the franchise extended for another 20 years the BCElec- tric drew a lovely picture of a streamlined transportation sys- T:: couldn’t happen — tem. It was really a work of art.” The old: ramshackle street cars and decrepit tracks would be re- placed with smooth-running mo- tor and trolley busses. Sleek street cars like something out of a ‘Flash Gordon’ comic strip would purr along on level tracks. The ‘company’ would spend mil- lions on the new system—if they got the franchise, and were able to eliminate all competitors — _ always an important factor in the technique of “free enterprise.” The ‘fare’ with chronic lumbago or arthritis could ride in com- fort. It was really a beautiful picture, well calculated to allay Public suspicion. é oe a new 20-year franchise tucked away in its breast pocket, duly approved by tnat august body known as the Public WIRE San TUTE Utilities Commission, and like- wise ‘heartily’ endorsed by its yes-men on the various civic ad- ministrations, the BCElectric got set for the next move in its master-strategy plan — how to make the public pay for what it had been promised. A ticklish hurdle, but not insurmountable. All competitors had been ‘bought’ up, the situation “cased” as the hoosegow fraternity ‘would Say, and looked like a “cinch,” . Eureka! The successful stalling of the street railwaymen’s wage demands for a period of 814 months, if culminating in a strike, would serve as : ‘proof’ that it is now impossible (due to unfore- seen labor costs) to implement the streamlined promises — ex- cept of course for a considera- tion of, say, around a couple of “million dol- Jars. “It’s not all we're entitled Tom McEwen to,” warbles the BCElectric trou- badour, “but it’s the minimum needed if the improved transit plan (read promises) is not to be endangered.” The heavy brass of press and radio are called into play to set up a cacophony of manufactured ‘public opinion’ against the union’s wage demands, and to distract the people’s attention while their pockets are being picked. How beautifully the whole plan ‘works. Not a hitch. An exclusive franchise for a bagful of prom- ises. A couple of million dollars as an ‘interim’ incentive to keep a few of the promises. A great game. ate ‘; it ma ry Published Weekly at 650 Howe Street By THE TRIBUNE PUBLISHING COMPANY LTD. Telephones: Editorial, MA. 5857; Business, MA. 5288 Tom McEwen Editor Subscription Rates: 1 Year, $2.50; 6 Months, $1.35. Printed by Union Printers at 650 Hewe Street, Vancouver, B.C. Authorized as second-class mail by the post-office department, Ottawa FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1947 By Tom McEwen Small wonder that the BCElec- tric troubadour in one of his CMA after-dinner oratorios could warble that “our social system is the best that has yet been de- vised.” It certainly is—for the monopo- lists. Vancouver citizens have a rare opportunity on December 10 to put a lasting crimp in this per- “petual transit monopoly holdup. To say with their votes what they have been deprived of saying on ‘the franchise or on the fare hoist—that BCElectric promises doesn’t make a 7-cent ride worth 10 cents. Just mark your ballot EFFIE JONES FOR MAYOR, and hum this little ditty in your neigh- bor’s ear the while: “Jones versus Jones, a race to win; ‘High Fare’ Charlie is voted out, and ‘Low Fare’ Effie IN.” e ~ would never do for Washing- ton to trail behind Ottawa, since the opposite is the mode, so Washington is soon to make “sensational disclosures” of So- viet ‘spying’ which will make the . Gouzenko Canadian spy thriller look as tame as dishwater. Trou- ble is that most of these ‘sensa- tional discoveries’ which are lapped up by our ‘free press’ are just plain downright lies, de- signed to feed the grist-mills of the anti-Sovieteers. This latest ‘thriller’ reminds us that twice during the last three months Maurice DupleSsis of Que- bec discovered two ‘communist plots’; one to take over the gov- eae os of Quebec, and the other to ‘blow up’ cathedrals! Maurice was going to announce all the gory “details” later. But nothing, is forthcoming. The reason is ob- vious. They have nothing to give out. Their trumped up stories are the figment of a fascist-diseased brain. A mentality that can ‘dis- cover’ that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a ‘communist’ will stop at nothing. Their ‘discover- ies’ are designed to slander the Soviet Union and smear the, in- tegrity of progressive citizens. ‘Pinna twirl yer sticks me lads, this is no a picket line job. While ye’re all aware there’s nae politics in th’ force (tak that grin aff yer face, Constable McHaggis), if ye dinna want mair o’ yon reshufflin, jest mark yer ballots for the lassie Effie I’m thinkin’ she’s jest what’s needed up th’ hill” Super a-bomb test Bern Atoll in the Marshall Islands, deep in the heart of ‘the Pacific, is to become a “super” atom-bomb testing station for ‘U.S. imperialism. The natives of Eniwetok, like the natives of — Bikini Atoll nearly two years ago, are to be booted out of their * ancestral home to make way for atomic research—for destruction. The Security Council of the UN will be told just what U.S imperialism deems it should know, and no more. It can approve or disapprove, but the ‘Bull’ Halseys have spoken, “We'll go wheré — we damn please.” : The American Atomic Energy Commission: has promised the natives payment for their lands and “every care and assistance” in getting resettled, but it is a one-sided deal. An arrogant imperial ism which challenges all who do not bow down to ‘its way of life’ is hardly to be disturbed because a handful of simple native people do not want to leave their ancestral home. The natives of : Atoll are stranded and heartbroken. The natives of Eniwetok are about to savor the taste of U.S. atomic mandates. All tests of new super atom bombs, ten times the destructive . force of those which laid Hiroshima and. Nagasaki waste, will be carried out in the strictest secrecy, or as the atomaniacs term ie with “full security restrictions.” : The daily press headlines this ‘news’ of a new super testing. ‘ station on Eniwetok with the provocative caption “An answer to - _ Russian claims,” which unwittingly tells the story behind the ir - stallation—the story of a power-crazed imperialism, armed with 2 : new weapon, bent on world rule—or ruir. a ee es ee A wise-cracker commenting on the Hollywood purge puts it- this way: “If there are as many Communists in Hollywood aS ‘the Thomas un-American Committee says there are, the whole lot. of them should be shot for the artistic tripe they produce.” That may be a bit extreme, but we agree with his estimation of 99 percent of the films produced in the glamor industry. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 4