ncouver’s City Council

+» ELSIE ANDERSON

fall - tiered modernistic ing, rises from a hill what olf the beaten path ‘e everyday existence of citys population, This ation from the hustle- © of downtown Vancou- ‘is industries going full speed ar needs, is perhaps sym- _ For the policies of most— ui— the city fathers have seen to ignore such modern ons and needs as a closed for civic employees, ahd re- to accede to repeated re- +from many quarters for an sion of the franchise to the -city in line with pro- ye trends in other cities of ation. : sted by a small minority of mall minority of the popula- fortunate enough to be id as voters, the city coun- is for years turned deaf ears | petitions fo bring the fran- ‘up to date. Ranking with ria and Montreal as one of i0St restricted cities in Can- athe vote, Vancouver gives no to women unless they own arty, and even male citizens efused the vote unless they f Own property or are ten- iwith property of an assessed | of three hundred doitars or

nant,’ according to the city

its, “does not include any 2 who is a lodger or boarder #0 is an occupier of a room yoms in a lodging house, or 2st in a hotel, or who is the pec of a furnished apartment at im an apartment house, or Person who is a temporary pant of any room in any ing.”

sade to seek a working agree- of unity with the CCF. is hardly likely that a full- ded out policy on unity with SCF “can be worked out im- ‘tately. In fact, in some areas, with some of the top lead- ip of the CCF, even a min- fi degree of unity and under- ding is a lot to hope for. But changes that are taking place nada aS a result of the im- of the war have also had > effect upon large numbers meere and honest people in CCF, and it is they to whom new party must look in seek- the first steps to formal unity i whole raft of problems. “any case we must start from premise that a minimum of €ment between the two bod- Can be attained. rather than umb to the idea that no Yy Of any kind is possible. L idea is hardly in line with objectives set by the disso- m of the Comintern, nor | the terrible lesson that the of the European working- Ss under Hitler holds. for us > in Canada. Had the unity tbor been achieved as late as » the Axis maniacs might = been successfully quaran- d; and millions of lives saved. Qne guarantee that labor has winning the peace is unity, no effort should be spared vorking for this unity now. me time ago the Provincial neil on the BC Section of the _ Sttuck off a committee to lore” some measure of unity. | the Communists. While

(NCOUVER’S city hall, a

. Brake On Progress

A survey of the housing situa- tion-in the city reveals at the Same time that it is virtually im- possible for anyone coming to the city in comparatively recent years to obtain any kind of ac- commodation for his family that would permit him to be classed within the meaning of this defini- tion of tenant. And since Van- couver’s population has increased tremendously due to an influx of war workers and their families, without a corresponding increase in housing accommodation, and Since housing accommodation was far behind the need even in pre- War years, it is obvious that thousands of families are condemned to live in whatever kind of accommodation they are lucky enough to secure, and can- not “buy” their right to vote by becoming even tenants, let alone owners of property.

But even if the man of the family should be a voter, his wife is not recognized as capa - ble of having a voice in the city’s affairs. To qualify for the voters’ list, she, too, must be an owner or a “tenant with- in the meaning of the Act,’ which would mean, of course, that she pays the rent and her husband loses his vote.

@ 4p appalling results of this antiquated policy is shown in

election results of recent years—"

a steady decline in the number of votes cast, until in 1941 only twenty percent of those entitled to vote cast their ballots. In 1942, the year of the last mayoralty election, 26 percent of the voters east ballots. If this meant twenty percent of the adult population, it would still be bad. But twenty percent of the small number per- mitted the yote means that Van-

Red Army men on the Orel front, who have taken part in the Russian encirclement of the Wazis on this part of the battlefront. In the foreground, a Soviet nurse tends a wounded

soldier under fire.

couver’s city council is elected actually by a very small minority of the population—about eight per cent.

Single sons and daughters of families of course have no vote, or persons subletting or sharing living quarters with owners or tenants of the property. A par- ticular hardship since the out- break of the war has been the fact that while the husband is with the armed forces neither he nior his wife may record a vote, Since the husband is out of town and the wife in many cases living with friends, parents, or in rent- ed rooms or suites.

Comparison with other Gana- dian cities shows that most of them require only that would- be voters shall have resided in the community for one year—

e New Party

nothing as yet has come out oi this decision I am confident it will, since the CCF people who are sincere in their desire for labor unity are not likely to per- mit the issue to be forgotten. With us, they realize only too well that unity is needed to win the peace. While the new party must respect the right of the CCF to contest the political field for parliamentary position, it cannot concede all to the CCF. We don't seek a political monopoly our- selves, and we are not granting it to others.

Some of these differences, and they cannot all be listed here will be hard to overcome, but they are the problems the new party inherits, with its task of unifying Canadian labor for the big job ahead, and they are not insurmountable.

A FEW words on organizational structure: it will have to be many sided. In those centers where ward divisons exist, that will be the ideal form or organ- ization, involying ward clubs or branches of the party of one hundred or more members. In most cases a constituency form of organization will have to be built, with two or three constituency clubs, branches and so on guid- ed by a constituency committee. The old organic form of district or provincial and national coun- cils or committees will have to remain, in order that centralized leadership for.the whole party shall be maintained. Democratic centralization and the rule of the majority must preyail, and the

member yoluntarily discipline himself to majority decisions of the party.

Each club or branch should be a chartered organization by the national body, and subject to the general laws of the whole party, but haying the fullest freedom in working and carrying out local policies in harmony with local conditions. Every club or branch should become a community bee- hive of political activity.

The new party should have an authorized membership book and a flat. uniform monthly rate of dues and other assessments for all members. The only exception to this rule should be farm mem- bers and married couples—in the Jatter case where only one mem- ber is a wage earner. This mem- bership book should contain “the basic rules of the party as laid down in the party constitution, and a full ritual and obligation for new members.

The rate of monthly dues should be set at a level equivalent to the efficient ‘mainteanance of party organization. Too low fees in any organization does not enhance its prestige or attractive- ness, but on the contrary, gives the impression of cheapness when set too low.

Languages and other special organizational forms should not

be definitely ruled out in the new party organization. The greatest strength of the new

party will be its ability to inte- grate itself with the daily life and problems of the common people, and through adequate rep- resentation in local, provincial and federal governments, reflect these needs in the political tri- bunes of the nation.

in some cities only six months’ residence is necessary—and that he or she shall be a British subject through birth or natura- lization. No property qualifica- tion is necessary for a candi- date to contest the elections in many cities, and no deposit is required. @

HE disinclination of the city

council to take steps to ex- tend the franchise can only be due to their fear that a larger, more democratic voting public ‘would threaten their security and elect to office representatives who would carry out policies in the interests of the majority of ihe people. Most striking in- stance of this is shown in the blank refusal of the council to grant a closed shop agreement to civie employees. Té a strong labor - progressive representation

were in office, such policies would be unthinkable.

Avpeal upon appeal has been made for democratic exten- sion of the franchise, each in turn vetoed by the finance committee. This dependence of democracy on -civie financial needs, restrict- ing the yote to those able to pur- chase it, is a flagrant insult to the working men and wimen of Van- couver, smacking of a feudal re- straint totally outmoded in this era.

Other Canadian cities have found it unnecessary to limit the democratic right of the franchise {to those favored by the financial brains of the city, and Vancouver, proud of its progress in the in- dustrial field, should be in the forefront of modern develop- ment, not limping sadly in the rear.

The Bitter Cry Of Children

=

Following is an excerpt from a new book by the Russian writer, Boris Gorbatov, “Taras Family,’ in which the author describes the life in Voroshi'sv- grad during the German occu- pation and particularly the fate of the Jews who remained be- hind.

HE Jews were shot some- where outside of the town. The few who survived by a sheer miracle hid with Russian families. The Rus- sians willingly and without fear hid them. They consid- ered it a duty of conscience. The street on which Taras lived hid a six-year-old girl. The police got to know of this somehow and started a veritable hunt for her. Like hounds they got on to the scent. The street did not surren- der. Every evening the girl was transferred to a new place, from neighbor to neighbor.

In every house a trunk was emptied of its belongings and a place made for her to sleep. The girl lived and slept in a trunk; at the first sign of danger the lid of the trunk was pulled down. The child grew accustomed to her shel- ter; it no longer seemed like a coffin to her. She smelt of moth-

balls and mustiness like an anci- ent old woman.

Taras’ granddaughter Mariika learned about this little girl from her friends. When the child was brought into the house of Taras Mariika was overjoyed and asked her grandfather, “Is this the girl of the trunk?”

“We will play with my dolls,” said Mariika ,and looked back at Taras. “May we? We will play with the dolls in the trunk,’ she hastened to add and Taras turned away to wipe away a tear.

So

NS NIGHT the police broke into

Taras’ house. They ransacked all the rooms, including the lum- ber room, espied the trunk and broke it open. The girl was sleep- ing. She continued to sleep even in the arms of the policeman, Smiling serenely and softly smack- ing her lips.

She was rudely awakened out of her sleep. She opened her eyes to see strange, terrible faces and black greatcoats. Black greatcoats

. . She shrieked.

And Taras thought of another girl, ef the fair-haired Mariika. He looked toward her and saw her eyes. Big blue eyes they were, dilated with horror.

“What has happened, grand- father? Why?” her eyes asked.

But there were no tears in them. The children had learned not to cry. They had forgotten how to laugh and had learned not to cry. The children had grown old.

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