= Sais wet PP ee Sy wt Mi yh . g . Ul wi y pre Mi i \ “. . . the problems of inflation would be bad enough, bat if you had to put up with the government's cure for it . . .” : x | SIDELIGHTS When women are equal ... I was the last American to talk with Ho Chi Minh before he died. He said there were so many things he wanted to do, but he has been fighting for 20 years, always having to post- pone things for peaceful days— until next year. I asked: “Are there ever signs of war weari- ness?” He said, “A fortunate thing happened to us. We, at first hesitantly and not very confi- dently, wrote a Charter of Rights for equality of women, unprecedented in Asia. Nobody in the West has such a Charter Excerpts from the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Viet- nam, Chapter Il, Article 24: © Women in the Democratic Re- public of Vietnam enjoy equal rights with men in all spheres of political, economic, cultural, social and do- mestic life. ; ¢ For equal work, women enjo equal pay with men. The state en- sures that women workers and office employees have fully-paid periods of leave before and after childbirth. ° The state protects the mother and child and ensures the develop- ment of maternity hospitals, crech- - es and kindergartens. The State protects marriage and lieved it and acted on it, and therefore our resistance to U.S. imperialists rides not only on patriotism but on the. rails of the women’s liberation move- ment. It is impossible to stop it! Just impossible!” He said, “They may force our generals to retreat on occasion but they will never stop the women’s liberation movement, and you can’t separate the re- sistance to U.S. imperialism in Vietnam from the new rights won by the women of Vietnam.” —James E. Jackson of Rights. But our women be- . the family. eee etetetete® atateterecesererererteteseeetetgtg’, a atatetatetetetateteleteteteteterererssertetetetatetetetetecetesetetetetetereteteretssececessterecenecesessseteneseneseree mincenenoseseatgtatatatateteateteteterersteresertrttsstetatatatatsetatatatetatetetateterereeeressrereeerserererareeerermeereseererererereretelers — . 0.0, 6.0,0,8,0,028,8,0.8 ot otatetetetetetetetetetetete® erecererecececererererecscseecererenesesccerers rasatasetatetatetenetonsteceteceteceteteteteteteteteteteteseseensseserereseereereeereere ererereerarecereresereserecectseetns Editor—MAURICE RUSH Published weekly at Ford Bldg., Mezzanine No. 3, 193 E. Hastings St., Vancouver 4, B.C. Phone 685-5288. "Circulation Manager, ERNIE CRIST Subscription Rate: Canada, $5.00 one year; $2.75 for six months. North and South America and Commonwealth countries, $6.00 one year. All other countries, $7.00 one year TrerereereTeaeanatatatatatatetetotetetetetetenetetererecerersteceserscesecseeseesesselssese ese seseseatataterereseseetetste tate ta tateteteren roseararetatatatatatetetetstetetatatetetstetetetetetersteteteterererssersreresertssserstatatatatatataterctatstataterererereeeeeeserseersrele e+ 8s Sditorial Comment -:. It ain't necessarily so With the cooperation of the capitalist media—all stops out—Prime Minister Trudeau, the greatest carpetbagger of them all, has been political stunt flying in a military helicopter here and there in Ontario. All the kisses and the hearty hand- shakes won’t put a single ounce more food into the mouth of a child in need of it. All the sweet reasonableness, and the promises that we won’t feel any pain, and that it’ll all be over in six month’s time if only we'll agree to a ceiling on wages, won’t lower taxes, won’t build houses, won’t find jobs, and won’t give youth a meaningful future. It won’t sell wheat, either. There are indications from press re- ports that the trade unionists aren’t buying it. The Prime Minister had some ugly moments. He reacted typically (re- vealing his real anti-labor purpose) by attacking the labor movement, claim- ing that the demands by the big unions hurt everyone in society. He appointed himself as the Great Defender of the widows, orphans and old-age pension- ers—not that he allowed himself to be carried away by sentiment, mind you, to the point of increasing their pen- sions. : Every increase won by labor benefits all working people, especially the un- organized. The fight back by the trade union movement to prevent the closing down of factories, against unemploy- ment, for the shorter work week — all these are struggles in the interests of all the working people who make up over 80 percent of Canada’s population. ' They are struggles aimed at cutting into monopoly profits so that the work- ing people can enjoy a more equitable standard of life. Prime Minister Trudeau remains si- lent on the big profits of his capitalist political backers. Whose side are you on? Leader of the NDP, T. C. Douglas, has taken a generally good position against Trudeau’s austerity program to create mass unemployment. He quickly took up the call for a million new jobs from the Open Letter sent to all MPs by William Kashtan, leader of the Communist Party of Canada. While opposing the six percent ceil- ing on wages, Douglas suggests that the federal government should call a joint conference of businessmen and or- ~anized labor to work out a consensus. He said, “I suggest that the govern-. ment consider the advisability of selec- tive controls on prices, profits, rents and all forms of income.” In plain words, freeze all the inequalities, and the high profits. Surely the defeat of the British Labor Government should have indicat- ed how unpopular that is with working , people, and why. Imagine putting a ceiling on incomes of $5,000 and $6,000 a year, with chil- dren in the family — or on the 50% of the farmers who sold a gross of only $5,000 worth of farm produce—or on - abolish the exploitation of man by a the old age pensioners, the sick af the blind. It would take at least a 50 — and more — increase to bring the incomes of the poverty-stricken up omewhere near the median wage. Imagine equating a ceiling on wage and pensions with a ceiling on the | 27.7% inerease in the profits of the | major banks, whose profits climbed | the colossal sum of $275.2 million 1a” | year. a Wages have been chasing prices. Be | tween 1954 and 1968, the index for og ! put per man hour has gone up to 220, | while the wages index has gone up i 185. The workers aren’t asking 0M) | for the “right” to barely keep up, buy for more of what they produce to git | them a fuller life. - It should be obvious, in light of W day’s mass upsurge, that it isn’t nea sary to compromise the interests of tt working people. What is necessar’ 16 united struggle to stop wars and" spending, and monopo y profiteering ‘i the chief causes of inflation—and 1 programs to give full employment. a That’s the kind of consensus that the working people will have to force U the capitalist ruling class = a eNO Bee Fi a For whom? The recent elections in the usst| brought the usual attacks in the cap, talist media about the supposed lac#” | democracy under socialism. ee Democracy isn’t an abstract conce? | tion. . “The working class, and the work! people, as a whole, take state power | the purpose of using it as a to? 9 = — the starting point of socialist de™ racy and socialist morality. a How well have they done? In ay trast to Canada, average mone oe wages have gone up by 21 perce? the the last five years, and incomes fo! ”~ farmers by 35 percent. . if A basic aspect of an election J? wf USSR is the selection of candida Q Candidates may be nominated b unions; | ioe Ke Communist Party, trade operative and other public or8® tions. Names are suggested by wor d farmers in their places of | The persons nominated must appea) ay Fl fore audiences and take part in Pp!" be | tion discussions — an open run-O" ft fore election day. As a rule agreel™ | is thus reached on one candidate. Ff On election day the voter may Wy) in a name that does not appear 0? ail ballot. This must be counted as 4 Le vote. the Soviet electors are euaranteed net ’ right of recall, and the election of 47 deputies to replace those remover iy 0 which makes the Supreme Soviet dete 1 cratic and truly representative 0° | people’s will. 068 | Who is elected is also important “ye ercent of the total deputies t ph upreme Soviet are workers, 19.4 a cent are farmers, 25 percent ar’ tig men, and 58 nations and nationa are represented.