44] ptt -—— |

THIs week the United “Nations
| Assembly faces its greatest test.
Cons} : ag :

“Mistent with the provisions of its

. rer and with
orld Opinion.

Will the UN Assembly brand the
and ranted intervention of U.S.
British forces in the Lebanon

ful Ordan as barefaced and shame-
aggression (actions taken in

overwhelming

sation of UN ideals and
Srity), or will its majority mem-
ay 48 in the past, buckle under to

ai... domination, bluster, and
Mie-dollar “diplomacy”?

¥ That is the momentous question
hich

now faces the UN, and upon
the issue of world peace or
. - devastation rests. Let there
the mistake about it, the oil of
Iddle East can readily be
Into a world conflagration—
im. the aggressive mania of U.S.

'Mpe jal: . a
‘saga is curbed by the United

Vhich
NUcle a

ignited

a evasive subterfuge and
U, ent known has been used by
Henge oer to evade, obstruct and

a Oviet proposals for an im-
a Summit meeting of the big
ho a On the Middle East. Eisen-
of a and Dulles have made a lot
theis sounding statements about
Militar Peaceful aims,” but their
7 ao intervention and buildup
ast Mic weapons in the Middle

Dre Stve the lie to their moral
tensions |

it pe Policy in the Middle East,
is, °" be graced by such a term,
Meese, ners distort and mis-
a Barer Soviet proposal for
tend; disarmament, meantime
the , 8 their armed aggression in
fab world — to block Arab
= Independence and_ self-
talons ent, and to keep their
the jy." the rich) oil resources of

iddle East.
*

vee editorial comment in the
Seiad Sun stating that the
lon, © Sf John Foster Dulles “is
the °Verdue” is widely shared, but

Prime issue before the UN is

Pacific Tribune

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that
Yankee architect of imperialist in-

not the ouster of this or
terference, nuclear warfare and ag-
gression, but the ouster of Ameri-
can and British forces — from
Lebanon and Jordan.

On that score there can be no
compromise, no backing down, no
acceptance of the bastardized idea
that U.S. and British forces now
invading Middle East countries can
be “legally” transformed into some
sort of UN police force to save face
for the Western imperialist powers
and give their presence there UN

moral sanction.

That could happen — as it did
when the U.S.-inspired invasion of
North Korea took place, with the
UN coerced into giving official
“sanction” after the U.S. fait
accompli.

That is what the war maniacs of
the U.S. are again hoping for; that
through their dominant influence,
their bluster and their ability to
bribe with dollars, the UN majority

EDITORIAL PAGE’

The UN Assembly has a duty to

will

prerogative as a peace-maker, and

once again surrender its

throw its charter of peace into
the atomic hopper of Wall Street’s
oil magnates.

Until now U.S. imperialism has
recognized no moral obligations
under the UN Charter. Obviously,
in the opinion of the bitlionaires
who rule the U.S., there are none;
that situated on U.S. soil the UN is
seen as a political plaything of U.S.
imperialism, nothing more!

In all this, of course, Tory Britain
tags along in a shameful “me too”
role, seeking to crush by armed
force the national aspirations of
colonial peoples, as in Cyprus,
Kenya, Egypt, and now in Jordan.

*

For Canadians the shame of it is
that the Diefenbaker government
trails right along in the footsteps
of Yankee imperialism and aggres-
sion, the role of a jackal hoping to

feed on the offal of a U.S. “kill.”

Instead of a strong and vibrant
voice for peace and: against U.S.
aggression, the Diefenbaker govern-

the world

ment, as did the Liberal St. Laurent
government before it, serves as a

prop for Dulles’ policies, thereby
subjecting all, Canadians, old and
young, the flower of our manhood.
to the
policies of U.S. imperialism.

This: week, and the days ahead
are crucial—for the UN and for all
humanity.

“brinkmanship” suicide

A few hundred thousand letters
from ordinary peace-loving working
people to External Affairs Minister
Sydney Smith, representing Canada
at the UN Assembly, would give
added volume to the real voice of
Canada for peace.

Letters calling for upholding of
the UN Charter and authority; for
the immediate withdrawal of U.S.
and British troops from the Middle
East; for a summit meeting and the
outlawing of H-bombs. And last but
not least, the need for Canada to
become a mighty voice for peace in
the councils of the UN, rather than
a pliant stooge, abettor, and satellite
of Yankee aggression against free-

oe LLL LT es

dom-seeking peoples.

Tom
McEwe

TS column is about the eight-
hour day. Not on the long and
hard struggle to win it, but on the
readiness with which many
present-day trade unionists seem
willing to relinquish it.

The scramble for “overtime,”
“moon-lighting,” “dual jobs” re-
flect an illusion that these are
means of adding a little to the
overall monetary return when in
actuality they add nothing.

I knew two Yukon gold miners,
partners in a_ rich Klondyke
placer claim. One of these part-
ners, who died recently, had made
three fair-sized fortunes since the
Klondyke gold rush days of ’98.
When he died he left an “estate”
just sufficient to cover funeral
costs, nothing more.

From the time I first knew
these partners, their philosophy
and adherence to a strict code of

ethics just couldn’t pass un-
noticed.
Their mine contained a rich

lode of gold. Over the years they
knew almost to the dollar what
could be “washed” out, except at
times when they ran into pockets

of various sized nuggets. But
eight hours was their - strict
portal-to-portal day. From ‘that

rule there was no deviation, re-
gardless of gold nuggets.

“Itll keep,” ‘old Joe used to
say, “the ground is the best bank.
What’n hell’s the use of sweating
your soul out taking it out of one
hole and putting it in another .. .
mebbe not half as safe?” To these
partners the eight-hour day had
a political, social and moral
value, and there was always to-
morrow—and more nuggets.

For years these two partners
operated on a “planned economy”
basis. Each year they came “out-
side” and wintered in California.
They knew the amount required
for such trips, they knew it was
right there in the mine, and they
knew that an eight-hour day
without “gold - rush” fever,

hysteria or greed, would meet all
needs.

xt 5° $03

Joe came of a_ well-to-do
American family, but he had gone
“labor-minded” with his eight-
hour day ideals and consequently
was something of a “black sheep.”
One of his brothers was skipper
on one of the United States’ big-
gest battleships.

During one of the partners’
trips “outside” this warship was
at anchor in San Francisco bay,
and, as a mark of family cour-
tesy, Joe and his partner were in-
vited aboard for lunch with the

captain during the ship’s “open
house” day.

While the babbitry of San Fran-
cisco were stuffing themselves at
the expense of Uncle Sam, Joe
tossed a gem of his philosophy
into their conversation. “I sur-
pose,” opined Joe, “that a few
ships like this one with no eight-
hour day must be a real gold mine
for the Rockefeller oil interests.”
After that, Joe related to me “we
ate our dinner quietlike; then me
and my partner came ashore.”

xt at it

The moral standard set by these
two Yukon sourdoughs shouldn’t
be lost to sight. All the gimmicks
and “incentives” brought into
play to break down a very hard-
won union struggle for the eight-
hour day not only threaten one of
the basic foundations of organized
labor, but jeopardize its very
existence as a bulwark against
capitalist exploitation.

These miners took from the
mine what they needed in an
eight-hour day. The economic
task of a trade union is to take
from the bosses what its members
need to live decently, giving
eight hours’ work a day in return
—and with the objective of
shortening the working day to
seven or six hours as machines
replace the labors of men.

A shorter working day cannot
be won by deliberately helping
to scuttle the eight-hour day in
the illusion that an extra “nug-
get” can be picked up.

August 15, 1958 —

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 5