Voneover British Columbia, retllag arch aE | Price Five Cents ] 949 Trick election 7) TAX SOPS CONCEAL SOARING WAR COSTS | War costs higher by 70 percent —OTTAWA One reason for the limited Concessions to. the publie’s demands made by Finance Minister Douglas... Abbott's budget, despite. the goyern- ment’s need. to. present popu; lar “election year” tax, cuts, is, to -be found. .in,the .un- precedented peacetime mili- _ tary . expenditures. These expenditures, , ,.in- Creased., almost. 70), percent Over last, ,year, represent, the War, pact. presented, to. Can- adian taxpayers, Viewed, in business’ labor’s standards, speedup and yiaing: unemployment, ture, —$375,000,000. for, 1949-50) .as aZainst $251,208,2389 in 1948-9. But the total commitment for military, . expenditures, whicl: includes the commit- ment for both current and fu- ture. years, is higher . for 1949-50, by $236,980,537—$586,- 315,382 for 1949-50 as against $349, 384,845 in 1948-9... This 70 percent. This latter figure, provid- ing for military expenditures “beyond the current. fiscal year,” represents the full ex- tent of Canada’s, war 2ro- gram. Actually, with conclusion of the Atlantic war pact, the St. aurent government is pre- Paring the country (for war during 1949-50 at five times the rate of 1947-8. Future Military commitments tell the’ story. In 1947-8 they to- talled $31,838,648; in 1948-9, $60,938,028; in 1949-50, $148,- 315,382, And this is only the begin- ning for the Canadian people if’ the St. Laurent govern- ment signs the Atlantic war Pact, eee first ‘bill..for ..the Atlantic, relation, to high liying .costs,.. shrinking export markets, big . ‘ campaign, against}, . i ; : P e ; e R inny ion sseancse:|. These headlines tell their own story The eash appropriation sors i military expenditures. is, high-; ev for 1949-50 by $128,791,76L. is an increase of close to. —_— Year Ever R one ot BCER British Columbia Electric Company Limited took in More money, spent more money and had the second largest profits in its history during 1948. con pees With Higher Wages, Increased Operation Costs This was revealed by A. E. Grauer, president of the i t ‘ eritish Columbia Power Corporation Limited, holding com- Bh Transportation fares in Vanconyer, Victoria and New BSany for the B.C, Electric, who today. presented the huge Westminster may go up again if the B.C. Electric has te tility company’s largest annual report. meet higher’ wages'and other costs: The balance of income received by the company after This hint: came today, from:A. paying bondinterest and preference dividends amounted to E. Grauer, e BCE Pipe ei $2,603,485. Press COMERS Cay A This.is akgut one percent less than the 5.3 percent profit BP ieuserqbbis compagyisemnuabe ed theg pony bs by the Public Utilities Commission, ; F e second a profit. . Published on the same page of the Wanntouver Sun’ on March 17, these headlines speak » for: themselves: Pleading. that higher wages will neessitate higher fares, the BCElectric has forced the ‘Street Railwaymen’s union to go to conciliation for its new agreement. At the same. time, inadequate services and crowded buses and streetcars, have contributed ‘to the second largest Ay { ‘profit in the company’s history. - Ha #1] Intervention in Europe aim of war pact’s secret clauses posed by European parties to the agrement.. “They want to know ed e editors and reporters in Ottawa intervention proviso, recently, OTTAWA act t 3 Secret clauses in the Atlantic : Mentioning charges made by ill commit Canada to par- ren the Canadian Tribune that Can- ticipation in armed intervention in case of democratic revolutions within pact-signing: nations.» Can- adian troops could be sent to France if the present government fell under the pressure of the de- moeratic movement in that coun- try. Lester B. “Mike” Pearson revealed the existence of these clauses in an, “off-the-record” appeal for support to Canadian ada is a satellite of the U.S., Pear- son asked the press to join the government in its hoax against the Canadian people and to sup- press this information. The secret-serving sessions held in Ottawa were calculated to whip the press into line for the com- ing debate in the House on the Atlantic pact. how many troops we can get to their country in»24 hours, if need be,” he said. Minor difficulties were encountered ‘in reaching agreement on these points, but Canada, he revealed, threw up no barriers. Without going into fur- ther details the foreign minister told the press representatives that publicizing these points would be unwelcome. A. slightly higher levy. on cor- poration profits—from 30 to 33 percent over $10,000—to placate public anger over unprecedented profit-taking, but no restoration of the Excess Profits tax as demanded by labor. Raising of income tax exemp- tions from $750 to $1000 for single, $1500 to $2000 for mar- ried. persons, . less than. half the demand advanced by labor. No’relief for thosé in ‘the lowest income brackets, pensioners and others already receiving ‘too «little to pay imcome: tax, but ‘a further lowering of their ‘subsistence living standard through’ ‘lifting “of price ceilings; ‘immediately reflected in the highér price “of bread. This, * in ‘essenceyis the St Laurent govérnment’s “‘election” budget, frankly’ designed to’ entice voters back’'to the Liberal fold. The long ‘overdue “action in ‘Yais- ing exemptions is seen as the re- sult of strong. pressure. from. all sections of labor, further organized and expressed by . the. Labor-Pro- gressive. party's. energetic’ campaign, sparked: by ‘Tim Buck: its national leader... and... federal... candidate in : Toronto-T rinity. Bate However, even the limited ex- emptions providedy: on which big predictions of a: “buymg boom,” business’ is basing, its exaggerated will...be... curtailed -by..the--govern- ment’s liftng of price ceilings from flour, bread, butter, sugar, molasses and :some> fruits and vegetables, Only» citrus fruits and juices, cab- bage- and: carrots now remain un- der price. ceilings>:. The govern- ment. also withdrew, its subsidy of 464 cents “a bushel on wheat used for domestic consumption. Higher prices for at least some of these staple foods—bread im- mediately rose.one cent.to 12. cents a loaf in Vancouver—are expected to result from this action, hitti pensioners and others for whom the more than half a billion dollars authorised for military expenditures could have provided a_ higher standard. It’s a “‘little man’ s’’ budget— but the “little” man” will get little out of it.