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Price Five Cents

Abbott's
aims
blasted

bon tance Minister Douglas Ab-
tion” Who during the federal elec-
Surana, Push was loud in his as-
Port that » Canada’s vital ex-
Noy, . 22 Was on a sound basis,
Cts mits that Britain’s ‘‘dollar
this. Will have grave effects on
the analy S economy. But, with
displaynre Callous indifference he

inc towards national protest
Temoval of price controls,
ends that Britain’s plight
_ ~anada’s problem.”
here Sone of the facts that
of conf; this week from a_ score
Otiay. “StMg statements issued at
ey

Ans;
aad

« COnt
ISy’t

: we. eflecting the St. Laur-
to cons ments stubborn refusal
Union cer trade with the Soviet
demoe, the New Democracies and
Phic a China and its catastro-
Abbot ‘ance on the U.S. market,
trade assailed Britain's bilateral
Unig atrangements with the Soviet

n bey a3 ba)
Stab] and other countries as “‘mis-
€ thi S. »

a 1s . ees ;
; Prod, advice to Britain was to

c : }
fo, t © more textiles and machinery

Com, oe anadian market “‘on a
eee tS basis” at. the ‘same
Moines the Financial Post an-
lend that the government in-
tiles.» Felmpose duties on British
“Osu. Wcrease the cost to the
wt SIX to eight percent.
“Ustome United States is our best
yer € exported 40 percent
‘Ast
tea a than ‘to all the sterling
q Kingd ined, including the Unit-
8dom,”” declared Abbott.

.eVe
this Week q developments reported
C

Canad, €molished’ this argument.
rth the U adverse trade balance
the f S. Tose to $247 million

‘. "st five months of 1949.
milding = Pulp producers are de-
Nerape au end to the agreement

h :
hi Ulp Britain buys virtually all
Tom Canada with ECA

Oe. ay
"tinued on back page
See CRISIS

DIME FARE BUYING NEW
BUS EVERY THREE DAYS

“HIT WHERE IT HURTS’

Effie launches chain
protest against steal

Following is a letter being circulated by Vancouver Civic
Reform Association:

This is a chain letter designed to start a chain-reaction
against the BCElectric’s unjustified boosting of car and bus
fares to a dime a ride. Break the chain and bad luck will be
yours—you'll have to keep on paying high fares for years to
come. a

Here’s how you can hit the
‘*BCER where it hurts them
most—in the cash register.

1. Save carfare and shop in
your own district. A downtown
“bargain” isn’t a bargain when
you tack on 20 cents for a two-
way ride.

2. Agitate for a_ plebiscite
next December in the civic elec-
tion to have the city take over
the BCER and operate it as
a public service. The city has
the right to take over the
BCER on January 1, 1951, but}
must give one year’s notice,}
according to the company’s 20-—
year franchise.

For -more information on®
how to fight the ta a :
win back lower car an us :
fares and weekly passes, write aarti oa JONES
to/Mrs. Effie Jones, Civic Re- A chain reaction
form Assotiation, 5038 Sherbrooke street, Vancouver.

Don’t break the chain! Please make three copies of this
letter and mail two to friends, or to citizense picked at ran-
dom from the phone book. Mail the third copy to Ald. Alex
Fisher at City Hail.

Thank you—and keep fighting for lower fares!

Long-suffering Vancouver citizens are paying for a new BCElec-
tric bus every three days since the company highjacked fares to a
straight dime on Monday this week. A new bus costs $24,000. The

extra daily “take”. since fares were increased is in the neighborhood’

of $8,000. That means enough additional cash stolen from the pub-
lic’s pockets to buy 152 new buses every year.

Incensed citizens are fighting back against the Jesse James tactics
of the BCER, and Civic Reform leader Effie Jones is sparking the
fight-back campaign. At a protest meeting in Pender Auditorjum
Sunday night, Mrs. Jones announced her intention to run for alderman
next December on an anti-BCER platform, and advised her applaud-
ing audience to. . .

@ Save carfare by shopping at community stores.
@ Call for a plebiscite on the question of public ownership of

BCER. (The city must give notice of its intention to take over

BCER before December 31, or lose the chance for another five years,
under terms of the company’s franchise.)

@ Demand that the Public Utilities Commission recall the interim
fare increase and hold a public hearing at which all interested parties
can appear and present briefs and query BCER officials on the finan-
cial status of the company.

Appearing on the platform with Mrs. Jones were Emil Bjarnason
of the Trade Union Research Bureau, who produced figures proving
BCER made $7,500,000 profit last year; and prominent labor bar-

rister John Stanton, who revealed some of the intricate maneuverings
of the company.

At a CCF rally against the 10-cent fare, held in Pender Audi-
torium Friday night, Ald. Laura Jamieson complained of the “nega-
tive attitude’’ of her fellow aldermen toward the recent increase, The
meeting passed a resolution asking the Public Utilities Commission to
investigate the BCElectric operations. (It was the PUC which granted
the interim increase.)

A strong campaign against the dime fare has been started by
the Labor-Progressive party. Canvassers are collecting thousands of
signatures on petitions demanding recall of the interim order for the
10-cent fare, and the holding of a public enquiry on the financial
status and earnings of the BCER.

Nigel Morgan, provincial LPP leader, scored the PUC and

Continued on back page
See BCER

WHAT ABOUT OPEN SEWERS IN SOUTH VANCOUVER?

Polio rises, but aldermen mum on slum menace

e
eo S to the United States.

With 538 cases of polio in Van-
couver confirmed at press time
and several new cases being re-
ported daily, the current out-
break of the dread disease is fast
reaching the epidemic stage simi-
lar to 1947 when 173 cases were
treated.

First fatality was a 15-year-old
boy, Robert Mee, 212 West
Seventh, who died in General
Hospital last Friday night. An-
other victim, a young girl, iis now
fightng for life in an iron lung.
Both were struck down by bul-
bar polo, the most deadly type,

‘which attacks the vital centers of

the brain.

Other victims of spinal polio
are reported to be in “very seri-
ous” condition. The General Hos-
pital has appealed for help in
the emergency and several grad-
uate nurses have responded. Spe-
cial polio-fighting equipment has
been flown in from U.S. hospi-
tals.

Rise in the rate of admissions
to General Hospital is parallel
to that of 1947, and the Van-
coluver situation is serious in the
extreme. Citizens have been

warned to stay, away from bath-
ing beaches and other public
places where crowds congregate:
-- Nothing has been said to date
about the definite tie-up betweén
polio and over-crowded slum
areas. City health officials are
loathe to comment on this angle.
Doctors declare that fly-control,
avoidance of fatigue and “good
hygeine” are “simple preventa-
tives.” Yet none of these are
“simple” in vermin-infested, rat-
ridden slum areas.

City council, scheduled to make
a tour of the tenament district

this week following Ald. Archie
Proctor’s recent publicized jun-
ket, have “discovered” a previous
engagement and called the whole
thing off for the time being.
When they do get around to go-
ing, they should take a good
long look at some of the stink-
ing, open sewers in South Van-
couver—perfect source spots for
polio.

As long as Vancouver's slums
remain, citizens can expect re-
curring epidemics of polio. Let
city council act to abolish the
slums!

¥