Pee rte ter ete ete ee ES yt OS tA he cm eat *the Times which it. refused to a... , a fi N 4 1 (i. % MB (eet 25 years ago... 50 years ago... U.S. SENT GERM SHADOW BOXING | WEAPONS TO FAR EAST AGAINST NEW YORK — Hanson THE BIG TRUSTS WASHINGTON — Half of Washington is amazed, the other half puzzled by the sudden deci- sion of the federal trade com- mission to investigate the “close financial relations” between the three giants of American indus- try, United States Steel, General Motors and. duPont de Nemours. Many progressives who have been uneasy over the purchase of large holdings in United States Steel by the duPont in- terests, already dominant in ‘General Motors, believe the commission’s action to result from the personal insistence of A.F. Meyers a new member. Myers was assistant, attorney- general in charge of anti-trust investigations and is reported to be honestly alarmed at the to- wering influence which the triangular union of powerful industrial forces may achieve. The Worker August 13, 1927. Baldwin, military expert of the © New York Times revealed that the Pentagon was all set to en- Sage in germ warfare against the Japanese in 1945, just before the war came to an end. This was referred to last week in a letter to publish. Declaring that “our record is very far from clean,” Baldwin wrote, “we condemned the J apanese for their alleged use of biological warfare against the Chinese, yet in July and August, 1945, a shipload of U.S. biologi- cal agents for use in destruction of the Japanese rice crops was en Toute to the Marianas.” : _The New York Times, whic Violently attacks the current charges against the U.S. of wag- Ing germ war in Korea, was in- formed last week by Dr. Herbert Aptheker, *.of the charges Baldwin made. : The Tribune August 11, 1952. Spelling It Out EIDITMORIAIL COMMENT Porn and Free Enterprise When capitalist governments want to legislate strikers back to work they use the law or, failing a suitable one, bring a new anti-union law onto the books. When these governments want to launch an attack on immigrants, round up progressives, bring the War Measures Act crashing down on the country or stifle collective bargaining — they create new laws or bring present ones into force. There are times, however, when - government seems unable to find ap- | propriate laws. Last week the Federal - government searched in vain for a law to’ prevent private goons from carrying shotguns and using them against striking workers. This week we find the Ontario government stumbling over the problem of Toronto’s Yonge Street strip and dancing around the issue in face of heavy public pressure to clean up the mess. It is certainly a commentary on who laws are aimed at in this country. The tragic, needless killing of a 12- year old boy on the strip last week has spotlighted a sordid, squalid network of porno shops, “massage parlors” and other establishments, many simply a transparent cover for prostitution along a ten block downtown area. If the killing of Emanuel Jaques had - been. the first sign. that.a multi-million dollar porn and prostitution industry was thriving on Toronto’s main street it would be bad enough. But the matter has _ been raised repeatedly both at City Hall and Queen’s Park over the past years with no result. The porn business grew and the lawmakers looked the other way. There’s no doubt the strip should be cleaned up — that should have been done years ago. There’s no doubt that laws can be framed preventing such ac- tivities (they, exist in other countries). There’s no doubt that the issue is being used by some politicians to bolster their public image. But there’s also no doubt that the pre- sent furor is being used by “law and or- der” rednecks to bring back capital punishment and by the police to garner even wider powers. Both these sectors are riding high in Toronto these days. On August 8, 15,000 people de- monstrated at Queen’s Park demanding a clean-up of the strip. But the signs of vigilantism were there: ‘Capital Punishment or People’s Justice”, “More power to the police!”, “We love our police force, we love our government”, - they shouted. Just a minute. Were there no police on Yonge Street over the last five years? No government at Queen’s Park or in City Hall? No laws? . Will the problem be solved by the round-up of prostitutes now underway — women who, in the main, are a pro- duct of this system and are more exploited by the Yonge Street strip than are the customers? Prostitution, porno- graphy and similar activities are a multi-million dollar business. And, everyone knows, this is a “free enter- prise” system. Millions of copies of U.S. porn mags flow across the border every week. Soft core porn movies are everywhere. The Toronto Star, which covered its front pages all week with every aspect of the murder case carries ads for striptease joints and “erotic” movies on _ its entertainment pages inside. No police? No laws? Clean up Yonge Street, yes. But the emotions of thousands which have been aroused over this murder should be turned into political action to get to the roots of the question — a change in the system which gave rise to this situation. That might mean also changing the hypocrites who today are parading as champions of our morality. Devaluation serves whom? The devaluation last week of the - Canadian dollar (now at 93 cents U.S.) is part of Ottawa’s stepped-up drive for markets to be achieved at the expense of working yoope who will pay more for goods in ‘Trudeau’s belt-tightening cam- paign underway. te is country’s economy is in desperate shape. Inflation is rising steeply, so is unemployment. The inflation rate in the second quarter of this year was 10.8% (it was 10.5% before Ottawa’s “anti-in- flation Bill C-73 was passed) and the of- ficial jobless rate stands at 878,000 for Jay compared to 775,000 in July 1976. he “special relationship” between Canada and the USA which existed in the postwar period has ended and is being replaced by protectionist measures directed to further undermine Canadian independence. This country can no longer afford its economic dependence on the USA and urgently needs to de- velop and extend trade relations with ones lands on a mutually beneficial asis. The quickly growing socialist world economies offer every opportunity for the development of trade with one-third the world’s people. Similar agreement with the developing countries should be concluded. Suc licies would not only give a badly needed boost to Canada’s sagging economy, but would alter our pissent dependency on the U.S. which as undermined Canada’s indepen- dence and economy. The “belt-tightening” to be brought on by the drastic devaluation of the Canadian dollar is asked for to make Canada “more competitive” — that is to have Canadian workers compete with those of other lands while both are being 0 Bae off by the giant multi-nationals. e need Canadian working class unity with workers of other lands, a rejection of el eushicping and phoney agree- ments with monopoly aa their govern- ments, and a vast extension of economic relations with the socialist world and de- veloping nations which will turn our economy around. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—AUGUST 19, 1977—Page 3