Published Weekly

VANCOUVER, B.C., FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1935

No. 4

Single SORIES: 5 Cents Se

|P.W.C. APPEALS TO COMMUNISTS AND SOCIALISTS FOR UNITY

~All Canada Delegation Goes to @ttawa-to Demand Genuine Insurance on Feb. 18th

Te the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation! ‘To the Socialist Party and the Communist Party! To All A.F.of L. and A-C.C.! To All Werkingemen, Women, Youth, and Supporters of Labor! _ For five years the Bennett Government has robbed the wages, homes and farms of the toiling population. For five years the Conservative Government, with the support of the juiberal Party has plundered the salaries of office and store ;2mployees, and the incomes of the middle class. For the past ‘ive years a whole generation of working class children have een condemned to under-nourishment. The youth of Canada Jaave nothing better to look forward to, than a life of hope- + essness in a National Defense Camp, working for 20 cents a Siay in preparation for another war. After five years of the J-ule of fimance capitalists, with Bennett at their heads, the workers of Canada have had taken away from them, economic Sand political rights which took them decades to wrest from 4:he ruling classes. Bennett's Insurance Scheme Seals His Infamy

The multi - millionaire W ‘Iron Heel’ Premier,

spokesman for Bis Business, mtends to intensify this outrageous robbery and oppression of the work- Sing class behind a “reform’’ pro- zram, im order to be better able to }rarry out a new and more vicious drive against the working people JAn indication of the essence and in-

P.W.G. Galls for Unity

The Provincial Workers’ Council therefore calls upon all workers and their suporters to form a real united battle line against this new attack of capital under the guise of reform which in reality is a step towards Fascism. We call upon all workers to rally behind, and support the Workers’ Insurance Bill which will be presented to the Dominion Par- liament on Feb. 18th. This bill will

Bennett, and chief now

Mass Meeting at Camlie Street onclayy Feb. 4th|MOUNTED COPS SMASH STRIKERS’

MASS TURN-OUT GETS ACTION FOLLOW ITUP AT NEXT EVENT

City Council To Calll a Special Meeting to Deal With Relief

Coleman Wins Court Appeal

VANCOUVER, Feb. 4.— Nearly 5,000 working men, women and youth assembled at Gambie Street Grounds today to protest asainst the

Renew Support for the Noranda Victims

f-ention of Bennett's reform policy Sao0w stands revealed in his Unem- Soloyment Insurance Scheme. With D¥er one million unemployed work- ars in Canada at the present time, Bennett, the second large shareholder im the Royal Bank, denies insurance

be presented by a large delegation elected from the All-Canada Con- eress on Unemployment.

The Workers’ Bill is the only genu- ine form of Unemployment Insurance because its principles are based on the conditions and needs of ail work-

miserable conditions obtaining among unampleyd workers. The demands of the workers for better relief, for abolition of the inhuman treatment of the Chinese workers in the soup kitchen of the Anglican Mission, and for Non-contributory Unemployment

Winning the first round in the fizht for the freedom of the Noranda- Flin Flon miners who were sentenced to two years in the penitentiary for activity in strike strugeles, the C.L.D.L. has been instrumental in

THIS IS THE STUFF!

WHO’S THE NEXT?

Street Railwaymen’s Un- ion (Div. 101) at the last membership meeting had a resolution sent to R. B. Bennett protesting against his fake bill for jobless in- surance.

The Union has gone on

record as supporting the Workers’ Bill.

ers, industrial and agricultural, em- ployed and unemployed. The Provin- cial Workers’ Council has sent invi- tations to all organizations men- tioned above to send -speakers to- GAMBIE STREET GROUNDS ON FEB. 18th at 2 p.m. to explain and support the Workers’ Bill.

We call upon ail workers to have their organizations endorse this Bill, and demand its immediate enactment by the Federal Goverment. Support this movement for genuine unem- ployment insurance by your presence at the grounds at 2 p.m., Feb. 18th.

issued by the Provincial

to the workers where most needed. Employed workers of the basic in- Zustries of B.C.—lumber, fishing and hericulturs—are ignored. A weekly benefit of six dollars a week as 2 maximum is not only an insult to the workers, but brands the whole Bennett Insurance scheme as an un- scrupulous attack upon the workers n-their struggles for “real uném- Noyment insurance.’ The capitalist jass of Canada must be told in no imncertain manner that the workers will not be deceived by such reforms. We must expose the whole scheme as a fraud and useless to the whole of the workers. Workers’ Council.

“THE COMMONWEALTH"— AN ORGAN OF REACTION

Those Who Pay the Piper Call the Tune

From the pages of the Capitalist Press the workers can expect nothing that will advance the interests of the working- class. That is not their policy. For generations the press of the ruling class has played all the tricks known to them in order to “keep the workers divided and unorganized. The owners of these papers study very carefully how to carry out this policy. From the pages of a newspaper which is supposed to advance the interests of the toilers, we expect something different. There is one paper of this type in Vancouver, how- ever, which whilst supposedly printed in the interests of the Eoilinge masses, is in reality advancing the interests of the exploiters of the working class, just as efficiently, and even more so, than the papers owned and controlled by the ruling class. This paper is “The Commonwealth.” The editor of this paper is one of the most skillful reformist leaders in Canada, wath many years’ experience in the Trade Union movement. He is able to fool many hundreds of workers and farmers who are not aware of his demagogy and manoeuvering. The Dominion leaders of the C.C.F. could have left no more dex- terous leader behind to take care of. their press than Bill Pritchard.

<‘Commonwealth”’ and Capitalist Press Brothers Under the Skin

In the last issue of ““The Commonwealth’”’ (Feb. 1st) there appears a front page, two-column article, with a red scare headline across the whole page entitled ‘“Woodsworth Warns Against “Press Yarns’.” The article is written by Grace Mac- Innis, wife of Angus MacInnis. It accuses the Capitalist Press of garbling the statements of Woodsworth in regard to his alleged pronouncements that he would support Bennett in his “reform program.” Many workers know that the capi- talist press garble reports of public men’s utterances, but the funny part of this article is that Grace, in her story, and Pritchard, in the “heads,” would attempt to prove that the CCE leaders will not support the Bennett measures, whereas the reading matter (wherein is stated actually what. the lead-

ers did say) gives ample proof beforehand that the C.C.F. leaders will not oppose these measures! As instance Mr. Gar- diner “invited the Prime Minister to put into effect the re- forms ...” Mr. Gardiner went on to say, “Capitalism could never be successful, because it was built on the profit motive, and no step taken under capitalism was worth-while unless it was to end capitalism.” What logic! Surely Mr. Gardiner doesn’t believe that the capitalists are going to make legisla- tion which will put an end to themselves. The “Vancouver Province” is accused of using misleading headlines when it

(Continued on page 4)

Insurance.

A delegation of eleven were elected to go and interview the City Relief Committee of the City Coun- -eil and presert the-temands. The civie officials attempted to preclude eight of the committe without suc- The whole eleven delegates spoke on the question assigned to them. The Mayor sat in with the committee and the delegation pressed for a special meeting of the City Couneil to deal with this important question.

McGeer and Bennett in Cahocts.

In. the course of the interview Gerry McGeer intimated that he was “negotiating’’ with R. B. Bennett in regard to relief matters. However, he agreed to call a special meeting of the City Council, and to notify the delegates of the time of the meeting so that they could state the case for the thousands of workers who are suffering intense hardships through unemployment and insufficient relief. The committee refused to endorse the Workers Insurance Bill. In this they definitely line up with the bosses and Bennett.

3

cess:

as a breathing spell.

els to the acre.

mortgage.

interest rate of 6%,

$ 3 3 $ 5 $ : : $ > OS a eee

REGINA, Jan. 31 (ALP) — Creditors have decided to give their debtors a ‘break’ in Saskatchewan. Here’s how it works:

A 69-year-old Icelander, after working hard on his farm for 33 years, found him- self $15,000 in debt. He was granted 1935 Then at the age of 70 he will start paying off his indepted- ness. The moragtge company will get one- third, whenever his crop exceeds 10 bush- Other creditors will share in the balance. He will have no mortgage interest to pay for the next four years, by which time he will be 73. But then he will have to buckle down: and get to work. In- terest will be renewed at the same rate without reduction in the amount of the

Assuming an average crop yield of 15 bushels an acre on 150 acres, and prevail- ing prices of 50 cents, with no crop failure it will take him 32 years more to pay off the principal of the mortgage. He will then be 105 years old. But in-the meantime, in- terest will be accumulating. At the normal it will be accumulat- ing faster than the normal crop payments. So that by the time he is 105, he will be deeper in debt than he is today. the first 100 years are ERE hardest.

haying the sentence of James Cole- man, Winnipeg Workers’ Unity League organizer, reduced from two years to six months.

Assisting the fiznt were hundreds of workers who packed the court- house and this victory is a tribute to the mass campaign conducted by thousands of workers throughout Canada. Undoubtedly this partial victory is due to the mass pressure organized by the C.L.D.L. and is an indication that this mass pressure must be increased in order to win freedom for the sixteen Noranda miners who have been sentenced to Kangston, and for Max Fabrer of Toronto. The cost of lodging the appeals has been enormous and funds are still a dire necessity.

In British Columbia, the District Executive Committee has rallied some financial and moral support, but the total sum collected is insig- nificant when ome realizes that ap- proximately $2,000 is needed for ex- penses. Rush funds to the C.L.D.L., 28 Flack Blde., and express your solidarity in a material way.

—C.L.D.L, Press Correspondent.

A Gontrast_Panners In Iwo World.

Fraser Valley Farmers Who Suffered From the Flood Would Be Very Quickly Rehabilitated by a Canadian ‘Soviet Government’

decree passed

Soviet Union

peasantry.

this.

Of course,

MOSCOW, U.S-8.R., Jan. 31 (ALP) — The second congress of collective farmers, embracing the whole territory of the Soviet Union, will open here on Feb. 10, when the conditions of the collective farms will be discussed. In addition to 1100 dele- gates from the collective farms regions of the U.S.S.R., the collective farm delegates from the 7th Congress of Soviets, now in session, will be present and partici- pate in the work of the farm congress.

That the Soviet State is genuinely inter- ested in bettering the welfare of the farm population can be witnessed by a recent

Commissars and the Central Committee of the Communist Party which cancelled the debts of the collective farms to the state. This debt amounted to the huge sum of 435,639,000 roubles (at present exchange $378,816,500). Sition of the Canadian farmer.

The growth of collectivization in the

provements in the life of the Russian Where a few years ago the land was cultivated in the most primitive manner, today large seale agricultural me- thods and mechanization has changed all For instance, on November 1, 2,202 electric threshing: machines were in opera- tion which cost 40 to 50 per cent less than tractors to operate, reducing the time of operation by 35 to 40 per cent.

Scott Nearing Replies With Wise Solidity

International Experience

and Keen Pentration Compel Attention

Editors WNote.—The editorial board of the “B.C. Workers News'’ sub- mitted six questions to Scott Near- ing on the occasion of his visit to Vancouver with the request that he answer them in writing for publica- tion in this paper. The letter was lost in the mails for a time, but through the kind offices of Dr. Lyle Telford the letter has reached us. The questions and aswers follow.

QUESTION: In the interview with you quoted in the “Gommon- wealth” of January 4, you are al- leged to have stated that ‘The Communist Party of the U.S.A. will give way to the Workers Party of the U.S.A., which includes in its ranks numerous Trotsky-

(Continued on Page 2)

3

of all

by the Council of Peoples

Contrast this with the po-

has made remarkable im-

Do isscees See sesulcoleuceeeleiiecesecive ristoece duba ak

PICKET LINE AT BOUNDARY MILL; ORIENTAL AND WHITE SHINGLE WORKERS FORM UNIED FRONT

Mayor McGeer and Chief Foster Carry Out Vicious Policy of Mill Eesses of Smashing Resistance to Wage Cuts

Militant Members of the Shingle Weavers’ Union Carry Thru Defensive Fight Against Bosses In Spite of Bengough Sabotage

VANCOUVER, Feb. 6.—Police from Vancouver, Burnaby, and the Provincial Police smashed the picket line at Boundary Mill, owned by Bloedell, Stewart and ‘Welch. Mounted police rode roughshod over the workers and strikers who were de- fending their job. One picketter was taken to the hospital with a fractured skull. Over 80 police were drawn. in to smash the strike front. The pickets held their ground as long as they could but had to fall back against immense odds, and the police armed to the teeth. The strikers composed of Chinese and white workers received the assistance of half a hundred unemployed workers from the Single Unemployed Workers’ Protective Association. These workers, many of whom are blacklisted from the relief camps, displayed great solidarity with the shingle workers in helping to picket the

mill. ee Peaceful Pickettine

Only last night at the meeting of the Trades and Labor Council (A. of L) delegate Gerrard of the Motion | Picture Projectionists Union reported

the rates

lower than the Shingle

Weavers’ Union rates call for. The

boss called the workers from the

that R. B. Bennett and the Minister various departments one at a time

of Justice had aided his union in putting through legislation which made peaceful picketting legal. The hypocrisy of this is seen in the above Incident. Last week in the City of

and suggested that the mill should start on a five percent reduction. The Chinese workers were not al— and the unskilled white workers were also excluded,

lowed to vyote,

Toronto a judge granted an injunc- tion against the Food Workers’ Un- ion picketting a shop. He later, on appeal, refused to make the injunc- tien permanent, but stressed the fact that mass picketting was illegal. The kind of pickettinge Bennett granted was one man picketting with a post card pinned on the striker’s coat. The kind of pickettine that is Ineffective suits Bennett, and evi- dently it suits the officials of the Trades and Labor Council. None of the officials of the A.F.of L. are on the picket line, but the militant work- ers who were expelled by Benzough are really leading the strike. Democratic Strike Vote

The strike was called last Monday,

when the company attempted to cut

Really it was a “company vote’’ and the vote carried 13 to 5 to accept the reduction. The workers who were

“excluded protested by calling a strilxe

and got the assistance of the mili- tant union men, and also the assist— ance of the unemployed workers when they called for a picket line: Another vote was taken Tuesday night and the vote was solid for to Strike. This was after the strike committee had held negotiations with the boss, which came to naught. The strikers want the union rate, which calls for 22 cents for sawyers, and 14 cents for packers. One or two seabs have attempted to get into the mill with a car, but the windshield suffered uccordingly.

BiG COMMUNIST VOTE IN THE

SAANICH MU

First Time a Communist

NICIPAL ELECTION

Entered Elections Here

ED. NOTE: We print below a copy of 2 letter received from our

Saanich correspondent regarding

the Municipal elections, and the

splendid showing made by the Communist candidate. This is an in-

dicator of the influence of the Communist Party.

When a Communist

can step forward with a revolutionary program in the midst of a

number of laboring farmers,

a large number of whom have until

recently supported one or other of the capitalist class political parties,

and win such splendid support,

it shows that the workers and

farmers are ready for revolutionary organization, and willing to fight

against their oppressors. The revol

utionary workers cannot tale this

great achievement lightly, buat must seriously consider how to im- mediately gather together every one of the supporters, right down to

the 129th and cement them into 2 their farm homes. The Communist to them, and rapidly build a tower o the Bennett offensive.

strong organization for defense of Party should open the doors wide. f working class strength to combat

The recent Saanich Municipal Election, although some- what less fiery than in former years—due perhaps to rain

and flood conditions prevailing

at the time, with a resultant

poor attendance at nearly all scheduled meetings, was never—

theless not without interest or

For not merely were the Saanich oO electors treated to a slate of four Reeveship aspirants, but (Shades of Lenin!) one of them announced him- self as running on a straight Com- munist ticket.

A Communist candidate—and in Saanich, of all places! The comfort- able bourgeoisie, stepped in the tra- ditions of capitalistic ideology shrug- ged contemptuously. The small farm- er and worker—well, they were not So sure. After all, they had been carefully fed on special lies about Soviet Russia by the capitalist press with its distortion of all that the CP. stands for; more than one tax-burdened farmer fought his way through the storm to at- tend the meeting, that he might see and hear for himself what curious of creature a Communist Comrade P. D. Wilson

nevertheless,

species really was.

novelty.

was the Communist candidate for Reeve, and the meeting on this oc- Casion, poorly attended, was held in one of the outer wards. The bour- geois candidates were given the plat- form first, and indulged in the usual platform promises of economy and efficiency, while the audience, hay- ing heard this claptrap many times before, yawned politely and fidgeted uncomfortably in their chairs. Your correspondent, who had almost gone to sleep, was startled into wakeful- ness as the chairman announced the speaker, P. D. Wilson, Com- munist candidate for Reeve.

The audience straightened expec- tantly, as a man of good appearance advanced to the platform. Some brows puckered into a puzzled frown —plainly this was not the type of

next

(Continued on Page 4)