‘by LESLIE MORRIS

'

’ OW the-truth is out. Our country has been betrayed to the moguls. of: Wall Street.

The fate of every man, woman and child has been hitched to the Marshall Plan.

When the government’s gross deception is pierced—the net result of the new
plan is that we must embrace poverty, extol austerity, tighten our belts, eat less and pro-
_duce less, and be content to be colonial beggars at the mercy of the United States. When
_ you reject, as common sense demands, the stupid and totally impractical schemes of

- exporting from Canadian branch
plants to compete in the U.S. with
‘the very owners of those Plants,
nothing remains of the King-
Abbott Plan but lower wages,
higher prices, unemployment and
iron rations. For the end is not
yet of this treacherous scheme;
it.is only just beginning.
This is what Ottawa says:
First, that we cut ourselves off
from trade with the vast mnajor-
ity of mankind, in’ Europe and
Asia, because the Canadian capi-
talists don’t like the politics of
Russia, Poland, Yugoslavia, and
hate the colonial people’s efforts
to gain their freedom.

_ Second, that on the insistence
of Wall Street, which is cruShing
British economy, we have reje¢t-
ee : Speeees: pa trade under

the guise of “multilateralism”
and prostrated our economy to
the demands of U.S. corpora-
tions for the domination of Em-
pire markets,

Thirdly, we have cut ourselves
off from the benefits of trade
with the United States and are
told by the Ottawa hypocrites
that instead we must “compete”
with the Americans — which is
just another way of saying that
Canada is to be a hinterland for

supplying raw materials for U.S.

factories.
e ;
E immediate effects of this
program are, to inorease

_prices and to cut wages, on the

plea that we must “practice aus
terity.”. The poor will suffer.

e {
Canada is to join Latin America
and the 16 Western European
nations who beg at Uncle Sam’s

table for crumbs and prostitute .

herself for the price of assisting
reactionary political regimes.

The ‘big capitalists of Canada,
speaking through the mouths of
King and -Abbott, have chosen

to conclude an economic and.

political, alliance with the Tru-

man-Marshall gang to try to save.

their own skins and to preserve
«their rotten system from the ad-
vance of socialism and democ-

macy in the world. The real na-
tional interests of Canada—those
of the workers and farmers—are
sacrificed to the class hatred of
the big shots for the Soviet

?
‘

What prevents ida from trading with the

USSR, democratic Europe eand Asia ?

Will Canadians accept lower living standards to

enrich Wall Street and St. James Street ?

Union, the colonial peoples and
the néw democracies of Europe.

Consequently, trade with de-
mocracy ,is rejected. In the
speeches of Abbott and King you
will find no mention of the ob-

viously democratic policy, of trade,

with the ~ antifascist millions
and their government, but plenty
of reference to the Marshall
Plan and s¥ycophantic lick-spit-
tling of the Washington war-
mongers.

The continuing employarent of
Canadians and their present pay’
rates and union conditions are to
be the victims of a policy of
trade discrimination as part of

_ political warfare upon the rising

socialist sector of the world.
; ®

HAT is to prevent Canada en-

tering into direct negotia-
tions with the Soviet Union, Po-
land, Yugoslavia, India, Britain,
Romania, Bulgaria and Czecho-
slovakia for the conclusion of
halciess agreements to help them

ere’s why ten cents is high —

by EMIL BJARNASON
oa ee (You're

not, of course, but let’s imag-
‘ime you are.) And do you oper-
ate Model-T Fords? (You're a
_ serewball if you do, but -Sup-
posing you have a monopoly
handed to you on a silver plat-
ter embossed with the coat of
arms of the City of Vancouver?)
If you can meet these qualifi-
cations you’re in a good posi-
tion right now to approach Van-
- couver aldermen and persuade

- them that you ‘just have to

charge higher rates because of
- your operating costs,
Naturally, you'll need to show

_ that you are ee
of continued Non- ad-
_ ministration and sworn to keep.

_ politics out of the city
particularly any politics that
might interfere with your mon-
_ opoly. But they’re a pretty good
_ bunch of boys up at the city

hall,

hall, if you know how to get

along with, them. Look what
they’ve done for the BCElectric.
The average streetcar operat-
ing in the city today was built
in the same period as the Model-
T Ford. And if you were a taxi
owner with a. fleet of Model-T
cabs, you’d know what that
- would mean in repair bills?
_ As a citizen and taxpayer you
‘should also know what the
‘BCElectric’s account for main-
tenance of electrical equipment
of cars means to you in fares

_ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1947

you pay. A glance at the figures

‘is enough to show that the re-

pair bills climb as the equip-
ment gets more dilapidated:

fe gets ye $ 44,872
es as 46,742
GSH on, 55,483
soe. Soe ae 163,247
yE meagee eee 208,903
bys geen Be Gr 270,136 ©
rt Se Reet wens: 314,571

This is only one item of re-

pairs out of a total bill for

maintenance of» equipment
mounting to $1,496,926 in 1945.

Repair bills come high on
cther things these days as well.
When you are lamenting about
the high cost of lumber for
building or repairing your’ house,
think how it has hit the BCElec-
tric. In 1939, ties cost $817; in

1945, they tell us, ties cost $55,-

467. This is an increase of 6,700

percent.
Again, in 1939, paving cost
$4,811; in 1945, $46,578—an in-

crease of 870 percent. And the

cost of rails increased from |

$527 in 1939 to $20,753 in 1945.

All of which appears to mean
that the BCElectric has been
doing an enormous amount of
work improving the streets and
tracks. We are sending Diogenes

out with his lantern to locate ©

these improvements.
e

r takes a lot of persuasion
to

get people to ride in Model-

T cars in this airplane age. And

so it is not surprising to find
*

the BCElectric paying $72,000 a
‘year for advertising, but this
also adds to the deficit.

“All in all, the Public Utilities
Commission has found a “deficit”
in the BCElectric’s books at a

' time when cote

—Repair and ‘maintenance costs
are at a,maximum due to dilap-
idation of equipment.

—The company is spending, large
amounts of money on advertis-
ing trying to overcome public

resentment over the company’s

poor service.

The company is paying out
hundreds of thousands of dol-

Jars catching up on pension con-

tributions which it failed to pro-
vide in past years.

—The company is using a great
deal of two-man equipment it
boasts that it will replace with

_ one man vehicles in ‘the near

future.
What the BCElectric’s profit

‘position will be when these fac-

tors are eliminated, the Com-
mission hasn’t told us.

Instead, by implication, it as-
sumes that the BCHlectria
would stay in the red perman-
ently without that fare increase.

As for us, we're waiting to
hear from Diogenes. And Dio-
genes is busting his right arm
cranking his Model-T.

Memo for

Expensive advertisements for the Vancouver Civic Non-
partisan Association, distinguished more for their imagination
than their veracity, ‘are claiming for the present Non-Partisan
city council and Acting Mayor Charles Jones the accomplish- —
ment of having secured homes for veterans. i

City council records, however, show that Ald. Charles
Jones was the man responsible for blocking the Bremerton
project last April whereby 1,600.
been brought to Vancouver for

Knowing that the city counci
amendment to enable it to proceed with the scheme and that
prompt action was required to obtain the amendment before
the legislature prorogued, Jones demanded, notice of motion
before the council’s housing committee could discuss the
ee His action deferred discussion for two weeks and

in the meantime the legislature was prorogued. _

This is a matter of record the cop writers for the Civic
_Non-Partisan Association have conveniently overlooked.

the CNPA

e units were to have
upation by veterans. i
must obtain a charter

reconstruct their countries and
to provide employment here?

Wihat prevents the extension of
Canadian’ dollar credits to these
nations, and to cut this country
from its dependence on the Unit-
ed States? What prevents action
to cut down the surplus value
drawn: from the six billion U.S.
investment in Canada, to nation-
alize the key industries and to
make this country a source of
raw materials and finished goods
for the millions who need them
in ‘their battle to build a new de-
mocracy?

Nothing but the psychopathic
hatred of the Canadian capital-
ists and the King government

‘for anything that will advance

democracy; consuming hatred
of socialism, fear of the Cana-
dian people’s own instinctive
movements against capitalist
monopoly,

These are the political Scunelde
sions to be drawn from the great
betrayal, the cynical sell-out.

: ®
LL Canadians stand for it?
Will auto workers remain si-

ent in the fact of this threat

to their industry, which provides -
employment for workers in 53
ities and towns ? Will electrical
yeeuers suffer the 25 percent
excise tax on the products of
their labor? Will farmers be
dumb when. declining wages pro-
hibit the purchase of their wheat,
vegetables, meat and fruit?

Will Canadians not repudiate
the antics of Finance Minister
Douglas Abbott, who repeatedly
has denied his power to restore
price controls, but on November
18 admitted in Ottawa that he has
that power until the end of next
March? f

To hitch the fate of this coun-.
try to the Wall Street madmen,
who are seeking to put the whole
world in thrall, is to betray Can-
ada’s true national interests, to

invite and speed up’ economic

crisi®

The people of Canada, and in
the first place labor, can and
will raise such a storm of pro —
test as to defeat this treason, to
gain a new nationa] policy of
real world trade and to compel
at once the restoration of price

‘controls and the smashing of the ©
government's plan for Canadian
starvation.

Let’ Canada’s products flow to
democracy. Let us fight for in-
dependence from the robber. bar-
ons of Wall Street. ore

Let us now unite to prevent
this country becoming a Nicar- —
agua of the “American Century
tycoons who have replaced Hit-
ler’s Axis as the threat to free
dom. and democracy.

. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 10