LABOR FRONT By WILLIAM KASHTAN As was to be expected the Globe and Mail has come out in support of the Liberal Party. One now sees the strange politi- cal spectacle of a leading Liberal paper like the Toronto Star in a call for the election of a Liberal government. Strange and yet not so strange. This wedding of conveni- - ence illustrates the deep political changes shaping up in the country. But it also mirrors the growing fear among import- ant sections of monopoly that the two-party system is begin- ning to break down and finding alternative expression at this time in the New Democratic Party on the one hand and Social Credit on the other. The demand for a “stable Liberal ma- jority government” is monopoly’s reply to this process, through which it hopes the do- minant position of the two-party system will be maintained, nuclear arms brought into the country and an austerity program foisted on the Canadian people. * * * This shift in politics illustrates how old labels and old tags do not have the same meaning today. The once widespread illu- sion of theLiberal Party as the party of re- form has no validity today. It has not Only become the pro- American party; it has likewise become the preferred party of monopoly in Canada. To it has been given the task of making those “hard, un- pitasant decisions” calculated to aid monopoly at the expense of the needs and aspirations of the Canadian people. This is why the Globe and Mail doesn’t find it difficult to shift horses in midstream. As it declares in its editorial of Mar. 23, entitled ‘““‘The Overriding Issue”: “those who voted Conser- vative in the past election should find no philosophical prob--. lem to, vote Liberal in this election. It has been a long time since there has been any philosophical difference between the two parties. This has been one of the voters’ problems, there has been little to choose between them except in the character of the leadership. And in this election Mr. Diefenbaker has simplified the choice by ignoring the REALITIES to which Mr. Pearson has returned”. What are these raalities? Again to quote that editorial: “no sensible individual and no wise political leader is going to reject necessary social reforms. We are all agreed that these are desirable; the matter is nOt an issue. What is an issue is the time and manner in which we shall provide these programs. In the strained economic conditions that exist in Canada today ?tMey cannot be bought on credit. They must be earned. We shall get them if, and when, we can afford them. This is what Mr. Pearson has pledged to do.” Clear enough, even the Globe and Mail misreads the facts. Fact No. 1: As profit sheets will show, monopoly has never had it so good. Fact No. 2: It is the Canadian people who are in strained economic conditions, not monopoly. Fact No. 3. The Canadian people have earned the right to improved conditions but have been stymied by the policies of. monopoly and its parties. Fact No. 4: This will wialtinnes but even more so, under a “stable Liberal majority”. * * * ” The Toronto Star approaches the question of a ‘stable Lib-_ eral government” from a somewhat different tack. The Globe and Mail appeals to the Conservative right to back the Liberal Party. The Toronto Star appeals to progressive-minded citizens to elect a Liberal majority to prevent the emergence of a Dief- enbaker-Caoutte axis. Progressive-minded working people should not be misled by these antics of the Toronto Star. It is an old hand at leading them along a circle and ihen bringing them back into the fold of the old-line parties, in this case the Liberal Party. A majority government, a decisive government, a stable government, none of them, tied as such a government would be to the Pentagon and to the policies of monopoly can do any- thing but harm to the working class and the Canadian people. What sort of stability is there for Canada and the Cana- _ dian people to be drawn into a ‘nuclear arms race with all its disastrous consequences? Monopoly’s demand for a stable government a a note of desperation to it. It shows that it is not completely in con- trol of the situation and that despite all its efforts another min- ority government may yet emerge on Aprii 8. Much depends. upon the organized labor movements to ensure through its efforts that a substantial number of NDP members are elected, large enough to constitute a balance of power, strong enough. and determined to prevent nuclear arms and willing and able to advance the struggle against U.S .interference and domina- tion of our country. The outcome of the elections will not be decided by Gall- up polls or by so-called experts, the brainwashers for monop- oly, determining before election day how people will vote and who they will vote for. It will be decided by the high degree of organization and conscious understanding of the thousands upon thousands of volunteers who are prepared to do their stint to get the working-class vote out in all the important in- ustrial centres in this country on election day. As we enter the last stretch of the campaign this aspect onght as be sixen our closest attention, _ a LIBERAL PARTY RECORD EXPOSED 22 years of ‘stable’ Liberal govt. reduced us to U.S. satellite By WILLIAM DEVINE If you’re thinking of voting for a “stable” Liberal govern- ment on April 8, take a few minutes to think about what the last 22-year Liberal re- gime did for the country. It sold us out — almost lock, stock and barrel — to the money men of the United States. What the Liberals did with their government majorities ‘in those years until 1957 laid the basis of our present sub- servience to the U.S., with the military, political and econ- omic harm for Canada this en- tails. Liberal policies have led inexorably to today’s naked _attempt by the Yanks to en- mesh us as a complete satel-- lite, as expressed in the open and blatant U.S. pressure to force nuclear weapons on our country. The Liberal stable put the economy out to pasture in the interest of U.S. big business and its financial lackeys in Canada. It made the economy almost completely dependent on the U.S. in a one-sided manner, thus distorting it and undermining its chances of healthy growth. ‘Post - war unemployment records had their origin in the Libera] sell-out plot — as yet effectively unchecked; it should be said, by the last few years of Tory government. The record is clear in ex- posing the Liberal schemes. It’s too long to list in detail, but a few highlights show the pattern and make the sordid point. ABBOT PLAN The Liberal onslaught against Canada got underway in earnest with the introduc- tion of the Abbott Plan in 1947, announced by the then Finance Minister Abbott on Nov. 17 of that year. This was to have been a “short-term” plan, allegedly to stimulate the Canadian ec- onomy by imposing tariffs of 25 percent on aq long list of durable goods imported from the U.S: It was based on the asser- tion Canadians ‘have been living somewhat beyond our means in the last year or more” (see Lester Pearson’s election speeches today). and was worked out in ‘‘coopera- tion with the United States “The plan resulted in higher prices for many goods and conveniences for Canadians. As Tim Buck, then general secretary of the Labor-Pro- gressive Party, pointed out, the same results could have been achieved through import quotas without raising prices. Even putting this point aside, however, the argument adopted by Abbott, Prime Minister Mackenzie King and their colleagues was that the plan was in the long-range in- terest of the economy and was only temporary. If this had been true, per- haps the plan could have con- tained at least that merit. FALSE ARGUMENTS But therein lay the rub. The Abbott-King arguments were false. Tim Buck drew attention a / ne (nip to this in an article in Na- tional Affairs Monthly in De- © cember, 1947. He pointed out the plan failed in the first place to take account of the new situation after the war — —the rise of the New Democ- racies and the increased world-wide strength of soc- ialism which brought about the need for brand new trad- ing policies. At the same time he ex- posed the Abbott Plan as one which would lead to a “de- — cline of manufacturing, a nar- rowing of Canada’s foreign trade and a_ strengthening trend toward economic colon- ization of this country by Un- iteq States monopoly capital.” An authoritative U.S. bus- iness advice service had con- firmed Buck’s warning six weeks before Abbott had an- nounced his plan and had re- vealed just what was meant by Abbott’s “cooperation” with the U.S. _Whaley-Eaton Service in- formed U.S. businessmen the plans being considered were aimd at closer integration of Canada with the U.S. econ- omy. The aid would be to de- velop Canada as a source of raw materials and special pro- ducts for American industry. RESTRICTED TRADE Washington, it said, would also probably insist that Can- ada stop promotion of trade in other-than-food items with “soft currency” countries, and — would insist Canada trade only with those countries ap- proved by the US. : That this is what would See LIBERALS, pg. 6 REJECT A-ARNS, TRADE WITH ALL COUNTRIES URGED BY LONGSHOREMEN The Fifth Annual convention of the International Loengshoremen’s & Warehousemen’s union meeting’ in Vancouver on March 25 and 26, has condemned nuclear arms for Canada and has called for a pro- gram of ‘trade with all coun- tries’. The convention also en- ‘dorsed the principle of granting long term credits ‘‘to underde- veloped countries,’’ in order to stimulate such trade. The 42 delegates at the conven- tion( representing 13 locals) de- cided to notify all federal election candidates of its stand on the nuclear arms question and will alpzieeiGnosision clear sto.what. ever party forms the government after April 8. In other actions the convention: © Reaffirmed its opposition to the present Columbia River trea-- ty, stating its support for the ef- forts of the “Save, the Columbia Commitee’’; + ° Condemned the proposed changes in the Unemployment Insurance Act, by the Gill commission; © Called on the CLC to bring pressure to bear on the govern- ments, to try to resolve the prob- lem of unemployment; ® Called: for the institution of a comprehensive Medicare pro- gram; : as recommended e Supported ‘‘in its entirety’ the Macdonald Report on educa tion; | © Protested the use of police » dogs on picket lines and called for labor solidarity, urging the CLC to “review the position of those unions who are not at pres- ent inside the structure ‘of the CLG ° Pledged support to Canada’s Native Indians in their struggle “for equality, opportunity, educa- tion and fair working conditions;”’ © Condemned foreign control of Canada’s industry and resources and demanded economic indepen- - dence for our country.