hee

free transit system

NDER a social system which

doesn’t squander its resources

for suicidal warfare, the cities of

tomorrow will probably include a

vast network of freeways in the
march of human progress.

In these times of uncertainty
and crisis, however, the question
of freeways is little more than a
taxpayer’s nightmare. According
to some civic spokesmen a freeway
construction program in Vancou-
ver would not be less than $350
million and probably a great deal
more. Such a project is out of the
question at this time, and particu-
larly so when a much easier and
ready-to-hand solution presents it-
self; that of a free (or nearly so)
municipal transit system.

This the Communists have been
advocating for some considerable
time, and are happy to note that
other public- spirited individuals
and organizations are moving in
support of the idea.

Moreover, now: that the BCElec-
tric and its multiple holdings have
become a public utility, this is one
of the first and most adaptable
measures which provincial-munici-
pal authority could undertake to
provide the people of Greater Van-
couver and adjacent municipalities
with a substantial “benefit” from
the BCElectric take-over.

“Power tsar” Dr. Gordon Shrum,
chairman of the new BCElectric
board, has already sounded off to
the effect that “nothing will be
changed” including transit serv-
ice. But the people and not Dr.
Shrum will have the final say on
that score.

Needless to say such a free
transit service, operating on the
principle of “moving people” rath-
er than skinning them, would also
go far towards solving the growing
problem of congested automobile
traffic. Who would want to take
the family car to work in factory
or office if assured the service of
fast and efficient free municipal
transit?

Even in its initia] stages tax-
payers would scarcely object to a
small municipal levy to get a free
municipal transit service under
way. But they do object to the
idea of multi-million-dollar free-

Pacific Tribune

Editor — TOM McEWEN
Associate Editor — MAURICE RUSH
Business Mgr. — OXANA BIGELOW

Published weekly at
Room 6 — 426 Main Street
Vancouver 4, B.C.
Phone MUtual 5-5288
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countries (except Australia): $4.00
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Authorized as second class mail,
Post Office Dept., Ottawa.

4

ways which would pyramid already
high taxes, and probably leave the
commuter stranded with an ar-
chaic and steadily-worsening bus
service, a la BCElectric style.

There are some queer arguments
against a municipal free transit
service. Some call it “socialism”
and are therefore “agin” it, while
others who look upon the car own-
er as a permanent source of civic
revenue via the “parking meter’
and traffic “infraction” route,
fear the loss of a million dollars or
so annually from this source, were
a free municipal bus transit in-
augurated. Mayor Tom Alsbury
has announced that he also is
“against any subsidy” for a free
(or nearly free) municipal service.

But the commuter, actual and
potential, reasons otherwise. To
him (or her) public ownership of
a vital utility in modern life must
either mean that some substantial
public benefits will be derived, in
this case a free municipal transit
service, or it means that the power
and transit coupon clippers are
still in the saddle, but now equip-
ped with a government safety belt
—at the taxpayer’s expense.

The fight for free municipal
transit, for the benefits of the
BCElectric take-over is on. Let’s
all turn on the heat.

The concern of all

Bees open and concealed
opposition by the U.S., Britain
and France to any session of the
United Nations Assembly to de-

bate the Bizerta (Tunis) crisis, the —

Afro-Asian initiative for such a
Session has now won the required,
majority, with Uruguay tipping
the scale against the “Free West”
blockade.

Thus on August 21 the UN Gen-
eral Assembly will meet in special
session on the issue of French
armed aggression in Bizerta.
French foreign minister, M. Couve
de Murville has already served
notice that “France has no inten-
tion of participating in the UN
Assembly debate on Bizerta”. That
Bizerta is for France “her own
private concern”,

How different in so-called West-
ern UN circles when the boot is on
the other foot. How readily U.S.
imperialism and its “Free West”
satellites snap into it when oppor-
tunity presents itself to brand the
Soviet Union or other socialist
states as “aggressors” before the
bar of the United Nations.

Then the pretext of “our own
private concern” is unceremonious-
ly ditched and the UN transform-
ed into a forum of anti-Soviet
“indignation” and propaganda.

70/0 A ee ee eevee vn Pe

bl es a

But: the UN, like the rest of the

world, is changing, and the emer —
gence of Afro - Asian nation ~
standing solidly on peace and ©07
existence (the prime function. %

the UN) does not regard murdet ~

ous aggression anywhere as

“private concern” of the aggresso! E
p & "Afro"

Asian representatives in managing ~

Hence the victory of the

to put the cause of the Tunisial

people and the atrocities comm

ted by French’ imperialism ™
Bizerta on the UN General Assei”
bly agenda.

Since U.S. imperialism and its
NATO satellites have “privately

agreed with France that its Bizet”

ta naval base in Tunisia is “esse
tial” to NATO’s striking powe&
against the Soviet Union, it will be
interesting to watch the politica
footwork of the spokesmen fo
imperialist gangsterism at 4
special session of the UN. The!
job will centre upon, not branding’
France as an aggressor, and dé
manding evacuation of French
troops and military’ installation®
from the territory of a sovereigh
state, but rather to get a NATO
ally “off the hook’’.

In this, as in the UN sessiot
itself they may meet defeat, ™
which case the cause of peace W}
have scored another victory.

Tom
McEwen

OR more years than we care to
F remember B.C. has had what
has commonly been known as the
“Doukhobor problem”. Thousands
of column inches have been written
about it, top cartoonists have added.
their touch of color and satire,
“experts” have expounded (for a
fat fee) “about it and about’, while
governments, Liberal, Tory-Liberal
(Coalition) and Socreds, much like
the tsars of old Russia, have made
a vast amount of noise about “law
enforcement”, often with a lot less
respect for “the law” than those
accused of breaking it.

“So we’ve had the “Doukhobor
problem”. The general ‘official’’
approach over the years to this al-
leged “problem” can be summed up
in four words: coercion, intimida-
tion, persecution and prison, an
approach with which the Douk-
hobor people have been very well
acquainted since the days of the
tsars.

Whatever may be the faults or
shortcomings of any segment of the
Doukhobor people is not for us to

judge. Like the rest of a generally
imperfect humanity they’ve prob-
ably got their full share of human
frailties. If they hadn’t probably
some of their so-called “spiritual”?
leaders wouldn’t find their own

“material” well-being so easy to
come by.

Be that as it may, what should
really alarm Canadians is the fact
that over a long period of years
every facet of the “Doukhobor
problem” has not only been aired
in the daily press, but the press
itself, with very few exceptions,
has starred in the role of judge,
jury and prosecution in its presen-
tation of Doukhobor “news”. In
short the press has had Doukhobor
citizens publicly found guilty and.
convicted long before the courts of
the land ever got around to trying
the specific ‘‘case”—if there was a
case at all.

There is no doubt about it that
the strong religious -beliefs and
customs of Canada’s Doukhobor
communities, “unorthodox” as
many of these may be, have result-
ed in a lot of grievous troubles for
their sectarian devotees, ang upon.
numerous Occasions alienated the
Doukhobor peoples from public
sympathy.

* On the other hand the fact
should never be forgotten that
every alleged infraction of “the
law” by any members of our Douk-

hobor communities, whether indiv-
idually or collectively, has been
publicly aired, “tried” and ‘‘con-
victed” in the columns of the daily
press, long before such infractions
came before any court. In recent
years it has even been customary
for RCMP spokesmen, when some-
thing of an untoward nature hap-
pened in the Kootenays, to accuse ~
the Doukhobors even before they
had “got their man”.

Such “law enforcement” in our
opinion is probably more “nude”
of decency and justice than any
Doukhobor “nude parade” in pro-
test. We think a good look at this
all-too-common attitude towards
the so-called ‘“Doukhobor problem”
might go a long way towards 2
lasting solution.

* * %

The best story to come out of the
visiting Red Army Chorus so far
was the one about two Yankee
tourists looking at the press photo
of Mayor Tom Alsbury at the
Vancouver airport extending a
warm welcome to the Req Army
boys.

“Who’s the bozo wit the chain
on?” asked one, pointing to the
mayor in the centre of the group.
“Aw,” answered the other victim
of coldwar mentality, ‘probably
some guy who wants to make 4
run for it, so they got him @
chain!”’ :

August 18, 1961—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 4

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