CCF oil on capitalist add

By ALEC
THEODORE

ee happened in 1936. In the

city hall at Weyburn, in the:

ee now held by Pre»
mier, T. Douglas of Saskat-
chewan.

A meeting of some 300 unem-
ployed. The speaker, the writer
(at that time provincial organizer
of the unemployed), ably assisted
by the Rev. T. C. Douglas, aspir-
ant for his present position.

Question from a member of the

audience: “‘Isn’t it true to say that _

the CCF is the party which will
take our country out of crisis ”
The writer: “I repeat that our or-
ganization is of a non-partisan

_ character,
ally as you please. I reserye the
same right for myself. Our well-
being as unemployed, however,
rests upon our own unity, the sup-
port of the working people and
the majority of the population re-
gardless of the political rey we
belong to.”

Another question: “But isn’t it

true that the five members of the —
CCF have done extraordinary well .

in the legislature, and that they
moved your resolution for non>
contributory unemployment insur-
ance?” ;

The writer: “If they did any-
thing extraordinary I must con-
fess that I failed to notice it. As
‘to our resolution, let it be known
that having moved it, all the CCF
members in the legislature voted
for an amendment,submitted by
the premier, J. G. Gardiner, to
Support the Bennett proposal in
the federal House. My opinion is
that the five CCF MLA’s capitu-
lated to the pressure of the Liber-
als. Furthermore, Clarence Stork,
alleged CCF Progressive, seconded
‘the Gardiner amendment. I can-
not. therefore, even compliment
them.”

Douglas: “y object to Mr. Theo-
dore using the term capitulate, I
have a letter from Mr, Stork tell-
ing me that he made a mistake.”

The writer: “I have to admit
_ that my lack of formal education
influences my choice of words. But
_ if Mr, Stork wants to make fewer
errors he should consult the work-
ers, not the Liberal premier. Hav-
ing made the error, one would
have thought he would write a
jetter to the workers rather than
to his, political friends.” Z

That the writer was right and
Douglas. wrong: was proved by
_ Stork’s own’ subsequent: action. A
few. ‘years later Stork became an
organizer for the Liberal party.
He was condemned by all the CCF,
including. Douglas,
~ \ : . c

The Rev: T. C. Douglas is now
_ the premier of Saskatchewan. I
| urge CCF members and support-
ers everywhere and’ particularly
_ those who live in Douglas’ own
: ional to watchjthe “errors”
re of their representative. For what
_ happened to Stork is child’s play

: compared with what is happening

> to Douglas.
; Consider this promise made in
1944:
' “The lion's share of the wealth
 ©f the province has been stolen

» from the people who produced it.
. This must cease. No program of

reform is worth the paper it is
Written on unless it provides for

Keeping this wealth within ‘the —

Province,
“The CCK ‘maintain that our

_ Ratural resources must henceforth

os hedeveloped: in the publte interest.

You may think politic-

“A Iberta Dusibow!,?

Kiss

a drawing by Margaret Shelton of Rosedale, Alberta

- How Prauler Douglas is betraying CCF promises to the people of Saskatchewan

and for the public benefit. They
cannot continue to be exploited in
a hit-and-miss manner for the ben-

efit of promoters, invéstors and ab-_

sentee capitalists. The CCF stands
for the planned development of
the. economic life of the province,
and the social . ownership of na-
tural resources.

“Clearly, the first thing to do,
then is to find out what we have
in coal, clay, mineral, water-power,

oil and timber resources within —

the province, and what are the
possibilities of their immediate de-
velopment,
information from competent geol-
ogists and other experts, a: CCF

government* wil] proceed to de-~

velop these resources under pub-
lic ownership.”

By 1950 most of the land of
Saskatchewan was divided jpre-
cisely among “promoters, invest-

_ors and absentee capitalists” from

whose clutches Premier Douglas

Blitzed

By PATRICK
GOLDING

I N the city which suffered more
than any other in Britain in the
last war, chiefs of the armed for-

ces are today making feverish ©

preparations ‘for the next.

When the war ended, Plymouth
had been pounded by 59 air raids.
In this port and naval base of

220,000 people, nearly 4,000 houses.

were completely destroyed and 68,-

‘000 damaged — 18,000 of them

seriously,

“More than 200 acres of shops and .
industrial property had been left.

in ruins .. Plymouth citizens felt
they had had enough. :

Yet today work is being rushed
ahead in Plymouth’s, Royal Naval
dockyard to equip warships for
atomic warfare. Special equip-
ment is being installed to provide
long-range defense against atom-
bomb-earrying planes and to give
protection against nti aca of
atomic radiation. _

Work has begun too, on a big
12-year plan to add another 150

acres to the dockyard, which is

scheduled to become a major war
base under the North Atlantic

_ this

vir btaine x
Ge Obi nod MLN Ac ohiwie aichrenusits ined ake ain

was going to save the ‘Saskatche-
wan people.

Of course there is deep resent-
ment on the part of honest CCF-
ers. But this resentment is met
by Douglas with sheer arrogance,
as shown, for instance, by his
statement in the legislature. “The
oil people are prepared to accept
our assurances. If any conven-
tion asks the government to go
back.on its promises there will
be another leader of the CCF in
House. Saskatoon Star .
Phoenix, April 4, 1950). ‘
This defiance of the CCF by :

proval from his friends the “ab-
sentee capitalists.” A telegram.
received by resources minister J.
H. Brockelbank is printed in the
CCF Commonwealth (April 4,
1950) in a boxed item under the
heading “Policy pleases U.S, Oil-
men.” 4

The wire states:
ment which appeared in today’s

lymouth

Pact.

The port is a " permanent base
for American warships of the U.S.
Naval Forces, Easteyn Atlantic
and Mediterranean.

Pressing ahead with the Royal

‘Navy’s dockyard extension plans

will mean tearing down half of
the densely populated Devonport
and adding 18,000 families to the

: Stalin’ S ‘peace offers

necessary.

“We can wait. We are a patient”
people.”—(Talking to eight Brit-
ish Labor MPs during their visit |
in Sochi, October 14, 1947.)

le: :

1947: “The economic systems in
Germany and the United States ,

are the same, but war broke out

between them. The economic sys-
tems of the U.S. and the USSR
are different, but we didn’t wage
war against each other. If the
two different systems could col-
laborate in war, why can’t they
collaborate in peace?

. It should be understood

“Your state-

press regarding your attitude to-

“wards companies having agree-

ments to develop potential oil
acreage in Saskatchewan serves
further to emphasize the desirabil-
ity of doing business with your
government and -we are glad to

participate even in a small meas- .

ure in developing the natural re-
sources of your province”. (Signed)
Brian Newkirk, 715 Park Avenue,
New York.”

The irony is that the statement -

quoted in a longer article entitled
“Resources Policy Vindicat
This vindication comes from New
York promoters, not from mem-
bers of the CCF.
6

Now Stork earned the contempt
of all progressives. But his de-
sertion affected only himself. It
was a case of good riddance. It
is different with Douglas. He is
a million times more guilty than
Stork. He committs the CCF along
with himself. What would have

been done by Tucker and Liberals
is done by Douglas on behalf of |
the CCF.

Surely Douglas’ constituents
who looked upon him as leader
of the CCF and premier of Sas-
katchewan to take them out of the
crisis can see him leading them
headlong into the clutches of
“Park Avenue” and greater crisis.

Certainly all CCFers do not care
to receive compliments from “ab-
sentee capitalists,” nor do they
need their vindication. The poli-—
cy and the hope of the CCFers,
as of all honest people, is in their
program quoted above.

The oilmen of Park Avenue may
anoint their chosen few—with the
oil resources of the people—but
this will retard, not advance the
cause of progress in Saskatche-
wan. That is why CCFers will
stand solidly by their program
even if they have to remove their
present ..“oily” leader. _No: more
betreyele

U. S. war ——

- 12,000 already on the housing wait-

ing list.
While the Royal Navy’s war

plans are being put eagerly into —

effect to meet the requirements,

of U.S, top brass, another set of)

plans is gathering dust in the

office of Plymouth’s city engineer.

It is the 1943 blueprint for the
exciting post-war Plymouth which

that, provided there was the de-
sire to collaborate, collaboration
was perfectly possible with differ-
ent economic systems. But if there
was no desire to collaborate, then
— even with economic systems
which were alike — states and
people might be fighting each
eas

. As regards the desire of

Ec cigs can or Be ccaaela

Party of the USSR to collaborate,

‘such was their desire. Such col-

laboration would undoubtedly be
useful to both countries, :
- One should not be carried

eos: Each people upheld the _

was to have arisen from the rub-
ble of the old. ‘It provided for a ‘
magnificent City Center to replace _
the shops and flats destroyed by
Hitler’s bombs,

Today, six years after the publi-
cation of that plan and four years
after the end of the war, the cen.

_ ter of Plymouth ate @ ee,

epee space.

system it wanted and wit phig.

to uphold it. As to which system |
was better—history would show.
One should respect the systems
chosen and approved by the peo-

quire that people should have one
and the same system. One should
respect the systems approved of
by the people. Only on this condi- —
tion was collaboration possible.”
—(Replying to Harold Stassen

ie by criticising each other’s , during talk at the spans! rig

9, 1947.)

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 21, 1950—PAGE 5