WaTicpuuen British Columbia, January 6, 1956 WY Wy We SSS SSE Ss f. D ON tn Ae PELL A PRICE TEN CENTS A set Pram i i i ddressing Soviet Premier Nicolai Bulganin, seen here a r the Supreme Soviet, declared last week that the tour of India, Afghanistan and Burma made by himself and Communist party secretary N. S. Krushchev had been a great contribu- tion to world peace. New Soviet budget Arms cut 10 percent, housing up 17 percent By RALPH PARKER MOSCOW Down goes the Soviet Union’s expenditure on arms, down by 10,000 million roubles or about 10 percent — new evidence of the Soviet peace policy. And up goes Soviet expendi- ture on housing, up by 17 per- cent, This year the Soviet Union has ‘completed homes for six million people, in addition to 500,000 new houses in the coun- try-side. Next year there will be a vast addition to that total. Up, too, goes expenditure on the peaceful : : power — construction is now proceeding on atomic power sta- tions of between 50,000 and 100,000 kilowatts. These remarkable facts were announced at the meeting of the Supreme Soviet last week by Finance Minister A. G. Zverev. “The reduction in military ex- penditure means that the So- viet Union is showing concern Continued on back page See SOVIET use of atomic. Communists gain at French polls PARIS The Communist party's call for formation of a new Popular Front to give France strong progressive government and end the long series of parliamentary crises received powerful endorsation at the polls on Sunday. Still incomplete returns in the French general elections give the Communists 151 seats in the new Chamber of Deputies—52 more than they held in the last National Assembl single party in France. The Communists’ victories ex- ceeded even their own confi- dent expectations of gains. In an election eve interview with Peter Fryer, correspondent of the London Daily Worker, Maurice Thorez, general secre- tary of the French Communist party, predicted that his party would gain 30 seats. His prediction was based on the tremendous popular re- sponse to the Communist party’s proposal for a new Popular Front, as in the great election eve debate in Paris between Communist leader Jacques Duc- los and ex-Premier Mendes- France, two of the most power- ful orators in French political life. As Mendes-France fell silent before Duclos’ challenges — “Are you ready to accept unity of all the forces of the Left? Do you undertake not to as- sociate with the right wing after the election?” — the audience of 25,000 chanted “Popular Front! Popular Front!” It was the most tumultuous, most spectatular election rally the country has seen since the days of the old Popular Front, but this time the relative strengths of the contending parties were different and political loyalties were temper- ed by the bitter lessons of pre- war, war ‘and post-war years. Pierre Commin, Socialist party spokesman in the great Continued of page 7% See FRENCH Gillett charges Bennett broker for U.S. trusts “The Bennett government has become a broker for U.S. corporations,’’ charged Jack Gillett, Labor-Progressive candidate in the January 9 Vancouver Centre byelection, in a broadcast Tuesday this week over radio station CK WX. “T am proud to carry the banner of the LPP’ in this Vote--and vote well urges LPP candidate Jack Gillett, LPP candidate in the Vancouver Centre by- election January 9, told the Pacific Tribune this week: “My final mesage to the electors is —be sure to vote Monday, and use your vote well by casting it for the LPP.” Gillett’s campaign winds up with an election rally at Pen- der Auditorium this Friday, January 6, at 8 p.m. Nigel Mor- gan and Maurice Rush will also speak, and there will be music and songs by. Vancouver Youth Singers. ; a campaign because it is the only party which intends to stop the giveaway of our natural re- sources; which has a program to utilize our vast power re- serves to stimulate the devel- opment of B.C., to put Canada first, to protect our future,” Gil- lett continued. Condemning the Bennett gov- ernment’s giveaway policies in relation to power, natural gas, oil and timber licenses, the LPP candidate asserted that “the future of British Columbia hangs in the balance.” “The central question facing us is, shall we export our re- sources and our jobs with them, or are we going to use them to expand our industrial develop- ment? Are we going to take _action now to protect our great power, timber and mineral re- sources from _ profit - hungry monopolies? Are we going to develop the power potential in Continued of page 7 See CENTRE ‘ y — and reaffirm their position as’ the largest Leslie Morris comments By LESLIE MORRIS External Affairs Minister Lester B. Pearson has not been quite the same man since he- visited the Soviet Union a few months ago. But then, to be fair, neither has the world situation been the same. Big changes have tak- en place since the Geneva con- ference of the Big Four last July. Pearson is recognizing that and is now publicly asking the United States to change its attitude to the Soviet Union. He has an article in the Jan- uary 10 issue of Look magazine under the heading, “Are we losing the cold war?” He says “we” are. He give leadership to the Western nations to com- Union in what he calls “competi- tive coexist- ” s ence” — more accurately called by the Rus- sians, since November 1917, “peaceful coexistence” and “peaceful competition.” The key word is “peaceful.” He says “competitive coexist- ence” is a new phase of the cold war. . But surely peaceful competition can only mean: an end to the cold war. Pearson should take another .look at this. He admits that the policy of bullying the Soviet Union un- der threats of “massive retalia- tion” has failed. He says we need a new policy. The cause he gives for this is not correct although some of his conclusions are. It is not true to say that the cold war is failing because the Russians realize “as we do, that an ‘ atomic war would be disastrous for both.” As Premier Bulganin said last week, that is no guarantee there will be no war. The danger of atomic war is always present unless and until the H- bomb is banned, tests stopped, stocks destroyed and rigid in- spection and controls are set Pearson should take second policy look up. All of which Pearson fail- ed to mention. Neither does he say’ a word about controlled disarmament or world trade. Yet all of these three questions are still unre- solved. In that sense his article is woefully evasive. And he leaves the people right Continued on back page See MORRIS VIC FORSTER United labor support thrown behind Forster Vancouver labor is unani- mously backing Vic Forster, secretary of Vancouver Labor Council (CCL) as aldermanic candidate for the February 1 Vancouver civic byelection nec- essitated by the death of Alderman Birt Showler. Reg Atkinson, Truck Drivers’ Local 31 secretary, withdrew from the aldermanic race for the sake of labor unity after Van- couver Trades and Labor Coun- cil (TLC) rejected by a 77-63 vote his bid for endorsation. Teamster secretary Charlie Gower, campaigning for Atkin- son’s nomination, had 47 out of a possible 48 Teamster dele- gates at the council meeting, Continued on back page See UNITED