CHINA TRADE COULD SPARK HUGE BOOM ‘Can dwarf present sales’ — Hamilton China is a ‘“‘fantastic market” for Canadian and B.C. goods, and is prepared to buy ‘tremendous quantities’’ of forestry and mining pro- fertilizers and other goods. This was the mes- sage brought back to Canada last Friday by former agriculture minister Alvin Hamilton, when he landed at Vancouver after a 17-day visit to China at the invitation of the Chinese government. FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 1964 (Ol. 25, No. ig Very MU Ved In Man. the thagjntPlred A) Office at the very mo [ ef ; H ALIVE. This latest photo of Soviet Premier N. S. Khrushchev ¢ on Tuesday when West Ger- News stories had the Soviet leader dead. Much fo the Nues nts ©ver-anxious revenge-seekers in Bonn, the Soviet leader fight for Peaceful co-existence. Ne : Bioag ations between one of ang ne eer Unions, Mine Mill, goto a the Provinces largest Smettin » Consolidated Mining . & Co. have broken down. TOVing; has appoitcial Dept. of Labor as Conei); dJackSherlock to act PUte, on officer in the dis- (eetations ttects all Cominco Trai, Ki ’’ Western Canada, : Over 4 mberley, Salmo, etc.) ze **~~ Workers are involvy- Bain ‘ Se ‘nion demands of a 15¢ a crease, plus over- ; on hours worked on ae Company has of- tw, lve ce ©~Vean Nts each year ona Contract, cet oa also demanding the tect to schedule the Would i¢ which the union thy a fad to a situation ork; 2 Would know ade- The u Ing Week,’? Ons 3: N's joint bargaining “ge talks collapse — ®tween CM&S, union committee has rejected the com- pany ‘‘offer’’ and packed mem- bership meetings in Trail, Kim- berley, Riondel and other points have voted unanimously to back their committee. : Indicative of the fighting mood of B.C. miners and smelter wor- kers was the turnouts at these meetings—over 1,100 in Trail, over 500 in Kimberley, andso on. Harvey Murphy, Western Dis- trict President of Mine Mill, told the PT the turnouts constituted “tthe largest membership re- sponse since the union has been established.”’ The fight against CM&S is as- suming semi-political overtones in that the proposed work sche- dule advocated by the company would run counter to the pro- vincial Metalliferous Mines Re- gulation Act, according to the union. Mine Mill expects the Ben- nett government to enforce the terms of this act. ducts, farm machinery, “The expectations we had about future trade with China have, if anything, been too pessimis- tic,’? Our exports of wheat to China, which have meant so mucl to the Prairies and B.C. ports, could be ‘‘dwarfed by trade in industrial goods,’’ Hamilton told interviewers, as he enthusiastic- ally urged Canada to take full advantage of the new opportuni- ties open to it. Hamilton said China consid- ered Canada a friend because of recent wheat sales, which gives Canada a competitive advantage if it moved quickly to supply at least part of the fantastic Chinese requirements. Vast needs The former agriculture minis- ter, who is generally credited with having pioneered the large scale wheat deals, saidthat China is particularly interested in for- est products, which it gives top ‘priority. He said China is anxious to enter the world’s markets as a means to raise the standard of living of its 700 million people, **to feed, to house them, toclothe them.’’ It will be recalled that during the thirties the Chinese lumber market was one of the main- stays for B.C.’s forest industry. Hamilton’s remarks indicate that the rising living standards of the Chinese people and growing hous- ing and industrial needs, could give a tremendous boost to B.C.’s forest and mining industry. “In contrast to the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s, in China, the people today are better paid and better fed,’’ said Hamilton. He spoke glowingly about the Chinese children and the vast sports fac- ilities available tothe people, and other aspects of life in China, China is at present Canada’s sixth largest customer. In 1963 she imported $105 million worth of goods. If Hamilton’s proposals for expanding two-way trade are acted upon, China could become Prohibit wire-tapping urge B.C. Communists A demand that Attorney - General Robert Bonner take steps to protect the public from wire- tapping was contained in a wire this week from B.C. Communist Party leader Nigel Morgan. The wire to Bonner said: “Provincial Executive of the Communist Party condemns the shocking invasion of personal privacy involved in retired Sgt. Nuttall’s exposure of wire- tapping. We appeal to you as chief law enforcement officer in B.C. to take necessary steps to prohibit this criminal invasion of civil rights.” Disclosure of the wide use of wire-tapping by police and private agencies including tapping of union phones, has stirred up a big storm in B.C. one of the largest Canadian mar- kets. This week a 43-member Dele- gation from the Vancouver Board of Trade returned after a 29 day tour which included Hong Kong. Commenting on trade with China, past president W. Ander- son said, ‘*‘The Chinese are anx- ious to have some reciprocal trade. We viewed what they had and there would appear to be a number of things that would find a market in our country.”’ Among the items, which Canada now imports, Anderson listed ob- jects of art, a range of small machines like sewing machines and bicycles, sporting equipment, a line of lathes and machine tools. Anderson warned that, ‘‘If we are going to continue to sell wheat we have to give some evi- dence of wanting to trade with these people or we are going to lose a customer.’’ Spark boom The people in B.C, have already had a taste, through the wheat shipments, of what trade with China could mean to the Pacific coast. A vast expansion of this trade into other fields couldbring the biggest boom B.C.’s economy has ever experienced. Such expanded trade could also be extended to shipping, which would give a boost to our ship- yards and make even more neces- sary the building of a Canadian merchant marine. Canada and B.C. should lose ' no time in following up the new possibilities. We should imme- diately send an official trade delegation to China to conclude long term mutually. beneficial trade agreements, along the lines frequently proposed by B.C. trade unions, the Communist Party and other people’s organizations. SHIPYARD WORKERS TAKE CASE TO PEOPLE. Photo shows three strikers handing out leaflets at North Vancouver shopping centres last Friday. They are em, —Photo S. Freidman left to right, Jeff Power, Charlie Wilson and Walter | Jacobs. The placards tell the story. For latest devel- opments on the strike front see Labor Roundup pg. 8.