EDITORIAL PAGE Ne Comment ik et Tom ) McEwen ; TOM McEWEN, Editor — HAL GRIFFIN, Associate Editor — RITA WHYTE, Business Manager. Published weekly by the Tribune Publishing Company Ltd. at Room 6, 426 Main Street, Vancouver 4, B.C. — MArine 5288 Canada and British Commonwealih countries (except Australia), 1 year $3.00, 6 months $1.60. Australia, U.S., and all other countries, 1 year $4.00, 6 months $2.50. Printed by Union Printers Ltd., 550 Powell Street. Vancouver 4, B.C. Authorized as second class mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa . . ‘ : H International Women’s Day just past, it might be a good idea f ‘touch on a delicate point before a the enthusiasm of. that historic event cools off. For years we have talked about the need of a women’s page or at least a column in the Pacific Tribune, but 1n this year of 1956 it is still just “talk.” ‘ ait | - Put it another way; we celebrate In- ternational Women’s Day in VWancou- ver and other B.C. centres. The cream of progressive womanhood, old and young, attend these gatherings. They are inspired by the courageous strug- Sle or I int rower me LS / gles. of the. women of all lands for ‘Peace and progress. Unfortunately, however, in the other 364 days im between, the “inspiration” is left al- most exclusively to the female ink- spillers of commercial journalism. Why is this? Is it because working - Women, housewives, or others, cannot Write? That is evasive nonsense. In this banner province of B.C. there are literally hundreds of women who could write better columns with a skillet that some of our present-day female scribblers do with all the facilities of modern journalism at their dimpled and bony elbows. Senator Neuberger’s wife comes Up from Oregon and loudly describes our Womenfolk as “bags” who cannot “wear” clothes. More recently the Vancouver Sun, featuring a fashion Show in Moscow, implies that Russian Women are the “broad-beamed” type of “bag” providing a good “market for old sacks,” but little else, Yet with all these insulting comments on women- hood I didn't hear any uproar from B. C. and I know they weren’t all thinking themselves Dior “models” while their Sisters here and in other lands were being subjected: to ridicule and insult. Our womenfolk just “didn’t bother, Which is the way reaction likes it. * * * Not long ago I heard a B.C. housewife describe Penny Wise’s window-peePins in Moscow in classical language, which, had it been set down in print, would have ranked with the great literature of our time, What has the average underpaid Salesgir] at a Woolworth counter got . say when billion-heiress Barbara Hutton takes on her seventh “Count: for better or for worse—until the next blueblooded jackrabbit happeris along? @ salesgirls don’t say, but it wou make interesting reading — for all ex- cept the numerous Hollywood Barbaras to whom marriage is about as stable 8S stock market quotations. Juvenile delinquency, health and Ospital insurance, a guaranteed an- nual wage, equal pay for equal work — there is no end to the issues, either + affecting the home and the community, or the world at large. Peace, security, opportunity; 4 chance for our children to live and Stow up in health-and heritage. In all Of these issues the women of this prov- ince play an active part — but they arc much too quiet about it! _ Sisters, let’s begin to hear you speak _ {rough our columns. Make yourselves heard. Don’t leave the job to the Mrs. Grundys of ‘the monopoly press. Like the matchless Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, “Speak your own piece” through your “wn paper. e \ONSTRUCTION Industrial Relations, founded by the late Col. Macgregor MacIntosh, one- time Conservative MLA, and dedi cated to the lofty purpose of ’’hold- ing-the-line’’ on wage scales in the contracting industry, has secured the services of a new “‘dealer’’ at ‘its negotiating counter, ex-labor leader R. K. (Roly) Gervin. At last week’s meeting of Van couver Trades and Labor Council, Gervin startled his fellow delegates by announcing his resignation from the ranks of labor to “‘take on anew job.” Later, the labor move- ment learned the nature of the job Gervin had landed. Certain developments at that particular meeting may have preci- pitated Gervin to announce his resignation sooner than he intended. The strong opposition, led by Bill Black of the Hospital Workers Union and Everett King. of the Office Employees, against a dic tatorial ruling which says there must be no rank-and-file discussion on the constitution of the merged ‘Canadian Labor Congress for at least two years, may have prom: -pted Gervin to, toss in the towel there and then and “get away from it all.” ; While addressing a recent labor | ‘seminar in Parksville, Gervin re- portedly favored a full and open discussion by union locals prior to and during the coming CLC con- vention, as a means of democratical- ly securing constitutional revisions for democratic union representa: tion. At the Vancouver Trades and Labor Council session, Gervin was all in favor of “unity” to block | SSS Fourteen pioneers who walked the Klondike Trail of 98 were among the 250 sourdoughs of the Pacific Northwest who met last weekend for Vancouver Yukoners Association’s annual dinner. Photo, taken in March, 1898, shows. gold seekers at the summit of the Chilkoot Pass. : Gervin becomes open spokesman for big business rank-and-file debate on CLC con- stitutional provisions. When he encountered strenuous opposition from unexpected sources, which couldn't be labelled as “‘commun- ist,” he suddenly decided to an- nounce his leave-taking. - hy ork * ; x The next time organized labor in B.C. meets Gervin officially, it will be as a spokesman for big business — as the representative for a group of big contractors on the other side of the negotiating table. - Some few voices in labor ‘circles term Gervin’s promotion as a “‘rec- ognition’? that labor has “made good’’ in the scheme of things. Others, and by far the vast major- - ity, take a dim view of such “‘pro- motions’ and express themselves ‘in less polite but more forthright language. In his eight years as a Non Partisan-sponsored ‘‘labor’’ alder- man at Vancouver City Hall, Ger- vin’s most outstanding achievement was his ardent support of a dog: leash bylaw, which barred ~ dogs from straying off the family prem- ises, except under escort and at the end of a tether. In his new position as spokesman for Construction Lndustrial Rela- tions, we trust Gervin will leave the dog-leash out of his collective bar- gaining equipment. From one who has ‘‘crossed the tracks’ that is perhaps the most that can be hoped for. ‘ ARE the Native Indians lazy and im- provident ? Are their women im- moral? These are insulting questions, yet it is a reflection on our own outlook how often they are asked and ,how many people answer them in the affirmative. They have just been raised again before the Royal Commission on Can- ada’s Economic Prospects, but in such a way as to expose the shameful con- ditions from which they spring. “The Indian is handicapped in seek- ing employment not only by prejudice against him as a-worker but also be- cause his English is usually limited; he has no trade and may not be in good health. He is sometimes accused of being ignorant, lazy, dirty and un- reliable. He is, of course, ignorant of many of the things our civilisation stresses, and has had little opportunity to be otherwise.” This is how the Yellowknife District Miners Union, Local 802 of Canadian Mine-Mill; posed the problem before the Gordon Commission — and with the exception of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union on the Coast, no union has taken up the cause of the Native Indians more vigorously. In its brief, the union notes that it has a number of Native Indian mem- bers who “frequently look to us to ad- vise them or explain the charges that are taking place in the Canadian North.” The union does more than that. Its brief is a well-reasoned program for development of the Northwest Ter- ritories, and southern Mackenzie Dis- trict in particular, to enable the Native Indians to play their rightful part. x * * Mining companies discriminate against Native Indians in employment — “The mines have generally refused to employ Indians underground on the grounds that such work would be par- ticularly likely to be injurious to their health,” the brief states. But in the early days of B.C. no such considerations affected the Dunsmuir coal interests at Nanaimo and Welling- _ ton. The Dunsmuirs stopped employ- _ ing Indians only when the Indians re- fused to be strikebreakers. So long as the Dunsmuirs could exploit the In- dians they had no scruples. But when the Indians stood by their rights. their difficulty in adjusting to what the Yellowknife union calls the “alarm-— clock mode of living” made them less “desirable as employees. Point by point, the Yellowknife union desposes of the slanders against the Native Indians, airs their griey- ances — their feeling “that the immense Yellowknife Preserve set aside for their use as a precondition to signing the treaty has been. violated... — points to\ their proven ability to work 200peratively, and calls for new policies. © The Native Indians need more schools, particularly trade schools. They need better medical services and more emphasis should be placed on preven- tive medicine. They should be given a greater voice in their own affairs. More Native Indians should be trained as nurses and teachers among their own people. : tog The brief is entitled, simply, “We Speak for the Silent.” Now that the silent are beginning to speak for them- Selves, it is through such efforts that _ they will turn to labor for leadership. MARCH 16, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 5