RALPH PARKER

MOSCOW

e. contributor to the maga-
zine Ogonyok has given
some of the results of an in-
vestigation carried out into

ninety years of age. The en-
quiry was initiated by Khar-
kov University. It is thought.
that its files, listing tens .of
thousands of the very old, are
unique ‘in the world.

One of the results of the
enquiry has been to explode
the theory that Ochemchirsk
district of Abkhazia, near the
Caucasian coast of the Black
Sea, held its record for long-
evity because of climatic con-
ditions. It is known that in
Siberian Yakutia, where the,
Climate is altogether different,
there are quite as many cen-
tenarians.

The Khartov Institute has
prepared a geographical map
locating the country’s ancients.
According to this they tend
to live in small pockets in
many part of the land, and in
towns no less than in» country
districts. :

The Ogonyok writer reveals
that a characteristic common
to most long-living people is
their intense love of work.

Among his examples he cites
the case of Makhmud BHivazov
of Azerbaijan who at the age
of 142 continues to work at
in the Lerikski region. The

' veteran's wife is 120 years old
and a daughter has attained
the age 100.

of the late Vasili Tishkin, who

-worked on a farm till death
claimed him at the age of
145. Maria Sidrenko, who is
108, carries on the normal
duties of a housewife and does
her own marketing.

The article from which

the lives of Soviet, citizens of,

the Komsomol collective farm ~

. Another case cited is that

Study of country’s ancients
made by Soviet scientists

these facts are taken is pub-
lished in an issue dealing with
the possibilities of making

Mongevity the rule rather than

the exception in the Soviet
Union. It is entitled “To Live

To Be 150!”
e : : om
This story comes from a site
on the future Tsimlyansk
reservoir, an inland sea over
200 miles long and some 14
miles broad, which will be
formed when the Tsimlyansk
dam, one of the Constructions’
of Communism, comes. into
operation next spring. j
A visitor to these parts des-
cribes, driving across the
steppe for hours on end with-
out seeing as much as a trickle
of water, he heard a constant
reference by the local inhabi-
tants to the impending arrival
of “the sea.” He met trucks
loaded with fruit trees which
the farmers are transplanting
to new villages and heard how
the village building organisa-
tion has dismantled, trans-
)ported and rebuilt over a hun-

‘dred villages and “hamlets in

anticipation of the new sea.

Five thousand volunteers
came forward from the Stalin-
grad area to spend the first
part of the winter hewing
down forests that would other-
wise be engulfed under the
water that in some places will
be over 70 feet deep.

The new villages are des-
eribed as well planned, tidy
and complete with schools and
clubs. As if to greet the water,
the new inhabitants are nam-
ing the streets “Sea View” or
“Waterside Walk” and are
laying out the landing stages
and bathing places. In a little
over six months they will be
watching ships from Odessa,
Moscow, Astrakhan and Stal-
ingrad sail by.

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Nec) he a ae the : Bin

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pagent eee

Labor productivity up 37 percent’

An unprecedented growth of labor productivity gives a vivid illustration of indusirial progress in
the Soviet Union. In the prewar year of 1940, the average annual production of the Soviet worker was
four and one-half times the corresponding index in cz crist Russia. At the end of the post-war Five Y ear

Plan period labor productivity in industry surpassed the 1940 level by 37 percent.

This rise in labor

» productivity was a result of the over-all mechanization of production, of the improvement in working con-
ditions and the spread of the Stakhanov movement to surpass previous achievements.

WILLIAM KASHTAN .

,

New parley, new policy needed
by Canadian Congress of Labor

HE rift in the Canadian Con-

gress of Labor emphasized by
Pat Conroy’s resignation as secre-
tary-treasurer appears to be deep-
ening. That is evident in the
move on foot, sparked by Dis-
trict No. 50, United Mine Workers
of America, demanding that the
CCL executive council call a

-special convention “at as early
a date as possible”.

Resolutions

EaeD

jubit, ‘h
eae rt a mahi ot $3
ec

te cides

Nazis to get a are

atemplated CTEPS for the swift inclusion of

ERMAN +

ehee
NAT, forces ig,

—ZY_$¢ part of defence

went Sintra,

AFTER dinner on this first evening, when we
were strolling about the room, I led Stalin to a
Sofa and suggested that we talk for a little on
What was to happen after the war was won. He
assented with good-humour, and we sat age
Eden joined us. “Let us,” said the Marshall,
“first consider the worst that might happen.” cae
thought that Germany had every possibility 0
recovering from this war, and might start on a
new one within a comparatively short time. He
. feared the revival of German natio _ After
Versailles peace had seemed assured, but Germany
had recovered very quickly. We must therefore
€stablish a strong body to prevent Germany start-
ing a new war, He was convinced that she would
_ Yecover. When I asked “How soon?” he replied,
“Within fifteen to seeuey years.” I said that the

na Double- cross

ures of control.

oa must be made safe for at least fifty years.
If it was only for fifteen to twenty years then we
should have betrayed our soldiers. ‘

Stalin thought we should consider restraints
on Germany’s manufacturing capacity. The Ger-
mans were an able people, very industrious and
resourceful, and they would recover quickly. I
replied that there would have to be certain meas-
I would forbid them all aviation,
civil and military, and I would forbid the General
Staff system. “Would you,” asked Stalin, “also
forbid the existence of watchmakers’ and furniture
factories for making parts of shells? The Ger-
mans produced toy rifles, which were used for
teaching hundreds of thousands of men how to

‘shoot.”—Winston Churchill in The Second World

War, Vol. 5.

to that effect are being passed
in a number of locals.

We do not know what moti-
vates the leadership of District
No. 50 in pushing for-a_ special
convention at this time.

But certainly in view of the
unfinished business which the
CCL conventon passed on to the
incoming executive’ council, in-
cluding the election of a perma-
nent secretary treasurer, there is
merit in the demand. After all,
the Vancouver convention didn’t
wind up—it busted up.

It would be pointless to demand
a special convention merely to
iron out the squabble between
Millard and Conroy or to re-
adopt the same policies which
brought about the crisis in the
CCL. ;

It would be fruitless if such a
convention did not re-examine
those war-supporting policies of
the top leadership which are the
source of the growing difficulties
facing the working class; policies
which are seriously undermining
the living standards of. the peo-
ple and endangering the peace of
the world. ;

It would be useless to demand
a special convention if it did not
reconsider its attitude towards
expulsions and raiding.

It would be equally futile to hold
a convention if it did not re-
examine the type of , political
action foisted. on CCL affiliates.

In short, a special convention
could only have real and lasting
value to the membership if it
sharply and critically examined
all those policies which have led
the CCL to its present crisis —
and then changed them. Not to
change those policies can only
aggravate the situation, weaken
the unions and help the em-
ployers in their stepped up at-
tack on the living standards, jobs

. unions,

and trade union rights of the :
working people.

é

$. changé in policy. That must
be at the heart of any demand
for a special convention, other-
wise the workers will not support
it. The time is over-ripe for such
a change for the workers are
showing in countless ways their
readiness to fight for policies that
correspond to their real npese
and interests.

All the evidence on hand points
to the new winds that are be-
ginning to blow inside the trade
union movement. Unfortunately ©
they did not find full reflection
in either the CCL or TLC con-
ventions.

Workers are beginning to take .
a second look at the armaments
drive. Illusions about armaments
made prosperity are beginning to

fade away in face of drastically
lowered living standards and
growing unemployment, particu-
larly in the consumer goods in-
dustry. Anti-American sentiment
is growing as a result of Wall.
Street’s drive to war and world
domination.

Workers are beginning to con-
trast the words and deeds of
right wing leaders and the words
and deeds of unions under pro-
gressive leadership. ‘Above all the
workers feel in their bones the
need for united action by all’
to defend their living
standards, their jobs and trade
union rights.

All the signs indicate that a
new, more powerful and militant
upsurge is in the making.

All CCL affiliates and their
locals should solidarize them-
selves with District No. 50,

UMWA, and inundate the execu-
tive council with their demand.
for a special convention.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — NOVEMBER 2, 1951 — PAGE 9

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