(Q}NCE again the Fraser River is running high, threatening the residents of the Fraser Valley, the rich delta lands and the river ‘Islands with the danger of flood. ”” This danger is periodically highlighted as this mighty river overflows its banks. The first bad flood recorded in our history Was in 1894. The last one hap- bened in 1948. But. there have €en numerous floods in the beriod between 1894 and 1948. And these floods can be repeated every year given the proper Weather conditions. One has to experience a flood “hot as an onlooker—but as a Victim to fully appreciate what it means in terms of anxiety, heart- Teak and economic loss. I was raised in the Fraser Val- fy and as a boy, I remember the floods of 1922, 1923 and other “years. I also remember 1936 When the Fraser overflowed its banks in what was then the most tSastrous flood since 1894. That year we were evacuated to the Mountains. Farmers with their families, livestock and need- €d belongings camped for three Weeks in an old relief’ camp. When the water receded we re- turned te our homes. What a desolate sight met our eyes! And What a stench assailed our nos- trils! When land has been flooded for 8 Period of time not only has all Stowth been killed but a slimy . Scum rémains over everything. The land, as it dries, bakes and tacks; debris is everywhere. ‘loors in the homes are raised, Wall finishing is spoiled, furniture Tuined. It requires many weeks . of hard work to clean up the Mess left by a flood. As it is usually too late to re- Seed the crops, the land lies idle for the rest of the year. Even € grass in the pasturelands &rows poorly. In the dairy country, the cattle dealers move in, to buy up good milk cows: at give-away prices from the poorer farmers. For the Problem the farmers are faced With is not one only of buying feed for their livestock during © the time of the actual flood—feed Must be bought until the new &rass growth comes well along. e heaviest financial drain of all comes during the fall and Winter season when every scrap of hay: and every kernel of grain has to be bought. = The 1948 flood cost the taxpay- €rs $12 million expended from the public treasury. Over a mil- 40n dollars more was contribut- €d directly by citizens for flood Telief. Prices of farm produce and dairy products rose as a re- Sult of the increased production Costs.» ; The year’s crop—wealth that Should have gone to enrich our Province and its people — was lterally washed down the river. And who can count the personal 98s of creative labor, the mental and physical fatigue that comes With the nervous strain of anxious days, : On the weekend of May 24 this _ Year I drove up the Fraser Val- ley. As I watched the flood Waters tear down between the Canyon walls I thought of the farmers watching the water Sauges, scanning the skies with, ‘nxious eyes, wondering if there Would be a repetition of 1948, Wondering if the dykes would Prove strong enough or high hough? . For, who can say just Ow high the water will rise giv- €n the right. weather conditions. This year the snow is there, th an unprecedently high water Content. But so far the weather been kind. The spring, though “late, has not been favored with 4N abundance of sunshine. i But why should every spring Ting with it the threat of floods Our great agricultural lands Nd the communities in those eas? The Labor-Progressive party be: > ; eee : mo ase ire oe 3 RE e+ ioMe aeroete es Ae. GSE AE SSAA: eases Fy, pR' JECT ee Te Ez 4 MN FVANCOUVER z Pees st +) 2 x we COTTONWOOD DAM _ ca ILLOOET Dany Zi LY Ai, Yb yf, vy i Ate Yy, ; YY) Me) Ses oe SE 3 ies, ~ FY. ~ : Cte. 25p e : < pitste <} P aoe Sie 5: ‘ will require help from the federal government, but the people have a right to’ demand that help—and the fed- eral government has the respon- sibility of giving such assistance. B.C. people want to-see the St. Lawrence Seaway built as an all- Canadian project. And the LPP is confident that the people of Quebec, Ontario and the Prairie Provinces will also want to see the development of the Fraser River. Many explanations are offered as to why not a single unit of electrical energy is produced from the uncontrolled waters that rush down the Fraser River. The LPP does not argue about the difficulties. But it believes it is not the physical difficulties that are preventing under- taking of the project. After all, difficulties are only a challenge to ‘the ingenuity of man. The reason the Fraser remains unharnessed is a political one. : The LPP charges the govern- ment of W. A. C. Bennett and Robert Bonner with playing the same brand of international poli- tics that Byron Johnson, the Lib- eral,-and Herbert Anscomb, the Conservative, played. The same money-hungry mono- polists that succeeded in tying British Columbia’s hydro develop- ment in with the U.S.-controlled Northwest grid are blocking the harnessing of the Fraser. Powerful United States financial interests are tying up B.C. water power for the purpose of piping off our electrical energy to run industrial plants in the U.S. They scheme to tie the Fraser into that grid after they have gobbled up the Columbia. : ; The LPP believes that B.C. should go ahead and develop its. own resources and build its own industry. It is our water, and the power developed from that water must be ours too. If the U.S. wants power from B.C., this province should sell it to them after our own needs have been met. The industries that can be de- veloped when the Moran dam is built are many and varied. Steel, chemical, aluminum—both basie and fabricating plants—to men- tion only three. .Great, new agri- cultural opportunities will be opened up. The population will probably double in a short space of time. Business will boom. Coupled with this development we should add bringing natural gas from the Peace River as de- manded by the two central labor bodies in B.C. ‘ At present there are some 47,- 000 workers unemployed in B.C. Many of them are skilled crafts- men. Unemployment was acute last winter, but it will be much worse this coming winter unless we do something about it. Let us decide right now that we are not going to be helpless pawns in the game of U.S. empire-build- ing which leads to unemploy- ment and H-bomb. war. Let our farmers decide that they are not going to face the threat of floods every year while the Canadian partners of US. bankers connive to drain the power of -the Fraser into the States of Washington and Oregon. Let our workers decide that they are not going to see their families and themselves go hun- gry, ill-clad and ill-housed be- cause U.S. monopolies are plot- ting with anti-Canadian elements to use our power and raw mater- ials to run industry across the border. Let us all demand right now, as individuals and through our organizations that Bennett and Bonner quit the game of selling B.C.’s heritage of power and na- tural resources to the U.S. trusts. Let us all say with one voice that B.C. belongs to us and it is going to be developed by us, for us! Let us all demand that the Fraser be harnessed now. And that the natural gas pipeline be built now. Let us put ourselves to work at good wages and con- ditions. : @ Condensed from a radic speech made by Alf Dewhurst, LPP provincial organizer, over the CBC network on May 31. PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JUNE 4, 1954 — PAGE 9