axoit l

i

pn

| Ui ul I

ti 2 |
i Ds) fy Ea! f y UN Ml
JF) ES\LEUIN eB) iE

‘War in their hearts... /

President Truman, shown here peering between the shoulders of
Secretary of State Dean Acheson and Defense Secretary George C.
Marshall, has presented the U.S. Congress with proposals to place the
U.S. on a full war footing — all in the name of peace, of course.

BUILDING WORKERS ASK 25c

Many unions present
wage boost demands

- British Columbia’ trade unions are seeking substantial
wage increases for their memberships in 1951 to offset still

soaring living costs.

Demand for a wage boost
advanced by Building Trades

body for workers in the build-
Most contracts
About 12,000
and the
conduct

ing industry.
expire March 31.
workers are involved,
unions will probably

joint negotiations.

Some
(outside
public kealth nurses) also are
out to win pay hikes, and other
unions seeking wage increases
include police, clerical employ-

ees, city eiectrical workers and
school board staffs.

2,200 civic
workers,

employees
firemen and

Ciyie Employees’ Union, Local
28, representing 1,600 outside
workers, is asking 31 cents per
hour increase. Vancouver Fire
Fighters’ Union, Local 18, wants
a boost ranging from 10 to 17
percent. Registered Nurses As-
sociation of B.C. is seeking a
seven and one-half percent in-
crease in salaries now ranging
from $199 to $238 per month.

City police are expected to ask
for an average boost of $40 per
month. Clerical workers want
an upward revision of from 12
to 15 percent. Teachers (who

‘negotiate directly with the school

board} will demand a $600 per

‘year increase in all minimums

and maximums.

Local 1-71, International Wood-
workers of America, decided in
convention recently to seek an
increase of 17 cents an hour.
IWA local 1-80 has gone on re-
cord for 25 cents, and the higher
figure is winning the support
os most woodworkers. Present

contract expires in June.

Stationary engineers at Ho-
‘tel Vancouver this week won
a L+cent per hour increase
and workers at Nichols Chemi-
cal Company signed for a 10-
cent wage nike plus additional
paid statutory holidays.

'

of 25 cents an hour has been
Council (AFL-TLC), central

CONTINUED

CALL

be stopped forthwith and the
people of the Far East left alone
to solve their own problems.

In the name of the LPP, I to-
day cabled St. Laurent as fol-
lows: “Rising public opinion at
home demands that you cease
your support of the Truman-
Acheson-MacArthur policy of
continuing intervention in Ko-
rea and Formosa and that you
join with Nehru in demanding
withdrawal of foreign troops
from Korea, Viet Nam and For-
mosa, and seating of People’s
China in the UN.

“Such a statement by Com-
monwealth prime ministers
would be a profound contribu-
tion to world peace in this cri-
sis.”

We of the LPP urge the work-
ers in the factories and- unions
not to remain silent on this
question, but to speak out to
the government in wires and
resolutions demanding the Prin-
cess Pats be brought home and
that the St. Laurent government
stop bailing the
Arthur clique out of the crisis
which is overtaking them even
in their own country.

We appeal especially to CCF
supporters, whose leaders have
endorsed the St. Laurent-Tru-
man line, to rally with all other
workers to speak unitedly in
this crisis. :

Canadians cannot be parties
to the rape and destruction of
Korea, to the Yankee efforts to

“save face” py plunging us into

war with China.

Peace sentiment is rising
among all the Canadian people.
Labor, the age-long enemy of

war and oppression, must speak
out, now!

Truman-Mac- .

¢

“export commodities,

7

at mercy of U. S.

it warmly as “the most generous effort” and as absolutely

that Marshall Aid for Britain has been abruptl

LONDON

When the Marshall Plan first began in April, 1948, Foreign Minister Bevin greeted
“without any strings.”
y ended, the government has been trying to

Now

make a virtue out of necessity. Not only has such progress been made that the ‘“aid” is

no longer necessary, it says,

more independent status. The
record of what has been done
to Britain since 1948 shows how
hollow both these claims are.
The announced objectives of

‘the Marshall Plan as it affected

Britain were to assist British re-
covery and facilitate balanced
trade ,with the dollar area by
1952. YFirst,/on narrow economic
grounds alone, here is the ‘re-
cord.

Total. Marshall “aid” in the
form of both- grants and loans
over. two and a half years
amounts to less than £700 mil-
lion. Against this is increased
armament expenses forced by
the U.S. to a level of £750 mil-
lion in 1948, subsequently to the
present level, of £1,200 million,
and the end is not in sight.

Dollar trade has not been bal-
anced—the import deficit was
£211 million in 1948, £251 mil-
lion in 1949 and higher again
for 1950. .

Instead of assisting British
recovery, shipments of steel, ag-
ricultural machinery and eother
equipment originally promised to
Britain were switched to West-
ern Germany. Britain got what
goods the U.S. decided she

should have — including Coca
Cola to rot children’s’. teeth,
gangster movies, which killed

the British film industry, and
in March this year £1 million
worth of dried eggs which had
been held in American ware-
houses for two years.

Any semblance of long-term
planning was prevented by
granting Marshall “aid” in an-
nual instalments, each time on-
ly after prolonged bargaining.
Not only use of the “aid” com-
modities themselvés ut also
the determination of what could
be done with products contain-
ing any “aid” materials was
under direct American  super-
vision.

As only one quid pro quo
Americans obtained first claim
on all raw materials in the Brit-
ish Empire which they deemed
necessary for war stock piles.
This was glaringly shown up
recently, when the U.S. took so
much of the Australian wool
clip that clothing shops in Lon-
don advertised that replacement
stocks of woollen garments
would be at substantially higher
prices.

Briiain’s foreign trade came
under rigid American control.
Export of many manufactured
goods to the Soviet Union and
the Peopie’s Democracies was
prohibited. Since these indus-
trial goods are Britain’s main
for which
the Soviet Union and the Peo-
pie’s Democracies offered huge
supplies of needed foodstuffs and
raw ‘materials, British living

standards were lowered by the —

trade embargo.

Britain had to accede to Am-
erican pressure for devaluation,
which raised import costs and
hence prices at home while it
opened up the whole Empire to
U.S. investments at bargain
rates.

ment

SOSS SSO OS SSS OSS OSS.

In fact. as the Communist
party has continually warned
the British people during these
two and a half years, the offer
cf Marshall ‘aid’ was neither

an act of generosity nor was it.

designed to aid British recovery.

“It was a double-edged weapon

by which the U.S. carved out a
sure market for additional ex-
ports and at the same time con-
solidated its supremacy over its
foremost imperialist rival.

Actually it did even more, be-

cause it forced the rival to be-
come an ally in U.S. plans for
world conquest.
/ Why was Marshall “aid” stop-
ped abruptly now, instead of
continuing into 1952 as origin-
ally announced? It is certain
that the real answer has not
been .given officially.

It is true that British dollar
reserves rose
1950. They were up to nearly
£1,000 million at the end of the
third quarter. But this is large-
ly the result of temporary fac-
tors—price rises of wool,
ber and tin, coupled with fran-
tic American stockpiling.

Did the British government on
the basis of this temporary situ-
ation and on its own initiative
decide to stop’ receiving Mar-
shall “aid” in order to pursue
a more independent policy vis-
a-vis the U.S.?
belated realization on the part
of the government ‘that Bevin’s
eulogy of Marshall “aid” in 1948
was wholly wrong, and that the
country should be rid of it?
There is nothing to support this
view. -

The sterling devaluation of
September, 1949, provided an in-
stance of British reversal of
policy after a hurried trip to
Washington, and then a govern-
announcement implying
that Britain took the initiative.
A few more such act of initia-
tive and the American flag will
be flying from Westminster to
eineahorel

NOW PLAYING

ONE OF THE
FUNNIEST COMEDIES
OF ALL TIME!

substantially in.

rub- |

Could it be a:

PODSOOSOS DOS SI OP SSSI PSS OPS SOS DS PPP PPPS POS OS OSS,

but it also slyly implies that the country will now enjoy a

A more reasonable explana-
tion is that the U.S. took ad-
vantage of the build-up in Brit-
ain’s dollar reserves to force a
stoppage of Marshall “aid.”

.The American imperialists have

already achieved their Marshall
plan objectives. Now the war
program is providing a _ better
“public works program” for
American capitalists ‘than even
Marshallized exports.

‘ Cutting off of some dollar sup-
plies will certainly not streng-
then British economy now that
it has been leaning on this reed
for nearly three years. Fur-
thermore, the stoppage of “aid”
to Britain serves as a threat to
intimidate other weaker recipi-
ents iuke France and Italy.

Ending of Marshall “aid” now
will not solve the difficulties
Britain has suffered from get-
ting involved in the first place.
The damage to British foreign
trade has already been done.
‘The doors of the Empire have
already been opened to Ameri-
can investment. British sol-
diers have already been killed

in American military adventures

in Korea, The British govern-
ment is already deeply commit-
ted to the American war plans.

The oniy policy that could
help the British people now is
complete extrication from the
American imperialist sphere, a
house-cleaning of Americans and
American influence out of Brit-
ain, © complete about-turn to
expanding trade with the Soviet '
Union and the People’s Democ-
racies, a full stop to the waging
of colonial wars of oppression,
a reversal of direction of the
British economy to place it
squarely on the road leading to
socialism.

Clearly the ending of Marsh-
all “aid” now does not make
one inch of progress in this di-
rection. .

Melon £2

Charlie

. @

guts

Released thry United Artists

x

APLIN