as (See story on this page) EOPLE'S DVOCATE British Columbia’s Pro srecsive Home Paper Full No. 181 VANCOUVER, B.C., THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 1938 <= © 5 Cents CCF WILL MEET IN INTERIOR Among the many important issues to come before the sixth provincial convention of the CCF, which opens at Kamloops on Friday evening, will be that of foreign policy. . = While British Columbia CCF members of parliament, Grant MacWeil and Angus Macinnis. have championed collective security in House debates, there has been no unanimity on this question within the CCF here. In several issues, the, Federationist, official CCF organ, has published articles attack— ing collective security. Herbert Gargrave, provincial sec- retary, told the Advocate this week that he believed this convention would endorse the principle of col- lective security in view of ithe party’s stand nationally. 2 On the vital issue of co-operation with other progressive groups Gar- grave did not think there would be “any of the bitterness shown at the last convention,’ when A. M. Stephen, provincial executive mem- ber, was expelled. Gargrave said he believed division of opinion on the question to be about the same as last year. Tt was at the 1937 convention that a motion to give the clubs local autonomy in the matter of co- operation with other groups was defeated 129-40. ee Expressing a personal opinion, Gargrave said that “in any Case, progressive forces gather around bie issues, as in the present struggle of the unemployed.” : There is no doubt that consid- erable debate will centre around this issue, particularly in view of the attempt. the Trotskyists will make to obtain a stranglehold on the CCF. Last year Reginald Bullock, a known Trotskyist, was elected pro- vincial organizer and the Trotsky- ists are hoping to utilize gains made (Continued on page 6) See GCE CONVENTION Miner Killed At Britannia BRITANNIA, BGC, June 30.-—(Spe- cial)——““If square set timbers and jlageing had been placed where the men were working, this accident would not have happened.” d This is what the coroner enquir— ing into the death of Grant Tucker, 28-year-old miner at Britannia mine, was told by one witmess last week-end. : Grant Tucker and another miner, Paul Racick, were rebuilding a raise on the 2100-foot level, replacing squeezed timbers, last Friday, when a rock weighing between 400 and 500 pounds struck Tucker on the head. He was driven through the planks of the staging and plunged 8&5 feet below. Death was instan- taneous. Racick sustained injuries to his back and one hand. A verdict of accidental death was returned- The fatality emphasizes the need for safety committees of the miners themselves. of George Local 300, International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, at Ymir, BC, who was a dele- gate to the union’s sub-district Barnett, secretary eonference in Vancouver last weekend. (Story on this page) Uni nion Accepts Fi e ish Prices Four hundred and thirty-five members of the Salmon Purse Sei- ners’ Union voted Wednesday night at a mass meeting held in Hastings Street Auditorium, to accept fish prices offered by canners pending arbitration, which will take some weeks to settle. The meeting also released gillnet fishermen picketing at Rivers and Smith’s Inlets from their pledge to refrain from fishing until Sun- day, July 3. Gillnetters had prevyv- iously voted acceptance of canners prices pending arbitration. In a press release, Thursday, George Miller, fishermen’s secre- tary, stated: The department of labor, which refused to grant arbitration at the request of fishermen’s unions, Sey- eral weeks ago, granted the can- ners’ request for arbitration as soon as the request was made. “Officials of unions other than the Salmon Purse Seiners’ Union of the Pacific, and BC Pacific sold out Coast Fishermen’s Union, their memberships which had de- sired to stand firm for decent fish prices.” Loggers Conduct Alberni Canvass PORT ALBERNI, BC, June 30. —Support for the right of collec- tive bargaining has become the big- gest issue in this district, as an intense house-to-house canvassing campaign is being conducted by discriminated workers. Hundreds of signatures have been obtained to a petition for reinstatement of 80 men recently dismissed from Bloedell and APL mills. Colin Gameron, CCF MILA, is working with the Alberni Local of the International VYoodworkers in an effort to obtain an investiga- tion from the provincial depart ment of labor. ‘Mass Rally Steve Brodie, single jobless leader, will speak at a mass rally on Powell street grounds this Sun- day, at 2 p.m. DRIVE ON MINES IS PLANNED British Columbia’s metal mining industry, stronghold of company unionism, is to be or- ganized. Hard-rock miners, the exploitation of whom has gone unrestrained for years, will at last know the protection of trade unionism. Mining mag- nates, who have reaped a gold- en harvest of profits, will be forced to return some of this wealth to the men who made it possible in the form of a living wage. In Vancouver last weekend miners from Bridge River and the Cariboo, from Princeton, Britannia and Cranbrook gathered for the British Columbia sub-district con- ference of the Internationarl Mine. Mill and Smelter Workers’ Union. Decisions reached at this confer- ence will have a far-reaching ef- fect, not only on the mining in- dustry, but on the entire trade union and progressive movement in this province. Chief among them was the ap- pointment of Arthur Evans, vet- eran organizer in the labor move- ment, as organizer, and the draw- ing up of a plan for a six-months’ union drive. It was decided to publish a bi- monthly bulletin as a preliminary step to establishment of a union paper. Delegates in their speeches point- ed to the restrictions placed on democratic liberties in company mining towns, to the big difference between wages paid in organized and unorganized camps and to the ravages of the dread disease sili- cosis among miners. Brief addresses at the conference were given by Charles Stewart, chairman of the organizing com- mittee, Vancouver Trades and Labor Council, and Harold Pritchett, president of the MInter- national Woodworkers’ Union. Father Seeks Missing Girl According to charges made by her father, Gordon Craig, city police have refused to make any attempts to trace seven-year-old Janet Craig, missing from her home at 743 Denman street since June 15. The missing girl, a pupil at Lord Roberts school, is described as having blue eyes and fair hair. She is 3 feet, 6 inches in height and weighs 51 Ibs. Any person having any informa-— tion is asked to phone the Advo- cate office, Trinity 2019, or call Doug. 832-¥ after 6 p.m. Urse Hishway Several division Liberal associa- tions are preparing to press for an early start on construction of the YWukon-Alaska Highway when the provincial convention of the Lib- eral party is held at Kelowna in August. Unions Seek Repeal DEMAND GENUINE TRADE UNION LEGISLATION VICTORIA, BC. — (Special) — Repeal of the Labor Conciliation and Arbitration Act (Bill 94) passed by the last session of the legislature, was demanded of the provincial cabinet last week-end by a delegation representing the British Columbia executive of the Trades and La- bor Congress of Canada. “Had Bill 94 been drafted by the most rabid opponenis of trade uniornism they could not have done bet- ter,” the brief presented by the delegation read. “The bill is an absolute nega- tion of all the : rights and privileges the trades unions have enjoyed throughout the Dominion of Canada for over 70 years and by enacting such lesislation the attitude of the sov- ernment is decidedly in opposition Premier Pattullo to the trades unions.”’ The brief demands repeal of Bill 94 and the substitution for it of Bill 62, approved by the annual convention of the Trades and La- bor Congress of Canada. The objections of the trade unions .to the Labor Conciliation and Arbitration Act are summed up in the following paragraph: “Under the provisions of this Act the trades unions cannot funetion as such and keep within the law. Members of trades unions are deprived of the facilities of their own organizations as bar- gaining agencies and cannot re- ceive assistance that may be ex- tended to them by affiliated or- Ganizations and sympathizers. They can only bargain with their employers as individuals or as groups of individuals, through the agency of what, in the final an- alysis, must be termed a company union, and in cases of failure to negotiate an agreement they must submit their grievances to be ad- judicated by some person or per- sons utterly alien in thought and circumstances to themselves, and until this is done they have no option but to submit to the dic- tates of their employers because tk2y cannot resort to the only weapon at their disposal.” The brief adds: “Peace and har mony can never be achieved by compulsion, and this Act being based on compulsion defeats its own purpose.” It is understood that Premier Pattullo received the delegation’s proposals coldly, boasting that he “intended to stop strikes.’ Min- ister of Labor Pearson maintain-— ed the attitude he has adopted in recent disputes, that if the unions did not like the Act, they should take it to the courts. His inter— pretation, which thus far has fayv— ored the employers; would stand. His statement that he intended to maintain his interpretation is at variance with his remark to a Gelegation headed by Harold Pritchett, president of the Inter— national Weodworkers, last week, to the effect that a dozen smart lawyers could interpret the Act as Many different ways. Police Agents In Victoria ~ Attempt To Stir Trouble; = Cameron A\ssails Govt Single Jobless To Hold Tas This Saturday Arthur Redseth, one of the last to leave the post office on Bloody Sunday, lies in Vancouver Gen- eral Hospital with his left eye so badly damaged by a thrown missile that he will never regain its sight. KRedseth told the Advocate this week that he was hit by one of the bars torn from a wicket gate, thrown from behind the post of- fice partition. He declares there could be no mistake as to the direction of the thrown iron bar because there_was no one be- tween him and the partition. Redseth has been a resident in BC for the past 11 years, and is 39 years of age. 4A few beds away 20-year-old Dick Smeal is fighting pneu- monia, caused, it is believed, by gas bombs on Bloody Sunday. Single men, unemployed log- gers and veterans will held an unofficial tag day in Wancouver Saturday. VICTORIA, BC, June 30—“‘Here are 500 good reasons why Premier Pattullo should immediately em- bark on a work and wages pro- gram.”’ Applause greeted this statement made in an address by one of the Single unemployed leaders as 530 men paraded here Tuesday, after arriving from Duncan by freight train. Banners of welcome were prom- inently displayed as, marching three deep ,the jobless men sang, “Hiold the Fort,’ and shouted slo- gans. They had been given an en- thusiastic send-off by a 1,000 Dun- Can citizens who gathered on the Agricultural grounds, under the auspices of the local CCF club. Victoria City council cooperated to the extent of giving the men sup- per at local restaurants and granting permission to occupy four city buildings on Johnson street. A request by the men for a tag day was rejected when a tie vote re- sulted in the city council on the question. R. W. Campbell, the men’s lea- der, warned authorities at a mass meeting that while he believed the Single unemployed would register at the povernment employment of- fices, the question of eating must be dealt with. “Our tactics will change as the occasion demands,”’ he declared. Warns Govt Against Use Of Violence Usiy Rumors Rife, Says. Cameron VICTORIA, BGC, June 30—Warn- ing the provincial government of its responsibility in the present tense situation and stating that “ugly rumours are rife in the city that enlistments in the BC police force have increased tremendously, and that troops have been confined to barracks in preparation for civil disturbances,” Colin Cameron, MLA (Comox-Alberni), at a mass meeting of 3,000 at Beacon Hill Park, called for universal support of the single unemployed trekkers. Other speakers beside the men’s leaders were W. Aikinson, district representative for the United Mine Workers. Worman Coe, Inland Boatmen’s union, representing Vic- toria Trades and Labor Council; Frank Hollins, president of the Centennial United Young Peoples, for Victoria Youth Council; Mrs. Mathieson of the Women’s Emer- geney Committee; and T. M. Nixon, a local business man- Sitdowners Save Drownins Man Saved from drowning in the dock at Gore avenue by George Clark and Reg Gingell, both sit- downers, David Aikens, 77, of 1510 East Thirteenth avenue, was re- susitated by his rescuers, who were later assisted by firemen from Wo. i hall. Aiken stumbled into the when attacked by dizziness. inlet Buck Recovering TORONTO, Ont., Buck, general secretary of the Communist party, was reported Thursday to be recovering from in- juries sustained in an auto acci- dent near Hurcott on Saturday. An X-ray examinataion revealed that Buck had not fractured his skull, as feared at first. The Communist leader is expect-— ed to leave hospital in Port Arthur this weekend. June 30.—Tim | Scores of Police Are Stationed In Victoria By MICHAEL O'MARA VICTORIA, BC, June 30.—Every- where you go in Victoria there are Police. City police on the street corners, plainclothsmen lolling in the doorways of public buildings and big stores RCMP ridiing through the streets. _And all because 500 destitute Single unemployed men, without thought of violence and certainly With no intention of damaginse- property, are in this city to demand of a government which promised them such things, work and wages. There was a police convention in Vancouver this week, but the im- pression given the Victoria taxpay-— ers, who will have to foot the bill, is that the convention came to Vic- toria instead. I sat down on the Srass outside the Empress Hote] yesterday. But I hadn’t been there more than two minutes when three pelicemen ma- terialized and ordered me to move en. It was on the boat Over, however, that I got a real insight into police methods of provocation. Seated behind me were two plain- clothsmen, an RCMP officer in uni- form and a youth. T didn’t pay much attention to them until Suddenly fT became aware of what one of the Plainclothsmen was Saying. “¥ou have your Communist party card now,” he told the youth. “You can get in among the boys and start work.’ The prospective Stoolpigeon dis- played no enthusiasm. “But what if you fellows start beating them up. You aren’t par- ticular who you hit,” he said. “Don't worry,’ the plaincloths— man reassured him. “We'll have you spotted, We'll see you don‘t Bee hurt 2 “Supposing TI get picked up.” “We'll have you out in no time. All you've got to do is to work among the boys, see?” They moved away. By now the police stoolpigeon, and others like him, will be “work- ing”’ among the boys trying to fur- nish the government with reasons for its statements that the boys are “‘troublemakers.’’ But they wont get away with it. é