answer questions on By CARL RUSH are answered, and answered Seldom has a government acted in such a high-handed | satisfactorily to the people of manner and indecent haste as the Social Credit government | this province, it might easily |mean that a handful of works | ers will be getting crumbs | while the people of B.C. will vestment in the ‘PNR project; be robbed of their natural +e= is based on their desire to| in pushing through the construction of the Pacific Northern ‘Railroad. No one will deny the great! Photo shows a demonstration of one hundred thousand People on Okinawa to protest the visit of President EFisen- hower. The crowd is being attacked by U.S. troops. The President later had to take his ship. a helicopter to get back to Italian people act to stem fascist revival ROME—AMillions of workers and peasants all over Italy downed tools last Friday in protest against govern- ment failure to protect constitutional liberty against attacks by neo-fascists. It was the greatest general Strike action seen in Italy Since the war. The strike Which lasted 10 hours was al- Most 100 percent. Mass _par- adés and demonstrations took Place all over the country. The Christian Democrat Government, headed by _ Sig- nor Tambroni, has been able to maintain itself in office thanks to the support of 24 Neo-fascist deputies. The re- liance of the government on the majority of the Italian people. Last Saturday left wing par- ties, including the Commun- ists, -Socialists, Republicans and Radicals accepted a gov- ernment proposal for a 15-day truce but the neo-fascist M.:S.I. party and the right wing de- clared against it. A considerable sharpening of the situation is expected in the next few days. with the possibility of a government the fascist group has outraged | crisis coming to a head. Ps need for starting northern de-| velopment. Noone will. deny| the need for building a rail- road if the B.C. northland is to be opened up. But the Social Credit government has acted with such great secrecy on construction of the PNR, that it gets one to thinking “just what the heck is involved here.” People are. asking, why should the PNR ask for a Public Utilities Commission hearing and then just before starting construction, cancel their request? Why did the Socred cabinet dash up to Summit Lake to officially start construction, under the Rail- way Act, for a track that leads to the Yukon border and into the wilderness? The people of B.C. want to know what has been ‘given away in terms of our natural resources in conjunction with the railway right-of-way? Are there speculators involved that are just interested in making a fast dollar? The Liberal leader of B.C.| recently said he had it on very| good authority that U.S. in- utilize this railway as a mobile} missle launching platform for| the Pentagon. In this ease it} doesn’t take too much imagin-) ation to realize that the Socred | government is guilty of endan-| gering the lives of every man, | woman and child in this pro-| vince if the railroad is used| for this purpose. Why has the| Social Credit government been | mum on this question? Unless all of these questions | make millions. The only way public opinion can be satisfied on these ques- tions is for the government ‘te stop construction on the PNR until a full public hearing is called. The .demand for such- a public hearing should be raised in all organizations. Indiv- iduals should send their pro- sources, and the financiers will | tests to MLA’s and the Premier in Victoria, Democratic convention hit by peace, freedom march As the hy-jinx of the Demo- | cratie convention continues to provide the headlines of news- papers, radio and TV, reports of “Marchers. for Peace and Freedom” underscore the real} issues the convention. should be grappling with. Organized peace groups un- der the slogan of “March for Disarmament’ hit the _Demo- cratic Convention Saturday while a mass lobby mobilized | under the banner of March for | Freedom descended upon the Convention. demanding repu- diation of “racial discrimina- tion in any form as un-Ameri- can and immoral.” While the smoke - filled ;rooms were filled with the in- |trigue of aspiring presidential | candidates, the real history of } United States was being forged by those heroi¢ picket- ers—peace and freedom the fu- ture for America and all man< kind. Belgian troops try to grab hack mineral-rich Congo Says U.S. military Interested in PNR Increasing evidence of US. military interest in the Pacific on Railway came last fek in a statement by Carl h Junge, executive director of ie Alaska International Rail Highway Commission. Junge said a 1948 report by pegpenilitary officials said the Re Sion of an alternate land between Alaska and the SS Was “a vital matter,” moeie said development of oats North America bee be costly and would de- economic feasability requirements, or ‘ of ment by this Alas- the icial bears out charges ed j ‘S. military are involv- wlans for the PNR. a in The Belgian government this week put into operation full - scale army intervention in the Congo; which was. offic- ially declared independent at the start of this month. Bel- gian paratroops were flown to a number of key centres and seized .control under pretext ‘of ‘protecting nationals.” Very rich in natural re- sources, the Belgian monopol- ies have ruthlessly exploited the Congo and would like to retain control. Congo produc- ed 70 percent of the world’s industrial diamonds, 75 per- cent of its cobalt, over half the capitalist world’s uranium. Soon after independence was declared a revolt took place among the 25,000-man Congolese army which is of- ficered by 1,000 Belgians. The Congolese soldiers demand re- moval of the whites and a chance to select their own of- ficers. You can help... in. the. struggle to dis- engage: Canada from the U.S. war machine. You can help... in the struggle to develop the unity of the working people in the direction of Peace, Independence and Socialism. You can help. ..- by sending your financial contributions to: Communist Party of British Columbia 502 Ford Bldg., 193 East Hastings St., Vancouver 4, B.C. one US: 340,700 MILLION | & DOLLAR ARMS PROGRAMME “Tl WONDER. W HY? July 15, 1960—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 3