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The grisly cost of war

The money spent for military Purposes by all countries in the Past 10 years would have suf- ficed to provide decent housing for every man, woman and child

in the world. * * *

U.S. economists have estim- ated that in five years following disarmament the U.S. Adminis- tration could spend $330,000 million to meet urgent domestic needs: $160,000 million for slum clearance, housing construction, and waterworks: $30,000 million for pbuilding schools and for education; $35,000 million for medical care; $105,000 million .

for road building and other pub- lic needs.

a * *

In 20 years the NATO coun- tries spent $1,300,000 million on armaments. At present these expenditures exceed $100,000 million a year. Over 75% of this 1S spent by the United States.

% oo a

_ Together with the appropria- tions for the Atomic Energy Commission and for civil de- fence and strategic stockpiles, military spending eats up 60%

| of the U.S. national budget. In-

i@ cluding appropriations for pur- U Poses connected with past wars

West Coast edition, Canadi e

(interest on the national debt,

etc.), direct and indirect military

expenditure comes to nearly

80% of the budget. ae * %

The American strategic bomb- er B-17 cost $200,000, the B-29 $600,000, the B-36 $4,000,000, the B-52 $8,000,000. Each new generation of weapons costs two or three times more than the previous one.

* % *

According to researches made by the Swiss scholar Jean Jacques Babel, 14,513 wars have been fought in the past 5,559 years. Their death toll was 3,640 million — more than the entire present population of the globe.

ok * *

In World War I there were 10 million killed, 20 million maimed, millions dead from starvation and epidemics. Mater- ial treasure was destroyed to the amount of $338,000 million.

a a co

In World War II there were 54.8 million killed and 90 million wounded. Materia! losses amounted to over $4,000,000 million. In Europe alone 23.6 million dwelling houses and 14.5 million public buildings and in- dustrial plants were destroyed.

(New Times)

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Editor—MAURICE RUSH Published weekly at Ford Bldg., Mezzanine No. 3, 193 E. Hostings St.

Vancouver 4, B.C. Phone 685-5288.

é . Circulation Manager, ERNIE CRIST Subscription Rate: Canada, $5.00 one year; $2.75 for six months. North and South America and Commonwealth countries, $6.00 one year.

All other countries, $7.00 one year

Why U.S. monopolies raise ‘dumping’ cry

_ Ottawa did not even try to explain its cancellation of the $2-million Soviet order for the Canadian-built submer- sible Pisces IV. Even ardent apologists for the government couldn’t seriously argue about some sort of “secret equipment.” An article in the Financial Post of January 8 provides the answer in the form of a question: “Did Tru- deau’s more recent visit to President Nixon have anything to do with the cancellation? Did Nixon put the squeeze on Trudeau—tell him to stop helping the Russians if Canada wants relief from U.S. trade restrictions?”

Actually the Soviet Union will buy elsewhere (it is available) or build its own such submersible. The only loser is Canada.

The drive of the U.S. monopolies to prevent Canadian-Soviet trade from developing normally has now been taken up by Dominion Engineering Ltd., which is wholly owned by Cana- dian General Electric Co., which in turn is a segment of the big U.S. Gen- eral Electric corporation. It is making a formal complaint, asking the govern- ment to disallow a recent turbine order by B.C. Hydro from the USSR on the grounds of “Soviet dumping.”

Why dumping”? Because the price charged by the USSR, although profit- able, is less than the inflated price de- manded by U.S. monopoly!

V. N. Myshov, head of the USSR trade mission, reasonably asked: “Why should we rob the Canadian taxpayers by asking them to pay more than they have to? Of course, if you want to pay us more, then that is all right...”

The facts of life are not only that socialism produces goods more cheaply because there are no capitalists to skim off the cream, no billions to go into un- necessary advertising, etc., but over and above that, there are no monopo- lies to set prices at all the traffic will bear, having no relation not only to costs of production but even to what used to be considered legitimate profit on capital investment.

No wage freeze here!

What kind of gamble is Prime Min- ister Trudeau talking about? “We've got to gamble,” he says, if Canada is to preserve its identity. But just what

is it that he and the monopolists he

speaks for are gambling on?

In his most recent pre-election speech he rhapsodized about a “tremendous surge” that lies ahead, all the while pouring out self-congratulations about the present “strong” economy.

Joining him in broad strokes of dis- tortion and contrived camouflage, the Minister of Finance eulogizes the “sound” position of the economy. Ben- son bouncingly reports that good times are here and that still more prosperity lies ahead in 1972.

What lies ahead, of course, is the fed- eral election! And that’s why the Lib- eral government conceals the truth of the real economic situation.

There is, however, some substance in what they say. Times are good, very good for big business. If Trudeau, Ben- son and Co. have their way, and on this the Tories will be as one with them, times will get even better .. . for mono- poly.

The truth is exemplified by the loss of the jobs of another 300 New Bruns- wick miners last week; by the fact of the continued increase in the huge num- ber of unemployed in Canada; by the threatened loss of thousands of auto workers’ jobs in the looming sell-out to the U.S. of the auto pact safeguards.

Trudeau’s gamble? The wage freeze he’s threatening to use. Monopoly’s big gamble is that this threat, or its out- right application a la Nixon in Canada. will block and split labor’s growing unity in struggle for higher wages and for jobs.

Organized workers should move fast to tell the. government it’s a losing gamble.

End Nixon’s war now!

The first labor and peace movement delegates have already been named to attend the World Assembly for the Peace and Independence of the Indo- chinese Peoples that will open in Paris on February 11.

Many more should be chosen because it is clear that only the greatest inter- national pressure will compel Nixon to stop the war short of completely des- troying the entire area and exterminat- ing its population.

Piling lie on lie, Nixon now uses the excuse that North Vietnam had refus- ed to swap U.S. prisoners of war for a definitive U.S. withdrawal date from Vietnam. Radio Hanoi was quite right to call this a phoney and declare, “Nix- on is using the POW issue as an ex- cuse to escalate the war of aggression, to continue bombing North Vietnam, and to forever put South Vietnam un- der U.S. neo-colonialism.”

The armed forces of U.S. imperialism and its puppets are being driven to the wall by the patriots of Vietnam, Cam- bodia and Laos. The GI’s are in revolt against this cruel and senseless war. In the U.S. the majority of the people cry for a halt. Labor is acting for peace. Most churches have joined the demand, the latest being the American Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church, who adopted a resolution saying, “At this point in history it seems clear to us that whatever good we hope to achieve through continued involvement in this war is now outweighed by the destruc- tion of human life and moral values which it inflicts.”

Canada’s Minister of External Af- fairs Mitchell Sharp has stated in re- gard to U.S. new acts of aggression that Canada had openly declared its condemnation of any activities which could lead to the extension of the war in Indochina. But Canada’s voice should be like the thunder, not a whisper...

Nixon and the beasts of the Penta- gon are continuing . . . Only such an international protest that would shake their seats of power can move them to

end the slaughter. The Paris meeting

will be a big step to set in motion such a powerful wave of protest.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 1972—PAGE 3