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tadicalism?

Doctoral dissertations,
however well researched they
May be, rarely make good
books and in this case, even
though author McCormack
Spent some eight years ex-
banding his PhD. thesis to book
length, there’s little reason to
Make an exception to the rule.
The publishers bill his work,

eformers, Rebels and
Revolutionaries: The Western

1899-1919, as “the first com-
Prehensive examination of. the
early history of the radical
Movement in western Canada”
ut, in fact, it’s something less.
t may be well the first such
examination but it falls con-
Siderably short of being com-
prehensive,

_McCormack argues — and his
title is intended to underscore
the_point — that the..radical
Movement during the two
decades from the turn of the
aoe to the end of World War
had three distinct trends, each
Sed on some understanding of
We Refomers, or
aborites,” as he also calls
mee Sought to win some social
‘Orms and found a response
= foe among craft unionists
. € prairie cities. The rebels
ere militant unionists, miners
and loggers whose opposition to
narrow craft unionism of the
eee and Labor Congress
€n found expression in the
Wadicalism of the Industrial -
orkers of the World and the
ME ee Labor Union. And
fo y, the revolutionaries
und their place in the Socialist

Party of Canada and its various
Predecessors,

While the names might be
ae In distinguishing trends,
mak is haphazard in
ae aining where different
Be ons fit and pays scant
eee to an analysis of how
in trend emerged and
es eped. The raw material is
fac sam there — the economic
the rs, the political climate,

€ ideological influences — but
ert puts it together in a

0 €rent whole. The result is a
Accaued and — thoroughly
Ccumented narrative of

Tadical activities that lacks
€xplanation.

feet analysis does come
Bough is often faulty. In
ning the rise of refor-
aed (or “laborisim’’), for
ae: McCormack looks to
+ ide influences. ‘Laborites
. ere essentially reformers,”’ he
ys, ‘‘who transfered, virtually
Without modification, the
Brit eens and tactics of the
pet Labor Party to the

\ And in explaining refor-

WINNIPEG GENERAL STRIKE .

Canadian Radical Movement, .

_. the end of Western Canadian

Labor history flawed
by shaky conclusions

REFORMERS, REBELS AND REVOLU-
TIONARIES: The Western Canadian
Radical Movement, 1899-1919. By A Ross
McCormack. University of Toronto Press.
Paper $4.95. Available at the People’s Co-
op Bookstore.

mism’s emergence as the
predominant force in the labor
movement, McCormack’s
conclusions are even more
suspect. In his epilogue, he
notes that after the Winnipeg
General Strike had ended in
defeat, ‘Workers turned their
backs on militant industrial
unionism and rejected
revolutionary doctrines.’’
Meanwhile, ‘‘laborites had been
waiting in the wings. . . their
organizations intact and their
credibility unimpaired.”’

Most of the book is, in fact,
aimed at just that conclusion.
According to McCormack the
radical upsurge in the West was
a necessary result of the
“boom” of the 1890’s but once
the reformers, rebels and
revolutionaries had fought it out
for the workers’ allegiance, it
was “laborism (which) had
passed the acid test of the
pragmatic British tradition.”

Yet the struggles that had
begun in the first two decades of
the century were far from over.
The fight for militant industrial
unionism continued into the
90’s both within the TLC and
outside it, finding expression in
the formation of the All-
Canadian Congress of Labor
and in the organizing drives
among miners and wood-
workers. So did the struggle for
revolutionary organization
continue. But McCormack
conveniently avoids getting
stuck with the thorny problem

of dealing with the establish-
ment of the Communist Party of
Canada — founded two years
after workers were supposed to
have “rejected revolutionary
doctrines’? and _ bringing
together elements from existing
socialist parties and from
among militant unionists — by
dismissing it in a footnote as
“never more than an isolated
and inconsequential sect.”’

There are other flaws as well
— inconsistent spelling of such
names as Frank Rogers and an
annoying use of academic
jargon — but if there is a
strength in Reformer, Rebels
and Revolutionaries it is in
McCormack’s extensive
research. Some ten, pages of
bibliography attest to his
considerable study and readers
will find it a valuable source for
information on this important
period in labor history. But a
“comprehensive. examination
of the early history of the
radical movmement”’ it isn’t.

—Sean Griffin

t

U.S. indicts

former DINA

police chief

NEW YORK — The former head
of DINA, Chile’s representative
police apparatus, was indicted by a
U.S. federal grand jury Aug. 1 for
ordering the assassination of
Orlando Leteier, former am-
bassador to the U.S. under the
Popular Unity government of
Salvador Allende.

Leteier, and an aide, Ronni
Moffitt were murdered on Sep-
tember 21, 1976 in Washington
when a bomb exploded in Letelier’s
car. Mrs. Moffitt’s husband
Michael was wounded in the ex-
plosion.

Along with DINA chief Gen. Juan
Manuel Contreras Sepulveda, the
grand jury indicted Pedro
Espinoza, former director of
operations for the DINA, Armando
Fernandez, an ex-DINA agent; and
four Cuban exiles living in the
United States. The Cubans
Guillermo Novo, Alvin Ross Diaz,
Virgilio Paz Romero and Jose
Diomisio Suarez Esquivel, are
leaders of a group of rabidly anti-
communist terrorists.

Earlier, Michael V. Townley, an
American, who has lived in Chile
for more than two decades, was
charged in connection with the
killings. A fifth Cuban, Ignacio
Novo is charged with having lied to
a grand jury and failure to report a
felony.

Chile’s interior minister an-
nounced that the three men were
put under “provisional military
arrest” at the request of the United
States. The U.S. is now expected to
seek extradition of the three
Chileans. :

The indictments are the result of
an intensive two-year investigation
into the murders, which was
complicated by international and
domestic pressure. The Chilean
DINA and many of the Cuban
exiles had been trained by the
Central Intelligence Agency which
had also played an active role in
the overthrow of the Allende
government.

Immediately following the
murder of Letelier, a former
foreign minister and defense
minister in the Allende goverment,
Michael Moffitt and others accused
the DINA and Pinochet junta with

responsibility. Pinochet led the.

bloody coup which in 1973 over-
threw the democratically elected
Allende government. Allende was
murdered in the coup and af-
terwards thousands of Popular
Unity supporters were slaughtered
by the DINA.

The indictment of Gen. Con-
treras, a close associate of
Pinochet, raises questions as to
Pinochet’s role in the murders.
Pinochet’s absolute control over
the DINA has led many to conclude
that the Chilean dictator must have
had full knowledge of the plot to kill
Letelier, who at the time of the
murder was successfully
mobilizing public opinion in the
United States against the Chilean
fascists.

With the announcement of the
indictments, opponents of the junta
have begun to demand that the
Carter Administration break all
relations with the Pinochet
government, and that Pinochet
himself be indicted as a con-
spirator in the assassination plot.

The indictments follow closely
the ouster of Gen. Gustavo Leigh
from the ruling junta. After
Leigh’s resignation as head of
Chile’s air force, 18 other air force
generals resigned. The
resignations, observers say, in-
dicate a deep and growing rift
within the government over
Pinochet’s brutal, inhuman
policies.

Chilean Popular Unity, Van-
couver, writes: We Chileans living
in exile, expressing the different
ideological, political and religious
tendencies and representing the
social, political, cultural and
spiritual activity of the country,
address ourselves to the in-
ternational community.

We want to thank publicly the
governments, political parties,
international organizations and
unions, the youth and women, the
artists and intellectuals, the
churches and ministers — all who
have demonstrated their generous
solidarity with the people of Chile
and support its just cause.

Under pressure both from inside
the country and from abroad,
Pinochet has attempted to change
his deteriorating image with the
announcement of his fraudulent
amnesty. He wants to leave
without solution the plight of the
2,500 disappeared political
prisoners and yet he exonerates all
those responsible for the crimes of
kidnapping, murder, torture and
other violations of the most
elementary human rights. He
declares guiltless the authors of
these crimes, the agents of the
National Centre of Information,
the DINA-CNI, who have acted
under direct orders from the chief
of the military junta himself. At
the same time, the expulsion of
patriots from Chile continues as do
the arbitrary detentions.

We want to reiterate that nothing
has changed with respect to. the
disappeared prisoners. For their
life and freedom it is necessary to

intensify the demand of the in-
ternational community to force the
military junta to answer to the
general secretary of the UN. The
relatives of thousands of disap-
peared Chileans have risked their
lives in confronting the silence of
the junta. Under the slogan ‘For
the fatherland, for life, for
freedom, we will find them,” these
patriots express their deter-
mination to continue to fight to
attain their noble objective.

The evidence linking Pinochet
and his former chief of the secret -
police, General Manuel Contreras,
to the assassination of Orlando
Letelier in Washington, has clearly
come out from the US. in-
vestigation. We believe that now is
the time to ask from the in-
ternational community renewed
initiatives of support for our

people.

In June, representatives of
governments, parliaments;
political parties and churches,
international organizations of
women, unions and youth and
artists, democrats from all con-
tinents participated in the World
Conference for Solidarity with
Chile held in Madrid. The con-
ference was a new and broad ex-
pression of all the forces sup-
porting the struggle of the Chilean
people. We salute this effort that:
was a landmark on the road to a
democratic Chile. It reaffirmed the
determination of the international
community to support the people of
Chile in their struggle for freedom
and democracy. ,

Aid to Cuba pressed

Continued from pg. 1

For me, it was an overwhelming

experience — just to find out what
was going on im the rest of the
world.”

Although further plans will be
laid when all the delegates have
returned, the preparatory com-
mittee has already scheduled a
number of meetings and has made
plans to initiate three campaigns of
solidarity.

One campaign, directly linked to
the Festival, will press the federal
government to rescind an earlier
decision to discontinue aid to Cuba
and will call on Trudeau to extend
trade with that country. :

Delegates will also be cam-

paigning to compel the provincial
government to live up to its pledge
to carry out the $2.25 million aid
program to Vietnam. Originally
established by the NDP govern-
ment, the aid has been threatened
because the socred government
has not passed the necessary
motion re-establishing the ll-
party committee which was to
dispense the aid.

Another campaign will bring
renewed pressure on the federal
government to do its part in
bringing about the international
isolation of South Africa by im-
posing a “‘total trade and political
boycott” of the apartheid regime.

(More on the Festival next
week.)

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

COMING EVENTS

AUGUST 13 — COPE Garden
Party, Sunday, August 13th at 1
p.m., Rankin’s House, 3570 Hull
St. Lunch and Flea Market. If
rain, at Russian People’s Home,
600 Campbell Ave. Adults $4,
children $2. ;

AUGUST 25 — Friday, August
25th, share a relaxing, en-
tertaining evening with
comrades and friends at the
Solidarity Cafe coffeehouse, 8
p.m., AUUC Hall, 805 E. Pender.
Steve Gidora, Keeton, Dean &
Lane and Chris Urbanski will
perform, other musicians are
welcome (bring instruments).
Chess, backgammon, food and
refreshments available.
Everyone welcome. $1 ad-
mission. —

BUSINESS PERSONALS

ROOF REPAIRS
Reasonable 254-5836

SHEET METAL WORK
Reasonable

MOVING? CLEANUP? — Wanted
articles for resale. All proceeds
to P.T. Phone 526-5226. ‘“‘The
Goodie Bin’.

277-3352

Re ad oe
Giles

JEWELLERY REPAIRS,
remodelling, appraisals at
reasonable charge. For ap-
pointment phone 254-7678. Will
pick up and deliver in Vancouver
at no extra charge.

WANTED

Articles for Coffeehouse — City
Cttee.

HALLS" FOR REN

WEBSTER’S CORNERS HALL —
Available for banquets,
meetings, etc. For rates: Ozzie,
325-4171 or 685-5836. S

‘RUSSIAN \PEOPLE’S ‘HOME —:
Available for rentals. For

_ reservations phone 254-3430.”

UKRAINIAN CANADIAN
CULTURAL CENTRE — 805
East Pender St., Vancouver.
-Available for banquets, wed-
dings, meetings. Ph. 254-3436...

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—AUGUST 11, 1978—Page 7