after the Literary a JOE WALLACE. Noted poet, columnist Joe Wallace mourned By HAL GRIFFIN _ The progressive movement has lost one of its few literary figures by the death: of Joe Wallace, poet and columnist, who was stricken by a heart attack on December 1 and died shortly after he was taken to Vancouver General Hospital, from which he recently had been released. His death came only a month Gazette in Moscow published a tribute to him on his 85th birthday — October 29 —and selected translations of his poems. Word of the honor was conveyed to him in hospital, where he was undergoing blood tests, and _ he observed, “‘This has been the finest birthday of my life.” Joe Wallace’s life encompassed two careers, the second of which Srew out of the first until ultimately the two could no longer be reconciled. He was born of Irish-Canadian | Parentage in Toronto in 1890, educated at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., and as a young man his activities in Young Liberal circles brought him to the attention of Sir Wilfred Laurier. He built up a succesful advertising agency in Halifax and his business and political future seemed assured. But he was also reading socialist literature and when the In- dependent Labor Party of Nova Scotia was formed in 1919, he resigned from the Liberal Party to become its secretary. Two years later his ILP branch voted to become part of the newly founded Communist Party and soon he was Contributing to The Worker. As his political . activities widened, so the business of his advertising agency narrowed until, in 1933, as he wrote later, ‘‘I joined the ranks of the unemployed.” He went to Toronto, worked _ among the unemployed and in the Canadian Labor Defence League and in 1936 began contributing a Column to the Clarion Weekly, which subsequently became the Daily Clarion. In 1940 he was one of many mmunists interned under the ar Measures Act and on his release three years later he took a Machinist’s course and went to Work in war industry. His first selection of poems, Night is Ended, published in 1943, Was followed by a second, Hi Sister, Hi Brother, in 1953, and in 1964 Progress Publishers in Moscow brought out his collected Poems under the title A Radiant Sphere, the English edition of Which alone sold 15,000 copies in Socialist countries. _ Although his work was largely '8nored by the literary establish- ment in his own country, whose poets he accused of ‘“‘writing to poets, to critics, to professional intellectuals,’ it appealed to the working people for whom he wrote and it was translated widely in socialist countries. “He has a very special talent,” one Soviet critic said of him and whether he was voicing his love for people or delivering a_ rapier political thrust, he compressed profound thought in brilliantly turned words, as in: ‘Salute the great philanthropist Who rose up like a rocket With his face in every paper And his hand in every pocket.”’ Or this widely quoted quatrain: “Ours is a sovereign nation Bows to no foreign will But when they cough in Washington They spit on Parliament Hill.” A dedicated Communist for 55 years, committed in age to the perspective of socialism that won him in youth, Joe Wallace was a poet of the people and his place in their future is secure. He is survived by his son, Joseph, in Toronto; his daughter, Mrs. -Dorothy McAuley, in Rochester, N.Y.; a_ brother, Howard, in Toronto, and a sister, Mrs. Greta Granville, in Halifax. Funeral * service will be held Friday, Dec. 5 at 10 a.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 5300 Joyce Road, Vancouver. he ee ieee by Harry Rankin SS VAN-CENTRE SHORTAGES CITED Housing program urged se Nick Podovinnikoff, Communist cendidate iff Vancouver Centre sad this week that only fuller go ernment involvement in the residential housing field would . sole the acute housing shortage which the Vancouver Centre con: tituency is facing. P< dovinnikoff and Mike Gidora are the Communist candidates in that riding. “P-ivate industry has shown that they are incapable of meeting the demand for housing. Some'vhere between 95 and 98 per cent 0? all the housing in B.C. has been provided by the private sector, but they have said that they are on strike, presumably in an effort to force even higher prices and consequently, higher profits. The result of this irresponsible attitude by these developers is that we in B.C. are facing a projected shortage of 46,000 housing units annually for the next five years.” Podovinnikoff said that only the provincial government had the power to do anything to alleviate the shortage. “Starting immediately the government should begin residential construction on Crown land which would then be turned over to families on a 60-year lease basis. If there is no Crown land available they should expropriate land for housing. ‘Additionally the government must take immediate action to bring about a reduction in the userous interest rates that people are paying on mortgage money,” he said. ‘‘The Communist Party is calling for a reduction in interest “rates to somewhere between five and six per cent.” Podovinnikoff, a prominent member of the Carpenters Union, cited research which his union has conducted into the housing problem which revealed that a homeowner will pay more than $108,000 in interest alone on the purchase of a $55,000 house over the life of a 35-year mortgage. He said that these figures were based on the current interest rate of 11- 3/4 per cent with a $15,000 down payment. Podovinnikoff said that the monthly payments involved in this purchase would be $389.58. ‘‘Using the figures provided by the Central Mortgage and Housing Cor- poration, no more than 28 per cent of a family’s monthly take home income should be spent on housing. If that were to be the case here, that family would need a monthly take home income of $1600. “What working family has that income?” Podovinnikoff emphasized that it wasn’t enough to simply build houses, — they had to be affordable houses. Of the 46,000 units needed each year, at least three quarters of them must be low rental units, he stated. “About 40 per cent of the population of this province are living below, or just barely above, the poverty level, particularly in Vancouver Centre, and these people need good quality, low rental housing.”’ He said that the Communist NDP government aids Chile trade unions The NDP provincial government has released more than $2,000 to the World Labor Organization and the outlawed Chilean trade union centre CUT as it’s contribution to the mission of food ship Anjou which will carry food, clothing and medical supplies to the liberation movement in Chile. John Radosevic, secretary of Canadians for Democracy in Chile, explained this week that the donation originated at a public meeting in September of this year that featured U.S. trade union leader Abe Feinglass and Chilean trade union leader Gilberto Oyanadel. 3 At the solidarity rally Oyanadel outlined the plans of the World Labor Organization to send the food ship to Chile and it was agreed that the funds raised at the meeting would be sent to aid in the effort. Richmond MLA Harold Steves, who represented the government at the rally, pledged that the provincial government would match the net proceeds raised at the meeting. A total of $2,244.64 after expenses was matched this week out of the provincial government’s Agricultural Aid Fund _ ad- ministered by the Department of Agriculture. NICK PODOVINNIKOFF Party was pledged to fight for the implementation of a sound ap- proach to housing which would provide houses first, and not profits. Darnell raps Bill 146 More than 400 people at an all candidates meeting sponsored by the White Rock Ratepayers organization heard Communist candidate in Delta, Mike Darnell, term Premier Dave Barrett’s statement that he “respects the sanctity of the picket line’ as an _ “insult to all workers, organized or not.” Darnell, 25, is a trustee for the United Fishermen and Allied ‘Workers Union which has been served injunctions in two strikes during the NDP’s term of office. Bill 146, Darnell said, ‘“‘was not only a’ flagrant violation of the collective bargaining process, but more seriously it was a crushing blow to .a basic right which prevents dictatorship — the right of labor to withdraw its service. Darnell said that changes must be brought about in government priorities if people are to create a more human environment. “‘This is particularly true, in the housing sector,’ he said “where it is essential that we view housing as a social and human right and not as a speculative venture.” He said that Social Credit policy could “‘set back social progress in B.C. by twenty years.”’ “‘“Monopoly is still the main enemy of the people,”’ he said, ‘“‘the primary reason that the Communist Party is contesting this election is to prevent a return to pro-monopoly government.” pecial Offer With a $6.00 sub you can receive RANKIN’S LAW at the reduced price of $6.00 (reg. $7.95). Renew your sub or buy a new one and we will send you RANKIN’S LAW or your choice of one or either of two other books, also at reduced prices. ee ee ee oe ee oe A new sub e or renewal Be for: _Please send: Rankin’s Law - (Enclose $12.00) Conscience for Canada |_| (Enclose $9.95) ‘ Forge Glows Red cel (Enclose $8.95) To: Mez. 3, 193 E. Hastings, Van., B.C. Ae ee ie ee ty ae ae ee et SS ee eee PACIFIC TRIBUNE—DECEMBER 5, 1975—Page 3