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School gags student who has ‘true story’

. A secrecy gag has been clamped on the students at Shawnigan Lake School for Boys as a result of unfavorable publicity about their school’s ban on a colored girl who married one of its teachers. Students are forbidden to give their personal opinion of the incident to outsiders, according to three Victoria youths, members of the Nav tional Federation of Labor Youth, who made the trip to Shawnigan, 35 miles to the

north of Victoria.

The young Victorians went to the campus of the exclusive priv- ate school which nestles along the shore of the beautiful sum- mer resort to find out from the students themselves what they thought about the headmaster ordering Dorothy Holtz-Hewitt to leave before the term opened.

“When we got to the school, we went up to a student who was standing there and told him what we wanted,” they told the Pacific Tribune. “He was quite set and wouidn’t answer any of our questions.

“He took us along to the master who seemed to be in charge and we got a very cool reception.

“We were told that any state- ments from the school would have to come from the head- master, Mr. Kaye, so as not to hamper their lawyers in any way.

“The master refused permis- sion to talk to any of the students at the present time.

“We were escorted back to our car by a senior student who said that he knew what he called ‘the true story’ but that he had to stick by the statements the head- master had made to the press.

“Our definite impression of the whole thing is that all the stu- dents havé been warned not to make any statements or'give any opinions on the affair to out- siders.”’ .

THe news ofthe treatment of the Jamaican fashion model, daughter of a high government official, burst like a thunderclap

on the B.C. scene when her father =

announced from Kingston that his daughter had returned to the West Indies after having been ordered off the school premises by the headmaster.

Dorothy Holtz, the bride of only a few days, had come to Vancou- ver Island to be married to John Hewitt, a master at the English- type private school.

When it turned out that she -

was of Negro blood, plans for an elaborate wedding with the head- master giving her away were abruptly cancelled, ahd she was

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ordered to leave right. after her marriage “before the boys come and see a colored person here.” !Public indignation has known no bounds at such treatment — groups in all sections of the com- munity have condemned this racism, and the Jamaican legis- lature has made: a formal protest to the Canadian government. ‘The reaction has forced the

‘board of governors -of the school

to attempt to deny the charges and: to offer to have her come back. .

Among the many protests was :

a statement from Nigel Morgan, provincial leader of the Labor-

Progressive party, who said “it is a shameful act that deserves

‘the universal and indignant re-

pudiation it has received.”

The International Sports Lea- gue, made up of young Cana- dians of Finnish, Russian, Ukrain- ian, Chinese Negro and other backgrounds, has written to Mrs. Hewitt disassociating themselves from what they charge is an “un- Canadian attitude on the part of the school authorities.

“That attitude on racial dis-

crimination does not represent

the thinking of Canadian Youth,” the letter says. “We hope you will come to live in Canada.”

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1954

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The national scene

Federal Labor Minister Milton F. Gregg made some important confessions to the annual conven- tion of the Canadian and Catholic Confederation of Labor, in Mon- treal last Sunday. He said:

“Tt would be shortsighted on my part to minimize the extent -of unemployment last winter. It was higher than it has been for some years and its effect has been significant for this nation.”

Further, in what appeared to be a burst of honesty—or despair —he added a warning that un- employment will again be a serious problem this coming win- ter.

The close connection of Gregg’s speech on Sunday to the one de- livered by his party Prime Minister St. Laurent the previous’ evening is obvious.

Prime Minister St. Laurent ad- —

dressed 300 Liberal party organ- izers in the city of Quebec. His speech marked quite openly, the beginning of a drive by the fed- eral Liberals to recapture con- -trol of the provincial government “from Premier Maurice Duplessis and his “Union Nationale.”

The speech delivered to the CCCL convention. by Gregg was definitely and evidently a part of that campaign. St. Laurent’s open attack upon Duplessis was not motivated by concern for the

, workers. of Quebec but, primarily,

by concern for the attitude of the numerous wealthy voters in the two Montreal constituencies recently vacated by the ex-min- isters of national defense and finance, Brooke Claxton and Douglas Abbott. ia

In those constituencies there are more people who are now paying substantial double income taxes as a result of Duplessis’ stage play against the federal government than is the case in any other two constituencies in Quebec. St. Laurent. seeks to

assure those interests that their.

best means of getting rid of that double taxation is to continue to vote Liberal.

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St. Laurent-Duplessis| struggle shaping up|

leader,,.

Precisely because the federal Liberals. are challenging Duples: sis, and can defeat him provi cially only if they can win more support from workers and farm

‘ing people, the absence from

Gregg’s speech of any proposd’ for measures of a basic charac ter to deal with the growing U7 employment is ominous.

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If the St. Laurent government had any intention of initiatiDe serious action to prevent a repe” tition of the Hungry Thirties: Greggs’ speech was exactly the time and place at which such 1 tentions would have been 4% — nounced, with loud fanfare, strengthen the appeal for support ; to the Liberal party. : f

But, while the new element © a modicum of frankness Bo the problem of unemployme?! was refreshing, what Gregg 14 to say about government interest in dealing with it, suggested onl¥ continuation of the antilabor line of St. Laurent.

“We will do our utmost to 2 range building and other co? tracts... so that the maximum of employment therefrom will D& made available . . . during the — winter months,” he told CCCE delegates, strictly in the traditio? of pork barrel politics. Despit® his admissions about the scal@ of unemployment, thase wo! 2 are the sum total of governme? plans to maintain employme? that was indicated in his speech.

It is obvious that the St. Laut ent government has no plan # all, and apparently no interest, ©

- meet the threat of depression. I!

attitude was expressed by Traeé Minister C. D. Howe when, speak ing at Guelph, Ontario, he wee comed the present trend, with ie ae increase of mass unemployme? and of bankruptcies as a “per! of consolidation.” at d Workers and farmers, yes, 49 professional people and sma business interests, must reJ 4 that attitude now if they woul avert economic disaster.

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE — SEPTEMBER 24,.1954 — PAGE !