“+. you poor dear, I can see the labor lobby.’ A Rodpyala you wern’t able to stop Hart promises ‘careful — consideration’ VICTORIA, B.C.—Promise that the government woulg give ‘care- ful consideration’ to representa- tions that the legislature should not ratify renewal of the BCElec- tric franchise in Vancouver until a plebiscite had been held was given by Premier John Hart to a delegation which interviewed him here this week. Spokesmen for the delegation, which was initiated by Vancou- ver Labor Council (CCL) and in- cluded representatives of AFL unions in Victoria and Vancou- ver and seven community and ratepayers’ groups, were John HIGHEST PRICES PAID for DIAMONDS, OLD GOLD Other Valuable Jewellery STAR LOAN CO. Ltd. EsT. 1905 * 719 Robson St. — MAr. 2622 of plebiscite Turner, secretary of Vancouver Labor Council, and John Stanton, prominent Vancouver barrister. Summarizing the delegation’s 26-page brief, Stanton pointed out that the BCElectric had never been subject to a plebiscite and Bill 19 to ratify the franchise renewal would place the company beyond reach of a plebiscite in important new fields of motor coach and trolley bus as well as street railway operation. Stanton said that the agreement approved by Vancouver City Council enabled the BCElectric to scrap its modernization pro- gram in the event of a depres- sion. The delegation asked the gov- ernment to reopen negotiations with municipalities for an overall public ownership scheme and to conduct a plebiscite in the areas affected. 0 tii sas | eo Sullivan A. A. MacLeod, MPP, the Labor- Progressive Party’s acting leader in Ontario, remarked a striking similarity between the wording of the statements issued by Sullivan and Igor Gouzenko, the runaway embassy clerk wanted by the So- viet government on embezzlement charges who beeame the govern- ment’s star witness in the ‘espion- age’ trials. MacLeod charged that the statements had been written by Bohemian-born Catholic In- spector John Leopold, the one- time RCMP undercover agent in the former Communist Party who engineered the ‘espionage’ case. If evidence were needed that Sullivan were in fact the “traitor to the labor movement” his fel- low officials in the Seamen’s and other unions charged he was, it was not lacking. @ In Montreal, Harry Davis, CSU acting president, stated: Fol- lowing the Great Lakes strike for the eight-hour day, our secretary, Gerry McManus, was offered $100,,- 000 in the presence of Justice Richards, government conciliator, in the Royal York Hotel, Toronto, to sell out the seamen. Our Great Lakes vice-president, Aage An- tonen, was present at the time the offer was confirmed. McManus refused it.” The inference was clear, : @ Sullivan, in an open letter | to CSU members, urged them “to get out and stay out” of their union, advice that could be con- strued as an invitation to smash the CSU in shipowners’ interests, however unlikely seamen were to follow it. A statement issued over over the signatures of Percy Ben- gough and John Buckley, Con- gress vice-president, said: “Organ- ized seamen will not accept the strange advice now given them by their former president.” These facts, standing out -in the columns of daily press spec- ulation and exaggeration, made the pattern plain. The ‘expose’ was no more than a new vest- pocket edition of such time-worn fiction as the Zinoviev Letter and the Reichstag Fire, its purpose to set the trade unions to hysteri- cal red-baiting and thus to weak- en their ability to withstand big business’ attacks. The facts also indicated a link between the ‘spy scare’ and the ‘expose’—the one calcu- lated to alienate the tremend- ous popular admiration for the Soviet Union’s war achievements and so to facilitate the King government’s anti-Soviet foreign policy based on making Can- ada a junior partner to Am- erican imperialism — the other the domestic counterpart of that policy in which the campaign to cripple organized labor holds a central place. The payoff came later this week in a report published by Le Canada, Montreal, that Sulli- van “probably has taken refuge in a Catholic monastery to medi- tate and be strengthened by Ca- tholic faith of his childhood.” We Sell Army and Navy For Less will never know- ingly be undersold. We will meet any competitor’s price at any time, not only ceiling price but floor price, and we will gladly refund any differ- ence. Army and Navy prices are guaranteed to be the lowest in Van- couver at all times, _ Army & Navy DEPARTMENT STORES Vancouver and New Westminster _* FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 1947 Style Value Quality Always at the Home ‘ of UNION MADE CLOTHING — and Friendly Service Established For Over 40 Years rHE-Hus “6 & ranings — Vanovaver re - the former secretary-treasurer of the Trades and Labor Congress. Salsberg’s statement continued: “For some time it has been clear that his own union, the Canadian Seamen’s Union, and the Trades and Labor Congress, of which he was secretary, have been dissatisfied with his work. For months he neglected his du- ties and drank heavily. Deeply concerned about _ this, many unionists have been pressing for some action. Frequently I. in- formed him that unless he chang- ed his ways our party would dis- sociate itself from him. ‘I had arranged to see him last Saturday to inform him that would disassociate ourselves from Friday he rushed into the camp of labor’s enemies. “Sullivan obviously arranged with the RCMP and the ship- owners to use ‘red-baiting’ and his treacherous resignations to get out from under. His attacks on the LPP are the miserable rags with which he tries to cover up his desertion. His ref- erence to true Canadianism is a nauseating thing. Patriotism is indeed here ‘the last resort of a scoundrel.’ And it is not sur- prising that anti-labor | circles, with the help of the RCMP, have |used this wreck of a man to try to besmirch and labor movement. °* “As for the ‘LPP, it always tries to unite, strengthen and build trade unions. on the basis of inner democracy. We helped to organize the CSU and bor- rowed. money to help their strikes, and are proud of it. “As for Sullivan’s outrageous statements that he is in fear of his life, I can only say that he stands in danger only from his own guilty conscience..” split the ' Pacific’ Coast members of the Canadian Seamen’s Union, at a denounced Sullivan’s actions, voiced full confidence in their national executive and endorsed Acting-President Harry Davis as CSU president. A statement signed by James Thompson, Pacific Coast vice- president, said the meeting had “rejected the contemptible action of former president Pat Sullivan in his attempt to divide and smash the organization which is solely responsible for raising the living conditions of Canadian sea- men to the present level.” United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union (AFL), meet- ing in convention here this week, noted that the Canadian Fish- ermen’s Union, CSU affiliate, was “fighting for its very exis- tence in Nova Scotia” in face of a red-baiting campaign di- rected by National Sea Pro- ducts, and condemned Sulli- van’s actions as designed to weaken the fishermen’s strug- gle and smash their organiza- tion, ; - LPP was on verge of repudiating Sullivan TORONTO—Charge that J. A. ‘Pat’ Sullivan had “beng trayed the trade.union movement in face of mounting dis- Satisfaction with his incompetence as a labor leader” pre faced a statement issued here b : Secretary of the Labor-Progressive Party, refuting the wild assertions about LPP uctivities in the trade unions made by y J. B. Salsberg, MPP, labor because he had not: changed, we |. him. Sensing this showdown, on! meeting in Vancouver this week,. CSU made gains for seamen PERCY BENGOUGH OTTAWA — Im a press inter- view here Percy Bengough, Trades and Labor Congress president, said that J. A. ‘Pat’ Sullivan, resigned Congress sec-. retary-treasurer, had not been on the job for two months and oe commented: , “It is amazing that if Sulli- van was unable to do his work with the Congress on account of ill-health he has the strength to write press releases.” Denying rumors that the Con- gress planned to suspend tne Canadian Seamen’s Union char- oe ter, Bengough said there were thousands of good men in its ranks of all shades of political opinion, “We must judge an organiza- tion on its value to its members and the union has been of great assistance to its membership,” he declared. FAir. 5304-M SUPERIOR FLOOR» SURFACING SANDING — FINISHING POLISHING 3711 Dumfries St. Vancouver, B.C. \ For a God . : Suit or Overcoat — REGENT TAILORS 324 West Hastings Street j et EVERY GARMENT STRICTLY UNION MADE _ PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 8 en x a