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ae mae zi ——

io aligiamanag a

OPEN FORUM |

Memorial appeal

TOM McEWEN, Vancouver,
B-C.: Some time ago, acting upon
the request of working men and
women from every province in
Canada, the national committee
of the Labor-Progressive party de-
cided to establish a fund for the
erection of a memorial stone to
mark the graves of two of Can-
ada’s outstanding pioneers of Ja-
bor, the late Reverend A. E.
Smith and-his co-worker Beckie
Buhay.

These two veteran fighters and
champions of the people are no
longer with us, but the courage
and inspiration which marked
their lives is an inseparable part
of the great traditions of the Can-
adian people; traditions which,
thanks to those two valiant fight-
ers, reactionary toryism could

* not destroy, then or now.

In the Hungry Thirties when
workers and farmers battled for
the right to work and live, there
were few cities, towns or villages
across this land where the names
of A. E. Smith or Beckie Buhay
were not known.

There are still many workers

-in Canada who remember stand-

ing in the prisoner’s dock, charg-
ed with the “crime” of being job-
less and destitute, thinking them-
selyes friendless and alone, until
A. E. Smith and Beckie Buhay
walked into court, armed with the
power of a mighty Canadian La-
bor Defense League — to halt'a
motkery of Justice, and to join
with the accused in branding the
accusers.

Many in this province of Brit-
ish Columbia have contributed a
dollar or two to make this fitting
memorial possible. But there are

still thousands who would readily ~

contribute if given the opport-
unity. It is in this knowledge
that I write this brief appeal; to
help raise a fitting monument to

the memory of two great Cana- -

dians, who gave all the days of
their lives to the advancement of
their people and their country.

Send all donations to the Smith-

Buhay Memorial Fund, c/o Annie
Buller, 1210 Shaw St., Toronto,

-Ontario. -

Gift never came

ROBERT KYDD, Prince Ru-
peri, B.C.: The management of
the Capitol theatre here was g0-
ing to give the people a free
show, donations for -he benefit of
the old men in the Pioneer Home.
Very good. But what happened?
The gift never came. .

.

I am an old-timer here myself,
getting on to 40 years since I
struck this town. I have seen
lots of changes here.

There is another item I would
like people to know. The Old
Age Pensioners get $55 a month,
$40 from the federal government
and a “bonus” of $15 from the
provincial government. They rais-
ed the rates for| keep here a
short while back on orders. of
city council, so the poor pension-
er gets fooled again.

I also read in the Daily News
here that the key men in the city

-raised their own salaries. Did

they put that up to the voters?

‘A pension is supposed to help
old folks along in their declining
years. I have been getting my
pension for eight years now, and

BILL KASHTAN’S LABOR COMMENT

Developing debate on merger —
spotlights issue

] was very much interested in
reports of a discussion on the
coming TLC-CCL merger in the
Toronto Labor Council. A num-
ber of delegates expressed grave
concern with some aspects of the
merger terms, particularly those
features which propose bi+an-
nual istead of annual conven-
tions, the restricted basis of rep-
resentation to conventions main-
ly affecting industrial unions, and
the proposed national set-up.

Recently I came across an ar-
ticle by a trade unionist in one
of the trade union magazines. It
declares:

“One thing we will have to en-
sure is the question of complete
and final autonomy for the new
Congress. While unity is _des-
irable and necessary, I humbly
submit that we must not sell our
souls for a mess of pottage or
sell ourselves into bondage for
the sake of attaining unity. It
has been said, and in my opinion
with a great deal of truth, that
Canada has in some respects be-
come a colony of Washington. If
that is so, we must ensure that
our movement which comes from
the people of our nation, does
not commit the workers of this
country to blindly following poli-
ey established by some other na-
tion. There is an inherent dan-
ger in this respect and we must
watch it closely.”

Well said indeed.

ee ee

These reactions indicate that
there is beginning to develop a
much more critical attitude not
so much to the merger, as such,

but to the basis upon which it is
being bulit.

This is all to the good. Wheth-
er they are conscious of jt or not,
what these trade unionists ac-
tually debate are two fundamen-
tal questions — the Canadian
character of the merger and its
democratic content. Neither of
these are guaranteed in the mer-
ger terms. Both will have to be
fought for and they will require
consistent and sharp struggle
before they are won.
ee

However there are other as-
pects of the merger which need
careful examination.

The unprincipled, arbitrary
manner in which the AFL Coun-
cil has striven to break the mer-
ger agreement between the Am-
algamated Butchers and Fur and
Leather Workers, intervened in
fhe autonomy of the Algamated
itself, insisted on the ousting of
all democratically elected offic-
ers of the Fur and Leather Union
both in the U.S.A. and in Can-
ada, brings into the open a ques-
tion, which must be resolved, if
the labor movement is to fulfill
its responsibilities in the period
ahead.

What is involved in the at-
titude of the trade union move-
ment to the cold war. Isn't it
high time for this question to be
thouroughly re - examined by
every section of organized labor?
In the “interests” of the cold
war, the fake cry of Soviet ag-
gression and preparations for
world war, by U.S. imperialism,

the trade union movement in the

to cut out the fellow that can’t
get the pension for some reason
or other. There is too much un-
employment as it is now.

Thanks for your valuable space,
and best wishes from an old-

. timer and pioneer of Atlin Ave-

nue Home. ‘

Calling all. writers

DYSON CARTER, Toronto:
I'd be grateful if you would
pass on to your many readers a
special request that comes from
some fine people in the Soviet
Union.

They are planning a new maga-
zine. They will print all kinds
of stories and articles from other
lands, including Canada. Just
now they very much want any-
thing that was printed over here,
in the past, that showed a friend-
ly or sympathetic attitude to the
Soviet Union.

Articles. Letters. Speeches.
Photographs of people, meetings,
demonstrations. Covering any
period in the last 37 years, right
back to 1917. :

J am sure many of your readers
have such things “put away.” It
would be wonderful if they would
send such materials to us. If they
want them back, we can have
copies made and return the orig-
inals.

‘And I hope your younger read-
ers will ask their parents and the
“old timers” they know! Here’s
a chance to make a fine contribu-
tion to friendship. Material can
be mailed to Dyson Carter at 753
Bathurst St., Toronto 4, Ont.

s involved —

past period of time has been
transformed into an appendage
of the U.S. State Department.

Democracy has been under-
mined. Constitutions have been
re-written as cold war documents.
Unions have been destroyed.
Workers| have been fired and
discriminated against. On the
economic and political fronts the
workers have had to pay dearly
for these policies.

a a ce

Now that a new perspective
opens up and the basis is being
laid for peaceful coexistence,
now that the danger of Soviet
aggression has been exposed for
what it is — a sham through
which to cover up policies dir-
ected against the labor movement
and the people — isn’t it also
time to end the cold war in the
labor movement itself? ;

Every aspect of trade union
policy needs re-examination in
the light of a new promise of
international development.

But in addition the very pos-
sibilities of a world at peace
imposes a responsibility on the
entire trade union movement, to
break with the war economy and
fight for a peace economy based
on the expansion of the Canad-
ian economy and trade with the
world.

It would be well that in the
debate which appears to have
opened up, the larger and de-
cisive issues be brought forward
and resolved. On this basis the
forthcoming TLC-CCL merger can
truly become the groundwork up-
on which a genuine all inclusive
unity is achieved.

By JOHN STEWART

| became involved in
I’m not looking for another job Moscow auto accident

MOSCOW

cr fell to my, misfortune to be
in the car that got into my
driver’s first accident in five
years of driving in Moscow
streets. It wasn’t a serious ac-
cident by Canadian standards —
a dented grill and smashed head-

light, when a car in front stopped
suddenly and we skidded on the
wet pavement. But in this city
they take accidents very serious-

ly and the driver won’t mind the -

500 rubles dam-
age he must

icense.
After you've

more, fearing a
catastrophe. And if you get caught
in the middle of the street when
the light changes you think it’s
your last moment on earth.

Moscow drivers drive hard and
fast. But after a good many
hundreds of miles of driving, I
began to realize that these driv-
ers are better than I’ve seen
anywhere else— and I’ve found
out why.

us mn bod

If you want a chauffeur’s*li-
cense in this city, you must take
a special six-months course.
You’ve got to know every road
rule backwards; you’ve got to
know how to repair a car and
pass a medical examination, and
you’ve got to be an expert. If
you're just a pleasure driver, you
take the equivalent of three
_month’s course or 60 lessons —

including a medical examination.

and motor mechanic’s test.

All of which is small comfort
to a Canadian motorist as he sits
in a car watching the driver,
putting his car into neutral, head
into a crowd of jay-walkers at
20 or 30 kms. per hour, occasion-
ally giving a few toots on the
horn. I thought there must in-
evitably be hundreds of accidents
and many injuries and fatalities
under such circumstances—but I

disinreceN®

Ceaus awh

BOOSTER

(ras awe?

then back into high 8e3

found out differently. The yey
is clear as if by magic. There®
lots of room to move-

x a a

While there are 10 often
statistics available that 1 coul
find, drivers tell me there #%
not more than two or three M®
jor accidents a day in this ¢ :
of seven or eight million peoP
crowded with cars and true
"At this rates

seem to be high per accidems

a month are killed on the rat
They explain this figure by PO"
ing out that there are many V5"
tors to Moscow who are conius
ed by the heavy traffic.

But if the driver is held ne
ponsible in a fatal accident, stst
don’t fool with the law he
He or she can get five year
jail. And for other traffic ?
fringements, the penalties '
extremely stiff. If for instant
you're caught with a sme” iy
alcohol on your breath, they
take everything away from ahi
including your car, and io
you to drive for as long 4 ell
... and you'll pay a fine 45

eee
There are no standard he

limits on Moscow's wide SY.
There are zones mark kn
or 20; on some of the 7 it
streets they do 60 or 70 witho :
even a glance from the igh
There’s no limit on the ;
ways and you can go ;
if your car can do it and it’s safe
But the roof will fall in 0?
if you get into trouble.

A campaign is apparently
among drivers here, especial
professional drivers who ope ine:
out of garages, to save 89°" af
They put their cars in 1 ot)
at every opportunity, speed nical
and then switching to 2°

0
another spurt. The gears seem $
shift back and forth easily,
what it does to the clute’ |
brakebands I don’t know. “oor
dently saves gas, and engine 7 i,
or they wouldn’t be doing vest
for these drivers are all &
mechanics.

A BRITISH VIEW

“By- public acclaim it has —
been decided you three great
men shall have the honor 0
being the first to travel 1
Outer Space!”

—Gabriel, London Daily W®

rket