OPEN FORUM | Tribute to John Smart J. B. Vancouver, B.C.: I would like to tell your readers a little about John Smart, whose name appeared in the Vancouver daily papers for the first and last time when he be- eame one of the city’s traffic fatalities on April 26. The death notice gave the bare details—his age, 77 years, where he was born, Montrose, Scotland. What it didn’t give was his long record as a fighter for the advancement of work- ing class interests. Due to an explosion In a coal mine early in his working life his face was pitted with sears and his shoulders were deformed, but he never allow- ed his handicap to slow him up. During the Hungry Thirties he was a member of the Relief Project Workers’ Union and also a street salesman for the Id People’s Advocate and Clarion. In his latter years he was active in Old Age Pension- ers’ organizations. No one ever had any doubt as to which side John Smart was on. He was never a pie- eard artist nor a pie-in-the-sky dreamer, _but an_ unselfish worker in the cause of his class who understand its historic role and lived according to his understanding. All his life he worked to bring socialism to his adopted country and he had always hoped to live long enough to see it become the reality. There are many oldtimers like John.Smart who have the same desire and we can best help to realise their life-long dreams by emulating their un- selfish performance of the many little tasks that taken to- gether can move the mountains of capitalism. Who’s what where? J.R., Vancouver, B.C.: Could you please tell-me which rid- ing Premier W. A. C. Bennett is running in? According to the newspapers, he seems to be the main target of the Lib- eral politicians in the current federal election campaign. What looked like a power play between the Liberals and the Socreds over the develop- ment of the Columbia seems to be shaping up into a united front to give the B.C. Electric a rich plum. Bennett seemed to be more in keeping with the situation when he was talking about na- tural gas, because hot air and natural gas mix well together. In the old days, the worker was fooled by the tweedledee and tweedledum politics of the old line parties. Now, we have a third big business party angl- _ing for the worker’s vote, the Socreds. It’s just about time that labor learned that it’s no use winning a 10-cent increase over the bargaining table and then voting in the boss’s can- didate to take 15 cents away from him. What we need is a genuine farmer-labor party! New party BERYL WHEELDON, Squa- mish, B.C.: I have been looking for comment in your columns on the recent formation in this province of yet another Social- ist party; technically named “The Socialist Committee for the Organization of a Labor Party of Canada.” Acting up to my precept that we socialists of the world would make swifter progress if we sought first the areas of agreement of those who differ slightly from our viewpoint, I will leave my criticism till later and state only my per- sonal reactions, in the hope of bringing out those of others also. While admitting that one united party of socialists would give the maximum strength— on paper — we have surely come to realize that we must be realistic, and that tempera- mentally all are not capable of being welded into one whole. Is it not better that there should be two, three or even more battalions in the battle against a common enemy than that any one should attempt to wrestle single - handed with a shrewd and experienced ad- versary, followed only by a straggling bunch of camp fol- lowers with no clear plan of action, no certain goal but their own frustration? If the new party can attract to its ranks those who, for reasons of principle, can no longer support the CCF; those who have not got “what it takes” to outride the intimida- tions used against the LPP; and those who are starting from scratch in so far as socialist education goes, then I welcome it with my best wishes. So far as its organ Press is concerned, I regret it. I feel that the Pacific Tribune might have offered a column to the viewpoint of this new party. The Pacific Tribune has sale- ability and readibility and is improving in its appeal to the workers week by week. The new Press has good educational value but to diffuse effort and finances by making it an inner organ of their party would seem a waste. For my own part I feel satis- fied to leave the final outcome Prizewinning letters Each week the Paci- fic Tribune will present a book to the writer of the most interesting, en- tertaining and _ topical letter published on this page. Contributors are urged to keep their let- ters to a _ reasonable length. The prize-winning let- ter in our last issue was written by Woodworker, Speaking Nanaimo, B.C, as to the shade of socialism to the decision of the workers. At the moment I feel glad that there is some vehicle for those who,have fallen by the wayside and cannot regain the machine from which they fell. They have a clean slate. Let them of it something worth while in the contribution to our common goal—a socialist make country. GOODBYE JOE Joe McCarthy is dead, but the era which bears his name lives on. We cannot mourn his death. A heel is a heel dead or alive, and the fact of death does not erase the memory of great harms done to so many — nor bring foregiveness for it. —Labor’s Daily (The (ine Holden in taking is happening there.) 7 town of Holden is a fief of the Howe Sound Mining Corporation which operates extensively in the U.S.,. Canada and Mexico. For many years the rugged scade mountains have yielded up rich copper and gold ores. These were ship- ped to the rail head by boat and transported by ail to the American Smelt- s and Refining plant in Tacoma at the rate of 2,200 tons da From the copper concen- and gold precipitate hacked out of the earth t by trate Hal Griff tragedy that is making a ghost town of Copper Mountain is also over- Washington state. In this guest column Ace Allison tells what in there came lush profits to glad- hard rock miners, den the hearts and fatten the purses of the gentlemen who work in Howe Sound’s board of directors room at 730 Fifth Avenue, New York City. It was in these plush sur- roundings that the death warrant was duly drafted and signed when geologists’ reports showed that the profitable ore was fast be- ing exhausted. So in June, Howe Sound will stop its mining and mill operations and the 150 members of the Mine Mill Workers, else in scramble elsewhere. and Smelter plus everyone Holden, must for a livelihood Holden is on federal land leased by Howe Sound. The lease says that when the lessor quits mining opera- tions all buildings must be removed unless sold _ to somebody who will operate them. There are faint hopes that Holden can stay on the map as a resort town but the miners are doomed. The blight has . already spread to Tacoma, where a drop’ in ore shipments has cost 125 smelter jobs and the June suspension will cost more. No matter .what happens to the miners, their families and the community, the di- rectors and _ stockholders have other sources of profit to engage their attention. Besides its own operations, Howe Sound has a number of subsidiaries, including Britannia Mining and Smel- ting and Howe Sound Ex- ploration in Canada; Com- pania Industrial el Potosi, El Potosi Mining, Minerales de Chihuahua and Cia Ex- ploradora del Carmen, all of Mexico. These operations include the fabulous El Po- tosi, one of the world’s lar- gest silver and lead mines, which has been producing since the 16th century. Unfortunately, the Hol- den lode did not enjoy that longevity, so the beautiful town that can be reached only by boat or seaplane is in for a rough time. That is, unless someone has a couple of million in loose change to plunk down for a town. Howe Sound has. Its “un- appropriated surplus” is given as $22,422,278, but, alas, it is not in the market.