! x Progress g horgenge ure sh f public transportation over the past 100 years 1s depicted by this Owing the Roadmaster, London Transpoft’s newest bus, and the . ow Gray * pgs Dicture Ww a knifeboard vehicle used in London during the eighteen-fifties. The ~TWo | I : ‘gures published this inthe coy Ow how the farmers | hE peop! Ntryside and the work- * feeced f © in the cities are being At O, the monopolies. Stat: . tawa, the Bureau of os sclosed that living lltime 12>! HOw stand at ar ‘time nd at an - the ine And the reason: nee Price of food. g, iy Shae Nations » tion te Ficulture Organiz- i Productins that world farm | bigher the IS three percent tts «peat than last but o farmer. generally - And the reason: have increased i ; £8 deterion _comments that atm Populi Position of the oe anxiety” continues to eRe ti Where a Columbia, as else- ue can € country, farmers se ere for what they Urn fore ting a lower net re- Ww at_ they produce. HAL GRIFFIN Subset. — RITA WHYTE 0 &ription Rates: far: $4.00 eseehe es > Au jtustralia): $4.00 eek United States ries: S5 Year. ®s: $5.00 one en during a recent exhibition organized to mark the centennial. | Why unity is needed Their problems, if response to their appeals over the past year is any indication, don’t appear to be causing the Social Credit government any anxiety. Rising living costs for the working people, declining re turns for the farmers, are the clearest expression of the need for labor-farmer unity in this election around CCF, LPP and Labor candidates. EDITORIAL PAGE Behind the Sommers case REMIER W. A. C. Bennett's statement this week that he will take R. E. Sommers, former lands and forest minister now seeking re-election in Rossland- Trail, back into his cabinet if the courts clear him, establishes the ‘‘Sommers’ case’ as a vital issue in this election. Public attention has been centred on the charges of cor- ruption which forced Sommers to relinquish his portfolio at the last session of the legislature and on the subsequent actions for libel and contempt initiated -~by Sommers against his accusers. The case is important in that it bears upon the integrity of a goverement member. The great- er issue, however, is the give- away policy which has largely been operated through the de- partment Sommers headed until a few months ago. This bears on the integrity of the govern: ment, exposing as hollow its pretenses to ‘‘good government” and its boasts about “‘presperi- 9 ty. Comment The buying “‘prosperity’’ by giving government has been away our natural resources to US. interests without heed for the indastries and jobs sacrific- ed in the process. Its only policy is one of expediency and to- morrow, if it continues, the peo- ple will have cause to protest the price. There is every reason for Frank McMahon and H. R. MacMillan to praise Bennett's government, for they and the oil, natural. gas and. lumber in- terests they represent are the beneficiaries. Only Dal Grauer’s praise is needed to round out the picture of Social Credit as the approved representative of big business. Credit may point to Premier Bennett's Social campaigners smile as his greatest personal political asset. It is also not amiss to recall Shakespeare’s lines in Hamlet that “‘one may smile, and smile, and be a vil- Jain.”’ E DIDN'T GO to the PNE this year. And unless’ there are some changes We won’t be going next year either, Surprisingly enough, our isi brough Sie tions acs kids, although we have gone every year since they were old enough to toddle around. “T just like seeing the animals,’ my son remarked. My daughter merely shrugged her shoulders. Then one of her school chums came around and she weakened. “Pye got a free ticket,” she said. “Guess I might as well use it. She was back by mid-after- noon. “It’s the same old thing, she announced with teen-age scorn. “Salesmen everywhere trying to sell you something, but there's nothing much to see. I sooner spend a day going around de- ¢ no indignant pro- - In her own way she was ex- pressing the reason thousands of people like ousselves stayed away from the exhibition this year. 55 SIN oe eo Over the past few years, as goods have piled up in the ware- houses despite the steady expan- sion of credit, the exhibition has been seized upon as a grand op- portunity to unload merchandise, For many exhibitors it means no more than opening a temporary branch store at Exhibition Park. The PNE still has commend- able features like the livestock show and the hobby show, but they are increasingly being sub- ordinated to the aggressive sales- manship of commercial concerns which confuse-the exhibition with dollar. day. The PNE, if it is to serve its purpose, should acquaint the people with all the technological advances that affect their living. It should contrast the past, dem- onstrate the present and fore- shadow the future. And it should do so with displays that both entertain and educate. An intriguing display or a free sample is more convincing than all the sales talk although it may not be reflected immediately on the cash register. E Most commercial exhibitors at the PNE seem to want a‘dollar in hand before they will spend one cent. Goodwill is a word whose meaning they have never grasped. Oe © 5 Saas # There’s a connection between the decline of the PNE and the cultural backwardness of Van- couver as a city. They are both run by the same narrew-minded, dollar-blinded clique of business- men. Z That's why it is taking us so long to get a new library, a civic auditorium. That’s why we don’t have even one decent museum. For the same reason all sports facilities have to be reckoned in terms of the revenue they will return. If it’s a tourist attraction, it may be considered. If it can be- come a money-making spectacle, as football has beconie, it’s worth the risk. If it’s a swimming pool for the kids on the east side, a museum where they can learn about their heritage, the city can’t afford it. Whether at the PNE or the city hall it's the same story — the exhibitors are too busy satisfy- ing their own greed to worry about the people’s need. .And it’s time for a change. the department stores.” SEPTEMBER 7, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 7