OL’ BILL SHORT JABS HESE DAYS every sincere and honest trade unionist would do well to take stock of who his, or her, allies are in dealing with the every-day problems which the unions and their members have to solve. The unionist who does this will surely be forced to the conclusion that it is not only politics that makes strange bedfellows. For example, if he was lined up with the so-called whitebloc in the IWA, his honesty and sincerity might get quite a jolt. He could find enough material in the ordinary capitalist newspapers to provide him with food for thought, material about which there need be no cause for doubt because it is in line with the profit-hungry policies of these papers. A few days ago, for instance, the Vancouver Sun carried a story about a buzzard who had just arrived in town from Banff where he had attended the convention of the Canadian Electric Associa- tion, one of these gatherings that “Fighting” Joe Martin once described as tramps in dress suits; H. A. Cootch, president of the Canadian Westing- house, : This Cootch guy doesn’t like asking for more wages or refusing to work for peanuts. He calls that “wage-wrangling.” He probably forgot that it takes two to wrangle just as it takes two to make a quarrel. Of course, outfit like the Canadian Westinghouse, subsid monopoly set up in Canada for the good of Canada, he wants t the Communists in the unions. the workers being president of an iary of an American purely business reasons and not for “We can get along quite well with the white workmen,” Cootch. If you belong to the “white bloc”, allies. How do you like it? At least, thou tionally, said Cootch is one of your gh he does it uninten- he gives the Communists credit for being the fighters for Return of the Liberal government—"‘the party -chosen by big United States to represent : ee J imperialist interests’ — election campaign but will not carry out because they the Soviet Union, to a slavish subserviency to U.S. crisis.”” week, partial text of which reads: United action can win popular needs, says holds a stern warning for labor and all progressives that they must conduct a united struggle to win fulfilment of promises the Liberals made during é are already “‘committed to a policy of war against imperialism, to restrictive trade that will accelerate This is the main conclusion reached by the LPP national executive in a statement issued here this LPP TORONTO monopoly capital here and in the ro : ae “Along with all progressive Can- adians, the Labor-Progressive par- ty—which more than any other has fought the Drew-Duplessis axis—welcomes the defeat of the Tories in the Dominion election. “Only the united action of labor and the people will compel a change in the policy of the cold war, and win lasting peace and economic security by defeating monopoly capital and its war and The Canadian people rejected a Tory bid for power which would have placed the most reactionary political forces in charge of the crisis program. The first condition for this is the defeat of right-wing CCF policy and the unity of the workers and farmers in every loc- he government to take steps against State. e “At the same time, the LPP Points out that the election result is a stern warning to the labor and people’s forces. The re-elected Lib- eral government is committed* to ality for their daily needs and against the effects of the economic depression. Pointing out that “only the LPP took up the banner of a fighting people’s opposition to the war and ; a policy of war against the Soviet (crisis program of reaction. It alone higher wages, Union, to a slavish subserviency |fought with tremendous energy, e to U.S. imperialism, to restrictive |self-sacrifice, devotion and effi- There recently met in Vancouver a section of the American _ Association, for the Advancement of Science. Only snips of the proceedings found their way into the press, but one of these would lead us to believe that the association is wrongly named. i According to this item, an economist named Robert Miller of the California Academy of Sciences addressed the conference on the Possible starvation of the whole race through an increase of the population. This does not sound like advancement at all. It is a conception that was embodied in a book by Parson Malthus, Essay on Population, at the end of the 18th century. _. This “advanced scientist” put forth the Sameée arguments as did Malthus 150 years ago, that the population of the world increases at a greater pace than the increase in food production and that fewer births in the only solution. : ; It should be said’ too, that the idea was not new in Malthus’ day. Marx showed that not one statement of Malthus was original. His book was a hotch-potch, an éclectic production from the writings of Defoe, Sir James Stuart, Benjamin Franklin and others.~ But the ideas in it were hailed with delight by the lords of creation of that day because they thought it would be an antidote to the French revolutionary sentiment that was being welcomed by a goodly part of the thinking people of Britain. Economic and industrial progress during the last century and a half has administered the historical kayo to the ideas of Malthus and of this “advanced” American calamity-howler Miller at the same time. Methods of food production undreamed of by Malthus and ap- parently also unknown to his American disciple, Soviet Union, have made this limiting of the population to save the race from starvation the same kind of science as the story of crea- tion in the first chapter of Genesis, j 2 But the class that is losing out will accept this. nonsense, hoping to offset the revolutionary Wave that is now sweeping the world like _the one that followed the Frénch revolution ‘had them scared when Malthus published his contribution to vulgar economy. e When the bankers descend from their thrones in the galaxy of capitalist gods and take to advertising their business like real estate sharks, oi] confidence men, ¢rocers, butchers, candlestick makers and other small fry, they add a spice to what is euphemistically called the joy of living. A recent appeal] for business from one of Canada’s “10”, the Bank of Nova Scotia, explains away the waste of money “invested” in stately bank premises, useless for any other purpose than banking, _ as the necessary result of competition for business which compels them to be on their toes at all times. The ad informs the public that part of the bankers’ business is “making loans whenever it is to our mutual advantage”. The use of the word mutual in this con- nection is rich. That’s not the way the prairie farmers say it. particularly in the! trade that will accelerate crisis— in short, it is the party chosen by big monopoly capital here and in the United States to represent im- perialist interests. ciency to bring the truth to the people.” the statement frankly concedes that the LPP “shared in the general setback received by the labor movement in this elec- “ion; nevertheless, the 32,000 voters who in this difficult situation cast their ballots for our policies rep- resent a body of fighting Canad- sans whose work and influence will extend in the coming period. Ra “The Liberals deliberately timed the election to take advantage of tthe Jast phase of the Postwar boom and the illusions that the boom has created. ae “The combination of illusions in capitalist prosperity, the hesité- tion to vote for policies of Pt® gressive change, the paralyzing, splitting role of the CCF national council—all had their effects up0o? the ability of the LPP to extend its vote.” The statement places these tres immediate tasks before the LPP: @ To consolidate and strens-— then its own organization. yy e To fight for united action — with “leftward-moving CCF’er q who are challenging their 1% — tional council’s right-wing icies, and to win union worker for rank-and-file control and pre gressive union policies.” e To “pay greater attention © — the fight for world peace and for trade with the countries of east ern Europe and Asia, exposlny more than ever the war plans the U.S. and Canadian im ists and showing the ben 4 which the ending of the ‘coé war’ and the opening of trade be tween Canada and eastern Ev ope and Asia could bring to er # ailians in the shape of peace 27 employment.” : “The justified ‘fear of the Drew-Duplessis Axis gaining power enabled the St. Laurent government to pose as the “dem- | 3 ocratic choice” and “lesser evil”, when in reality, on fundamental questions of its “cold war” for- eign policy, subservience to the war party of U.S. imperialism and alignment with the reaction- ary forces in the world, the Lib- — eral party has nio differences with the Drew-Duplessis Axis. “A ‘major reason for this was the fact that the CCF right-wing leaders, aided by the CCL-PAC and abandoning the last vestige of Support for the Regina Manifesto, Which launched the COF, stifled the strivings of labor for inde- pendent political action and braz- enly fed large sections of labor and CCF vote to the Liberal elec- tion machine. Labor—paralyzed and misled by the Coldwell-Lewis CCF leadership—suffered ade feat in the elections. x 298 <5tu. . J. SORREL J 21 Years’ Service “A government of monopoly: capital, of the Atlantic pact and the. “cold war’ regained power. The Liberal government will not carry out its lavish promises of It reminds me of an advertisement I saw ‘in a groce window on Hastings street about 40 yearg ago. It read “Buy here | and we both save money.” The companion who was with me, one of | those durned reds, of course, reacted immediately. He snickered PACIFIC 9588 : e 119 EAST HASTINGS Supplying Fishing Boats Our Specialty and said, “O.K. for him, Bill. But he saves a lot more money than i onenetnnnnammenmmmnemmmntinmmm= saat ; / ; VANCOUVER, B.C. Jack Cooney, Mgr. Nite Calls GL. 1740L store - Y MEAT MARK _|conditions, and keep Canada out reforms; lonly the mass, united the farmers will gain housing, in- action of the working people and creased social benefits, protect ang improve wage gains and working } “Until I was Co. in June, 1946, I haa wo the Daily Province for 21 i “I contributed m | HAVE BEEN ON THE PICKET LINE AROUND THE DAILY PROVINCE | forced on the picket line by the Southam tked in the composing room years, : TM | WN IT | PRINTER of reactionary war. | “All the signs point to ripen- ing economic crisis, whose first effect are already being felt, unemploy- ment, worsened housing and all y fair share’ to the building of the eon qd €d there long before the Southams aca ontreal moved into Vancouver with their millions a? ieee bought the paper, - There never was any trouble until the 9 ~ Seuthams took over, . : “Southams’ rewayr. onths on the Picket _ Members of 4nd importe my job, 7 am still-on the picket line with m TUG h my fellow I printers.~We will be. there ,until the Southam Co. Will abandon its union-wrecki con- pe ng policy and sit around the 18 ference table in good faith.” of os ae Province, and I work ded my lifetime of service with 36 line, obtained a court injunction, sued — my union for damages in the Supreme Cou _ individuals from all over Canada to take ! ASK YOUR SUPPORT PA PACISIC TRIBUNE — JULY 15, 1949 — PAGE ®