i
i

Milk subsi

» Following is the text of

prepared by the Trade Union Research

week by a delegation

A cruel blow has been struck
at the living standards of the
working people of British Colum-
bia and Canada by the federal
governments action in removing
the producer subsidy on mili
@his means that effective October
1, 1946, milk now costs the con-
Sumer in British G@olumbia 2c
per quart more than they paid
in September, and 4e per quart
more than they paid prior to
May, 1946. This is an increase of
40. percent in the price of this

- essential food during the last six

months.

This action, implemented de-
spite the strongly expressed op-
position of millions of Canadians,
will seriously affect consumer and
farmers alike.

Consumers, the great majority
of whom are in the lower in-
come brackets, will be forced
te curtail consumption of this
essential food. Farmers will
Suffer because inevitably there
will be a decline m their sales
of milk and dairy products.

Thus once again, the author

ities irresponsibly take the first
fatai step towards another de-
pression. The organized labor

movement of British Columbia is
gravely concerned by this action.
We demand that the government
immediately restore this subsidy
in the common interest of farm-
ers and consumers, whose wel-
fare and progress is inextricably
bound together. ~
e

Im support of our demand we
offer the following arguments:

_ the subsidy must be maintain-
ed because like all taxes it is, at
least to some extent, paid for by
those best able to pay. Those with
the highest incomes properly pay.
a greater share of the milk sub-
Sidy than these with lower in-
comes and lerger families. who
Can least afford to pay this ad-
ditional price on milk. Yet if
Canada is to provide her citizens
With a decent level of heaith the
per capita consumption af milk
‘for these families must not only
be maintained but even in-
creased, Hi
« The argument advanced by cer-
tain interests opposed to the sub-
Sidy, that since subsidies are paid
out of taxes we might as well
pay for the subsidy directly in
terms of higher prices is fal-
lacious, as it means that where,
with the subsidy, the cost was
distributed among the people ac-

cording to their ability .to pay,

Quality and Purity As
HOMEMADE

HASTINGS BAKERY
716 E. Hastings HA. 3244

dy a health essential,
declares B.C. Federation of Labor

the “brief wirgii
Bureau presented

representing the B.C. Federation
Greenall,; BCFL executive se

cretary: zi

g the province to assume the milk subsidy

co

to the Hart government this
of Labor headed by Jack

now without a subsidy the in-
creased cost is borne by those
least able to pay—the low income,
big family groups.

The relationship between large
families and low incomes is at-
tested to in the Ganada Labor
Gazette for August 1946.

We quote from page 1923 of
this issue as follows:

“Average family size of wage

earner normal Ganadian fami-

lies with wives aged 45-54 yrs.

Was found to° be Significantly

associated with differences in

JACK GREENALE

€arnings, as well as with dif-
ferences in ethnic origin, edu-
Cational status, and urbaniza-
tion, the report indicates, With
very few exceptions, families
were largest in the groups with
lowest earnings, and decreased
consistently as earnings rose.
“Among those with low earn-
ings and low educational status,
the largest families were found
among workers in lumbering
and mining- Families of un-
skilled laborers were also large.”
e i
Bearing in mind that large
families are directly correlated
with low incomes, we submit the
following table based on a study
of the consumption of milk as
related to family income of 3207
rural and urban families in the
province of Quebec, Ontario and

Alberta in 1935.
Daily Per Capita

Consumption
Family Income of Milk
On Relief... ---=5.4... 0.54 pints
Under $1,000 ......... 0.76 pints
$2000 - $4000 ......... 0.81 pints
$4000 and over ....... 0.95 pints

It is significant that in British
Columbia in 1942, 40.1 percent of
the population, excluding agricul-
ture and the armed forces, had
an income of less than $1000 per

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 7

year. Sixty percent had incomes
of less than $1500 per year. These
people cannot pay more for their
milk!

As a result of subsidies, the
censumption of milk today is
much higher than it was in
the prewar period, to the obvi-
Cus advantage of the nation
from a health standpoint, .

Per capita daily consumption
of milk in the six vears before
the war (1934-1939) averaged .84
Pints. During the 5 years 1940-
1944 it averaged .92 pints. in
1944 it was at an all-time high

of .98 pints, 16 percent higher
than the prewar consumption.
Hor non-farm families the in-

erease was up nearly 20 percent.

Farm families for whom the
price of milk is of little impor-
tance censume 1.45 pints per
Capita per day. City families on
the other hand, for whom the
Price is of major importance,
consume only 3-5ths as much, or
-35 pints per day per capita, —

It is therefore obvious that fur-
ther assistance is still necessary
to stimulate milk consumption.
Purthermore, the Toronto Wel-
fare Council Budget stipulates, in
accordance with the Canadian
Council of WNutrition Standards,
that a family of 5 requires a min-
imum of 18 quarts of milk per
week. Yet in 1938 only 14.9 per-
cent of Vancouver families of
the same size consumed this min-
imum standard.

Even in 1944 the average ur-
ban consumption of millz was
still 15 percent below minimum
health requirements.

@

With control of milk and cream
prices returned to the Provinces,
we believe that not only must.
the provincial government restore
the subsidy but. must. at the
Same time, take additional steps
to aid both the producer and
the consumer.

It is only too well known that
the’ cost of milk distribution is
excessively high. This is due in
large part to the wasteful tech-
nique of delivery with as many
as three or four cempanies de-
livering in the same block. or
apartment house. E

However, the question of dis-
tributer’s profits may well be
investigated. This matter seems
to merit particular considera-
tion in view of profits such as
those of Borden Company Ltd.,
Whose net profit before taxes
in 1945 amounted to $39,006,870.
This is an increase of 21 per-
cent in net profits over 1944.

The health of the Canadian
people,. particularly of her chil-
dren, must be given first consider-
ation before any steps are taken
to remove subsidies.

Of 1,064,888 men examined for
military services up te March 31,
1944 the shocking number of 95.5
percent were placed in unfit cate-
gories.

What is particularly significant
is that the highest Proportion of
(Continued on Page 8)

See BRIEF

Born on a refugee ship in Italy,
interment camp by its Jewish-=Po
termnees. Indignation i
the brutal treatment

tween the Union Jack and the swastika.

Te

Labor suspicious of RCMP

‘win the youth’ program

The RCMP have been

given a new assignment—to prove

to Young Canada that they are nice fellows. Outlined in a

Current edition of the RCMP
fange program is set forth
the RCMP fo “sell” the force

quarterly magazine, a Jong-

by Commissioner S. LT. Wood of
to school children, by showing

that the RCMP are not merely
interested in arresting people,
but are also public servants, fired
with a sense of duty and zeal
to their respective communities.

The new program for selling
the RCMP to young people will
include addresses during school
hours by RCMP members in
their respective detachment areas,
and general integration of RCMP

activities in the work of other
organizations in the youth field.

Themes selected for the
‘mountie’ to dish out to unsus-

pecting children will be stories of
their exploits in the far north,
the functions of a policeman in
modern society, ‘duties of the pub-
lic towards the police,’ e€te., and
So forth. Among all Categories of
Police, the “Mountie” because of
his uniform and traditional gilam-
or, is Considered to be the best
fitted for this type of worik.
Commenting on the project,
sections of Organized labor have
already voiced their OPPHNSition in
numerous resolutions, GCemanding
that the RCMP ‘keep out of the
Schools.” Labor is of the opinion
that if the RCMP desire to tell
their story to Canadian children,
it should also include their record
of strike-breaking, espionage, and
violence against organized labor,
which are some of the prime rea,
Sons why the RCMP now con-
template Making a bid for ‘re-
spectability’ fram innocent school
childr2n.
Representations
to all provinciai

should be made
educational de-

AS,

4
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1946