e BEN SWANKEY US. trusts n ot Canadian people, getting oil wealth. HIS is the fifth and concluding article in a series: by Ben Swankey examining the policies of Premier Mammning’s Social Credit government of Alberta and relating them to the B.C. Social Credit League’s promises in. the present B.C. provincial . election campaign. UST who is getting the profits out of the development of Al- berta oil? The Social Credit government says it is the people of Alberta. A growing number of the people of Alberta say it is the American oil trusts. Let’s look at a few facts. Fact No. 1: Last year ‘crude oil production in Alberta was valued at $117 million. The bud- getary estimate for oil royal- ties during the last fiscal year was $5 million. Allowing for adjustment of the estimate in the budget, it will be seen that royalies still amount to only about 5 percent of the actual value of the oil produced. ‘The Manning government made twice as much last year from the sale of liquor as it did from oil royalties. Fact No. 2: Up until the end of 1951, the value of oil produc- tion in the two main fields, Le- duc and Redwater, was $218 million, The total revenue from royal- ties, fees and rentals, and sale of leases during this period was $76 million. Of the $76 million, a total of $60 million came from the sale of leases. Therefore less than $16 mil- lions came in from royalties, or less than 7 percent of the total value of production. Fact No. 8: Although the oil companies paid only’$60 millions to the government for leases in the Leduc and Redwater fields, they will take many hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil out of these wells before they dry up. A conservative estimate would be at least one billion dollars. eee 4 em ee te me o ' , . e satentivecens catex ANT, ‘men sold a few quarter sections for $13 mililon. This looks like a lot of money and it is. But it is still insignificant compared to what the American oil companies who bought these leases will get out of it. The sale of leases or crown re- serves is a non-recurring rey- enue. “Once sold they are lost to the government and the peo- ple, From then on it is the oil trusts that make the money and all the government géts small royalty. Fact No. 4: To the end of last year, the total revenue of the government from oil de- velopment was approximately $90 million. is a One man, a Calgary corpora- tion lawyer named Eric L, Har- vie, a director of Empire Trust of New York, also made $90,- 000,000! That’s only one man; Think of the profits that must have been made by all the oil com- panies put together! And then compare this with the little that the government has received. And compare it also with what the people would get if -this whole industry were taken over by the government, as the Labor- Progressive party proposes, and _ run in the interests of the peo- ple of Alberta, not for the profit of slick promoters and foreign corporations. But’ this the Social Credit government refuses to do because it has become the politi- cal agent of the U.S. trusts. These are only a few of the facts. I think they show con- clusively that it is the U.S. trusts, not the people of Alberta who are profiting from the sell-out of our oil resources. le *e ALBERTA ‘ YH “district is completed will have their hopes dashed, Ben Swankey stipulation Supplied to Vancouver. In a previous article he pointed out that there is no . in the pipeline construction contract that gas must be The amount of gas delivered to Vancouver _ will be determined by the requirements of war industries in the US. Pacific Northwest. And the price to be paid by Vancouver consumers for such gas as they get, Swankey suggests, will be little if any cheaper than coal, \ ‘Read every word ' W.H., Seattle: While at the: Peace Park on May 18,1 pur- chased my first copy of the Pa- cific Tribune, I have read every «word in it and must say that I like it so much that I want you “to send me five copies of the issue published May 16. I enclose money to pay for them. Please let me know what it will cost to get two six-month subscriptions, one to be sent to me here in Seattle, and the other sent to my nephew in San Fran- cisco. Magnificent photo WILL PARRY, People’s World Northwest Bureau, Seattle: Can you rush*us as quickly as pos- sible two glossy prints of your magnificent Page One photo of Robeson in May 23 issue of the Pacific Tribune? Congratulations JOHN DASCHBACH, director, Washington State Civil Rights Congress, Seattle: Our warmest congratulations on the splendid job, you Canadians did in Blaine Rally for Peace and Freedom. All of the Yankees there were tremendously inspired by the ‘event and by the militant spirit of our Canadian sisters and brothers. Paul (Robeson) was highly enthusiastic about the Blaine rally. He regarded it as the high- light of his whole tour—even though there were many con- certs to come, The Blaine rally was such a tremendous thing that the “big” Seattle press failed to carry a single word about. it. However, they well know of it. Just last night ‘the Seattle Times was querulously asking, “How come that many more turn out for the Paul Robe- son event at the Blaine Peace Arch than turned out to wel- come home the veterans at the Vancouver welcoming?” The simple and true answer is, of course, hidden from their brassy minds, Enclosed is 50 cents for which please send us 10 copies of last week’s issue telling of the Blaine Rally. We want our leaders in the Civil Rights Congress around the state to have this account. On the wonderful pictures in the May 28 issue. Would it be possible to get glossy prints of them? We know of a good many people here who would be inter- ested in these pictures. Two systems GEORGE PALMER, Vancou- ver, B.C.: An article in the New York Herald-Tribune headed “Furniture Sales Lag” first com- plains about the shutdown of furniture plants in Grand Rap- ids and other furniture centers and finally sums up the situation thus: “Outbreak of global war would, of course, change the picture. ‘Wholesale destruction of homes by bombing could lead to an accelerated demand for many years to come, It could also result in destruction of furn ture-manufacturing estab- lishhents which, in turn, would provide greater. work for those Spared. To sum up, while the furniture boom as it has existed for some time appears to be over, the industry may expect fairly satisfactory conditions in years to come,” A contrasting approach to the Same subject is taken from the Moscow News of same date, May, 1952. 3 “The restoration and expan- sion of international] trade and economic relations would go @ long way towards cutting dow? unemployment and easing the lot of millions of people. What tangible benefit to the working people the development of trade can bring may be judged from the fact that the Soviet orders alone, which the president of the USSR Chamber of Commer¢® mentioned at the conference (Moscow Economic Conference) would provide jobs for at least one and a half to two million people for three years. If to this. we add the members of their - families, it will mean an oppor- tunity to assure.a livelihood to about six million people.’ Comment on this would be but gilding the lily. Supports Endicott _H. C. KINGSTON, Vancouvers B.C.: As:a Peace Assembly mem- ber I am writing these few lines regarding an issue that concerns me very much, and as it should all true Canddians, I have knowD Dr. James Endicott ever since 1 joined the Peace around two years ago and I have yet to doubt any word he has ever spoken. I place more value on his efforts to defend our country and its people than I do in the misgovernment of thé stooges of big business acting 48 satellites of foreign exploiters and at the same tfme ruining our own country, I have been talking with seV- eral friends about the smear campaign against Dr, Endicott and we are agreed that if Dr: Endicott can prove his state ments regarding germ warfare then the peace movement should use this opportunity to show uP the racketeers and shysters of this country who are engaged in casting slurs at him, PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JUNE 6, 1952 — PAGE 4 Assembly — Ul