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By WILLIAM KASHTAN

- After a week-long debate in parliament on unemploy-
ment, the only thing concrete which came out was the
statement by Labor Minister Starr that a new measure-
ment will be arrived at to find out how many unemployed

there are in Canada.

That may be a useful thing
to do but it has no particular
use value for today’s 500,000
to 800,000 unemployed’ who
hoped parlianient and govern-
ment would come up with
something more tangible.

Truly can it be said that
“the mountain labored and
brought fcerth a mouse.”

It is obvious from the de-
pate and lack of action by the
Diefenbaker government that
it hopes to ride the storm in
anticipation of an improved
economic situation and a con-
sequent decline in unemploy-
ment this spring and summer.
Tt is not without design that
the minister of trade and com-
merce released the yearly sur-
vey of ‘capital spending in-
tentions” for 1960 near the
end of the debate so as to take
the heat off the government
and create the impression that
the situation was well under
control.

This is far from being the’

ease. Undoubtedly there will
be a decline in the number of
unemployed this spring and
summer. But it would be
wrong to conclude that the
$8.7 billion of anticipated in-
vestments will bring on high
or full employment despite
the efforts of the Tory press
to build up the prospect of an-
other boom in the making.
Even in 1957, when the ec-
onomy was on a high level of
activity, there were 257,000
unemployed. This year’s an-
ticipated investment program
is but $70 million more than
in 1957. In _ the intervening
three years prices have risen
and so has the labor force.
How will this $70 million
change the situation, particul-
arly when it is borne in mind
that, to maintain high or full
employment, the capital in-
vestment program ought to in-
erease annually by a minimum
of five percent? On this basis
the survey of capital spending

_ Intentions for 1960, to use the

government’s own terms,
should be well over $10 bil-
lion! Instead it is $8.7 billion.
The government is soft-soap-
ing the Canadian public by
pretending this will assure
high employment. On the con-
trary, the present level of an-
ticipated expenditures assures
us of one thing only — that
unemployment will remain at
& high’ level: 3-"'% sf) 20
This seems to fit in with the
hold the line” policy of the
government,— ostensibly aim-

ed at achieving price stability,
but aciually directed towards
maintaining a substantial num-
ber of unemployed to act as a
deadweight on the wage move-
ment.

It is interesting to note that
at the 30th annual meeting of
Canadian Chamber of Com-
merce, one of the speakers, Dr.
D. E. Armstrong of Economic
Research Corporation Lid.,
Montreal, in answering a ques-
tion. whether price. stability
and full employment could

exist at the same time, said:

“The existence of unemploy-
meni was at the present time
the only real check on exces-
sive wage demands by the
unions.”

‘He suggested “that it would
be neCessary to accept five to
6 percent unemployment in or-
der to preserve price stability.
Unions would have to learn to
moderaie their demands if
they wanted less unemPloy-
ment. To allow wage demands
to be limited by the existence
of unemployment was not a
satisfactory method, he agreed,
but he saw no feasible altern-
ative.” (Quoted from the La-
bor Gazette).

Dr. Armstrong was bold en-
ough to put in print what ap-
pears to be government prac-
tice and policy — the mainten-
ance of a permanent pool of
unemployed. And this policy
is developing at a time when
it is now becoming widely rec-
ognized that current unem-
ployment is not basically sea-
sonal in character; that an im-
portant segmeni of the unem-
ployed are chronically and
permanently unemployed. °

The trade union move-
ment. ought to undertake
an all-out campaign for the
right to work and job security,
butressed by the militant ac-
tion of the workers in every
industry. :

Throughout the capitalist
world the workers are begin-
ning to come to grips with this
question. The workers are re-
fusing to accept lay-offs, dis-
missals and ghost towns as
“acts of God’ and are devel-
oping various forms of strug-
gle to cope with the problem.
In some countries there are
sit-ins, in others general strik-
es, to compel the government
to adopt -a policy of full em-
ployment. Increasingly the
workers are showing a deter-
mination to wrest from mon-
opoly its. monopoly on hiring
and firing.

ppose

High

“Revival by the Bennett government of advocacy of the “High Arrow dam”
presents a grave danger that the great potential of Columbia waterpower may be lost

to British Columbians,” Nigel Morgan, B.C. Communist Party leader, warned this week
in commenting on current Canadian-U.S. discussions.

Extract from Report on
Agriculture to Legisative
Assembly
By N. P. Steacy
Minister of Agriculture
March, 1960

“The trend to larger and
fewer farms now strongly evi-
dent in North America, Great
Britain and continental Eur-
ope is equally obvious here.

The Dominion Bureau of
Statistics shows there were
1658 fewer farms in 1956 than
in. 1951, five years earlier,
while farm population dropped
7624. The relationship of farm
population to total population
14.7% in 1931 declined to
8.0% in 1956 and is even less
today. .

Although 39% of our total
farm population: live in the
Fraser Valley they represent
less than 7% of the total popu-
lation there. Inf contrast the
farm population of the Okan-
agan represents 34% of the re-
gional population and in the
Peace River 39%. As indus-
trialization develops and as the
trend noted earlier continues
the percentage will grow less.
The capital investment of B.C.
farmers in land, buildings, im-
plements, machinery and live-
stock is approximately half a
billion dollars. Individual initi-
ative has been responsible
mainly for building this signif-
icent capital investment.

“The last census reported
approximately 85% of farm
operators held title to their
lands with 75% of all farms
free from mortgages or agree-
ments for sale. I leave it to the
Hon. Members, Mr. Speaker, to
compare this fine position with
that of other groups in our
society. .

“One-third of British Colum-
bia farms are 10,acres or less
and almost two thirds are un-
der fifty acres. This is not a
good situation. The average
size shown is to some extent
more evident in the small fruit
and tree fruit areas.

Fifty five percent of our
farms have a_ production
valued at less than $1200 per
year — mainly their primary
purpose is a home and part of
the family. living. The owners
are mostly part-time operators.
For all of Canada the figure
is: 38%.”

?

“The fact that this is pre-
cisely the same-project through
which Premier Bennett and his
Minister of bribery and corrup-
tion fame, Robert Sommers,
tried to give away the Colum-
bia rights to Kaiser Aluminum,
should not be missed,” Morgan
declared.

“The Americans make no
secret of what they want. Re-
newal of clamor to use the
Canadian section of the Colum-
bia primarily for storage pur-
poses; U.S. demands for recon-
sideration of the U.S. Libby
Dam; and a volume of recent
cabinet speeches and govern-

dicate there is still an acute
danger,” he said.

“Repeated delays enhance
the chances of the Wenner-
Gren-B.C. Electric interests ac-

ment policy statements all in-

———=*

complishing the Peace River
development ahead of the C%
lumbia. And that means higher
light and power rates for B.C.
homes and industry, it would
effectively undermine the post
tion of public power in this
province and increase the pros

getting their way through sut-
render of this irreplaceable
hydro resource.”

“The people of this province

for priority for the Columbia-
We should -demand the Colum-
bia be developed for power
generation -ahead of U.S. stor-
age, and that public ownership
be extended to all power ser
vices linked together in a pro-
vince-wide grid,’ Morgan con-
cluded.

A nation-wide signature campaign is on in Japan to stop
the Diet s approval of the pact with the U.S. Photo shows
Communist Party chairman,

right in front), collecting signatures on a street in Tokyo.

Sanzo Nozaka (second from

Compilation of the 1960 Van-
couver civic voters’ list got
underway last week when 30
enumerators started a canvass
.of homes which is expected to
take six weeks.

vassers will leave a green card

returned to the city
office. ;

All those people who have
lived in Vancouver since Jan.
1 of this year will be eligible
for the voters list. A person is
not automatically on the civic
voters list but must see to it
that they are put on each year
when the new list is drawn up.

clerk’s

If people are not home can-|

which should be completed and |

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NIGED MORGAN »
t . e

March 18, 1960—PACIFIC TRIBUN E—Page 8

pects of U.S. interests finally —

should step up their demand

Arrow-Libby

power deal urges Morgan

Registration of Vancouver —
civic voters now underway