stadia Got yours yet ? ey the auto license ‘plates of the Yukon Territory car- ried the legend, “Land of the Midnight Sun.” But the new British Columbia plates, despite efforts of various organizations te have them made more attrac- tive by the inclusion of a totem pole or dogwood flower sym- bolie of the province, are a drab yellow on black. More important to most car owners is how they’re going to dig up the money for them by the February 29 deadline. Hard hit by taxes, fully half of them have not yet been able to buy their plates. _ WITCH-HUNTING SUBSTITUTED FOR CIVIL LIBERTIE But what has Alsbury to say about defeating Padlock Law? oO* Saturday, February 11, line over its report of a speech made by Trades and Labor Council, at UBC the previous day: Reds — Alsbury.” On Monday, February 13 the Vancou page space to the first of four articles written the Vancouver Pro vince ran this eight-column banner head Tom Alsbury, president of Vancouver “Third of B.C. Unionists bow to ver Sun followed this up by giving front for it by Alsbury. The head read: “ ‘Reds build springboard’ — Alsbury says Communists major threat in B.C.” Why the two major vaices of the big business p which champions labor's genuine causes, sonal opinions on a theme dear to big business is a ponder. : This is how Jack Phillips, secretary of the Vanco (Outside Workers), answers the question in that organiza Sash week) Tom Alsbury spoke at UBC under auspices of the Civil Liberties Union. Ac- cording to the Vancouver Pro- vinee, which gave him a front page spread and the main head- line, he did not speak on civil liberties but, instead, called for stepping up of witch hunting within the trade union move- ment. The main theme of Alsbury’s address, according to this re- port, was that some 25,000 trade unionists in B.C. had democrat- ically elected their officers con- trary to the wishes of Tom Als- bury. Alsbury is a high school principal who, in order to hold a seat on Vancouver Trades and Labor Council, joined Local 407, which represents 75 civic internal affairs. board and air port, none of them in a teaching capacity. , Alsbury also complained that approximately one third of the trade union movement supports policies he is opposed to, and | are therefore under the influ- ence of communism. We do not disagree with the idea that Alsbury has the right to be in opposition to the theor- ies and principles of commun- ism. But we do disagree with the use of anti-communism in order to deprive union mem- bers of the right to elect their own officers and run their own We also dis- agree with the use of anti- communism in order to sup- press the non-conformist views of those in the labor movement laborers employed by the school who disagree with the Alsburys research workers claim to have produced a hard plastic ma- terial from human _ blood which will have revolution- ary effects in world surgical practice. : It can be used internally for various forms of surgical reinforcements, and as_ it comes from the human org- anism it eventually breaks up and is absorbed when the affected part of the body is healed. The story was told in the newspaper Magyar Nemzet by Mihaly Gerendas, leading research worker of Hungary’s national blood transfusion service. “There has been a need for a long time for opera- shapes or forms, such as cups and pipes, that can be placed in the human organism but which can be absorbed after a determined length of time. Plastics of synthetic origin to these demands. Bioplastic from blood tional purposes for certain | used so far do not conform these wound-protecting materials. I'found the albumen which plays a role in congealing the blood — fibrinogen — most suitable for the pur- pose. “I and my colleague, chem- ical engineer Karoly Torok, have succeeded in producing hard preparations, which can be formed into any shape re- quired, from the fibrin which forms the blood clot. We call them bioplastics. “Bioplastics, as they orig- inate from the human struc- ture, do not behave as for- eign bodies when used in the human organism, but slowly break up and are absorbed. “Use of these new materials’ opens up wide perspectives. Bioplastics were used first of all in the treatment of ossi- fied joints, but surgeons are almost daily bringing up pro- posals for other uses. For example, experiments are go- ing on in bone-riveting, cov- ering deficiencies in the chest wall and supplementing the bile duct. “We have no knowledge of ~ CCL terials being either vess in this province, neither of should give such prominence to Alsbury’s per: question trade unionists may well uver Civic Employees Union tion’s Union Newsbulletin. and the policies they represent. Once we open our doors to McCarthyism, the basic liberties of the nation are serious en- dangered. The experience of the trade union movement in the U.S. should prove this point to any unbiased person. Some 4,000 Vancouver civic employees are battling to win more pay and improved fringe benefits. Of these, 2,500 are in TLC unions and the balance belong to an independent union, the Outside Workers. The out- come of this battle will decide what gains the members of Als- bury’s union, 407, will make this year. We have yet to see the record of one public statement in which Alsbury defended the claims of the Vancouver civic employees in the current negotiations. Als- _ bury, it seems, is too busy chas- ing red shadows. He has no time for the substance of the fight for more pay and better conditions. The developing fight against the notorious Padlock Law in Quebec is a good example of how to fight positively for civil liberties and for the protection of labor’s rights. The national executive of the CCL, TLC and councils, and unions across the country have made substantial donations to assist in challenging this undemocratic law before the Supreme Court of Canada. . : But Alsbury has remained silent, even though this law threatens the very basic con- cepts of British and Canadian justice. : Alsbury has many times chal- lenged certain people to go to a psychiatrist with him. To us, this seems to indicate a fear that his obsession with commun- ism, which has warped his out- look on life, will someday trans- from him into a gibbering idiot. We do not wish this affliction on any one, not even Tom Als- ‘bury. All that is required of him ,to avoid this dire fate, is to get back on the road to. sani- ty, to search for the substance e unionism, inste VANS newly-acquired pow- ers enable him to delve deeper into nature’s jealously guarded secrets. ‘ Take the relief of the ocea floor and the continents. ’ ‘This is the most fundamental of all climatic factors, and in order to alter the climate we must be able to change the physical features of certain key regions. : We know that the climatic conditions of a continent de- pend on how “fortunate” it happens to be as regards physical relief. Many scient- ists explain the coming and going of glacial periods by this very factor. In places a seemingly insignificant nat- ural barrier will bar the way to a warm atmospheric or ocean current, and in others such protection is badly need- ed against cold streams of air or water. Hence the efforts of scien- tists and engineers are bound to be aimed at creating the most ‘favorable conditions for ° Changing our climate _fields and lit up by myriads . things of life — if the scien- the circulation of warm cur- rents. originating in the equatorial regions through the “heating system” of the Northern Hemisphere. What all this would mean in practical terms is hard to visualize. But we do know that the realization of pro- jects like the foregoing, based on extensive use of atomic energy, would be tantamount to the discovery of new con- tinents with the climate of Europe and fabulous natural wealth. = What today are forbidden icebound barren lands would be carpeted with the lush green of gardens and farm of electric lights. We can control the ele- ments and harness them to the production of the good tists and engineers of differ- ent countries join efforts. @ Prof. Arkady Martin in the Soviet magazine News : re QUEBEC POLITICAL SGENE How Duplessis rewards friends, punishes foes O votes, no bridges! That, in effect, is what Premier Maurice Duplessis told Rene Hamel, Liberal member for St. Maurice, in the Quebec legislature recently. Duplessis threatened. person- ally to take a hand in defeating him by refusing to build a bridge at Shawinigan Falls “so long as the people of St. Maurice elect Liberal member Rene Hamel.” When it is a matter of granting a favor or privilege, he continued: “we consider the political aspect of the riding... Yll go myself in St. Maurice riding and tell the electors about it,” he added. instead of - Duplessis also likes to usé the government as though it’s his personal property. The Anglo-Pulp “bill of exception” is a typical example. It’s part of his election build- up, Duplessis requested pulp and paper companies in Quebec not to increase their prices to Quebec newspapers , the theory being that it’s nice to. have the newspapers under ob- ligation to you when elections are on. : Elliott Little, boss of Anglo- Pulp, one of the largest news- print companies, is a friend of Duplessis but just as bull- headed as the premier. He refused the “request.” _ Duplessis proceeded to intro- duce the newsprint control law which gives him an economi¢ whip over the newspapers. The?s to settle scores with his friend Little, he brought in a speci@ law just for him... Anglo-Pulp for years has “en: joyed” a special tax exemptio? in the City of Quebec of $3,500,- 000 on evaluation of their prop” erty. The generous exemptio? was arranged by Duplessis — ‘and is now taken away. Thus not only did he satisfy his pad temper but he also wra . himself in the protective mantle of a “trust buster.” But the same day he moved ‘ against Anglo-Pulp, Dupl extended the exemptions of Brompton Pulp — and left U® touched the millions of do of special exemptions which © _ big U.S. pulp companies e?.