see that the system was made

e for public travel.

|The amount of the deterior-

x OD. is far beyond the ready
planation of a Shortage of la-

oe he wrote Dr. WwW. x Car-

| | ieDiarmid cited a section “of
s Public Utilities Act which

* and added that it was the
© ty of the commission to order
J oair work to- be done.

ifhis week, Ald. Jack Price
) estioned the company’s ex-
. qmation that the lack of neces-
| -y repairs to its roadbed was
sresult of the manpower short-
fee “The company is doing
is ‘repair work now in pro-

rtion to the amount of travel _

San at any time,’ he said.
= Aid. H. i. Corey, works com-
Jettee chairman, said the city
Bineer had mentioned the
fitter to the BCER several -
seks’ ago and the company had
( (zued that shortage of men was
sponsible for the poor road-
eb
: extent of repair work neces-
mi y to put the transportation
| ter into good working oper-
fon: is not Known, but it is evi-
*at that if any scheme for pub-_
4, ownership of public utilities
. sursed upon EVEN. municipal:

: ER Inquiry Opened
plate Of Roadbed
Creates Alarm

As the outcome of charges sane Ansine me past two
ss the condition of the British Columbia Electric Railway

mpany s extensive roadbed will be the subject of an inquiry

se conducted by Wancouver Civic Utilities Committee

“eaded by Ald. Willard Greyell. . %

“rast week, Neil Howard McDiarmid, Vancouver barrister,
id the Public Utilities Commission to take action at once

res fhe commission power to —

left with
in an

ity involved may be

streetcars and roadbeds

extreme state of disrepair.
Last week in Victoria, Premier

John Hart met with-representa-

tives of cities and municipali-
ties and agreed that public
ownership of public utilities in
British Columbia was in the
public interest.

While no detailed plan has
-been made public, general agree-
ment on the principle of public
Ownership of utilities in
province as a whole was reached.

In its annual report released
this week, the B.C. Power Corp-
oration, parent body of the B.C.
Electric Company, - commented

-on proposals for public owner-

ship and the discussions which
have-taken place between the
provincial government and civic
and municipal bodies but added
that “so far m0 proposal has been

“presented to the company.”

“Tf and; when any fair pro-
posal for the company’s proper-
ties as a whole, with proper. safe-
Suards of ability to perform, is
presented to the officers and
directors, it will be submitted to
the sharehoiders. It is difficult
to conceive of any proposal hav-
ing -a practical outcome which
did not involve purchase of all

BRORcriics!

|The Buzzer, Please Copy

| One-Man Car Dodge

® Vancouver is not the only city on this continent where the

@ one-man streetcar and bus is a public
assertions of B.C. Electric officials.
issue in New York, on the famed Fifth Avenue bus line, where
“his week the New Yorker, commenting on it, gave indirect
‘ubstantiation to the arguments advanced by the Street Rail-
wWwaymen’s Union, Division 101, here.

“The Fifth Avenue Coach Company, we see, is trying to

| get permission to operate its double-deck busses without a
‘onductor,’ says the New Yorker.
‘ime hangs heavy on a bus driver’s hands, the company is
proposing that the driver také over the conductor’s work too,

and be all things to all people.

“As a patron whose dimes have fiowed for long years in
a steady bright stream into the company’ s little coin snatchers,
we protest this barbaric and ruinous proposal. A bus driver,
‘even on a single-storey bus, is a man pushed far beyond the
@ decent. limits of human capacity. Years ago, when the first
one-man buses started rolling, we had a feeling that the Fifth
Avenue Company’s directors would never sleep until they had
[developed a one-man two-deck bus, if only to prove that a

| modern man is capable of the impossible.

‘Took into the face of a Madison Avenue bus driver if
fyou want to see the end of the road!
| night with two nickels in his right hand, a taxi threatening
his right flank, a frantic woman making a blind crossing under
‘his front wheels with her umbrella as a shield—look at this
#man, this remnant of a human being, at his controls, with his
mirrors and his change pockets and his gear shift and door
| handles and horn buttons and other assorted troubles!
Tight toe moves desperately from accelerator to brake to accel-
‘erator again. His lift hand, alone on the wheel, pulls and
| Strains to effect a getaway from the curb. His glance roves
| the mirrors and the crowds, his sanity reels, his patience ebbs
and runs away, and, just as he is about to find a two-handed
solution” to a “practically insoluble snarl,
‘Passenger Scrapes a large bundle across his right ear and de-
| Mands that he tell her what street to get off at for the Home

for Little Animals.

| “It is a very convenient dodge indeed, during a manpower
‘Shortage, to give one man the work of two.
‘shortage is over and business lies in the doldrums of unem-
| ployment, the precedent has been established and the company
heed neyer take back the second man,

| Whe New Yorker cannot by any stretch of the imagination
‘be termed a labor publication. But this is one comment that
won't find its way into The Buzzer.

issue, despite the
It has also become an

“Acting on the theory that

Caught on a windswept

His

a newly arrived

Then, after the

the”

Heaviest and largest dive bomber used by any of the

American forces,

as fast as a fighter and extremely

maneuverable, the Curtiss Helldiver is being produced
in Canada for the United States Navy to the tune of one

fourth of its total production.

Continued from Page One

Housing

Meet

Approves Actions

“T am a CCE’er myself,” said
Gordon, “but I wish to make it

elear that having worked with -
_this committee, I am convinced

it is doing an honest, sincere job.
i take great pleasure in second-
ing the motion expressing ap-
preciation of its fine efforts.”
“We are not concerned with
partisan polities,’ said McPeake.
“We want homes for our people,
and I for one don’t care whether

they're built by Liberals, Con-
servatives, CCE’ers or labor-
Progressives. Members of all

political parties have united for
the common good in the armed
services and war industries, and
we are striving to unite them
on civie issues such as this.”
Present -were _representatives
of seventeen trade unions, three
fraternal organizations, five
political groups, one church
group, and Vancouver Labor
Couneil and Consumers Council.
Miss Kathleen Gorrie, director

of Gordon House Community
Center, expressed the opinion
that bad housing conditions

were the basic cause of juvenile
delinquency in Vancouver.
“™here is not one section of

. the Social Agencies which has

not gone on record deploring the
housing situation here,’ she said.
“Tm glad to be able to partici-

pate in the work of a group

which is doing more than shak-

ing its head over the problem.

Im glad were at last getting
down to something concrete such
as the campaign for 5,000 new
homes immediately.

“When we approached the
provincial government we were
Siven a most heartening recep-
tion. Of course, it was only : to
be expected that the old ques-
tion of where the money is com-
ing from would be raised.

‘Well, no matter who pays for
good housing, we all pay for bad
housing. We pay for the upkeep
of hospitals, mental institutions,
courts, jails, and other things to
remedy the conditions caused by
a housing crisis. But as I see it,
its only sheer common sense to
spend our money constructively
in the first place.”

Reporting for the delegation

for

. the

which recently interviewed mem-
bers of the provincial govern-
ment at Victoria, McPeake told
the conference that the actions
of Ald. George Buscombe before
the cabinet were hardly calcu-
lated to aid the people of this
city in obtaining better housing
conditions.

“Instead of asking for support
our plan, Alderman SBus-
combe warned the government
against it,’ said McPeake. “This
worthy guardian of the best int-
erests of Vancouverites went
further, and cautioned the gov-
ernment to look before it leap-
ed, because if it considered a

-housing plan for Vancouver it

would have to deal with de-
mands for housing from Prince
Rupert, Prince George and other
towns in B.C.”
The conference resolved to
continue its financial campaign
to raise funds to send two dele-
gates—John McPeake and Mrs.
Gordon Selman, of Vancouver

- Social Agencies—to confer with

federal authorities on the ques-
tion.

Morgan To Tour
Island Points

Nigel Morgan, international
board member, International
Woodworkers of America, and

Labor candidate for Comox-Al-
berni federal constituency, wall
address a series of meetings in
Upper Vancouver Island-
Johnson Straits this coming week.

His itinery Is: Englewood
Beach Camp, Wednesday, April
19; Englewood Upper Camp,
Thursday, April 20; Pioneer Log
Camp, Friday, April 21; Quatsino,
Saturday, April 22; and Port
Hardy, Sunday, April 23.

Spend a Pleasant Vacation at

“Selma Lodge”
Selma Park, B.C. a

G. Neal, formerly Shelly
2 Coffee Shop
BAy. 6430-Y for Information

Conditi
By Unic

Grievances of the dis-
charged crew of a Parks
Steamship vessel were aired
at a mass meeting called here ~
by the Deepsea and Inland-
boatmen’s Union (CIO) this
week, é

Members of the crew,
ing their experiences, reported
that they had been discharged
for union activity and because
they protested against bad- food —
and working conditions aboard
the vessel. : : :

The meeting despatched a
wire to Munitions and Supply.
Minister C. D. Howe demanding
an investigation into the charges:

“Crew members of Park
Steamships here, members. of
the Deepsea and Inlandboat-
men’s Union, demand an investi-
gation into conditions and ac-
tions of S. Clark, master, and D:
Barker, chief steward, of vessel
operated by Canadian Transport
Company Limited.” :

J. M. Smith, business agent,
Deepsea and
Union, stated that a new crew
had been signed .on for the
vessel some days before it reach-
ed port and that authorities in-
stead of taking steps to remedy
bad conditions had discharged
the old crew.

“In the past indiniinals have
been blackballed by the com-
panies for union activity, but
now the shipowners want to do
it by the shipload,’ he said. “It.
is high time that we took de-
cisive action on some of these
matters. The discharge of the
erew is a refiection of the ship-
owners? attitude towards organ-
ization and a provocation on the
eve of our negotiations with
them for a union agreement,” he
added.

Vancouver Labor Council this
week adopted a resolution en-
dorsing the action of the sea-
men. The executive will also
send a delegation to interview
shipyard and Navy League of-
ficials on the conditions prevail-
ing on Canadian ships. -

In answer to the seaman’s tele-
gram, Howe has replied that he
is appointing officials to investi-

gate the charges made eey the
Ship’s erew.

ohn E. Mecredy

GENERAL INSURANCE
Fire © Automobile © Accident
556 Howe St., Vancouver, B.C.

Phones:

PAc. 5235 — Res.: PAc. 4335
J}

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; GREETINGS to 4

, THE PEOPLE 3

; from y
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DR. W. J. CURRY:

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