uebec villagers

angered by plane
dumping bombs_

ST. ANDRE DE KAMOURASKA, QUE.

A storm of indignation is sweeping this traditionally anti-
war county of Kamouraska after the bursting of an unspecified
number of bombs jettisoned from a passing U.S. air force B-50

plane.

Andre was badly,

villages. :

Peaceful inhabitants feared a

third world war had started. There
was also plenty of commotion 15
miles across the river at St. Simo
and Pointe au Persil where vil-
lagers emerged from their homes
wondering whether the blast was
from an earthquake or if a Yank
plane had dropped an atom bomb
by mistake.

Many Kamouraska muncipali-
ties will forward a resolution of
strong protest against the Cana-
dian government tolerating the
“bomb-happy” Yankee planes
over Canadian soil, Text of the
St. Andre motion read in part:
“Why does the federal govern-
ment permit the jeopardizing of
lives by tolerating bomb-carry-
ing Yankee planes over Canadi-
an soil?”

Jeanette Carlos, St. Andre vil-
lage newspaper correspondent for
the Quebec daily newspaper Le
Soleil reported:

“Agitation among eye-witnesses
of the explosion was great. In
these times of international un-
easiness some thought it might be

a bombing attack.”

Later, when villagers learned
that the bombs had been jettison-
ed by a big B-50 “on a training
mission” angry comments were
made that Yank planes had no
pusiness jeopardizing the lives of
peaceful Canadians.

Many Kamouraska municipali-
ties have signed the Peace Péeti-
tion; and hundreds of Kamouraska
bushworkers have endorsed the pe-

‘tition circulated’ by the “Union of
Bushworkers.

Lucien Boivin, president of Que-
bee City Peace Council, affiliated
to the Canadian Peace Congress,
today issued a statement on the
dropping of the bombs:

“The dropping of three 500-pound
bombs near the village of St. An-
dre by an American plane on
“training mission” is only a small
example of what would happen
if atom bombs were dropped in-
discriminately all over the coun-
try. It was very fortunate indeed
that the plane only had 500-pound
bombs to jettison and not an
atom bomb. The horrors of ato-
mic warfare after the bombing of
Hiroshima has clearly demonstrat-
ed that all the villagers of St.
Andre would have been burnt to
a crisp by the heat waves eman-
ating from an atom bomb.

People today in villages all over
Quebec, nay in every part of Ca-
nada. and of the world should
shudder at this horrible prospect
of mass annihilation that atomic
bombing would inevitably start.
This incident should galvanize all
peace petition workers for a last
spurt to collect signatures every-
where and to utilize the incident
as an illustration of a small ex-
ample of what we can expect if
the Trumaniacs have their way
and unleash a third world war.”

Friendship Council
plans social event

Vancouver Branch of the Na

newals

awards and

The bombs burst with such force that the town Ol ot.
shaken, windows were smashed -in all the
Pe tf) ed

Sub total now 1500
final results to be
published next week —

As the PACIFIC TRIBUNE
went to press, some 1,500 subs
and renewals had been received,
and more were coming in every
mail. The drive in Vancouver is
now over, but outside points had
until November 23 to wind up
the campaign, so we are delaying

publication of final figures until
next week.

We urge all clubs and organiza
tions participating in the 1950
PACIFIC TRIBUNE drive to im-
mediately send us the names and
addresses of all members who
secured 10 or more subs and re-
in the drive,
“10-25 Club” cards
can be mailed out this month.
(AIL supporters who raised $25
in the financial drive and 10 subs
in the current campaign are en
titled to 10-25 Club cards.)

SOUL LLC LL

so that

Trick vofe on
‘Open Sunday’
fo be debated

Citizens with a “beef”? against
eity council’s “trick” Sunday sports
plebiscite (which only gives voters
a choice of a wide open Sunday or
retention of the present Blue Laws)
will have an opportunity to discuss
the question at a mass protest
meeting in Labor Temple this Fri-
day, November 24, at 8 p.m.

South Hill Community Asso-
ciation, one of the nine groups in
Vancouver which wrote city coun-
cil advocating relaxation of present
restrictive legislation to allow lim-
ited sports activities on Sunday, is
sponsoring the rally.

Guest speakers’ will include
Archie Proctor, sponsor of a de-
feated motion to allow limited
sports on Sunday, and Ald. Halford
Wilson, mover of the trick reso-
lution for a wide open Sunday.

“We are holding this meeting in
order to air the whole situation,”
said a spokesman for South Hill
iCommunity Association. “The Non-
Partisan. group which rammed
through the trick resolution is
making a mockery of democracy
in civic affairs. Thousands of citi-
zens will feel that they cannot hon-
estly vote for either a wide open
Sunday or the present restricted
Sunday. Our organization is still
pressing for a different plebiscite
which will allow citizens a decent
choice.”

All organizations throughout the
city have been invited to send repre
sentatives to the meeting, and pri-
vate citizens are urged to attend
and express their opinions from the
floor. Adequate time will be allowed
for a full discussion by the audience
dn the Sunday sports issue.

Toronto elections

Toronto’s civic election takes
place on December 4, a change
from the traditional New Year's
Day polling. Among progressive
candidates, Ald. Norman Freed
(above) is expected to hold his
Ward 4 seat, and Chas. Sims, de-
-feated last year ‘despite an in-
creased vote, is favored to regain
the Ward 5 council seat he held
for several years. A: strong bid for
board of control is being ‘madé by
former controler, Stewart Smith.
Two progressive school trustees,
Edna Ryerson and Sam Walsh
are seeking re-election and a
third contestant is Stan Thornly,
trade union delegate to the World

Peace Congress.

Higher wages

key issue af
IWA gathering

Higher wages to meet soaring
living costs will be one of the ‘key
subjects for discussion at the 14th
annual district convention of Inter-
national Woodworkers of America.
Meeting in Victoria, January 19-21,
some 150 delegates from 12 locals
will hammer out the IWA program
for 1951.

“Negotiations for the 1951-52
master agreement will overshadow
and influence convention planning,”
said an editorial in the TWA Lum-
ber Worker. “Rapidly rising living
costs and the disparity with Ameri-
can wages will inspire a demand
for improved contract terms. The
union may expect even more deter-
mined opposition from the operat-
ors to fresh contract demands in
1951, than was experienced in 1950.
A wage freeze may be in the offing,
because of defense preparations,
hence the urgency of the early ad-
justment of wages.” Peay

President J. Stewart Alsbury said
that “if prices on essential com-
modities continue to rise, as they
have risen in the past few months,
our wage increase for 1950 will be
more than wiped out next June £5,

Fishermen's convention

Annual convention of the United
Fishermen and Allied Workers
Union will open March 19 in Van-
couver, it was decided by the
union’s general executive at its
November 11 meeting. The conven-
tion will run through to March 23

‘and will wind up with a banquet

| and ball in the Commodore cabaret.

ClO CONVENTION LACKS FORMER MILITANCY

Witch-hunter Murray lamen

eget

ited
graphical
never

dead.

tion was
direction.

single one of tl
Amalgamated C

Workers,
Union,

Sidney

going
The Mine

’

T WAS just 15 years ago, on November 10, 1

men gathered in a room in Atlantic City’s
birthday is hardly remembered or observed
he still living men who foun

John L. Lewis, the leading foun-
der, and his organization, the Un-
Mine
Charles P.. Howard of the Typo-
the first secre-
tary, is dead, and his organization
entered.
David Dubinsky ar!
Zavitsky of the Hatters grabbed
their hats and coats and skipped
fast when they saw the organiza-
in a progressive

are out.

Hillman is
and Max

Mill and

NEW YORK

935. to. be exact, that. a ‘small committee of

Hotel President. and founded the CIO. That
in official CIO circles today.
ded the CIO remains in its ranks.
lothing and the Oil Workers of the organizations then represented are still

In: tact; nota
Only the

Smelter Workers was

early this year. ©

expelled

An entirely different crop of|
people are now at the CIO's helm.
They prefer to start the CIO’s

history somewhere in the early
forties.
History has become very dang-

erous to the present leaders of the
CIO. The more it becomes known
to. the present members the more
evident does it become to them
that the founding principles of

tional Council for Canadian Soviet | #3

Friendship igs holding a social eve-

ning this Friday, November 24, in
celebration of the 33rd anniversary
of the founding of the Soviet state.
The affair will be held in the
Peretz Institute, 1173 West Broad-
way and begins at 8 p.m.

The program features showing

of a Soviet film, Village Teacher,
an. exhibit of picture stories on
Pavlov and the Mogcow ‘Art Thea-
ter; showing of a painting, “British
Columbia”, by the well-known
Vancouver artist,- Fraser Wilson;
music and refreshments.

y]

a. OF rt

The CIO top brass fears the militancy of the rank-and-file.

-packing,

the organization have been per-

verted’ and forgotten)

The basic principles and objec-
tives that brought the CIO into
being were not ordained by some-
one; they grew out of years of
struggle against the dominant
reactionary bureaucracy in the
AFL. Among them were:

e: Organization of the unorganiz-
ed, especially of the neglected
basic and mass production in-
dustries. :

One union—one industry; unity
of workers instead of craft
division.
e Autonomous rights of affiliates
to determine their own policies
and democratic procedures.
Full equality to all, irrespec-
tive cf race, creed, national
origin or political opinions,
‘The shop stewards or shop
delegates system in the plants.
More intense political action by
labor, but independence of un-
ions from any political party.
It was on the basis of this ele-
mentary program that the CIO
became a unifying center of var-
ious constructive forces, despite
divergent views among them, and
the moving force for the greatest
advance of the working class in
the history of the United States.
It was in those days, too, that
Communists were
great demand in the ranks of the

|| working class because their mili-

tant, devoted and vigorous leader-
ship was. a great spur in that
march forward. Communists led
in the great drives to organize
automobile, steel, @ectrical, mari-
time, transport, office, public;
farm equipment, food,
leather and other workers.

Important, however, as the di-

#/rect part of the left forces was

within the CIO, even more re-
sponsible for the advance of the

PACIFIC TRIBUNE —

in particularly’

ts witch-hunting

thirties was the basic guiding prin-
ciple that the organization is big
enough to uite all who want to
build and go forward. The ene-
mies of labor understood this, and
for that reason concentrated their
main effort on reversing that prin-
ciple to one that said, “There is
no room for both right and left
within the CIO.” Redbaiting he-
came the principle weapon for dis-
rupting labor unions. After 12
years the tactic succeeded.

.

@:

As a result, the CIO has been’ ’
going backward in the past three
years. It has lost heavily in mem-
bership and shifted to’ a policy of
expelling the progressive - led.
forces.

So, president Philip Murray sur-
prised no one this week when he
complained, in his opening ad-
dress to the CIO’s 12th national
convention at Chicago, that “lib-
eral’ candidates had been defeat-
ed in the recent elections “because
the U.S. people were misled by
lies.’ He did not consider that
the results could be construed as
a repudiation’ of CIO support for
President Truman and his “liberal
followers.” a

The recent U.S. election cam-
paign, he told the convention, had
reached ‘an all-time low in dema-
gogism, and never were SO many
misleading and deceitful charges —
hurled.” The “domestic needs of
the American people were forgot-
ten and, in the heat of this politi: —
cal war, questions of housing, so-—
cial security, the proper kind of
farm program, and Taft-Hartley-
ism were never presented to the
people in a proper way.”

Yet, in the same speech, he could
say he was “happy to report” that
since the last convention the CIO}
had ousted 11 unions on charges
of being ‘“Communist-dominated,” —
and ignore the fact that his lead-
ership of the CIO, by substituting —
red-baiting and witch-hunting for
basic issues, is part and parcel
of the “all-time low in demagog-
ism” which is preventing the Ant —
erican people from realizing their
needs. \

NOVEMBER 24, 1950 — PAGE 2