UNIONIST GASSED Even police can'tgef beds | for patients = | Here are the stories of two citi- zens who urgently needed hospital- Bomb would kill Canada “now spending |}; bom | : half of humanity 50 cents in dollar on war preparations ! R “By JOHN STEWART 4 ization but couldn’t get beds when . The arms kings of Canada rubbed théir hands last week when Finance Minister oe Pe caet ete eee , Abbott told the House of Commons the government would ‘spend a minimum of $1,700 2 when he, was so far gone that he died. The other a victim of BCElectric’s faulty gas service — was rushed to a private hospital . in New Westminster after being refused admittance to the General, and pulled through. million on planes, tanks, guns and the armed forces in the coming year. | Not until after the Easter recess ‘will Abbott reveal how much the St. Laurent government will take from the people in extra taxes to foot the bills, though it is ex- Pected to up income taxes at least 20 percent. Ca 4 : But 3 no matter how the govern Fad arms face, support - ge - disarmament by all a ‘ a : countries, urges Buck Ment and war profiteering does it, the cost of preparing for war this year alone will cost every Canadian family close to $450; the per capita . €&Xpenditure comes to $122.50. _ Canada has now taken second _ Place in the world in percentage of } all government expenditures allot- ted to arms—close to 50 percent. Karl Olsen, 51-year-old fisherman who lived at 998 Richard street, suf- fered a stroke last February 4. Sev- eral days later a doctor managed to get him into the isolation ward at General Hospital for four days, then he was sent home in a cab. GENERAL EISENHOWEER ° Ee said the U.S. would use the atom bomb, in war. a (The total estimate of government Spending for the coming year is $3,586,916,000.) This means that of every dollar of the taxpayers’, Mmoney the government spends, 50 cents will go to the arms trusts. Only the United States, ‘spending 70 percent; tops Canada. Britain Spends over 30 percent. _(Last week in Moscow, the So- Viet government adopted a budget Which, in the face of the huge Spending by the U.S., Britain and Canada, increased its defense esti- mates from 18 to 21 percent of total expenditures, The balance goes Mainly to social benefits.) Actually the government’s arms bill will be higher than the $1.7 billion reported. The so-called “de- fense” department will have auth- Orization to spend $1,907,100 in the next year and with supple- Mentary estimates still to come, the announced three-year $5_bil- lion war spending will be greatly expanded. * ; If the Liberal government had instead devoted its efforts to bring-. ing about a peace conference and Pact of peace between the Five ' Great Powers, as proposed by the World Peace Council, this $1,700 Million could be spent for the bene- fit of the people thus: 150,000 ~homes costing $8,000 - each could be. built, in 1951. ($1,240 million.) Family allowances for 3,900,000 children could be increased 50 percent. ($130 million.) : -Canada’s 251,000 old-age pen- sioners could be granted a $10 & month pension increase. ($2.510,000.) The 192,000 veterans who have already served in two world wars, and the 33,000 dependents of those who gave their lives in these wars, could have a 50 Percent increase in the pittance Pension they now receive. While the people will pay in higher prices and increased taxes,) ; the big war industries, unhamper- ed by excess profits taxes, will reap a rich harvest. Already, first fruits of war are paying off. On March 18, International Nickel of Sudbury announced profits of $48,- 765,849 (in U.S. funds) for the past year, an increase of !51 percent Over 1949. A big part of this ex- Cess came after the U.S. invasion Of Korea. (Inco is U.S.-controlled, with headquarters on Wall Street.) On the same day it was an- nounced from Montreal that CPR Profits had increased 60 percent for 1950,. totalling $47,867,011, Divi- ~dends to -coupon clippers jumped to’ $3.32 per share from $1.93 the year before. Sygties Why food prices continue to soar is indicated by profit figures for George Weston Ltd. one of the biggest bread combines. Weston’s Profits went up 14 percent last Year to hit a new high of $1,931,923. a PENDER > AUDITORIUM - (Marine Workers) _ 339 West Pender LARGE & SMALL HALLS FOR RENTALS Phone PA. 9481 | MILO CAFE An end to the arms race sued here by Tim Buck, LPP Text of ‘the statement reads: Fifty cents out of every federal tax dollar is to be spent for war! Nothing added to old age pensions, health and social security! That is the ugly and shocking news in the federal cabinet’s estimates of public expenditures for the next twelve months. How is the money going to be raised? Mainly by increasing taxes on wages and farmers’ incomes, Prime Minister instructs us. through high prices. levels. \ No excess profits. tax is propos- ed by Ottawa, although profits are reaching new records every month. Workers and farmers are ex- pected to pay the cost of prepara- tions for a world war the people the war against the Korean people now going on. War economy, war preparations war taxes, war threats, war arma- ments—there are threats to every Canadian. The poor get poorer, and the rich get richer, out of war. The Labor-Progressive party calls on Canadians to voice their public protest against the criminal war policy of the government. Nobody threatens our country! The real enemies of the people are the war profiteers! End this arms race! Let Otta- wa support the policy of disarma- ment by all countries! Produce for peace, not war! Urge the government: to support, and endorse, a pact of peace be- tween the Five Big powers, and stop this war madness, now! / ’ Fishermen's Union ~ fo hold conyention Seventh annual convention of United Fishermen and Allied Work- ers’ Union will open Monday, March 19, at 10 a.m. in Fishermen’s Hall, 138 East Cordova. Three new locals organized dur- ing the past year at Skidegate, Rupert and Alert Bay will send full delegations and make this year’s convention the largest in the union’s history. Paul’s Beauty Salon RENO’S CURLY CUTTING : PERMANENT WAVING 2511 FE. Hastings St. HA. 6570 Opposite Forsts (Upstairs) “ cialize in we a Ukrainian Food” 242 E, Hastings St. PA. 3087 _.. Vancouver + o ‘by tightening belts, getting on with less, and working harder—as the And Canadian prices are already second highest in the world, compared with 1945 ‘don’t want—just as they don’t want TORONTO by support of a policy, of dis- armament by all countries and a pact of peace between the Big Five powers are demands advanced in a statement is- national leader. Dissatisfaction’ with agreement nofed in IWA Dissatisfaction of the new IWA 18-month contract is sweeping the camps and mills on the coast, an article in the forthcoming issue of ‘Timber, Labor = Progressive party woodworkers’ publication asserts. Pointing out that the 9-cent basic increase falls far short of what union workers demanded at the IWA convention held just prior to the back-door’ settlement, the article says: The Coast settlement has left many things unsolved. The wage question is far from béing a clos- ed book. There are already de- mands coming from sections of the industry for changes. Long before the 18 months are up the need for more wages will stir woodworkers to action. ... “The reaction of some militant workers to the 9-cent deal has been to quit the IWA in disgust. There is-lots of room for dissatis- |faction, but this course of action does not solve anything. What is needed is stronger rank-and-file or- ganization on the job which will force the leadership to carry out the wishes of the membership.” ‘ Grandview Market | 3726 Grandview Highway . FREE DELIVERY—DE. 1494-M Fresh Fruit and Vegetables’ Our Specialty UNION HOUSE : ZENITH CAFE 105 E. Hastings Street VANCOUVER, B.C. EMARY’S ' READY TO WEAR. ;{ Designing & Dressmakin i. of all kinds “CLEANING” |” HA. 2726 Powell Stree =: SS se 411 = a r oe PRIME MINISTER NEHRU He warned that use.of' the atom bomb would be disastrous — and futile. General Dwight D. Eisenhow- er’s statement before a U.S. Con- gressional committee that the United States) would use the atom bomb in the event of an- other war this week drew the protest of Prime Minister Nehru of India, who warned that full- scale use of the atom bomb would destroy half of humanity and bring the physical and moral col- lapse of humanity. “If once the atom bomb is used in a big way by ‘all parties con- cerned 1,000,000,000 people, ac- cording to a moderate view, would be destroyed or disabled,” Nehru declared. “Tf that is the effect of atomic warfare, what are we aiming at? _ Any step of that type cannot lead to any satisfactory result or real- ization of any objective, whatever —on0o———o m0 mor————10F1 ny it may be.” . On February 20 he had a second stroke, falling flat on his face in the bedroom. . His condition became worse, and his doctor said, “He’s got to be taken to a hospital.” But no beds were Available. The police came after being phoned, and an am- bulance took Olsen to the General at 8 pm. on Sunday, March 4, Des- pite the doctor’s insistence that his ‘patient required a bed immediately, and the brought Olsen home none was forthcoming, ambulance again. He continued to get worse. “I think he had another stroke,” his wife said later. On March 10, about 11 a.m., the hospital phoned: “We have a bed.” Olsen was rush- ed to hospital, in a semi-conscious condition. _He died last Monday — night. Pearl Wedro, well known local trade unionist, went to bed in her third-floor flat in Kitsilano last Friday evening, leaving a, gas . ‘heater turned on low. Luckily, she opened a window before go- ing to sleep. At some time dur- ing the night the fire went out— posibly from low, pressure—and gas seeped into the room. Miss Wedro was not discovered until Sunday evening, when friends worried because she had not kept a dinner date, called, smelled gas, and broke in. She was rushed to General Hospital, after poilce de- tectives had phoned for an am- bulance and notified the hospital that she must be admitted. But there were no beds, and Miss Wed- ro finally had to be taken to a priv- ate rest home in New Westminster in the middle of the night. Miss Wedro is recovering — be- cause friends succeeded in getting her a-hospital bed in time. Karl Olsen is dead—for him hospitaliza- tion came too late. ——ono So oo oe » ‘Save Canadian Youth From Conscription’ PUBLIC RALLY Wednesday. March 21 — 8 p.m. PENDER AUDITORIUM (Lower Hall) a Auspices: Labor- Progressive Party — National Federation ; of Labor Youth ‘ Speakers: i MAURICE RUSH : Labor Secretary, Labor-Progressive Party , World War II Veteran _ STEVE ENDICOTT . Provincial Organizer, N.F.L.Y.. =o nosso m0=————s0m0r———s0r0 © PACIFIC TRIBUNE — MARCH 16, 1951 — PAGE 7 _ | [| :