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Burnt fingers.

Editorial Comment...

Fascism defeated 30 years ago ;

Thirty years ago on May 8 the most
costly war in history was brought to a
close. It cost 50 million lives. For our
Soviet ally in that war it meant 20 mil-
lion deaths.

May 9 will be marked throughout the
world as the day of victory over Hitler
fascism, the date from which no fascist
should ever again have the right to
preach his poison. They had their say:
50 million lives worth,

But besides being a time of solemn
remembrance, this anniversary is a

time of dedication to the finest aspira- .

tions of human kind. Out of the ashes
of Europe a system of socialist states
arose to give its peoples access to the

_ future such as the world has not known.

In Asia, Africa, Latin America, out of
the cruel battle with fascism, a ne
road, the road to socialism is being lal@
in many countries.
Over these 30 years, thanks to the
peace forces of the world, given endut-
ing strength by the socialist states |
potential world war has several times
been blocked. And today, the ideas ¢
detente and. peaceful co-existence ar@ |
sweeping over the world lighting t
way to lasting peace. a
This is an anniversary to be marke®
with gratitude toward those heroic mem |
and women who defeated fascism 1” |
that worst of holocausts. It is a day to
greet the future with a vow of vigilance
in defence of world peace and humall |
progress. .

—_ aA

FLASHBACKS FROM
THE COMMUNIST PRESS

50 years ago...

DOWN TOOLS
ON MAY DAY!

The class struggle between ex-
ploiters and exploited, between
the capitalist class which mono-
polizes the means of wealth pro-
duction and the working class
which is destitute of everything
but its labor - power, rages
throughout the world with undi-
minished force.

Nor has all the talk of class co-
operation, nor all the efforts of
the agents of capitalist influence
inside the labor movement
brought peace where there is no
peace and.can be no peace.

While they talk of “concilia-
tion” to disarm the workers, the
capitalists conduct their offen-
sive to reduce the toilers to the
standards of coolies. In Nova

~ Scotia 12,000 miners, 50,000 men,

women and children of the work-
ing class are struggling against
the merciless wage reduction
policy of Besco. Where is class
harmony? Where is justice? Both
are lies.

The Worker,

25 years ago...
WORLD MAY DAY
IS PEACE DAY!

The war cries become more
shrill. War preparations in Can-
ada and the U.S. increase. The
moment is critical.

But the people are replying all
over the world. “Peace” is the
watchword of the 60th Interna-
tional Workers’ May Day, May 1.
“Peace for our children, our
homes, our country.” Working
people do not want war. On May
Day millions everywhere will
meet and march for peace.

The Ban the Bomb petition is
addressed to all Canadians of

good will. Sign the petition and
mail it today to the Canadian
Peace Congress — for your sake,
for your children’s sake.

Come out on May Day! Answer
the warmakers! Lift your voice
for peace! Workers of all coun-
tries — unite.

Tribune,
May 1, 1950

Working class needs
anti-monopoly unity —

The royal commission to investigate
the effect on Canada’s social and eco-
nomic life of corporate wealth and pow-
er was not set up to protect the working
people, as every class-conscious worker
knew at once.

When Power Corporation of Canada

tried and failed to take over Argus
Corporation, a wedding that would
have packed a $5.5-billion clout (their
total joint assets), Prime Minister Tru-
deau announced hiscommission, directed
to see whether such mergers are in the
“oublic interest,” and consider ways to
stop such nuptials if negative. By “pub-

lic’ interest” he meant the interests of -

the system of state monopoly capitalism.

It is not so odd that the monopoly
system worries when a few get very
big and pushy. Power and Argus are
into pulp and paper, shipping, ship
building, farm machinery, life insur-
ance, trust companies, mining, broad-
casting, food processing and retailing,

etcetera.

No wonder a big, grown-up bour-
geois newspaper wept in public. It knew
whose insurance companies and trust
companies would be favored, whose
media would benefit — it used the word

‘competition five times in an editorial .

pleading for government barriers to

* “excessive accumulation of power.”

How contradictory it all seems in the
present stage of capitalism when every
facet of the economy is monopolized as
rapidly as it can be accomplished, and
monopoly power. merged with state
power. sets itself the task of holding
back the next stage of human society —
socialism. And contradictory it is.

os ) e e 2

The Communist Party, both in its
1975 May Day statement, and in last
December’s contingency program to
check the drift to depression; urged a
concerted working-class and demo-
cratic people’s campaign to place key

industries under public ownership. This »
could curb monopoly profits, create

jobs. roll back prices, begin to redistrib-
ute the country’s wealth. es
. True enough. nationalization carried

out by the capitalist svstem is done in

~ its own interests. as when most mono-

polies don’t want any single monopoly

_ with their own moral values controlling
their energy supply.

True enough, such nationalization ® |
not socialism; the means of. productio?
remains in the hands of capitalists. |

But in certain conditions the working |
class can turn even bourgeois national:
zation into a weapon of struggle agains»
arbitrary monopoly rule. ?
-The working-class fight for publi
ownership would exert pressure for T&
sponsibility by elected representatives
would isolate the exnloiter monopolists,
and help to consolidate an anti-mon0-
poly coalition which eventutally will be
reflected in anti-monopoly governments
at various levels.

The appointment of the new royal
commission is evidence of the system §
dilemma. Sure, it’s a cover-up for the
exploiting system; sure. it’s a cry 12)
the dark for an outmoded system: sure
it’s intended to prolong the life of cap!”
talism. a

But the course of the working class 16
clear —to utilize capitalism’s own weak-
nesses and develop the anti-monopoly
struggle.

Reality in Portugal

If Communists took their cues from
the capitalist press they would be hold-
ing wakes over the headlines reporting
the Portuguese elections. “Communists
fail,” says the New York Times, “im-
mense defeat,” says another. Is 30 seats |
in parliament failure? Does being the
political motor in the Revolutionary
Council in solidarity with the Arme
Forces Movement sound like failure?
The NATO backers are whistling in the
dark. The solid core support for the
Communist Party in the industrial
working class. the decisive factor in thé
revolution’s future; the Communist-
Socialist concensus on many issues af-
fecting Portugal’s advance to socialism:
the conscious Communist vote of 137%
of the -country’s electorate despite
evervthine a half-century of fascism
and its left-overs could do — these aré
signs of achievement. :

Certainly, more votes, more seats for |
Communists would have been welcome.
But those’ who try to cause dejection
among the Left in Canada and else-
where should listen to Portuguese Com-
munist Jeader Alvaro Cunhal when he
savs: “The revolution continues its own
original dynamic. All the conquests
achieved will be defended and main- }
tained .. .” Let the CIA, the multi-
nationals and the big business press
digest that. 3