_dustry.” - program.” Unions Score Truman “Cooling Off’ Plan NEW YORK.—President Truman’s plan for settling major industrial disputes by enactment of labor legislation providing for a 30-day cooling-off period before strikes can be called: was denounced tion by AFL and CIO leaders alike. immediately upon its publica- The President also announced that he was naming fact-finding boards to make recommendations for settlement of the General Motors strike and the threatened walkout of 650,000 employees of the United States Steel Corporation. The plan was sent to _Congress after the labor-management conference adjourned last week having failed to reach agreement on ways to] avert work stoppages. Denouncing the proposals as “inaceeptable to Jabor,” AFL President. William’ Green declar- ed that “the principles and poli- ‘éies of the Railway Labor Act,” which forms the basis of Presi- dent Truman’s labor plan, “are in no way. suited to private in- While CIO President ‘Philip Murray did not formally comment on the proposed legis- lation,. a CIO spokesman. de- clared that the ClO is complete- ly opposed to the. plan but that the issues are so far-reaching that the CIO is studying the pro- posal in detail before issuing a statement. President Truman stated that his proposal was made_ since “strikes already in effect may possibly cripple our reconversion He suggested enact ment of the following procedure for major industries. On certifi- cation of the Secretary of Labor that a dispute would vitally af- fect the public interest, the Pres- ident be authorized to appoint a fact-finding board within five days of the certification. During the five days follow- ing, it shall be unlawful to call a strike or lockout. The fact- finding board, consisting of three * outstanding citizens shall make a thorough investigation of all the facts, with power to subpoena individuals and records, and make its report within 20 days. While the board is deliberating and for five days after its re- port, the calling of a strike er lockout shall be unlawful. RIGHT TO STRIKE “Wmphatically” - disapproving President Truman’s proposal for ending the General Motors strike, R. J. Thomas, president of the CIO United Automobile Work- ers, declared that GM workers sought an agreement for 97 days before they went on strike “and no one thought anything of try- ing to break the deadlock.” He said that GM President C. E. Wilson “must. have talked with the President about this matter,” adding: ““Where does the right to strike go?’ At. the same time, Thomas ‘made public a wire he sent to Attorney-General Tom Clark de- manding an investigation of GM with a view to possible prosecu- tion under the anti-trust laws for monopoly practices. He charged that GM exercises a monopoly in the automotive field through ownership of the prin- cipal source of engine fuel pumps. Thomas asserted that GM President Wilson gave “strong corroboratory evidence” of the charge in a letter of Nov. 20 asking if the UAW would al- low resumption of the’ manufac- ture of automobile parts for sale to other auto companies. MONOPOLY PRACTICES Wilson’s letter, Thomas de- clared, supported the claim that the shutdown -at GM -would. re- sult in a shutdown of the entire ‘Industry. “Because of the highly integrated nature of the indus- try, control of a single vita] item gives GM a control over its com- petitors that is contrary to the public interest,” Thomas charged, adding that this indicated a “dis- astrously dangerous’ condition.” The charge of monopoly prac- tices came after another CIO. union, the United. Electrical Ra- dio and Machine Workers, as- serted that the General Electric and Westinghouse Electric com- panies were “abandoning” 15 government - built war plants cost §$132,000,000 and erecting new factories in small-town, low- wage areas. UE director of or- ganization James J. Matles de- clared that the plants being abandoned, located in idustrial areas where the union was strong “could have been convert- ed speedily and have produced tens of thousands of radios, re- frigerators, washing machines and other electrical appliances for an appl Pncevhungty public.” R. J. THOMAS President of the United Aut- omobile Workers, who has de- manded investigation of General Motors corporation under the anti-trust laws for monopoly practices. He charges that G.M. exercises a monopoly in the au- tomotive field through : owner- ship of the source of engine fuel pumps. | Foreign Mimister Labor Party | Urg es Go Get Out OF i _ LONDON—A demand that the crisis in Indonesia be dealt with by the United Nations Organiz- ation instead of by the British government will be placed before Ernest Bevin by the external affairs committee of the Parliamentary Labor party. The committee decided to send a deputation to Bevin to present the following three demands: @ That British military au- thorities negotiate a truce with leaders of the Indonesian Pro- visional Republic and cooperate with Indonesians in disarming the Japanese. Japanese troops have been used by British mil- itary leaders td fight against the Independence movement in the prewar Dutch colony. stg @ That Britain sponsor a con- ference between the Dutch and Indonesians in London, where the two parties could negotiate as “equal partners”. adonel ; SS ae E e That the situatio donesia © be considere Article 106 of the Ui tions Charter, which wr the United Nations joint sible for deciding neces tion. Leaders of the I Provisional Republic ready stated that th abide by a United N cision. This is the second | pressure has been: b: On within the Labor verse the Labor policy of sending colonial areas to “ma der”? by engaging clashes with the ind movements. Last mont bor Members of Parilia tested the use of Brit to restore “Dutch and ¥ -perialism’ in Indon China “a Scores Gov't Failure q for the community as a whole; that is, for a redistribution of income, because if it gives any- thing it gives it to the rich. “Through their trade unions the labor movement called for tax exemptions to be raised to $2,400 for married persons and $1,000 for single persons. Their voice’ was not heeded. Instead, the budget provides for a straight 16 percent reduction in personal income tax, This gives yery. lit- tle additional money to the ma- jority of the people but provides First Brazil Elections Free From Intimidation RIO DE JANEIRO. — After eight years of a dictatorial re- gime sustained by force of arms, the Brazilian electorate went to the polls in the Dec. 2 national election in greater numbers than in any previous election and for the first time the vote was free from intimidation. Results are still being tabulated and the final count is not expected until some time next week. There were, however, two im- portant defects in the electoral machinery: 1) the registration system which prevented millions of illiterates from voting and 2) the manual system of counting votes. An estimated 80 percent of the Brazilian population is elassed as_ illiterate, while under -the manua! system of counting the vote, the govern- ment was in complete control. Partial returns, representing. approximately 20 percent of the vote cast, indicate that Gen. Eurico Gaspar Dutra, former War Minister, will be elected. In, addition to the above-mentioned points, this is ascribed to the support given him by the Work- ers’ party, influenced by the re- cently ousted president, Getulic Vargas, demonstrating that Var- gas’ popular influence is till strong. re Latest returns give Dutra, who PACIFIC ADVOCATE — PAGE 10 ran on the Social-Democratic ticket, 734,415 votes; Maj. Gen. Eduardo Gomes, candidate of the National Democratic Union (UDN), 407,486; and Yeddo Fiu- za, Communist party candidate, 117,465.-Fiuza, who is not a Com- murist party member, was nam- ed Communist candidate only two weeks before the election and his showing is therefore held to be significant. The election is not limited to the naming of a new president, being at the same time an elec- tion for a national congress: which will have the powers of a constituent assembly. The voters will choose 286 deputies and 42 senators. Although final returns are expected to bring ahout a regrouping of party forces, the four principal parties will pre- dominate. These are the Social- Democratic and Worker’s. parties grouped around Dutra the UDN of Gomes; and the Communist party, which will be represented for tke first time in Brazilian histo®y and which is expected to elect about 30 deputies. The following additional two points must also be made: 1) the fascist Integralistas, masked for election purposes as the Popular Representation party, suffered a total defeat, polling a negligible vote: and 2) about 50 percent of Bia tial Wert vrs a substantial roll to the higher income groups. “That is, 2,900 people -who have each an income of more than $25,000 will get, as a result of this 16 percent reduction, an aggregate of $15 million, or $5,- 000 apiece. Not bad. But what happens to the mass of taxpay- ers, those—and there are 1,675,- 000 of them—whose incomes are less than $2,000 each? The total tax reduction will give them $26,- 600,000, or $15.90 apiece. There is quite a difference there. CRIMINAL HOUSING CRISIS “It is estimated that 43 per- cent of the returned men have no proper housing. In 1946 Can- ada will be short of 500,000 houses, excluding rural needs. The houses of 350,000 Canadians are sub-standard. “Of a total of 2,635;753 houses in Canada, approximately 600,- 000 are obsolete. One-third of all Canadians live in bad and over- crowded houses and because they cannot afford good housing; they can afford to pay only between $10 and $20 a month in rent, and even with the aid of family allow- aneés they can pay no more with- out injuring the health of their families by cutting down on food. “In 1941 it was estimated that the city of Montreal needed 50,- 000 dwellings. How many were built? In 1944 there were 2,618 units, and in 1945 there were 2,- 241 units. At this rate it will take over 20 years to make the back- log without allowing for increas- ing requirements in the years ahead. By the end of this year, 5,000 homes will be needed by returning men. To add to the seri- ousness of the situation in Mon- treal,. of the homes put up in}! 1944 and 1945, 90 percent are rented at over $40 a month. This lets out 76 percent of the popu- lation whose income does not permit them to rent houses at such high figures. “It should be established once and for all that it is not profit- able for the private builder to construct low-rental honsés, and he definitely will not do. it for love. This has been the experi- ence in every country and also in’ Canada. “In wartime, when the electorate was feminine. f munitions, the govern the red tape and saw these *materials were Huge munitions pla built in a few months. ' a feeling of urgency. ? is similar urgency at # time in the matter oj and-the government m a manner different i which has characterize the present ‘moment. * ing of houses wal al jobs. WHAT GOVT. MUST. “How is the governr to deal with this hou’ lem ? The Labor-t Party proposes that ! 000, raised through = used by the governme 250,000 housing units riod of five years. I that such a slogan : bond to build a home? dian” would receive sary Tesponse from. dians, and such how be assigned to the ce that need them:and to requiring houses, on | priority: No: 1, veter slum dwellers; No. 3, require extra living +) “That is ~the way this will have to be de there are constituti lems notwithstanding. | built. 1,250,000: low-rer how? The government struction ‘capital to th’ housing. board and Dp subsidy. Private contri the houses..That is © for Canada. That is 4 swer to the problem ¢™ construction. industri that $500 million ay struction would prov ‘men with jobs. That swer.” : Fred Rass vote fi amendment to the € amendment, which th was critical of the bu: same general lines. *, ridge (Ind. Kootenay ed.that he would hav the amendment if | been paired. The ame, defeated 162 to 27,. we needed tanks, guns, airplanes," Credit group om ‘government... k FRIDAY, DECEME