; | TOTAL ~ | r ie Lt VOL. 18, NO. 52 Phone MUtual 5-5288 Authorized as second class mail by the Post O1tice Department, Ottawa. 10° VANCOUVER, B.C. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1959 _ Progressives make gains - jn municipal elections Trade union and independent progressive candidates polled high votes throughout B.C. in last week’s municipal elections, with several gaining office. Biggest upset was in Kimberley, where Mine-Mill board member Richard Clement Thompson unseated long-time incumbent Clifford Swan in the mayoralty race. The vote was 635 to 565. In Maple Ridge, veteran Reeve Pete Jenewein, UFAWU general executive board mem- ber, was returned. In Delta, UFAWU organizer Carl Liden topped the poll to win a sec- ond. term in council. And in Prince Rupert, Darrow Gomez, *UFAWU member, won a coun- cil seat.:..- In North Vancouver lawyer Harold Dean was returned as school trustee for a second term, topping the poll with 2,076 votes. In Powell River, seeking to retain his Wildwood Heights ward seat on council, Ken Gib- son, a member of Pulp and Sulphite Union, was elected by a narrow margin over his op- ponent, Peter Toigo. The vote was 138 to 120. In New Westminster VLC- backed council candidate Ro- bert Skelly (Street Railway- men) polled 1,288 votes. In North Vancouver’s* coun- cil race, VLC-backed candi- dates C. B. Keely (Marine Workers) and J. L. LeBourdais (Oil Workers) polled 851 and 693 votes, respectively. In Port Alberni, aldermanic candidate George McKnight (WA) polled 667 votes. In Burnaby, W. J. Turner dependent. Votes of the VLC- sponsored candidates were: Russel Hicks, 2,512; John Hig- man, 2,009; A. H. Hill, 2,177. All were far short of election. In Maple Ridge, for council, Elmer Walske polled 576 votes; John Larson polled 531. For school board, Carl- Hilland polled 697. In North Vancouver District independent Ivan Birchard pol- led 331. For school board, Bruce Yorke, making a first try, polled 1.365 votes. In Surrey, Selmer Bean polled 976 votes for councillor. In Warfield, Al Warrinigton polled 78 votes for commis- sioner. | SUMMIT | PARIS — A call for a sum- mit conference here in April came out of the Big Three talks here this week. Invita- tions were sent by Britain, the U.S., and France for Premier Khrushchev to attend a sum- mit meeting starting April 27, Moscow radio reported later that the Soviet call for a sum- mit conference, made many months ago, had found a pos- (IBEW) polled 1,795 as an in-|itive response. AL DISARMAMENT CAN BE WON IN 1960 By TIM BUCK The signs of change that are becoming evident as we come to the end of 1959 indicate strongly that 1960 will be a year of dram- atic developments within Canada as well as on q world scale. A number of the more important features of Cana- dian economy. showed changes during this year which will carry over into 1960 —-and beyond. For example, a marked change became evident during this year in the composition cf Canada’s gross national pro- duct, with increasing depend- ence on the market for con- sumer goods and a marked di- minution of the relative weight of industrial expansion in new capital investments. These are portentious signis. Along with a number of other developments they strengthen the indications that the long cycle of post-war expansion is mature. Further expansion. immediately, requires other outlets for products — which will set up new demands for expansion of the industries producing the means of pro- duction. Some of the other develop- ments that will carry over and influence 1960 are: @ Speed-up and automation is increasing productivity at such a rate that only an im- precedented expansion of the market can prevent the recur- rence of chronic mass unem- ployment as a running sore on our social life. Incidentally, it should be noted that the Na- tional Employment Service had a quarter of a million un- placed applicants for employ- ment all through what the cap- italist press described as “‘the height of the boom” during the summer and early Fall. By November, the number was almost 300,000. This is during the period when the dollar value of total produc- tion was at the highest level ever recorded until now. @ In spite of rising prices and accumulating surpluses big business is hardening its resistance to demands for wage increases to keep pace with the increases in the cost of living and productivity. A number of statements by influential rep- |. resentatives of the big indust- rialists, such as Wilcox of Canadian Westinghouse, illus- trate the systematic manner in which - monopoly - capital is striving to develop a nation- wide capitalist offensive against the trade unions. The Continued on Back Page See THE PROMISE A i Steam locomotives are gradually being replaced by electric and internal combustion engines in the Soviet Union. Photos show an electric train running from Yaroslay to Moscow. Soviets now lead world in hydro power output By MARK FRANK MOSCOW—Soviet plans for 100 percent electrifica- tion of the country in the next 15 to 20 years and the fact that the USSR now leads the world in hydro-power gen- eration have confronted the United States with a new challenge, even bigger than the one it suffers in continued inferiority on exploration of Electrical power, fundamen-| tal to the industrial might of| a modern state, has become a priority matter for the Com- munist Party of the Soviet Union. This fact was made clear by Premier Khrushchev in a re- cent speech at the national con- ference on power construction. Problems. of electrification and establishing the material basis of communism should form the nucleus of the new program of the CPSU which will be submitted to the 22nd Congress of the CPSU in 1961, Khrushchev said. Of decisive importance in outer space. the race to outstrip the United States is the winning of time, hence the great emphasis on economy of construction, ther« mal power stations instead of hydro, and automation. The conference decided to carry through the seven-year program for the Soviet Union’s power industry in six years. This will mean putting inte operation every year units with a total capacity of be. tween 10 and 12 million kiloe wats. It also means that each year nearly 25,000 miles of trans- mission lines will go into operation. eason 5 reelings © ALL our readers and supporters whose consistent efforts throughout the year make publication of this paper possible, the editor's and staff extend all good wishes for a Merry Christmas and a more prosperous and happy” New Year. Following our annual custom, the Pacific Tribune will not be published in the week between Christmas and New Year. Our first edition in 1960 will appear on January 8,