;

ANYWAY, WE GET OURS
(Harumph’) LEGALLY

OH, BROTHER

— SOURPUSS / Eo]

PACIFIC TRIBUNE

NEWS ITEM: The Bell Telephone system, which operates
as a huge monopoly in the U.S. and Eastern Canada, an-
nounced last week a record 12-month earnings of $1.7
billion. This makes it the biggest yearly income ever re-

ported by a utility or manufacturing concern in North Am-
erica. It has surpassed General Motors Corp., which last
year earned $1.59 billion. The Bell Telephone monopoly
controls more than 80 per cent of all U.S. telephones.

Williston rejects 5-year
hoist on forest giveaways

By MAURICE RUSH
- Hearings opened into the forest
industry in Victoria this week
which can affect the lives of all
British Columbians and entire
communities, and alter the face
'of the province,

The hearings being held by
Lands and Forests Minister Ray
Williston, will consider applica-
tions from a number of huge
monopolies seeking to divide up
an area of public forests stretch-
ing from Squamish to the Cariboo
which is twice the size of Nova
Scotia,

The principal antagonists at
the hearings, which are expected
to last all. this week, are the
giant U.S, Rayonier Corporation,
Weldwood of Canada Ltd,, which
has acquired many forest com-

‘ panies in B,C,, and United Pulp

Co., which represents someB,C,
forest interests who recently en-
tered a partnership with Price
Bros, of Quebec.

The forest industry was
Shocked in recent days when
Rayonier, which some time ago
acquired Woodfibre, applied for
a pulp harvesting licence which
would give it exclusive monopoly
rights over nine Crown forests
along the lower coast, in the
Fraser Valley and lower Cariboo.

At present many forest com-
Panies, including some giants
like MacMillan, Bloedel, B.C.
Forest Products, Canadian For-
est Products, and many smaller
Operations, bought logs from
these forests to maintain their
Operations,

The key issue posed before the
hearings this week is whether
the Minister of Lands and Forests
will grant one company special
rights over public forests from
which other forest companies now
draw pulpwood for their mills,

Another issue is whether the
Socred minister will find some
basis of compromise by which
he will satisfy all forest monop-
olies involved through a deal to

divide the Crown forests among
them,

Either of these solutions would
be contrary to the public’s in-
terest, It should be recalled that
in a similar situation a few
months ago, in northern B,C,,
the Minister of Lands and For-
ests pursued the latter formula
and handed over vast stretches
of public forests in the Prince
Rupert and Prince George areas
to the big corporations, most of
them U,S,-controlled, There is
a great danger that he may seek
a similar formula in this in-
stance,

The other two companies in-
volved are also seeking large
forest areas for exploitation,
Their applications are expected
to come before the hearing later
this week, Many of the areas
sought by them overlap each other
and with the Rayonier applica-
tion,

An interesting feature of the
opening day of the hearings was
the opposition of some major
forest companies in B,C, to the
Rayonier application,

B,C, Forest Products argued
against Rayonier’s application on
the grounds that a pulp-wood
harvesting form of tenure was
not necessary to achieve better
wood utilization,

Opponents of the present forest
licence legislation have always
maintained that these licences
are based on the false premise
that proper reforestation and
management of the forests can
only be carried out by private
companies under licence,

Canadian Forest Products also
opposed granting of the licence
to Rayonier on the grounds that

“there was an increasing tightness

of the raw material supply for

‘pulp mills and that granting of

an exclusive licence to one com~-
pany would work a hardship on
the others,

MacMillan Bloedel, which is
itself the biggest forest monopo-
ly in B,C,, charged before the

hearing that Rayonier’s bid is an

application for a monopoly on
pulpwood for 21 years to the
exclusion of five other pulp mills,
(Twenty-one years is the period
for which licences are granted by
the B,C, government).

The most significant brief,
from the public’s point of view,
was the one put forward by the
Truck Loggers Association, rep-
resenting the small operations
on.the coast, This brief opposed
the Rayonier application and ar-
gued that the public interests can
best be served by leaving the
Crown forests open to competi-
tion,

It advocated that instead of
granting public forests to private
companies, the forest service
create pulpwood harvesting tim-
ber sales, It urged that until such
a program can be developed, the
provincial government declare a
five-year moratorium on the
granting of pulpwood harvesting
licences on the coast,

Obviously fearful of the pro-
posal for a five-year moratori-
um, Lands and Forests Minister
Ray Williston rejected the pro-
posal of the Truck Loggers As-
sociation with the statement: “I
have never found that standing
still for five years accomplished
anything,”

He followed rejection of amor-
atorium with the statement that
“no mill has been built in the
Pacific northwest without aguar-
anteed supply of timber.”

With this statement the minis-
ter has tipped his hat in the
direction of granting forest
licences to private companies on
one formula or another, Thereis
therefore the greatest danger that
the vast giveaway of public for-
ests which took place a few
months ago in northern B,C, will
be duplicated in southern B,C,
unless public protests stops a'
further giveaway.

Urge action fo prevent
big flood catastrophe

Ottawa and Victoria were urged
this week to take immediate ac-
tion to cope with the emergency
created by the unprecedented
snowfall on Vancouver’s North
Shore,

In a wire to Prime Minister
Pearson and Premier W, A, C,
Bennett, Charles Caron, Coast-
Capilano Communist candidate in
the last federal election, and
Maurice Rush, North Vancouver
Communist candidate in the last
provincial election, warned that
a major catastrophe was shaping
up if action was not taken now,

The wire said: “North Shore
situation caused by heavy snow
is now at a critical point, Un-

precedented snow has isolated
many homes and caused great
hardship, A grave flood threat
is now posed which can endanger
life and property,”

The wire said that municipal
resources are exhausted, It
pointed out that the Army corps
of engineers is reported to be
standing by but has not been as-
signed to act in the crisis.

The wire concluded by urging
“federal, provincial governments
to act immediately to meet the
danger, Equipment, men and fin-
ancial aid must be immediately
rendered to remove snow, clear
drainage and avoid a major catas-
trophe,”

Transit boost protest

Cont'd from pg. 1

simply. “The raise in students’
fares amounts to 300 per cent,”
McLean stated, “Most kids get
only $1 a week allowance, but our
fares to and from school alone
now amount to $1.50 aweek. This
créates quite a hardship, After
all, most kids in Sapperton and
Queensborough come from or-
dinary workers’ families,”

The two teenage spokesmen,
together with a group of parents,
were scheduled to meet with New
Westminster Mayor Stuart Gif-
ford Wednesday evening to pursue
their protest,

Paddy Neale, secretary of Van-
couver Labor Council, said: “We
support the students’ position en-
tirely, We opposed any and all
increases in transit fares; in fact,

labor has consistently urged re-
duced fares as a way out of our
transit difficulties,

Harry Rankin, president of the
Central Council of Ratepayers
and all along an outspoken critic
of the transit hike, told the PT:
“It would have been nice if some
of the adult population had taken
as direct an approach to the fare
increase. They are to be con-
gratulated for their initiative,”

At press time many organiza-
tions were considering further
action to fight the high bus fares,
With the provincial session of
the legislature coming up later
this month the issue of public
transit is expected to be a hot
one,

PT makes

move,”

Last week the Pacific Tribune carried through the “big

It’s no easy undertaking to move a newspaper, with its
equipment, cuts, mats, files, etc, But we didit, thanks to many
wonderful supporters of our press who volunteered their efforts
before and after Christmas to make the move possible,

There are too many names to mention, but the PT staff
wants all those who helped to know that their efforts were very
much appreciated, A big thanks to all of you!

The move was decided on after more suitable headquarters
were found, We are sure our readers willlike the new facilities
and we hereby extend an invitation to visit us and look around.
Everything is not yet in place, but it will be soon.

The new address of the Pacific Trbune is: Mezzanine 3,
193 East Hastings St., (Ford Building), Vancouver 4,

‘big move’

CUBA CELEBRATES SIXTH ANNIVERSARY. On January 1, 1959, the people of
Cuba won their freedom from the brutal Batista dictatorship and from the
shackles of U.S. imperialism. This year celebrations are being held in Havane to
mark the anniversary of their victory for independence. Photo above shown Fidel
Castro addressing a huge public rally recently in the Cuban capital.

January 8, 1965—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 3