Kec mM Ror eC

Ol’ Bill

UUULATUGTUAHTLALEEE

])CTATORSHIP has come to

Vancouver! Not dictatorship of the proletariat, not the dicta- torship of a free people over a small grasping minority who would throttle the economic life of a country, but the dictatorship of a corporation, granted to it by some of its front organizations like the Public Utilities Commis- sion (PUC) and the Non-Partisan

City Council, to :

cover up its gen- eral inefficien- cy and inability to deliver the goods for which it. was igranted a 20-year fran- chise only a Short year ago:

Of course Mr. : Dal Alibi Grau- rit er’ blames the weather for the inability of the B.C. Electric to Supply the light and power which they undertook to do in the fran- Chise they now hold (against the ‘wishes of the people of Vancou- ver) and unfortunately, too many of our citizens and sufferers in the © neighboring municipalities fall for this alibi.

But it, does seem peculiar that the Vancouver and District Water Board, which, I understand, pro- vides a greater volume of water in the service it gives to the people than goes through the turbines of the B.C. Collectric, has no quarrel with the weather: One of the Water Board engin- eers made public the statement

om Mc

is

‘WASHINGTON, D.c. the capital of the United States

of America, the much-publicized Shrine of dollar “democracy.” Of its population of 1,200,000, nearly 36 percent are Negroes. Washing-

ton, D.C., is run by a three-man

board of Commissioners, appoint-

-@d by, and responsible to the President. These three Commis-

‘sioners repre-

sent in them- selves the most powerful __fig-

ures in Ameri- can finance and business.

i Washington, |

DC, preaches democracy to. the world. Its

top spokesmen tell the Czechs, Hungarians, Poles, Italians, Rus- ‘Sians and all else, how to run _ their domestic and foreign af-_ fairs, and how superior “the Am- erican way of life’ is to theirs! President Truman's inaugural ad- dress blared the glories of this democracy at the world, branding all ideas to the contrary as “a false’ philosophy.’ :

While Washington, D.C., ‘sells

democracy abroad a la the Marsh-

all Plan, it keeps its Negro popu-

lation and other dark - skinned

_ visitors strictly in their place ac-

_ ording to the best traditions of “white supremacy.”

Short Jabs

i cca

last week. that they have plenty of water; that two of their great lake reservoirs, Loch Lomond and anothér, have not yet been tapped this winter. That means they are full of water and not a gallon used in spite of the freez- ing weather, :

If we are capable of learning anything, we should learn a les- ‘son from this comparison. It is an answer to the’ free enter- prizers. The B.C. Collectric rep- resents all those free enterprize Johnnies who are flaunting their system in the pages of the Capi- talist press these days, Hf. MacMillan; Standard Oil of B:C:; Consolidated Mining and Smelt- ing; International Nickel, and others. Since profit is their mo- tive, they will all fail when tested as the B.C. Collectric does when the weather is too hot or too cold, or when a couple of mon- grels stage a dog-fight on Gran- ville and disrupt the city’s trans- portation for a whole afternoon.

The water Board on the other hand, does not seek the aid of tory newspaper: editors. church dignitaries, unknown college pro fessors, aspiring university stud- ents or simple-minded — house- wives, to boost its standing. It is a public utility owned by the people. With it, “service’ ’is not a hypocritical dodge used as a cover for profit-gouging but a guiding principle.

The function of the publicly- owned water system is to pro- vide the municipalities concerned

A few weeks ago the National Committee on Segregation, upon which a number of very notable. and some very notorious people Serve—reported on racial discrim- ination in Washington, D.C. This report shows the Negro popula- tion of Washington, D.C., segre- gated in housing, in jobs, in the- aters, in parks and in play- grounds. ‘The worst housing, the most menial jobs, the strictest taboos on social recreation. Soci- ally, this segregation is shown most clearly in health and infant mortality statistics as between Negro and wifite. In short, Wash- ington, D.C., is 100 percent Jim

» Crow. The “master-race” theories

of Hitler fascism is the governing philosophy of “white” Washing- ton, D.C, ;

As Washington, D.C., spouts “democracy” to the world it sells its dark-skinned visitors short. A visitor from Panama must leave a church because this par- ticular church is “for white Chris- tians only.” A noted Bolivian ed- . ucator eannot be served in a chain restaurant, nor is an equal- ly noted Hindhu woman persona grata in some of Washington’s best soda fountains. An African foreign minister cannot stay in this or that hotel, and a Puerto Rican senator must get what sleep he can, gratituously provid- ed, on a government office couch! . As for West Indian students, afte,

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water—which it does, Servce, not

. profit! The function of the priv-

vately-owned B.C. Collectric is (allegedly) to provide the munici- palities concerned, with transpor- tation, light, heat’ and power — which it does not. Profit, not ser- vice!

Grauer has just told the streetcar men that the company lost a million dollars last year in the transportation business. One could almost believe it from the inefficient manner in which the street cars and bus- es are operated and the occa- sional blackouts, but when we see them buying up all the bus lines in the country and re- member that the men’s union is about to open up. the question of wages, hours and conditions, we conclude that the tale is just another of Grauer’s plans to get in the first lick in a wage dispute.

But there is no doubt that if Grauer attended more to provid- ing transportation, light and pow- er and less to going around mak- ing anti-Communist speeches to manufacturers’ associations and boards of trade and vice-President Moran spent less time trying to organize the Catholic members of the union with the ultimate ob- ject of destroying it, weather con- ditions would not hold them up any more than it does the Water Board.

Think it over!

Don’t forget the Gordon Mar- tin fund!

As We See It

RL

they crave a “coke” or a milk- Shake at some of Washington’s posh lunch counters, they must “please keep standing.” :

“As the CBC radio commentator Says, we will now take yon to Johannesburg, South Africa. The Transvaal Nationalist Congress (the equivalent to our Republican and Tory parties) is in session. The Malan Nationalists (govern- ment party) “think with the blood.”

Resolutions are before the con- vention; mixed working and fra- ternizing of European and non- European girls must be brought

to a stop. Passionately the mover

declares:

“This sort of thing happens not only in the cities but on the _platteland. You will find Native constables in magistrates’ courts sitting and talking to the white office girls, and the Na- tive constable sits on the chair which you and I as the public have to sit on next day. This must stop!”

Another resolution calls for the . banning of all Native trade un- —

ions. “Why,” says the mover, “propaganda about the Native unions is being spread even on the platteland (in the country- side) and we can get no labor. This is the sort of organization which must be banned. This is

where Communism begins!”

Still another insists that too much money is being spent on Native education. (Officially, less

', than 1 percent of the budget.)

The mover piously declares, apro-

-pos of keeping the Native illiter-

ate and ignorant, “The Native

“must learn to be forever a Na-

tive, as God created him,”

A delegate reports that in Ko- mitpoort there is a kaffir who dis: tributes communist literature. “What are you going to do about

that?” he thunders at the con-

_ Traducers of Socialism

HE “retort courteous’ of CCF leaders Winch, Cameron and Steeves to the recent anti-socialist blast of H. R.. MaeMillan

must have left scores of CCF followers with a sinking feeling in the stomach at the brand of “‘socialism’’ espoused by their leaders.

The “‘replies’” left no doubt in the minds of thinking workers that the CCF, when and if it comes to power, will aspire to do/a better job of running capitalism than the capitalists themselves. Under such “‘socialists’” the H. R. MacMillans have nothing to worry about. In fact if one takes into account the current union splitting and de-

moralization carried. on by these ‘‘socialists,’” the monopolists can _

even look forward to bigger profits.

These “‘replies’’ to one of the worst anti-labor exploiters in the Dominion of Canada make doubly clear just what CCF national secretary David Lewis meant in his “new year’s message” featured

in the CCF News of December 30.

Charging “‘Soviet aggression” as the main cause for world unrest, and how, as a result of Soviet policies, “‘the once noble aspirations of the Russian revolution are being smashed under the heel of present- day communism -", CCF’er Lewis follows up this Trotskyite lament by rebuking the ‘‘western nations,’’ and particularly American imperialism, for not producing “ta positive dynamic force, capable... . of stoppmg furthur communist expansion. eT

Should any honest rank-and-file Socialist within the CCF, or

any socialist-minded supporter of that party still have any doubts on the quality of “‘socialism’’ being peddled_ by these vest-pocket Bevins, national secretary Lewis unblushingly lays: down the “‘party line’ with brutal frankness: ‘‘We of the CCF can do little to affect Soviet policy, EXCEPT TO SUPPORT WITH DETERM- INATION EVERY NECESSARY STEP OF WESTERN ECONOMIC AND MILITARY UNITY”! \

_ That kind of “‘socialism’? means greater dividends for the Mac- Millans, and disaster for the common people.

f

Taking the sting out of profits

With eight and one-half million dollars net profit for 1948 tucked away to see him through the winter, H.-R. MacMillan has accepted a “new responsibility” on behalf of his corporation, that is, to show how making fat profits “merge with and are part of the public inter- est.” Quite a chore! aE

Complementary to this job of taking the “sting” of profits out. of those who get stung, HRM sent out a Circular letter on January 7 to “Dear Fellow Citizen,” (which also covers the boys who produced the 8% million smackers pocketed by HRM) which tells us that Business has been too “engrossed in their tasks” to make the public fully aware of the great boon these free enterprisers have conferred upon it. This iseall to be changed. The “free industrial incentive system of North America .. .” is now going to be sold through a high-pressure stream- lined advertising campaign, all designed to show that the monopolists are not interestec. in profits as such, but only strive for profits ... in order to make more jobs! :

“This ... it is hoped,” says HRM, will “show how this company

attempts to fulfill its duty of good industrial citizenship, converts tim-

ber resources to usable materials, and creates employment at gdéod WARES Saiic st

Profits, ‘according to the MacMillan theory, are merely a “reward” for risk, which these philanthropists re-invest in order to “provide jobs’’—in order to make more profits. No wonder the MacMillans run a political temperature at the very mention of Socialism. ’

A matter of timing |

Bernard Rubin, Daily People’s Workers columnist, tells this one:

One of the Washington, D.C., wiseboys was ambling down one ~

of the capital’s streets the other day, when he was approached by a stranger for information as to the location of the Chinese (Kuomintang) Embassy. Ee

The Washingtonian pointed down the street. ; “It’s right down there,” he said, “but—if I were you—I’'d hurry.”-

‘ \

mocratic” phrases the Congress demanded that the government prohibit Europeans from allowing non-Europeans to. drive their

vention. “Shoot them,” how!s the Nationalist wolf-pack. This. pro- posal gives birth to a resolution authorizing the Minister to sup- ply all police on the Rand with machine guns—and orders to shoot on sight! “This resolution,” says Minister Swart, “will receive our sympathetic consideration.” |

for a “democracy” which excludes 80 percent of the South African

cars. The Malan burghers are all _

people! Of this Congress the

In the working out of Premier Malan’s “apartheid” (colored seg- regation) the South African courts have ruled that natives cannot be, evicted from their present resi- dences until the government finds other accommodation for them.

Minister Jansen moves a reso-_ lution that the law be amended “to give the government more power andthe courts less.”

There was a lot more to the Same effect. While spouting .‘‘de-

Johannesburg correspondent of the South African Guardian says “One came away from the Trans- vaal Nationalist Congress with

a deep sense of horror that the government, of this country is in — ‘the hands of this clique.”

All. of which poses a tricky question for the: quiz kids: how far is it from Washington, D.C., to Johannesburg. South Africa, as the Yankee “democratic” crow. flies? : ae

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JANUARY 28, 1949 — PAGE 8

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