‘Bp

Increased pressure is being exerted by Wall Street on the provincial government of Alberta to
permit the export of natural gas to the U.S. Pacific Coast for war purposes.
exerted not only by the local representatives of the big oil monopolies, but also by Ottawa and Wash-
This was revealed at the hearings conducted before the provincial Petroleum and Natural Gas
The hearings are to determine the extent of Alberta’s natural gas

ington.
Conservation Board in Calgary.
resources in view of the fact that
several companies have filed ap-
plication for permits to export gas
to the US.

At the hearings a letter from
Trade Minister C. D. Howe was
made public in which he quoted
the head of the U.S. munitions
board as saying:

“

. . . Large supplies of natural
gas in Alberta are a source from
which the scarcity of fuel and
power in the Pacific northwest
could be alleviated.”

And to bring further pressure
on Alberta, Howe said that if
Alberta natural gas were not
available “immediate steps will be
taken to supply the gas from
Texas sources” by pipeline. This
angle was further developed by
the Edmonton Bulletin (which ‘is
controlled by the oil interests) in
a headline entitled “Richest Mar-
ket May Vanish.”

The Alberta Labor-Progressive
party pointed out at its provincial
convention last March that the
Americans wanted Alberta’s natur-
al gas for war. Now it has been
publicly admitted. :

At present no natural gas is be-
ing exported. The avowed policy
of the Alberta Social Credit gov-
ernment is that no gas will be
exported until it has been estab-
lished that there is a surplus over
and above what Alberta will need
for domestic and industrial con-
sumption for the next 50 years,
and further that Canadian needs
would be given priority to Ameri-
can. Butethe way the government
has handed over the province’s
resources of gas and oil to the
big American oi] monopolies is it-
self a warning of the danger that
natural gas will now be piped
acrose the line for the American
war machine.

The situation in Alberta is
really an anomalous one, for de-
spite the province's huge natur-
al gas resources, only a handful
of communities are being sup-
plied with this cheap fuel.”

The Alberta LPP has also made
its stand clear on this issue by
stating: C
“Ours is the only party which has
consistently demanded that Can-
adian resources be developed for
Canadians. Only the LPP de-
mands an end to this policy of gift-
giving of our Alberta oil and nat-

ural gas to the’ war-eager oil
monopolists. . ..
“The government should take

over the entire oil and natural

gas industry and operate it as a

public enterprise, the profits of

which will go into the provincial
coffers and be passed on to the
people in increased social services,
low-rental homes, schools, hospit-
als, roads, ete. No export of
natural gas should be permitted.

Natural gas facilities should be

extended to all the communities of
our province. Let those manu-

facturers who want to use our
cheap fuel establish their indus-
tries in Alberta and create more
jobs for our workers.”

The people of Alberta have no
need to worry about markets for
natural gas. There is a big enough
market in the province itself only
waiting for development. And if
at some future time, the province’s
proven reserves become such that
there is a surplus over and above
what will be needed in Alberta
over a long period, then there are
many cities in Western Canada
which should have the first claim
on the surplus. Alberta and Can-
adian needs must come first and
the labor and farm movements
should let the Alberta and federal
government know that this is
what they insist upon.

~ Washington, Ottawa put
pressure on Alberta
to export natural gas

By BEN SWANKY

EDMONTON

This pressure is being

Here’s where money goes

meney to send arms to Europe,

“American Century.”

The St. Laurent government has lifted $300 million taxpayers’

loaded at a Belgian port as a contribution to the civilization of the

Here an American tank is un-

in 1947. will be built anew.

Australians elect
{wo Communists
fo lead unions

SYDNEY

Despite the frantic government
anti-Communist campaign, Com-
munists have just been elected to
the leadership of some of Austra-
lia’s. biggest unions.

McPhillips, a well known Com-
munist unionist, has been elected
national secretary of the Federated
Ironworkers Association. He re-
places the former secretary, Ernest
Thornton, now the Australian rep-
resentative on the World Federa-
tion of Trade Unions Bureau at
Peking. He defeated his right-
wing opponent by a_ substantial
majority.

Another Communist, J. Comer-
ford, has been elected vice-presi-
dent of the New South Wales Dis-
trict Miners Federation with a
lead of over 1,000 votes over his

nearest opponent.

China plans to rebuild
Yenan as historic center

Historic Yenan is being rebuilt for posterity.
three and:a half years, all buildings of revolutionary signifi-
‘cance, levelled by Kuomintang warlord Hu Tsung-nan’s troops

PEKING
Within

The house where president Mao
Tse-tung lived and worked will
stand as it was when he left Yen-
an in 1947.

A special commission was set
up last June to push forward
Yenan’s reconstruction plan. By
the time of itS.completion in 1953,
all traces of Kuomintang destruc-
tion will have been erased, and
visitors will see the Yenan as it
met the eyes of the thousands of
youth who trekked to this revolu-
tionary capital from all parts of
China, the East Indies and other
countries in the late thirties.

The 8th Route Army’s head-
quarters where Chu Teh worked
and directed the People’s Army
units in fighting the Japanese in-
vaders all over China’s far-flung
liberated areas, will be there again.
So will the big auditorium of the
central committee of the Commun-
ist party of China.. Houses and
offices of Liu Shao-chi, Chou En-lai
and other People’s leaders will
also re-emerge from ashes and
ruins.

The reconstruction plan also in-
cludes the erection of new build-
ings and the laying out of parks.
A “victory cenotaph” is to go up at
Chingliangshan “Breeze Hill”
where the offices of the Sinhua

DELEGATES ‘SAT ON HANDS’

Red-baiting met
cold response
at CCL parley

WINNIPEG

Two significant features of the tenth annual convention.
of the Canadian Congress of Labor was the lack of response:
to red-baiting speeches and the fact that at least 40 percent

of the delegates “sat on their
the right-wing administration on
such issues as the, expulsion of the
United Electrical Radio and Mach-
ine Workers, U.S. agression in
Korea and the so-called “Declara-
tion of Positive Economic Phil-
osophy.”

While the capitalist press play-
ed up the witch-hunting  anti-
Communist speeches made by CCL
right-wingers, the fact is that
throughout the convention their
tirades were listened to mostly in
silence, Applause, when it did come,
was scanty. Not only was there
none of the table thumping which
accompanied last year’s gathering,
but neither. Mosher, Conroy, Baron,
Millard, nor any other CCL execu-
tive member was able to arouse
enthusiasm by attacking “commun-
ism” or “Communists.”

Most rank-and-filers came to
the convention looking for an ans-
wer to the numerous acentuated
econcmic problems that are flow-
ing out of the American war of
aggression in Korea. They came to
the convention doubtful and hesi-
tant, and disturbed. What they re-
ceived during the first two days
was a barrage of red-baiting, a
barrage which they accepted most-
ly in silence.

Significantly enough, the so-called
“Communist” issues Which were
injected into the convention found
‘no response among the average
rank-and-filers when it came to
floor debate. Outside of the few
progressives (the majority were
gagged), the main speakers de-
fending CCL policy were top brass.

The CCL leadership would have
welcomed support from what they
consider ‘“nion-political’” delegates,
but they didn’t receive it. The first
|two days saw only two rank-and-
file United Auto Workers members
speak (one against the administra-|
tion), one rank-and-file Steelwork-
er, and gilence from United Pack-
inghous Workers and other major
unions, :

Of course, on the issue of the
UB’s undemocratic and unconstitu-
tional expulsion, debate was auto-
craticaly ruled out of order. If de-
bate had been permitted there is
little doubt it would have been
fone of the liveliest of the conven-
tion; that, in fact, was sensed by
the leadership,
debate ruling.

How the rank-and-file really feels
on the real issues was revealed on
the third day of the convention
when the housing resolution was
placed on the floor. It aroused
widespread unanimous , response

and hence the no}

from all sections of the conven-

hands” rather than vote with.

tion; it was also used by the right- .
wing as an excuse to demogogi- —
cally present themselves as mili-
tants whose main interest was the
needs of the working class once

they had “taken care” of the
“Communists.”
However, the militant sounding

speeches of Conroy, Millard and
other right-wingers added up to:
one plea: the issue of housing
should be resolved at the ballot
box by voting for the CCF at the
next federal elections. :
Both Pat Conray and C.H. Mil-
lard (over Sam Baron’s objections)
urged that the housing resolution
be referred back to the resolutions —
committee for “strengthening”, but
all were taken by surprise when
the delegates.voted overwhelmingly
to send it back with’a direction de-
manding “direct action” on _ the~
issue. :
The final result was an amended

resolution which directed the CCL
affiliates to “rally their member-
ships” in the effort to implement

the demand for low-cost housing.

The desire of the CCL leadership
to duck any direct action on hous-
ing (as they did on wages by
fighting against demands that there
be a coordinated wage drive) flow-
ed naturally out of the “policies”
contained in the “Declaration of
Positive Economic Philosophy”,
introduced on the second day of
the convention in an effort to set
the tone for the remaider of the
week’s session. ,
“Declaration”,

The  two-section
which “condemned” both “com-
munism” and “capitalism”, devot-

ed its first section to the kind of
red-baiting which would have chal-
lenged the imagination of. Goeb-
bels himself. The second section
then went on to inform capital-
ism that it could not “have its
cake and eat it too and spoke of
the need for higher old age pen-
sions, housing and other economic
issues which are uppermost in the
minds of the people today.

But the ‘Declaration” limited
itself to pious platitudes, did not
even hint at a program of action.

After blaming all
economic ills on “communism”
the “Declaration’’ {proceeded to

plead with monopoly capitalism to
share its profits with labor. The
economic sentiments were senti-
ments that Canadian labor could
support, but the “program” left
nothing for Canadian big business
to worry about, because it propos-
ed no plan of action—and wiped
itself out in the beginning by
blaming high prices, speedup, bad
housing, low wages, on “commun-
ism”—not capitalism.

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