THERE’S NO DIFFERENCE ON BASIC ISSUES Behind St. Laurent-Duplessis deal At Sherbrooke, Quebec, on Thanksgiving Day, By TIM BUCK ° Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent declared himself satisfied that the conflict between himself and Premier Maurice Duplessis |! was settled. Almost a month has, passed since. that statement was made but not one word has come out of Ottawa or Quebec to indicate the nature of the settlement —— or, indeed, whether there was a settlement or if St. Laurent’s words were only wishful thinking. In any event, that statement and the silence that has followed, all because of a private conversation between St. Laurent and Duplessis, emphasize the correctness of the Canadian Tribune’s characteriza- tion of the Prime Minister’s broad- side against Duplessis. Comment- ing on it editorially, the Canadian Tribune said at the time: “Now, Prime ‘Minister Louis st.| Laurent’s open attack upon Du- plessis was not motivated by con- cern for the workers of Quebec but, primarily, by concern for the attitude of the numerous wealthy voters in the two Montreal ‘con- stituencies recently vacated by the ex-ministers of national defense and finance, Brooke Claxton ead Douglas Abbott. “In those constituencies there are more people paying substantial double income taxes as a result of Duplessis’ federal government than is the ease in any other two constituen- cies in Quebec. St. Laurent seeks to assure those interests that their best means of getting-rid of that double income tax is to vote Lib- eral.” > It is quite evident now that the fortunes of his party’s candidates in those two constituencies on No- vember 8 was = Laurent’s prime concern. It appears, nes that because St. Laurent chose the ground upon which he is intimately allied with the very top circles of monopoly- capital in Quebec, French and English, and because that is the same interest upon which the Du- plessis government bases its policy, Duplessis retreated. He explain- ed quickly that his concession was one of words only. But, because he had succeeded in attaching to those words a high emotional sig- nificance, his agreement with St. Laurent was a defeat for national ideals in French Canada. This is not to deny the real advantage to the people of Quebec of a just arrangement for more equitable distribution of tax rev- enues. _ Any settlement that reduces the burden of taxation upon the aver- e family in French Canada, without infringing upon provincial rights, will be welcomed. Some economic benefits might seep down to the average family. . — In addition, a sane arrangement]. for federal-provincial division of revenues from corporation income taxes would ae to expose the un- stage-play against the LPP campaigns in byelection page 7). ° é Here Leslie Morris (right), LPP candidate in West York, is seen with his campaign manager, Robert Hennings (left) putting up posters. Morris is one of four LPP candidates contesting federal . byelections this coming Monday, November’ 8. (See story on scrupulous trickery by which Du- plessis has used the deep and ad- mirable national sensibilities of its people to distract attention from their basic interests as a nation. kk aa Duplessis pretends systematic- ally that the national interests of French Canada are limited to its necessary struggle against the tendency to centralize governmen- tal resources and authority in Ot- tawa. Focussing French-Canadian at- téntion upon his opposition to “the Centraliers” (the necessary nega- tive aspect of the struggle), Du- plessis uses the smoke created by his denunciations of them as a screen behind which he prevents the provincial action that should constitute the decisive positive as- pect of the national struggle of French Canada. . Behind the screen of his vehe- ment sham fight with and casti- gations of the centralizers, Du- plessis is bartering away the very basis of control of the prov- ince of Quebec. The forests, sources of power, the asbestos, the iron ore, copper, titanium, and other priceless na- tional resources of French Canada are being auctioned off to United States buyers on terms deliberate- ly designed to prevent the develop- ment of French-Canadian indus- tries to process raw materials at home. ee e Along with its Sale of controle of the province, the Duplessis govern- ment maintains conditions within the province which prevent the average young French-Canadian from starting on equal terms with the majority of non-French Cana- dians. * * Duplessis carried on a violent abusive campaign against the fed- eral government’s Family Allow- Bee ance Act. His real aim was to Canada and what the See secure for his. provincial parity|he heads actually inflicts uwo0n the machine the control of distribut- People of French Canada, explains ing the payments, but he repre-' why he refuses to bring forw sented it to the people of Quebec as a fight against the Centralizers. He couldn’t stop the parents from accepting the Family Allow- ance cheques but he succeeded in attaching to the limited and, in the given econoimic conditions, very necessary Family Allowances the opprobrium of a danger to the national identity of French Can- ada. Duplessis refused to allow uni- versities in Quebec to accept grants from the federal govern- ment on the pretense that accept- ance would undermine provincial control of education. He declares, truly, that control of education is absolutely essential if the people of French Canada are to maintain their national identity. But, he refuses to intrcduee the simple legislation that is necessary to provide that every boy and girl in Quebec receives- free com pulsory primary and_ secondary schooling at least equal to that re- ceived by the young people any- where else in Canada. Note well the fact that oppor- tunity for such primary and sec- ondary schooling is indispens- able to the maintenance and con- tinued strengthening of French nationhood in Canada. Instead of providing suc’ school- ing, of accepting federal govern- ment grants and, if necessary, help- ing to finance it, Duplessis seeks by the vehemence of his rejection of federal subsidies to conceal from the people the fact that every other province is accepting the grants without weakening provin- cial control of eeeleHys in the least. : x * foeinG: Even if Duplessis’ refusal to enter into a tax rental agreement with the federal government had been to the financial advantage of the people of Quebec, the reasons he gave’ for refusing it were false. They contradicted the decisive realities — that some redistribu- tion of revenues. is essential and does not necessarily involve any infringement upon or weakening of the guarantees provided for the language, the laws and the relig- ious institutions of French Canada in the BNA Act. - ; Duplessis’ “reasons” were based on the assumption that pesple live]. for the letter of the constitution whereas, in fact, in life, people will sooner or later insist that the letter. of their constitution be modified to correspond with the changing needs” of life. The contradiction between what Duplessis’ says he wants for French New campaign to recall McCarthy readied This time Joe may really go By MAX GORDON MILWAUKEE “MeCarthy can be recalled. He will be recalled after the Novem- - ber elections.” So says a four-page - folder sent recently to all workers active in last spring’s spontaneous campaign to recall Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, a campaign which netted 325,000 signatures. The folder was sent by Leroy Gore, small town Republican editor who initiated the recall movement. Gore details a four-point pro- _ gram for the new effort by Wis- consin voters to remove McCarthy from the U.S. Senate. He calls for: @ Organization of 80 percent of Wisconsin this fall so that the re- call petition can get the needed _ signatures in a few weeks “with maximum speed and minimum ef- fort. a @ A $50,000 war “chest. to, be raised by January. : @ A national petition to de- mand the U.S. Senate unseat Mc- Carthy “when his successor is elected.” @ A national peat newspaper and a “Joe Must Go” book to com- bat McCarthy’s propaganda. Gore says both are about ready to ap- pear. The program highlights two ma- jor advances over the petition cam- paign of last spring, which fell some 80,000 signatures short of what was needed. First, there is the organization in advance of the drive, which just did not exist at all in the earlier ae “squabbles. Second, it calls for organized na- tional support and activity, like- wise absent last spring except where it arose spontaneously. But there is another, decisive difference which ds making. the anti-McCarthy elements in this state far more confident of suc- cess. In the last campaign, state leaders of the major groups array- ed against McCarthy — notably labor, organized farmers, the De- mocratic party — kept hands off on the grounds this was a quarrel within the Republican family, and outsiders don’t mix in family This nonsense is on its way to being eliminated. _ The powerful state AFL, at its convention last August, passed a resolution demanding McCarthy’s ouster his apparent purpose of building a fascist movement in the U.S.” Reports have it that the AFL resolution and to enter the recall movement full force. ~ The Democratic convention, by jaction of the rank-and-file dele- gates. who swept aside all hesita- tions of the leadership, likewise adopted a militant resolution de- manding McCarthy be ousted from the Senate. — The expectation is that the state CIO and the powerful Wisconsin Farmers Union will join the cam- paign. ‘It was not so long ago that ‘the Republicans here considered Mc- Carthy its greatest asset. Few Re- publicans would make that claim “before he accomplishes ; today. | leadership in ready to act on this] the fundamental question of the right to national self-determina- tion in French Canada. It explains why he refuses to propose action by the provincial legislature to restate in the ne-— cessary precise terms tne con stitutionally equal status of the French nation in Canada with the English-speaking nation. He prefers oratorical fireworks and bombastic threats against the Centralizers. upon issues which, while sometimes important, are al ways derivative. That is why St. Laurent who is a real and confirmed centralizer, who actually “believes in” central- ization as part of his pian to 1 duce Canada to the raw materia producer for U.S. industries, was able to choose his ground ers force Duplessis to retreat. The interests actually at stake in that case were not in any way the national interests of French Call- ada but only of the well-to-do me? whose cheque books remind them that they are paying double income tax because of Duplessis’ pretensé- * x x What is needed in French Cal ada now is a genuine national re jection and repudiation of the neW interpretation of the British North | America Act that St. Laurent has smuggled in, namely, “I believe that the Province of Quebec cal be a province like the others.” St. Laurent was able to introduce that anti-French thesis into his speech and get away with it be cause of the tradition establish- ed by Duplessis of pretending that the national interests of French Canada begin and end with his de ‘|mands for control of the pork bat- rel. It is very siguiticant indee that Duplessis did not challenge that statement, although it was a crucial long term thesis of — Laurent’s challenge to him. The reason is that, fundamen- tally, Duplessis and St. Laureat are in agreement. Neither of them is concerned primarily with the interests of French Canadians as a nation. Both of them are concerned to speed UP U.S. control of Canada and both of them are inextricably involv- ed in helping the U.S. to secure such control. The submission of the Quebec committee of the Labor-Progres sive party to the Royai Commis sion in Quebec placed the issue squarely: the central and primary problem confronting French Cai ada today is that iof winning genu- ine recognition of its status an@ rights as a nation. The LPP declares that such © recognition is fully, compatible : with the continuance of French — and English speaking Canada !" one federal state but, full suc cess of the federal state without injustice to either of its menr — bers requires full genuine recoo- — nition of the national rights OF — each; it must be a voluntary 45 sociation. Despite the fact that as yet it a barely been noted, the thesis put forward by