Page Twa 2S A ee THE Pe OePAS es ADVOCATE July 8, 19388 THE PEOPLE’S ADVOCATE Published Weekly by the PROLETARIAN PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION Room i0, 163 W. Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C., Phone, Trin. 2019 One: Wear = i.5- 3 Ss ee eee $1.80 Jekckbto weocbe VAGUS ao S oS Sooo $1.00 Waree MORES) 22... aea e -50 pingle Gopy = -<-- > --=ees 05 Make Ail Cheques Payable to: The People’s Advocate FRIDAY, JULY 3, 1938 Pearsen’s Black Record ORT ALBERNI millwork- : ers are meeting the full force of the provincial depart— ment of labor in their efforts to organize into the Interna- tional Woodworkers ot Am- erica. Blubber Bay has been the scene of a bitter fight to get the elementary rights of trade unionism recognized by Vic- toria. In the restaurant industry, among the fishermen, and in other trades, working people are finding their avenues of trade union progress blocked at every step. All these events are charac- terized by two things: the growing determination of the provincial minister of labor to use the trade union act to blockade the organization of industrial workers, and the growing determination of the trade unions to get justice. This is an elementary strug- gle which must be won by labor and the people, and that as rapidly as possible. The minister of labor can and must be prevented from continuing his public pose as a “friend of labor,” the while he evades, squirms, refuses point-blank to recognize labor when pressed to the wall. Tf there is no recognition of the right of workers to bar- gain collectively with employ- ers through the medium of democratically formed unions of their own choosing—there is no real freedom. As in the United States, as in Eastern Canada, so in Brit- ish Columbia, this issue is one which mirrors more than any other the fight for economic and political justice for the common people. What is to be done? The executive committee of Wancouver and New West- minster Trades and Labor Council has taken a lead in interviewing Pearson and de- manding the repeal of the present act and its replace- ment by one which will state squarely and fairly the rights of labor, and which will give no loopholes to slippery law- yers to interpet in the em- ployers’ interests—as Pearson himself admitted can now be done. The people of British Co- lumbia should interest them- selves in this great battle for union recognition — for that battle is indeed the cause of all but the handful of indus- trial and financial overlords who want an open-shop, sweated industry. If the right to free collec- tive bargaining is won, then the standard of living of all BC people will rise. Tf Pearson has his way, the purchasing power of the peo- ple will be reduced, and this province will be in the same position as Quebec. The issue is clear and the fight is on. Labor must ob- tain full and complete justice if democracy is to be saved. Give The Youth Work —Not Speeches! HEN, other than at elec- tion time, mayors and crown ministers go on the air to explain their policies, their case must be weak indeed, particularly when the men who expound it are on the side of the big guns against the people. Two weeks ago Minister of Labor Pearson gave a lame explanation for the events of Bloody Sunday, June 19, in the course of which he villified and attacked the motives of Young Canada. This week Mayor Miller of Vancouver followed suit in a speech which was itself an evidence of complete bank- ruptey of policy, outside of misrepresentation and violent attacks on the youth. The Financial News at- tempts to dress up the “red bogey” im an effort to evade the real issue—work. : The reason for the sitdown remains: Absence of employ- ment and cynical avoidance of sovernment responsibility. The Mayor can clutter up the air with his remarks; Vic- toria can be filled with police while the young men starve; the small taxpayers can be bled white while the big cor- porations grow fat. But still the issue remains—work. Popular indignation and disgust have forced the Min- ister and the Mayor to speak to the people — albeit in a manner which reveals their stony hearts and willingness to obey the dictates of the big business tories. The same indignation, if maintained and increased, can compel — the provision of work for Young Canada! Keep up the fight! Crusading For Democracy HE Hon. W. D. Herridge, former Canadian minister to Washington, is indeed per- forming a signal public serv- ice by his campaign to arouse the people to the dangers menacing Canadian democ- racy. His forthright public speeches hit the nail right on the head in branding the fas- eist menace and exhorting all who cherish democracy to unite to make Canada a safer and happier place in which to live. He is a thousand times cor- rect when he declares: “Today reaction rules. Fascism im- pends.” With penetrating political insight he points to the efforts being made to effect a coali- tion of reactionary Tories and Liberals to foist a so-called “national” government upon us, and usher the monster fascism in. The meaning of the Hep- burn-Duplessis axis has not been lost upon the Hon. W. D. Herridge. Every progressive will ap- plaud his proposal that gov- ernment action be taken to in- erease the purchasing power of the people, to strengthen the foundations of democracy, to battle the crisis that is again sripping our land. His clear-cut proposals for the protection of the right of eollective bargaining, enlarge- ment of co-operative buying and selling, control of monop- olies and a curb on the de- flationists and railroad-amal- gamationists — are issues around which the great mas- ses of our democratic people are rallying. Herridge’s strong warning against the circles who are conspiring for a “national” government — his outline of the dangers therein—should be studied by every Canadian. Hundreds and thousands of Conservatives and Liberals are thinking along the same lines on which the Hon. W. D. Herridge thinks today. Herridge puts into rousing, passionate words the thoughts that animate masses of our people. In very truth he echoes their innermost thoughts. Herridge’s speeches are a sign of the times. They are evidence of the fact that millions of Canadians are breaking away from the age-old policies of the two old- line political parties. The labor movement ex- tends its hand of friendship and unity to progressive democrats such as W. D. Her- ridge. Labor agrees with him that it will be only by the unity of all who cherish democracy and social reform that reac- tion and fascism will be de- feated. Tabor marches in the front ranks of those who are for democracy, with MHerridge, and with all other men of goodwill.—Daily Clarion. “read jungles, FJapanese Imperialism and its Chreat Co Che Canadian People The following resolution was jointly released to the press this week by the Do- minion and British Coambia provincial executive commnriit- tees of the~Communist Party of Canada. TQYHE broad democratic front which is our objective must be based in BC, as in all other provinces, upon inter- ests of which the broad masses themselves are conscious. Our main objective is to combine broad mass agitation in favor of the slogan (national unifica- tion of Canada for economic pro- gress against fascism and war, for democracy and peace, etc.), around which the democratic front will be built, with careful efforts to eliminate all possible difficulties or obstacles to the development of such a front. There exists a tremenodtis fear and apprehension among the Ca- nadian people with regard to Ja- panese militarism. The present war of aggression against China has called for great sympathy for the Chinese people. We must bring to a high pitch the hatred of the Japanese war machine. We must convince the Canadian people that Japanese militarism can be halted, that Canada’s peace can be defended, but only if the victory of China is active— ly assisted by all sections of the Canadian people. Our main objective in the fight to place an embargo on the ship- ment of war materials to Japan and boycott Japanese goods (this Goes not imply the boycott of the Japanese people in BC), is to weaken the main instigator of war on the Pacific and there- by defend world and Canadian peace. ‘ The main enemies of the Ja- panese people in Canada are the lords, and their defeat will re- sult in more freedom and eco- nomic betterment of the Japanese Japan and in Japanese war people. We should point out to the people of Canada, and par- ticularly to the Japanese people, that peace in Canada, for all its people, depends upon the defeat of the Japanese aggressors, and insist that those who support Ja- panese imperialism are endang- ering the peace of Canada. We Taust pillory in the most public fashion those industrial and fi- mancial interests in BC that are shipping materials to Japan as traitors to Canada. UR party stands for political equality for all orientals re- gardiess of race or nation—- ality. It would be entirely wroag, however, for us to pose the issue of oriental] rights in such a way that it could be understood that we consider acceptance of our po- sition and support™=of full equa-— lity for oriental citizens as a pre- requisite for joint struggle against Japanese militarism, for aid to the people of China, against Japamese espionage for defense of the peole of Canada, ete. We will not assist the strug- gle against Japanese imperialism by allowing ourselves to become isolated from the masses of Ca- nadian people who are opposed to Japanese aggression. At all times we must remember that the main political task of the democratic front in BG, as throughout the Dominion, is te arouse a mighty movement for the defense of Canada from the fascists and in particular, the Japanese war machine and “its agents in Canada and elsewhere. To this end all other things must be subordinated and for the ac- complishment of the defeat of Japanese imperialism all the re- sources of the people’s movement in all Canada must be mobilized. HE broad democratic move- ment must uncover these agents (Canadian and Japan- ese) who are working for the Ja- panese war machine and on the basis of such public exposure stimulate a great mass movement for the defense of Canada and defeat of Japanese aggression. Within the party and in the Jabor movement we must combat any evidence of chauvinism and fight for true™ internationalism. We must however, guard against characterization as chauvinism the tremendous hatred the Ca- madian people feel for Japanese imperialism. On the contrary, it ~ must be characterized as healthy opposition to fascist aggression. “It is our duty to assist the eommon people of Japan in their heroie fight against the Japanese military—fascist war lords. ft will be our task to maintain and strengthen fraternal relationships between the Canadian people and all democratic and progressively inclined elements of the oriental population and to strive to bring them into the demeratic front. We must make it clear to the Japanese people that they can only gain democratic rights if they become part of the move- ment of the Canadian fascism. This can best be done by draw- ing the oriental people of BC more and more into the progres- Sive movement of the people of Canada. We must make it clear that we cannot for one moment sup- port the granting of full citizen- ship rights to those who can be proven to be agents of Japanese imperialism and who, like the Wazi agents, wish to obtain these rights for the purpose of streng- thening their position as enemies of the Canadian people. We must strive to break the privileges and recognition granted the fascist consular agents by the govern- ment of Canada, which enables these people to exercise a tryan- nical rujle over the Japanese people of Canada. One of the most pressing tasks of the party organizations in the future will be to take all pos- sible measures to convince the Japanese population of these truths and, by fighting for the democratie front along the lines herein stated, to assist in defeat— ing these reactionaries who try te misuse the oriental question at all times to split the unity of the people. Mayor Miller Sees Red By Hal Griffin AYOR George ever since Miller who, Gerry McGeer left to sing at Ottawa has been — our favorite radio crooner, was on the air this week. And what a sad story he had to tell. It was all about the big, bad reds and the single unemployed who according to Mayor Miller, are only unemployed because they prefer being that way. They can- not withstand the lure of the rail- particularly when it’s raining, and the odors of two- bit flop houses are irresistable. They enjoy being clubbed over the head by sadistic policeman and they thrive on tear gas. Mayor Miller didn’t say this in so many words, of course, but, in nasally dramatic tones strange- ly reminiscent of Tom McInnes, and the Industrial Association of BC, this is what he implied. Some of the things he said were Sheer plagiarism, naturally. With so many reactionary in- dividuals trying to appear demo- eratic these days, it’s difficult even for a man with the imagina- tive talents of Mayor Miller to be original. But one thing he did say must have astounded others even more than ourselves. It appears that we and some 486,000 people in Vancouver, omitting the bond- holders who aren't worried about anything so long as they get their interest, have obtained a totally erroneous idea of this whole business. Economic conditions are not responsible for several thousand of our young men being desti- tute. Oh, no. That fellow you p F=a| Ea =a Fa ra ps ee lp=s =a bag =a ad Bag Fe a esl a iba baa beside sf HE: outbreaks were foment- ed by professionals. This wasn’t the work of hotheads. it was engineered in cold blood and organized months before it came off ... The lure of free meals,tobacco and clothing do- nated by Sympathetic citizens kept many of the sitdowners on the job. . . . These men are among those who now present themselves to you as candidates for martyrdom. They are not, however, innocent victims of what they call ‘police brutality.’ That is just a let of inspired balderdash .. -. Constable E. H. Hambling reported one man tried to slash him with a large piece of glass. Constable A. R. Slattery stated men tore post office wickets apart and used them for clubs. Other of- ficers also reported instances where they were violently at- tacked with fists and clubs.” Mayor George Miller As quoted in Daily Province. GRIDURIPIRT SSI RI saw rattling a tin can on the street corner the other day was just collecting for the police ben- evolent fund. These single men are either desperate criminals or dark conspirators. Se WN THE forestry camps last win- ter when, everyone, including themselves thought they were meeting to discuss ways and means of bettering camp condi- tions, and particularly the quality of the food, they were really plotting to avoid the work a erateful country would foist on them this summer. They were seeking ways of embarrassing the government which, of course, Was paying a good price for this food. Nor is this all. The police didn’t eject them from the post office and the art gallery. The real, honest - to - goodness, startling truth of the whole affair is that the police were conducting a sit- down strike in these two build- ing until responsible authorities should discover who stole the $1500 bail money from the police station. This was their own idea of maintaining law and order and, things in our fair city being what they are, they had been there quite a long time. In the early hours of the morn- ing the single unemployed sud- denly attacked them—no doubt, the reds ordered this, too—and proceeded to club them merciless- ly. Some of them were drunk. The police tried to defend them- selves but they were no match for these well-fed young men who had been furnished with ex- pensive food and luxuries by the citizens of Vancouver. The whole thing has been one gigantic hoax All those pictures you saw in the newspapers were really wounded policeman in dis- guise. The single unemployed aren’t unemployed at all. They are either millionaire gangsters or foreign agitators imported from Langley Prairie and Fernie to embarass the government. Ask Mayor Miller or, if he won't tell you, try the Industrial As- sociation of BC, whose advertise— ments the dailies wouldn’t print. * As a swimmer, I have gene down into the deep waters And found no golden sands, no warmth, no pearls flame-white, But only an emptiness of black day separated from black day By an unlighted, starless night. As an eagle, I have winged out into the wide heavens And found no fruitful fields of beauty, no amaranth, no choirs of song, — But only the cold vacuity of the high places and the wind Whispering nothing all day long. Red Star * As a man, I have lived and seen those that called themselves men despair Driving their fellows to shame, to hunger and And among the faces that I have seen in the great city there was Want and sorrow everywhere. } x Only as a worker conscious of my workers Have I found hope and courage, friendliness and one clear light Beckoning the way along one straight road to fellow happiness Under a red star in the bludgeoning night. —Hiclamis. SHORT JABS o> By OL’ BILL Ten days after Plague ™ Bloody Sunday in the city was visit- ed by another cal- amity. The pages ef the daily press were plastered with photos that made thenr look like special editions of the Rogues Galiery. The letterpress, too, smelt of the same unsavory sink. We were harboring a plague of cops—old- line flatties, new-line Harvard- Wale college sgvaduate snoopers, G-men, mounties — stools and finks, too, no doubt. Vancouver. So much drivel was let loose on us it is impossible to let it pass without comment. At the opening of this convention or whatever it was, Hamber, the Lieutenant-Governor, made a statement that sounds hopeful, “We are united on the principle,’’ he said, “that those who elect ta live by violence shail be declared outlaws or society.’’ Can this mean that he is going to take some action against the goon- squad members of the RCMP and city police who beat up the de- fenceless single unemployed out- side the Post Office on Bloody Sunday: We hope so, but—! The present of this cops’ con- vention was the chief of police of Oakland, Cal., bearing the highly descriptive name of Wali- man. To him, apparently, the whole sum and substance of po- lice activity is indicated in a little book he brought with him from Oakland, entitled, ‘Communist Activity in California.” Because — Mr. Wallman, or Walihead, or Bonehead, has had his little guide book severely criticized by “a large American university,” this is proof of the ignorance of the. eitizens to this danger. The danger to society Claptrap. is not from kidnap- pers, bandits, high- jackers, gangsters, defaulting bankers, abscondine brokers or eorrupt politicians or policemen, it is from “Communist Activity in California.” Tt must have been after listening to this bird that another of the delegates put forth a demand for “higher intelligence in recruits.” “Claptrap” was the keynote of this convention. What is needed in a policeman, according to one of the G-Men, is “character.” How much Character does it take to do a job like that already refer- red to at the Post Office three weeks ago, at the Goodyear Rub- ber plant at Akron and in Ja- maica, WI, a month ago, where starving, striking workers were shot down in cold bleed for ask ing for a little more hay and oats. Character in a good policeman can never develop any higher than it did in Gaston B. Means, who learned to be an efficient dick while still a child by eaves-— dropping in the village store and was rewarded every time he brought some “information” to his stool-pigeon father. oe The official mind of The Mind a policeman is an Of A Cop. 2mazing phenome- mon. We stand in wonderment before it. I learned this from an experience of my own. I was arrested in Bombay. INo charges were made against me. I had to guess it was for be- ing a Communist. There is judge, jury and jailer all in one and he threw me into prison. In a note book among my effects there were some figures that the police could not understand. ao Was questioned again and again and because I did not give the nice college graduate detective- inspector of the political branch the answers he wanted he burst oust, “You're not helping us one bit!” He was sore because Tf would not help him to keep me in jail for twenty years. Only a policeman could think that way. And could anything be more hyprocritical than the bounce of the Oakland nit-wit Chief Wall- man, already referred to: “We, the police, must occupy the front line in spite of bullets and stones to protect the community.” These boasters are only brave at the right end of a gun. Vancouver is fifty-two years old and in that haif a century, the police who have been killed by bullets or rocks on the job can be counted on the fingers of one hand. More loggers are killed every month in the woods of BC. And for every policeman who hit the dust at his “work,” almost 200 miners haye perished in the tunnels and stopes of the coal and metal mines of this country producing the wealth the policeman is paid for protecting. each Same base cent bbe Saale 4) sc tne CoB RA 5 et BAD it a oe 2 4 a a yy -