THE PHEOPLE’S ADVOCATE THE PEOPLE’S ADVOCATE Published Weekly by the Proletarian Publishing Association, Room 10, 163 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C. Phone TRinity 2019. One “Wear == $2.00 Three Months Half Year —____..$1.00 Single Copy —-—-—-— $ .05 Make All Cheques Payable to: The People’s Advocate Vancouver, B.C. Friday, April 21, 1939 More School Strikes Needed VERY fair-minded citizen of British Co- lumbia will applaud the pupils of Haney and Maple Ridge for their magnificent strike against being packed into unsanitary, rat- infested shacks which the School Board and the Department of Education eall school buildings. The farmers can not be blamed for voting down a bylaw calling for new, modern school buildings in view of their impoverishment as a result of the machinations of Water Street's brokerage sharks and the political heelers of the various Marketing Boards. Clearly it is the duty of the Department of Education to see to it that decent school buildings are provided. The progressive Min- ister of Education, Dr. Weir, undoubtedly would provide them were it not for the stooges of the Shipping Federation and the BC Log- gers’ Association in the government. The School Board, at least some of the members, placed subservience to the Liberal party machine above their duty to the youth and did nothing to compel the provincial gov- ernment to provide proper accommodation for the pupils. The poverty-stricken condition of the farm- ers, already overburdened with taxation and subjected to all kinds of exploitation and chiselling, is no excuse for the reactionary stand taken by Trustees Davidson and Laity as strikebreakers, while all honor should be given to Trustees Mitchell and Mrs. Showler for their support of the strike. We have heard much mouth by well-fixed politicians about the need for youth to gain education and preserve ‘their health. Well, the youth of Haney. and Maple Ridge assert themselves and aroused public opinion to fheiz plight. A few more such strikes might shake the cynical Pattullo government out of its self-confident attitude; and a defeat of its stooge Corey in the Vancouver Center elec- tion, and the election of Mrs. Stuart Jamieson, would help a lot, too. A Cheap Political Trick PPROXIMATELY 20,000 BC working- men will be denied the right to vote in the next federal election if the King govern- ment is permitted to get away with its reac- tionary change in the Federal Election Act. Men whose names are on the voters’ lists in BC cities, towns and rural areas, and who have gone out of their ridings to work, are to be denied the absentee yote they hitherto exercised unless sufficient pressure is put on the federal government to restore that privi- lege. BC is a province with a large number of workers in basic industries such as mining, fishing and logging. ‘These workers leave their home cities and towns to produce the wealth that makes the maintenance and srowth of Vancouver and other urban cen- ters possible. Because they prefer to go to work instead of living on relief, they are to be penalized by loss of their franchise. Depriving these workers of the right to vote is cheap political trickery of the most despicable kind. The absentee vote gave Ar- nold Webster, CCF candidate, a majority over Gerry McGeer in the last federal election, even though he was counted out by Liberal- appointed hirelings. The robbery of the ab- sentee electors of the vote is obviously an attempt to save the political necks of the WicGeers in the next federal election. As the workers become enlightened and in increasing numbers vote for candidates of working class political parties, unscrupulous politicians devise means of depriving them of their democratic rights in this direction. There is enough restriction now on the ex- ercise of the franchise without Premier King piling on any more; and unless his barefaced political skulduggery is exposed and protest- ed, he may find it will prove a boomerang. In any case, the government should be swamped with protests. Attention, Mr. Dunning! FITHE national income declined by 8 percent last year. Only the rich got bigger in- comes, as a result of increased profits. The rest of the people got less and the same ten- dency can be seen this year. In preparing for his budget speech this Thursday, it is to be hoped Finance Minister Dunning is taking this disparity into account. The people’s capacity to pay taxes is lower than ever before. Abolishing the sales tax—which so steeply increases the cost of living in this country— and increasing the tax on big incomes, would be one way of arranging taxation a trifle more equitably. Chamberlain’s S (I eh ext Wezisc (ini eS See Eee eae EES The British Tory premier continues to stall off Soviet proposals fer collective security while trying to bribe the axis powers into turn- By HARRY GANNES CPE SsL ANS shabby game of trying to prevent realiza- tion of collective security as proposed by the Soviet Union is being widely exposed. The stark truth is that the British Tory premier, under the conditions confronting him, has attempted to continue the Whainich line by other means. It is necessary to restate the original nefarious purpose of the Mhinich policy. And we must, in addition, ask: What are the new means employed to continue the Munich policy in the present world situation? Under Chamberlain’s leader- ship the Anglo-French reaction— aries, the abettors of fascism, strove at Munich to instigate their totalitarian allies to war against the land of Socialism. Sudetenland, in fact all of CGzecho-Slovakia, Memel and now Albania, were bribes to buy off the Rome-Berlin axis from west ward ambitions and to impel it exclusively in an eastward direc- tion. As late as Tuesday, April 11, Chamberlain was still secretly dealing with Italian fascism in erder to continue the “appease— ment” policy and encourage Hit- ler to move against the Soviet Union. J. BP. Morgan’s New York Sun on that day published as its main story a cable from William 4H. Stoneman, who is also the Chi- cago Daily News London corres- pondent, giving the Tory trick- sters’ latest game away. Writing about Mr. Chamber- lain’s approval of Mussolini’s Al- banian grab for the purpose of bringing Italian fascism into line with the main Munich aims, Mr. Stoneman commented: “Tf this can be done, accord- ing to his (Chamberlain’s) line of reasoning, Germany will either be unable te engage in a great war, OR AT LEAST MUST CONFINE HeR ATTENTION TO THE BAST.” “Bast, in the vocabulary of Mr. Chamberiain’s class, means specifically the Soviet Union. Se 4 Geese Chamberlain is still counting on the “appease ment policy, which summed up means bribing fascism to carry on war at the dictates and in the direction indicated by the British Tories, was reported by Ralph W. Barnes, the reactionary Repub- lican NY Heraid Tribune’s Lon- don correspondent. In his Wed- nesday edition Mr. Barnes led off his cable with this paragraph: “Despite the Italian invasion of Albania, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain is making ‘final’ ef fort to restore order and peace in the Mediterranean and elsewhere by coming to terms with Premier Benito Mussolini on lines which recall his once discarded police of appeasement.” But, Mr. Barnes, may we insert that Mr. Chamberlain never dis- carded this criminal course? He only covered it up with empty strenge words against the very fascists he was negotiating with pehind the scenes. s HILE treating with the fas— cist aggressors, Mr. Cham_-— berlain is doing everything he ean to prevent realization of the collective action insisted on by the USSR to halt fascism, This point is becoming so clear that the most hardened enemies of the Soviet Union are still the only ones who try to protect Chamberlain in his plotting with fascism by trying to throw the blame on the USSR. The famous Pertinax, French ‘Th AN ALTERNATIVE There is an alternative to this ruthless fight for profits. And for 20 years one-sixth of the world has been endeavoring to try it out. — The Dean of Canterbury, quoted by British Daily Worker. US RR Ee READY FOR THE FUNERAL Woolworth’s are now selling Chamberlain umbrellas. The handles are made of toffee. The shade is of black crepe paper. The idea is that you hold the paper and suck the handle. Then you put the paper around your hat—London Daily Worker. Saige ae< gk 2 532k ea cabeaipsenaerascessa4 So Ds iSc i ps RE ~ Ghamberlain wants to habby Game foreign politics commentator, in his latest piece wrote: “But why does Prime Minister Weville Chamberlain postpone from week to week to moment to come to terms with Russia? The answer is that he is afraid lest the sign- ing af an Anglo-Russia pact of mutual assistance Should finally strengthen Mussolini's connection with Hitler .. -’ But tke real answer is that “appease” Italian fascism. To do so tne British Tory Pre- mier is realy to accept any prom- ise from Rome about “withdraw- ing troops” from Spain and about respecting Greek integrity. Yet Mussolini’s promises are worth exactly as much as Hitler’s, which is to say, nothing at all. e USSOLENI promised Britain when the Anglo-Italian pact was signed April 16, 1938, that Italy would not invade Albania- At least ten different times Mus- solini assured Great Britain that Italian troops would be withdrawn from Spain. Finally, Chamberlain “guaran- teed” that Italy would withdraw its fascist troops from Spain after Franco’s victory. That has not been done. So now, as an ex ecuse to stall off the Soviet Un- jon’s proposals, Chamberlain is again eager to accept new Italian fascist “promises.” The Tory premier, however, is a slick article. He knows that the British and FErench people demand an understanding ‘with the USSR to defend the democra- cies against fascist aggression. So his lanky Tory foreign sec- retary, Lord Halifax, to befuddie the British people, has almost daily conferences with ivan Maisky, the Soviet ambassador in London. And at those conferences, which the Tories try to palm off as a form of ‘‘collaboration” with the USSR constant excuses are made for not accepting the only means of stopping the agesressors, mamely, collective security as pro- posed by the Soviet Union. At the latest meeting, Halifax tried to get out of his tough spot of repeated rejection of the So- viet policy, by blaming the “small nations” for not wanting to cooperate with the USSR. e UT the hub of the whole situ- ation is Chamberlain’s con- tinued conspiracy with the fascist dictators. The Tory premier wants to throw a number of these small nations to the totalitarian wolves as “appeasement” and to avoid that collective action which would not only halt the Rome Berlin axis but would ultimately give it a staggering bolw from which fascism would never re cover. The Question Of Bank Deposits By ANGUS MURRAY ARLY last month Finance Min- ister Dunning spoke of “those three and a half million Canadians who are trying to pro- vide for their own security through the medium of life in- surance,’ and of “those four mil- lion Canadians who at this mo- ment have savings deposits in our Canadian banks.” He was speaking against a mo- tion of A. A. Heaps, which called for a lowering of the present 70- year-old age pensions age limit. Mr. Dunning’s figures were most impressive. They suggested that an extremely large portion of our population possesses eco- nomic security, has sufficient funds in the bank to render it immune to economic reverses, and can look forward to an easy old age. The capitalist press, always ready to put existing social and economic conditions in a favor- able light, gave much publicity to these figures. Mr. Dunning’s re- marks were the basis of scores of editorials. Se R. DUNNEING’S figures are truly amazing. Tf we add the number of bank depositors to the number of life insurance pol- jey holders we find the total equals the entire adult popula- tion of this country. This, indeed, is a happy land. But, of course. many of the bani depositors will be insurance pol- icy holders also. This reduces the total somewhat. Takine, however, only the num- ber of those with bank accounts the total embraces over 60 per cent of Ganada’s adults. This is certainly not to be sneezed at. If over 60 percent Comment From Our ALL OUT ON MAY 1 Editor, People’s Advocate: I was pleased to note in the last issue of the Advocate that an invitation had been extended to Mayor Lyle Telford to participate in Wancouver’s 1939 May Day celebrations, and I hope the mayor will see his way clear to accept, The presence off the mayor on this oceasion will add dignity and status to the occasion and go a long way to establishing friendly relations between all progressive froups. I would imapine they need this friendly unity to win the elections this year. of our people have financial re- serves, are not oppressed by pov- erty, economic worries, or fears of an indigent old age, Canadians are in a far better position than most of them have realized. And, to make things better, Mr. Dunning’s figures are understate- ments. Canada, according to the latest report of the Bank of Canada, has 4,793,107 bank depositors. = ND, according to the report of the department of insurance, there are 4,012,368 insurance pol- icies in force in this country. It is only when we analyze these figures that we find out that the inferences drawn from them by Mr. Dunning and others are not borne out. Close examination of the Bank of Canada’s latest statement on the classification of Canadian bank deposits reveals the fol- lowing: Of the total number of deposi- tors, 4,402,421, or 91.80 percent have deposits less than a thou- sand dollars. e S A matter of fact the average deposit of this overwhelm- ing percentage of Canadian depo- sitors amounts to only $135.82. That’s not enough to give you security or take care of your old age. It’s not even enough to tide a worker over a few months of unemployment or take care of a farmer during a year of bad erops. This sreat army of small de- positors, 4,402,421, or 91.80 per eent of all Ganadians with bank books, have deposits amounting in dollars to only 23.45 percent of the total deposits. One of the Vancouver daily newspapers pointed out the need for more music and bands with last year’s May Day parade. I am pleased to note that this de- ficiency is being taken care of this year by the engagement of more bands. This will tend to ereate greater efficiency and prove a greater attraction, I feel sure. Wo doubt a competent bandmaster or musician will be placed in charge of the musical end of the business, and as re- sards spacing of the bands and other details. Last year I marched with my ex-soldiers’ organization and Tf At the other end of the pole is a tiny wealtthy group, numbering less than 1,500 people, or three- one-hundredths of the total num- ber of depositors, whose combined deposits amount to 20.43 percent of total. The average deposit of this last group amounts to $338,268. Se MUS on analysis, we find that the vast majority of Cana- dians with bank accounts have less in the bank than would keep them a season. Indeed, the bulk of the small depositors have less deposited than would keep them a month. This puts Mr. Dunning’s state- ment in a soméwhat different light. When we turn to the life insur- ance policies in force in Canada we find a corresponding situation. Sixty-two percent of all insur-— ance policies held by Canadians are “industrial” policies, with an average value of $223. Just enough to pay the funeral expenses of the policy—-holder, yielding little, if anything, to the bereaved family. It has been estimated that the annual income of the Canadian working population, workers and farmers, averages approximately $525. Se UGH an income doesn’t afford a decent living standard, let alone permit of saving and in- vesting for the uncertain future. Tt is really a very serious mat- ter if Canada’s minister of fin- ance entertains the false view of the average Canadian’s economic circumstances that his remarks would lead us to infer. Readers hope to repeat again this year. Let’s all get behind the May Day parade this year and estab- lish a precedent for all time as a great annual event. This can bedone, I feel sure, with the co- operation of the trade unions and other left wing and democratic groups. The presence of the vet- erans of the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion parading will give color and inspiration te the parade, and with a generous supply of bands, this May Day should go down in history as the greatest VWancouver has held. —Army Veteran. SHORT JABS A Weekly Commentary By Gi’ Bill Great resret was apparent = in Sir Hdward Beattys vice- Here Again. presidential report to the shareholders (some of them) of the Consolidated Minin= and Smelting Company, last weel- The dividend was away down, having sunk to the low level of 50 per cent, or $2.50 for each $5.00 share of stock. Last year it was around 90 percent, and now the wails of Sir Edward and Mr. Blaylock have reached right across Canada. They will no doubt be interviewins Mr. Bone at the relief office in the near future. Hard Times Of course, there is a bright side to the report, too. The dividend might have been boosted if almost two and a half million dollars had not been invested im the plant and subsidiary operations, like new smelt- ers in Saskatchewan and Quebec, ete. Aud there was a carry-over .surplus of another three and a half million. This, of course, is good bookizeeping, since it Keeps she dividend from getting too near the 100 percent mark and prevents those dirty reds from shoutmg “Shylock,” and the government tax-collector from getting his legitimate pound of flesh. Wot only did the Consolidat- And In ed break into the news on Naziland, Too! the financial page with the didivend pronouncement, the sports page too had its measure of fame to ladle out for that soulless band of profitmongers who provide the Japanese aggressors with some of the necessary materiais to murder peaceful Chinese peasant women _and children. Trail Smoke Paters, the hockey-playing adver- tisement for Tadanac products, are returning in twos and threes from Hurope where they won the world’s amateur hockey championship to the giory of Mr. Blaylock and the lead that rains on the Chinese people. Some of them arrived in Trail last week and their impressions are being carved in ink on the pages of British Columbia’s newspaperdom. Im spite of the fact, as reported by one of the boys, that every second building in Germany seemed to be an ammunition plant, “Nazi salutes by the lads built up great German support.” Maybe Nazi salutes made by Canadians, are to be explained by the number of ammunition plants which would maike the Trail men feel at home, in conjunction with the anti-union atmosphere which must have reminded them of Blaylock’s company union. Another of the hockey players, however, who met Premier Bracken on the train coming home, does not seem to have fallen much for the Nazi salutes, and showed some sympathy for the German people. He asked Bracken why he does not sell the surplus Canadian wheat crop to Germany. Of course he got the usual capitalist answer, “They have no money to pay for it” This young lad stated that all the time they were in Germany, “we had no white bread, only Diack, and no butter and no meat” Only ammunition dumps and Nazi salutes! And 50 percent dividends in Trail! This Is In the army or navy, if a ranker does not know the an- Gall! swer to the fool questions thrown at him by some brass-bound nincompoop officer, he is accused of “dumb imsolence.” This is a erime the London Times will never be accused of But of the other kind of insolence, outspoken inso- lence, it piles up evidence to prove its guilt daily. The Times is an organ of the Chamberlain govern- ment, unofficially. It is a2 mouthpiece of the Clive— den set, the personal property of Col. J. J. Astor, brother of Lord Astor, who owns that other reac- tionary sheet, the Observer. Since October, 1917, the Times has been a con- sistent enemy of the Soviet government Every word printed in its pases on Soviet-British relations has been meant to prevent any understanding being reached between the British people and the Soviet workers. It fought persistently against recognition of the Soviet government, even after that step had been taken by the MacDonald government in 1924. Yet in the Times of last Saturday, snakein-the— grass fashion, appears the following, the grossest piece of insolence probably which has ever been printed in its lying columns: “The fact that by guaranteeing the Polish and Roumanian frontiers Britain also Suarantees those sections of Russia’s frontiers touching these countries, is felt in London to be practical proof of Britain’s willinesmess to form the widest possible peace front” Soviet Russia’s frontiers are guaranteed by her Red Army as all the imperialist thieves know to their cost, the Japanese fascists particularly. The Soviet people neither need nor desire any guaran— tees from Britain or the London Times, even if they were worthwhile guarantees, which they are not Sufficient proof of this lies in the fact that the British National government of Chamberlain for whom the Times speaks, guaranteed the frontiers of Austria, of Czechoslovakia and of Albania. God help any other people whose frontiers jt guarantees, The Times is not only isolent but impertinent in its Cliveden clique comments. a The unseemly haste with Birds Of which some of the democratic A Feather. governments of the world have extended “diplomatic recognition” to the bri- gand junta of Franco is in sharp contrast to the evasiveness they displayed in recognizing the gov— ernment of workers and peasant of the Soviet Union. Britain only recognized the Soviet government in 1924, seven years after it had taken power, a recog- nition which was broken after a couple of years and reopened only a few years ago. The United States only recosnized the Soviet government during the first Roosevelt administration, almost twenty years after the founding of the Soviet Union. Can- ada, even now, has no diplomatic or trade connec— tion with the USSR. Yet today, even before the Butcher Branco has established his conquest of the Spanish people, the governments of Britain, France, the United States and Canada have already taken into their lily-white hands the bloodstained talons of the mur— derer of the Spanish people. Tt is only possible to understand this social phe- nomenon from one angle, the class angle. The workers’ government of the Soviet Union threatens their class privileges; the murderous and bestial Franco regime does not. Even where they do not desire fascism as it has been visited on the Spanish people, they are less afraid of it than they are of Communism which would take from them the right to rule and rob the people.