McEwen honored
at gala banquet

Good will messages, flowers,’
and gifts were showered upon
Veteran Communist Tom
McEwen and his wife Rose at a
banquet in the AUUC hall on
Sunday evening when over 300 of
his friends packed the hall to
Mark the occasion of his
retirement as editor of the

acific Tribune at the age of 79.
The assembly also paid tribute to
Some twenty other veteran
Working class fighters who were
honor guests at head table.

Xpressing the general warm
Sentiments of other messages

Tom across Canada, was one
from the Central Executive
Committee of the. Communist

arty of Canada: ‘From our

_ Collective hearts we thank you

for a job well done. We know also
at you are not retiring from
Politics but will continue to work
ee all your strength for the
so of peace, democracy,
: os ism, the Communist Party
n its working class policies.”
petes were received also from
ee’: Ontario, Sas-
, ewan, Alberta and Mani-
4 provincial committees of
. om the national executive
Batt BS McKenzie-Papineau
alion, and a score of old

friends t ©
one he length and breadth of

$4,500 IN

But Tom McEwen is really not
retiring, said Maurice Rush who
acted as master of ceremonies.
He pointed out that Tom is
completing the manuscript of a
book which will cover the
experiences of his close-to-sixty
years in the working class
struggle. He also continues to
write his weekly column for the
Pacific Tribune, and this year is
heading up the spring financial
drive for the paper.

Provincial leader Nigel
Morgan, in detailing the
remarkable contribution which
Comrade McEwen has made to
the progressive movement in
Canada, said that he was an
outstanding Communist leader
of our period, and was looked
upon not only with respect, but
with love and affection.

Tom McEwen is a self-
educated man, Morgan said, who
has a great love for literature,
poetry, music and the classics.
He is as well a fine artisan, a
member of the working class
who learned his trade as
blacksmith and machinist in
Scotland as a young man.

He came to Canada sixty years
ago and became a _ socialist
through his studies and
experiences, a farmhand in
Saskatchewan, machinist in

513,500 T0 G0

Only 6 weeks left in campaign

Reach 50% of target by May Ist

Club
GREATER
VANCOUVER
Bi - Quotas Achieved
eu Bennett 650 195
eacway 550 361
rank Rogers 600 55
Kingsway 800-. 150
atin Makela 100 50
sal 300 17
‘ ter McGuire 500 225
Oint Grey 400 52
pacer East 1050 300
. ie Vancouver 450 147
i Ory Square 700 443
Fe maby 550 160
ve 350 101
= Shore 750 467
ity Total 7750 2724
pROW NCIAL
ENERAL
ernie Michel
5 es
Owell River a E
OiNntulg 7a a,
rail Castlegar 300 ad
w,8spondence 400 194
: ™ McEwen 500 222
ae 1000 ae
als 2525 aoe

DRIVE QUOTAS

Club

VANCOUVER

ISLAND Quotas Achieved
Alberni 325 137
Campbell River 200 2
Cowichan 200°. 2
Nanaimo 625 355
Parksville 125 20
Victoria — 400 51
Totals 1875 567
DEWDNEY

Haney Map. Ridge 300 oe
Mission 200 ~+2«+100
Totals 500 102
OKANAGAN

Kamloops 150 5

- Notch Hill 100 =_

Vernon 300 5
Totals 550° 10
FRASER VALLEY

Fraser Ind. 250 _
Ft. Langley 300 120
New West. 450 30
White Rock Delta 750 392
Surrey 575 12
Coquitlam 350 + +101
Agassiz Chilliwack.275 24
Totals 1850 679
Unpledged 1725 22

4506

GRAND TOTALS

Toronto, and other jobs. He

missed out by only a few weeks .

being a charter member of the

Communist Party which was

organized in 1922.
For 34 years he was a member
of the Central Committee of the

party.

In the 1930’s, Morgan recalled,
Tom McEwen was sent to
“college’, in this case Kingston
Penitentiary. This was during
the period of  Liberal-
Conservative attempts to crush

the working class struggle °
against unemployment and
starvation.

During his years as a working
man, McEwen took part in the
wage struggles of the miners in
Nova Scotia and the Crows Nest;
the fight of the farmers for a
decent return for their produce;
the fight against fascism in
Spain, the mass struggle of the
unemployed in the March on
Ottawa in 1935.

Always McEwen has_ been
aware of the need to fight
against the disease of
Trotskyism and its assorted
allies in disruption. Speaking of
the “caricature” of a march
which took place in downtown
Vancouver on Saturday, (the day
before the banquet,) Morgan
pointed out that it had

- accomplished nothing for the

people who are dying in
Vietnam, nor did it help the labor
movement, and had served only
to divert attention from the real
issues.

The guest of honor was
presented with a_ purse
containing several hundred
dollars, and in his simple reply
to the tributes paid him,
McEwen said, “I am part of all

GREETINGS

FOR PEACE &
PROGRESS
in 1970
On This MAY DAY

NORTH SHORE
CLUB

MAY DAY —
GREETINGS

UNITY g PEACE
White Rock-
Delta Club

1970 MAY DAY

GREETINGS

TO ALL
WORKERS IN B.C.

Bill Bennett Club

GREETINGS on
MAY DAY - 1970

Bro ALL OUR SUPPORTER

from

OLGIN CLUB

of you. The working class of
Canada has shaped my destiny
and has made me, for good or ill,
what Iam.”

He praised today’s young
people. “‘Youth today are not
following in our footsteps any
more than we followed in those
of our parents. But the essence
of thinking among young people
today is that they are not going
to be pressured into killing. Our
generations saw two world wars,
in which hundreds of thousands
of Canadian youth were killed.
We have left a heritage which
coming generations will have to
wipe out.”’

In a humorous vein, McEwen
told of how while he, Tim Buck,

and other comrades were
incarcerated in Kingston
Penetentiary, they had been

assigned to building gates for the
ouside walls of the institution.
Huge wrought iron affairs, they
are a work of art, he said.

“They still stand there today,
and when the revolution comes,
you can tear them down and put
them up elsewhere as a symbol
of unlocking the doors to

—ock Phillips photo
NIGEL MORGAN, B.C. Communist leader is shown making presentation
to Tom McEwen at Sunday’s gala banquet in the Ukrainian Hall.

freedom for men everywhere.
That would please me as a
memorial.”

He paid tribute to Comrade
Tim Buck who he said had been a
source of inspiration, hope and
confidence to him. It was this
inspiration that had helped them
to rise above the prison walls at
Kingston. He recalled that Tim
Buck and he had made a pledge
to celebrate their 80th birthdays
together. =

Another veteran of the labor
movement, Joe Wallace, read a
poem which he dedicated to his
old comrade. The Milestones, a
singing group happily revived
after three years of inactivity,
sang a number of rollicking
songs, and Kori Tyler, in a lovely
soprano voice, paid special
tribute to Tom’s_ Scots
background in ‘Comin’ Thro the _
Rye.”

Peggy O’Kane, on behalf of the
Young Communist League, and
Beth Chobituik, for the Womens’
Commission, presented bouquets
of roses to Rose and Tom
McEwen.

Classified advertising

NOTICES
APRIL +26 -— = B:C.. -PHACE
COUNCILANNUAL

MEETING will be held SUN-
DAY, APRIL 26 at 1 p.m. 307
West 9th Ave. Speaker: E.
BJARNSON on _ Economic
Effect of War. Everyone wel-
come.

COMING EVENTS

APRIL 25 — CELEBRATE
MAY DAY to the strains of the
old Piano Roll Blues. Player
piano, Banjo & Guitar. Bring
your instrument and join in.
MOVIES of past MAY DAYS &
PAUL ROBESON PEACE

- ARCH’ RALLY. Dancing,
Good Food & Refreshments.
SATURDAY, APRIL 25th,
from 8 p.m. to ? at the
DORAN’S — 426—8th St.,
NEW WESTMINSTER. Adm.
$1.50. Proceeds to Press Drive.
All welcome.

MAY 2 — Celebrate the 100th
ANNIVERSARY of LENIN’S
BIRTH at a Gala BANQUET
and dance to be held SAT.
MAY 2nd at 805 EAST
PENDER ST. DINNER 6:30.
Dancing 9 p.m. FILMS, DIS-

PLAYS, GUEST SPEAKER:

MAURICE RUSH, Editor

Pacific Tribune. Admission

$2.50 per person. Ausp: Bill

Bennett Club. pee ei

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 1970—PAGE 11 Pe 3

MAY 9 — KEEP THIS DATE

OPEN for North Shore
LENIN NIGHT. Watch ‘PT”
for further details. -

BUSINESS PERSONAL

DRY CLEANING
& LAUNDRY
Also Coin-op.
LAUNDRETTE
2633 Commercial Dr.
879-9956

REGENT TAILORS LTD. —
Custom Tailors and Ready-
to-Wear, 324 W. Hastings St.
MU 1-8456 or 4441 E. Hastings
— CY 8-2030. See Henry Ran-
kin for personal service.

HALLS FOR RENT

UK RAINIAN CANADIAN
CULTURAL CENTRE —
805 East Pender St., Vancou-
ver 4. Available for Banquets,
Weddings, Meetings. Phone:
254-3436 or 876-9693

RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S HOME—
Available for meetings. han-
quets and weddings at rea-
sonable rates. 600 Campbell
Ave. 254-3430.

CLINTON HALL,

2605 East:
Pender. Available for ban-
quets; «meetings, . weddings;
etc. Phone 253-7414.

Sass