‘U.S. course fraught with danger,’

‘Worker’ editor tells city rally

“The course set by the ad-
ministration in the United States
is fraught with grave dangers
for the U.S, and world peace...
The kind of statement needed
today by Canada’s leaders and
Prime Minister Pearson to
President Johnson is ‘halt, down
that trail lies only tragedy for
the world,’ ”

These were the words of James
E, Jackson, editor of the U.S,
Worker,
persons in Vancouver’s Queen
Elizabeth Playhouse last Sun-
day night at a “Save the Peace”
rally sponsored by the Pacific
Tribune,

In an inspiring speech, the
U.S. Negro Communist leader
said that these are stirring times
in which we live and that it is
necessary for mankind to “turn
threatened tragedy into hope for
man,”

Jackson showed the relation-
ship between the struggle in the
Dominican Republic and Vietnam
and said: “Seven thousand miles
separate the scenes in Vietnam
from Santo Domingo but death
and sorrow derives from one
common centre — Washington,
D.C.” . He said, “death has be-
come an American export with
a made-in-U.S.A, label and
stamped with the LBJ brand
mark,”

Tracing the events in the Dom-
inican Republic, Jackson said
that the Constitutional forces
have overwhelming support and
that the cause was on the verge
of victory when U,S, ambassador
Bennett ordered an air bombard-
ment which killed 1,000 men,
women and children,

Jackson said that the U.S, gov-
ernment had deliberately chosen
the Dominican Republic in which
to stage a demonstrative act of
terror to warn other peoples in

at a meeting of 400

Latin America who threaten. to
rise for freedom, “It was a
Texas-style lynching to warn
other peoples of the Western
Hemisphere.”

He said the U.S, action was a
brazen piece of gunboat diplo-
macy and shattered com-
mitments under existing inter-
national law, including the OAS
Charter which the U.S, itself
had drafted. Jackson said de-
posed President Juan Bosch was
a Kennedy-style reformer but
even that was too much for the
U.S. monopolists who have a
quarter of a billion dollar in-
vestment in the Dominican Re-
public,

Johnson’s concept of com-
munism is the McCarthyite ver-
sion said Jackson, according to

which all social reform and anti-
imperialist movements are to be
fought. “The Johnson Doctrine
would launch war without end
against the people of Latin Amer-
ica and the world who want free-
dom from U.S. monopolies.”
Turning to the situation in
Vietnam, Jackson said the U.S,
administration arrogates to it-
self the role of policeman, 7,000
miles from the U.S, The U.S,
was the “outlaw on the scene”
and its intervention in South
Vietnam during the past 10 years
has already. cost 700,000 lives,

“The puppet regime in South
Vietnam has no standing or auth-
ority and is maintained solely
by the machine guns of 45,000
U.S, troops,” said Jackson,

Pointing to the growing move-
ment of opposition in the U.S,
against the present course of the
Johnson administration, Jackson
said that “the struggle for peace
today is the true mark of
patriotism,”

Recalling Johnson’s election
pledge: “The only war I would
lead in would be a war against
poverty,” Jackson said the U.S,
voters were inspired by the de-
feat of Barry Goldwater, but that
Johnson has now betrayed the
mandate given him by the people.

Johnson had moved to the right
but the people are moving to the
left, they are on the march and
shedding their last illusions.

Jackson pointed out that the

AT PT RALLY. Photo nhows U. S. Worker editor James
Jackson holding totem pole presented by PT editor Tom
McEwen, on the right, at last Sunday’n “Save the Peace”’

rally in the Queen Elizabeth Playhouse. On the left is PT

associate editor Maurice Rush who chaired the meeting.
Jackson was also presented with the first Honor Press
Builders’ badge for the current financial campaign.

—Fisherman photo, George Legebokoff

fight for peace and civil
are related, He quoted
Luther King, who said: “
benefit would it be for Neg
to win the right to drink 2 &
of milk at a desegregated cou
only to find it had. strontil
in it.”

He pointed out that U.S, m0!
olies had accumulated
amounts of capital and were ™
manding that the governmentD!
sue policies all over the W?
to make other countries
for U.S. investment,

f

Dealing with the economic:
ation in the U.S,, Jackson
that there had been muchp
ganda about the “affll
society.” “The U.S. is a?
dise for the affluent — )
not an affluent paradise for
many.” He pointed out
there are 34 million people
low the poverty level and an?
32 million just above the po
level, :

He said the U.S. ne@
massive housing, hospital
school construction prog
and that the surpluses of
should be assigned to wipe
poverty and build for the
of society.

Jackson was introduced by!
editor Tom McEwen, who tr
the history of the labor P
in B.C., and paid tribute 1
support which Canadian work®
have received over the yen!
from U.S, workers, At the@™
clusion of Jackson’s speech, ™
Ewen presented him with 0
pole on behalf of the reade!®
the PT...

Popular folk singer —
Hawken sang songs of the peoplé
struggles at the opening and@
clusion of the meeting. 4
ancial appeal broughta collect!
of $278, which together with
collected at the door, br?
the total collection to $388

—

National unity aired at Bi-Bi hearings

By CHARLES CARON

Last week the Royal Com-
mission on Bilingualism and Bi-
culturalism met in Vancouver to
hear briefs from organizations
and individuals, The two sessions
I attended proved to be most
interesting and informative, In
the spirit of its interim report
of February 1, 1965, the Com-
missioners spared no effort to
obtain the most objective view
of the opinions submitted to them,

Three briefs presented on the
second day of the hearings were
of particular interest, -

The United Fishermen and Al-
lied Workers Union presented a
brief (the only Union brief sub-
mitted) covering three points:
A — French Canada and national
unity; B— Minority groups and
C — Native Indians,

Homer Stevens, secretary of
the union, after complimenting
the Commissioners for their
work, stated that he wanted to
insert a change in his union’s
brief, already in the hands of
the Commission, He said that
although there was agreement
at their 1964 convention as tothe
general outline of the submission,

the executive board had not had
the opportunity to discuss the
finished brief because of date-
of-submission deadlines,

When the discussion was held
it revealed differences of opin-
ions with the submitted report
on two points: the right of se-
cession for the French nation of
Quebec, and the method of ex-
pressing the equality of the two
nations within the framework of
a Canadian-made constitution.

* * *

On the right of French and
English Canada to end apartner-
ship, the majority of the execu-
tive board felt that this right
was inherent in the spirit of
equality and should remain in
their brief; but the matter of
a central government composed
of an equal number of repre-
sentatives from each nation was
rejected. Homer Stevens re-
ported to the commission that the
executive board of the Union re-
quested deletion of that portion
of the brief, :

Much interest was shown and
much time given by the Com-
missioner to the section of the
brief dealing with the plight-of

the ‘Native Indians and they re-
quested that Stevens give a fur-

_ther elaboration of this. point,

Another brief that attracted
considerable attention was that of
the Ukrainian Canadian Com-
mittee, Vancouver Branch,

Mrs, Kripps, on behalf of her
organization said that the edu-
cational system was distorted in
British Columbia; that Canadian

historians present the Ukraine ©

and its city, Kiev, as part of
Russia; that they had failed to
show the Ukrainians as a con-
quered and subjugated people.
This concept of alleged discrim-
ination set the tone for the sub-
mission,

In the brief she charged that
the Commission’s interim report
was guilty of lack of neutrality
in its reference to “an equal
partnership between two founding
races.” (The commission in the
interim report incorrectly used
the word “races” instead of
nations,) Mrs, Kripps said that
“the implication is that full
equality is to be extended only
to two racial groups,”

Their brief went on to say
that “any legislation or recom-
mendations which do not take

into account all Canadians, Eng-
lish, French, Ukrainian, etc.,
would simply provide legal basis
for racial discrimination,”

The kernel of the Ukrainian
Canadian Committee’s sub-
mission consisted in the per-
petuation of the status of the
French Canadian nation to one
of a national minority in Canada,

Mrs, Kripps had toadmit many
inconsistencies in the brief. For
example, she had to admit that
provision of equal status for

French and English nations did -

not constitute, as their brief
stated, “a threat to democratic
right of the Ukrainian people,”

* *K *

The third brief was that pre-
sented by Mr. Frank Bastedo,
formerly of Saskatchewan, on
behalf of himself and the Hon-
orable P,H, Gordon, Q.C.

Mr, Bastedo made a number
of minor amendments in his in-
troduction to his brief, which was
one of a most perfunctory legal
approach to a social problem,
The brief was a cataloguing of
the legal acts of conquest of the
English over the French, No
precedent existed to allow or pro-

vide for the equality of the FM
nation,

When questioned by profe’
Scott as to the intent of C©
non-legalistic acts that 9°
recognition in practice of C®
national right for French Qué
he countered with the are” ;
that there is no legal pasi?
justify such conclusions.
went so far as to questi
terms of reference and they
right of the Commission to
hearings under the B.N.

>

When asked whether he av
tioned the right of any
mission to study matters
the boundaries of the B.N.
such as the Hall Commiss!®
was stumped,

The Commission gracial
read into his submissiol
provision existed undet
B.N.A. Act for an equal ®
between the French and Ene
nations,

In total the proceedings of
hearings verify the interi™
port of the Commission,
that “so far, most of us
seem to have understo0!
be ready to meet the im?
tions of equal partnership.

do

May 21, 1965—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PO9