‘and small, in Canada or abroad— given national publicity: ing in a stock market deal? A clear pattern of event squarely on the management “The people who are entitled to demand this answer are the some 200 miners and their families whose jobs were terminated, the hundreds of residents of Stewart and Pre- mier who depend on the miners’ Payroll, the stockholders — large who may be victimized by such a deal, and the people of British Col- umbia and Canada—because their economy is being dinted by those who place stock market profits above jobs and production. The July 16 shutdown of the nor- thern mine was the most publicized Mine closure on record. It was an- nounced in screaming front-page headlines in Vancouver dailies, and Yet Consolidated Mining and Smelting not so long ago closed the gigantic Pinchi Lake mercury mine in favor of imports from Franco, and boarded up the big Red Rose tungsten operation. Other big mines too have been closed in recent years. Ever since the mine management threatened the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Work- ers that it would close up the mine rather than pay decent wages, Sil- bak-Premier quotations have been steadily dropping on the Vancouver Stock Exchange. Closing at 42 cents March 4, shares are NOW quoted at 27 cents bid, 29 cents asked. This is a drop of one third, and contin- ued shutdown is expected to result in further losses. It would not be the first time that a mining stock has been man- ipulated to depress the market, drive down share values, and thus enable operators to clean up by buying shares sacrificed by panicky stockholders. Silbak-Premier masquerades as & ‘poor, back-to-the-wall gold mine, In actual fact it dces not produce suf- ficient gold to qualify under the Federal Gold Mines Assistance Act. Fifty percent of its returns (and potentially even more) come from lead and zinc. Both lead and zinc prices have skyrocketed, Lead, for example, which ac- counts for a third of Ppremier’s re- five cents turns, has risen from a pound in January, 1947, to 1634 cents today. Now New York prices have jumped a further | Mine Shutdown poses question | of move to make stock clean-up To what extent is the lockout at the Silbak-Premier mine part of a calculated strat- egy by a group of financial manipulators who are sacrificing a community to make a kill- s places the responsibility. for answering this question of Silbak-Premier. XT Discuss copper wages A conference of copper-mine locals of the International Pnion. of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers’ held at Britannia last Sunday, decided to seek the Kimberley wage scale in this year’s contract negotiations, plus the 40-hour week and «union shop. : Basic rate for miners in the Kimberley scale is $10.12% cents @ Gays oa The program will now go be- fore the membership of both locals. Harvey Murphy, Mine-Mill re- gional director, also announces that the majority of a conciliation. board in the Island Montain gold mine wage dispute has recom- mended a wage increase of 10 cents an hour. ANU cate little economic ground for & shutdown. Moreover, the mine is not being offered for sale, Union men, in fact, are proposing that if the company cannot see its way clear to oper- ate, that the government, to aid its dollar conservation program, Nar tionalize the mine and operate it. Managing Director is Dale L. Pitt, of Seattle, Washington. Other di- rectors are R. C. Cromwell Hockley, Rt. Hon. Lord Gifford of London, and. W. H. Mowat cf Vancouver. In 41946 management of Silbak passed to the Selukwe Gold Mining and Finance Company of London, which owned about 40 percent of the stock. It is known that American fin- anciers are pressing a ruthless stock market war to clean up on a number of British holdings in- Canada, but in the various group- ings that held the Silbak-Premier stock there would be room for several combinations of squeeze. plays. ‘ Silbak-Premier till recently was part of the holdings of Premier Gold Mines Ltd., which decided last year for “voluntary” liquidation after a prolonged pattle ending in a vote ‘of 2,720,880 for and 884,662 against. June 25 the final shareholder meet- ing decided to destroy the records of the company. It would be a simple matter, hav- two cents in lead and three cents in zinc, This would seem to indi- ing pretended that the miners’ de- Millard encou opposition in city to constitutional cent convention of 4 B ; sk of carrying : oston, with the task 0 apt Millard and his staff. to Canadian Director C International Harvester local vot- ed against the amendments. Efforts of International Representative Larry Sefton to reverse this deci- sion and bulldoze the secretary end- ed in fiasco. The membership a@P- plauded the secretary for carrying out their wishes in writing other steel locals informing them of the local’s opposition to the increase in dues and to the “anti-Communist amendment that would bar oppon- ents of Murray’s politics from the right to hold office, act on come mittees, or serve as union dele- Pates. oe as 4 The Millard machine is trying to Prevent communication between steel locals, as well as spreading misinformation, as, for example, ing opposition a amendments the United Se nters growing Steelworkers —HAMILTON. mong steelworkers in this railroaded through the re- elworkers of America in them out in Canada assigned write other locals. ~ Slaters local rejected the dues in- crease by @ veferendum vote of 300 to 4. Steelworkers do not op- pese paying $2 a month to advance the union, but do not favor the present $2 amendment because of the increase in official salaries they fee] are already too high. They also efficiency, and point to continued failure to join in a coordinated wage drive with other unions. Tine need for changes in the na- ticnal leadership in order to save union democracy and enable the union to play a powerful role in the wage pattles is being impressed upon Steelworkers’ members by these and related developments that point the necessity of challen- pea »told the rh > Har b “thn goer k nine cal Shadelii wy uthority to oe of Vester af i ging the Millard autocracy. |tained as a stable ally, and that charge Millard’s staff with in- mand for a living wage had ruined the operation, to buy stock at de- pressed prices and re-open with say, a half million dollars stock pro- fits. Elements capable of laying such plans would also relish the hope that by then the miners would be ready to crawl back for starva- tion wages. Morgan at picnic urges peace fight Thousands turned out under sunny skies at the United Labor Picnic last Sunday and heard featured speaker Nigel Morgan proclaim that. “peace or war, de- mocracy or fascism, are decisive questions for the Canadian people.” “The Labor-Progressive Party is determined to spare no effort to see to it that our country puts its influence on the side of peace, democracy and progress in the world. Wall Street has assumed the dominant position in the post- war imperialist world, and has launched an agressive drive for world domination. But this comes at a time when the general crisis of capitalism has reached a new and advanced stage.. : “That the American colossus has feet of clay is realized when we see that France cannot be main- Britain, by Bevin’s admission, ‘is in a dollar-grip, sinking into the depths of bankruptcy and the stat- us of an American dependency. “There are two camps in the world: ‘the imperialist camp of reaction and war, and the demo- cratic camp of peace and progress, with imperialism embarked on a losing game in world history. “The King-St. Laurent govern- ment’ is deliberately playing the Berlin crisis to sneak through a Canadian master plan for aggres- sion into which they are fitting the lives of you and I and every Canadian. The Industrial Defence |Board thas already sixteen special committees at work. In the Wash- ington talks Canada is playing the jackal role, hoping to be in- strumental in evolving a power bloc capable of threatening the Nigel Morgan will head a Morgan heads committee fo win readers for PT special volunteer committee to lead the work of gaining thousands of new readers for the Pacifc Tribune, Fel Ashton, business manager, announced this week. “Pacific Tribune readers are no strangers to the fact tha only the fighting unity of the peo-, ple of British Columbia can de- feat the Coalition government, re- store shattered living standards, | safeguard democracy and set back | the warmongers,” she said. “What needs.to be emphasized is that the building of that unity depends to large extent on winning thousands of new readers for our paper. That’s because Pacific Tribune readers quickly become active leaders in the people’s struggle—the new leaders that are needed to tip the scales against reaction. “The fact that so many promin- ant progressive spokesmen have shown practical recognition of this need through joining this committee encourages us to think that both by example and by direct influence and guidance the com- mittee will be. successful -in rally- ing hundreds, if not thousands, in the fight for the paper.” 4 Full personnel of the committee is as follows: Nigel Morgan, Tom McEwen, Effie Jones, Fel Ashton, Maurice Rush, Bob Jackson, Bob Gregory, Mary Mezger, Alf Dew- hurst, Elgin Rudcll and Bruce Mickleburgh. Activity is already under way to- wards signing up 900 subscribers in the Greater Vancouver area by Labor Day, and 200 outside of Vancouver. These figures incfude renewals. In addition a drive for 2,000 new subscribers is scheduled for the month of October. These plans are in addition to bundle sales. ‘ . oe Veterans stage sitdown Tlousands of Frerch war veterans, demonstrating for higher pensions, recently jammed traffic on the Champs Elysees and other Paris streets. These crippled vets sat tight and let motorist honk. — 1 Y 25 Months countries building socialism. “But there is still time to stamp, out the warmongers. The road to. peace for Canada is the road of, fighting people’s unity—expressed at the polls in the election of a' CCF government. This is a life. and death fight in which there is no time to lose.” — Mrs. Effie Jones, Civic Refo mayoralty candidate, presented the! trophy for “Miss B.C. Industry”, to Olga Zydyk, Miss Marine Work- er, who rolled up 101,030 votes. | In runner-up position was Myrtle Bergren, Miss Wood Worker with | 77,815 votes; followed by Ojga Rush (Miss Fisher Lassie), 31,263 votes; Mae Nordell (Miss Building Trades), 24,346; Anne Brooke (Miss Service Worker), 23,044; and Margaret Gardner (Miss Lumber Worker), 17,602 votes. The judges are busy on the jingle contest, and winner ‘will be announced next week. Evelyn Ward's “dancing darlings” de- lighted the crowd, as did the native Indian dancers, the Glengarry pi band, and the thrill-packed s card ; Carolin .McFarlan, picnic con- vener, expressed the thanks of the picnic committee to all the volun- teer helpers “who made possible such a wonderful picnic.” ‘ x - this record. We Remind You: is in Montreal. In Vancouver the Sun On the Picket Line ’ In the past two years members of Vancouver Typographical Union No. picket miles than any one in Canada and we pray you will never be called upon to break: That the: head office of the Southam Com That the Vancouver Daily Province is owned by the Southam Company. the only daily newspapers produced with In-. ternational Typographical. Union printers. There is no law to compel you to buy a news- paper that is produced behind a picket line. 3 _ Vancouver Typographical Union No. 226 226 have walked more pany and News-Herald are 2 PACIFIC TRIBUNE—AUGUST 6, 1948—PAGE 7 :