«i ia ple i

7

| Review

‘HE VIENNA “summit” meet-
ing between the leaders of the
world’s two most powerful nations,
President J. F. Kennedy of the
United States, and Chairman
Nikita Krushchev of the Soviet

-Union, ended last weekend. Its

prime historic significance is that,

despite all efforts to scuttle it

+ with coldwar “tough talk’, it hap-
. pened. In the wake of its cordial

social amenities the world breath-

ed a little easier on Monday morn-
ing.

~The post-conference “communi-
que” didn’t give any information
on all issues discussed in the K&K
“summit”. Such “‘communiques”
rarely do, and Vienna was no
exception.

- The hundreds of press reporters
assembled in Vienna to cover this
historic meeting, but happily ex-
eluded from its sessions, fell back

, on “speculation”. U.S. press hawks,
steeped in coldwar mentality and
the art of mass_ brainwashing,
portray the K&K talks as between
\ “a virile and youthful president
- and an aging chairman; as a battle
of giants with “a tough-talking
youth” emerging as the victor.

The “youth” and “age” simile
may fit the personalities in terms
of years, but not in the social sys-
tems they represented. There the
order is reversed.

The K&K discussions undoubt-
edly covered many vital questions
vexing the world today; disarm-
ament, a solution to the abnormal
West Berlin situation, an effort to
solve the Geneva impasse On nu-
clear testing and controls, the
future of Laos, etc. The talks also
probably touched on the rights of
all nations and peoples to choose
their own forms of society ‘and
gevernment, without outside inter-
ference of military aggression. On
Laos there was general agreement
voiced in the joint “communique”
on a “cease fire”.

Upon his arrival in Vienna
Chairman Nikita Khrushchev de-
clared he “would do everything
possible to improve relations _ be-
tween the Soviet Union and -the
United States’; to assure that
these relations are “built up on a
firm basis of peace and positive
cooperation.”

“(It is perhaps more than a co-

Pacific Tribune

Editor — TOM McEWEN
Associate Editor —- MAURICE RUSH
Business Mor. — OXANA BIGELOW

Published weekly at .
Room 6 — 426 Main Street
Vancouver. 4, B.C. -
Phone MUiual 5-5288
Subscription Rates:
One Year: $4.00
“My Six Months: $2.25
Canadian and Commonwealth
countries (except Australia): $4.00
one year. Australia, United States and
all other countries: $5.00 one year.
Authorized as second class mail, .
Post Office Dept., Ottawa.

“é

je

.

K & K in Old Vienn

EDI TORIAL PAGE =

incidence that U.S. “tough talk’
on the eve of the president’s meet-
ing with Khrushchev about West
Berlin should so closely follow the
paralled of the U.S. U-2 spy-plane
“incident” which served to effect-
ively scuttle the Paris “summit”
of 1960.) Chairman of the State
Council of the German Democratic
Republic Walter Ulbricht, recently
declared “there is no reason for
any kind of a military conflict over
West Berlin”, and that a peace
treaty with the GDR would be
signed “before long”.

As world events transpire in the
coming weeks the tenor and con-
tent of the Kennedy-Khrushchey
“summit” talks will be better
known. The vitally important fac-
tor in favor of co-existence and
peace is that such a meeting took
place; that the heads of the
world’s two most powerful states, -
capitalist and socialist, got to-
gether in the conference room to
talk things over. To that extent,
despite the coldwar “tough. talk”
by the trained seals of Yankee im-
perialism, the tension is lessened
and the world’s -peoples. rejoice
that they did meet. A renewed de-
termination by the people to win
peace can crown the Vienna
“summit” with victory.

HE U.S. power trusts, together
with their Canadian - bred
monopolists and political yesmen,
are itching to get the Columbia
River “treaty” signed, sealed and
delivered without further delay.
The U.S. is extremely anxious to
have it ratified post haste. That is
easily understood since the
“treaty” as it now stands delivers
the vast bulk of low-cost Columbia
power to the U.S. Northwest, with
Canada bearing the heavy end of
the costs and the light end of Co-
lumbia benefits.’

Active in this gigantic Tory-
Socred giveaway is British Colum-
bia’s main power octopus, the
BCElectric. - Wenner-Gren manip-
ulators. With two aces up its sleeve
the BCElectric seeks an exclusive
monopoly on Columbia power ex-
port to the USA, while as a key
partner in the Wenner-Gren Peace
River power development, aims to
use that source of high-cost hydro
power to milk the people of B.C.

In short, the BCElectric wants
to export potentially low-cost Co-
lumbia power to the U.S. market,
the while soaking B.C. users,
domestic and. industrial, with high-
cost Peace power.

Hence the BCElectric-Socred-
Tory finagling to get around the

a Take BCE over now}

“no power export” federal rulilg
thereby clearing the way for fim
“treaty” ratification, and
ending U.S. “unhappiness” at the ;
delay in getting its hands on they
Columbia. Another result of UF
finagling, and disastrous for BCs)
will be the BCElectric’s alm®
complete hegemony over all Pi
viricial hydro electric resources:
During the last session of #!F
legislature Premier Bennett ob:
served en passant, that “the 8™F
ernment might have to conside!
the taking over of the BCElect!
under public ownership”. eo
In the course of the last 25 yer :
wide sections of the people of Dy
people.through their numerous oF
ganizations have strongly voit
similar opinions. Every transit ?
electric power hike, and they have
been numerous and invariably ®
companied by a _ worsening ,
services, emphasizes the need for
public ownership. “a
' Some have argued, rather ™
effectively, that the BCElectri¢ :
“too. big” to take over. With tM 4
Columbia and Peace in its clutelt 3
to play both ends in favor of i
middle, it will still be “bigs,
Sooner or later the people of de
will have to “take over”. Why
now? a

——|

Tom
McEwen

T ONE of his recent public
meetings in B.C., Major -
General W. H. S. Macklin proposed
among other things that the Cana-
dian army be “taken out of civil
defence’’.

We'll go the General one better
and suggest that the Canadian tax-
payer also be “taken out of CD;
instead of being “taken in”-to the
tune of millions of dollars with
nothing to show for it except-mass-
ive stupidities and criminal waste.

During the “evacuation” phase
of CD a vast amount of transport
and other equipment was pur-
chased. A lot of it is now stashed)
away under bridges (as in Vancou-
ver) and in other vacant areas,
there to rust’ and rot. The total cost
of this “evacuation” junk would
have provided extended and in-
creased unemployment insurance
benefits to jobless workers for
quite a few moons. But the CD
“experts” who couldn’t even get
home to dinner in normal rush-
hour traffic, were all for their
“evacuation” idea regardless.

Then came the “fallout shelter”
binge with its to-tax-or-not-to-tax
dilemma of: government pundits.

This, entirely aside from the fact
that economically, a major portion
of Canada’s working force couldn’t
even afford to add the cost of an
old-fashioned ‘“‘outhouse’”’ to their
shrinking family budgets.

In Vancouver the enterprising
Jaycees erected one of those “fall-
out” monstrosities on the Court
House lawn as a “come-on” to a
skeptical citizenry. Had some. al-
dermanic. genius hung a “gents”
above the entrance, the thing
might have served some fleeting
public use. In “‘due course” as the
politicians say, the Jaycee ‘‘shel-
ter’. was quietly removed, having
served as.a public eyesore but
nothing else.

Then came the most recent farce
of “Operation Tocsin”. For all
practical) purposes of “defence”
that- too was a dismal flop, albeit
a-rather costly flop to John Tax-
payer, ,and with a one-sidedness
which staggers the imagination.

While the Diefs,, Bennetts and
kindred “statesmen” were (figura-
tively speaking) high-tailing it to!
their respective designated dugouts
to “continue the functions of gov-
ernment”, the rest of the popula-
tion were left with nothing but pot
luck and a package of CD propa-
ganda to ‘shelter’ themselves
from an imaginary hail of H-bombs.
A sort of “to hell with you Jack,
I’m all right”, or the “survival of
the government, by the govern-
ment, and for the government” and.
the devil take the hindmost.

It probably never occurred to

these “statesmen” . heading 10%
their “shelters” that in the event |f
of U.S. maniacs unleashing nucleat — 4
war upon the world, they them —
selves, as far’as Canada is concer
ed, will be primarily responsible: {J
That being the case, they are not |F
likely to be “the government” if, i
as and when they do emerge fro™ |F-
the dugouts built for themselves # |
the taxpayer’s expense. f
The Financial Post of May 1% |
dedicated almost half a page
“Operation Tocsin”, enumeratin®
the millions of dollars spent PY |p
federal and ‘provincial gover® |—
ments on the stupidities of CD, 28% |F
expressing the great elation of cD iE
officials that “Canadian apathy © |
wards civil defence is ending’. __
That can be interpreted in tw?
ways; to continue this CD outrag®
on the sanity and pockets of Cav®
dians, or to end this costly stup!® —
ity by making survival a certaint
through greater peace action; b :
outlawing the H-bomb instead oom
playing with it. ;
In the tons of literature issued
under the general ‘heading of “ci¥!
defence” and at the taxpayer’s © |B
pense, there is not one single ide# JF
for “survival” presented that will
stand close examination. At be
it can be lumped as propaganda Te
and unrealistic propaganda at thab “1h
since it ignores the prime conc]
sion of all scientific opinion, V!”
that in a nuclear war with its CO%
sequent destruction of the source AR
of all life, and life itself, theté 7”

no defence. an
fi

June 9;

[mee |
1961—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—P4*