E —PRAGUE.
HE two-year plan has

already paid its first divi-
dends to the Czechoslovakian
People. Last month the
Czechoslovak parli-
ament passed two laws, and
introduced a third which will
bring about a _ substantial
improvement in the living
Standard of the entire people.

The first law reduces
Prices in almost the whole
Tange of consumers’ goods.
The second provides for in-
_ “eases in family allowances,

Tanging from seven to 40
Percent, dependent on the
Size of families,

__ The third, which is still
Under discussion, but which
should be passed this month,
Teduces the income tax of
the working class population
by approximately 50 percent.
has been estimated that
© Overall reduction in the
“0st of living as a result of
these Measures, will exceed
12 percent,

These new. laws come at
the end of a particularly
S€vere Winter, in which
loods, snowstorms and fros¥
"ave slowed down factory
Schedules and held up trans-
Port all over the country.
They emphasize in a strik-
‘ingly practical way what can
© achieved by full-scale eco-
Nomic planning, even in a
“ountry devastated by war.

Prices in Czechoslovakia
ave been high compared
he ith pre-war years, but they
-@ve still been lower than
_ i other European countries.
b ae example, prime beef,
ee re the price cuts, was 45
ae a pound. Now a pound
ae 38 cents. The average
on Uction in meat prices is

Mout 12 percent.

Y 10 to 17 percent; Milk,
Which ig plentiful, now costs
; nh to three cents a pint,
‘ butter, which is scarce,
Sts 80 cents a pound.
ie he sharpest price cuts are
Rte eeern clothing and
eee ren's footwear. A work-
: 8 best suit now costs $24,
4 Worksuit costs $4, and chil-
eae Shoes cost approxi-
3a €ly $1 a pair. These rep-
a €nt reductions of from 20
© 40 percent,
@

J} HAT is remarkable is
“q..., the way these price re-
ductions have been introduc-

— &d and i
ee the wide range they

7° fall, but this usually fol-
WS a flooding of goods into
ieee It takes place
Supply overtakes de-

; vane Yet this state has not
er atel been reached in Czecho-
 “ovakia. There is by no
eadia Strict rationing system
S “still necessary. .
3 Cr€over, when goods be-
ae to accumulate in the
gio when the sellers’ mar-
ma oe way to a buyers’
Bae et, the reduction in
8 is always part and

Workerg’

wage rates
“Onditions, =e

It heralds, in

depression, ;

a, Czechoslovakia wage
= are not only being
RIDAY, May ae Cy

been operating for only =
three months, but it has ** +

Milk and butter are down

howe: It is a common eco-—
Mic phenomenon for prices

Means: a surplus of goods, ©

Parce] of a savage attack on Pritt,
and

T words, the coming of ©

maintained, but the reduc-
tion in income tax results is
a virtual increase in wages.
By what

pays for the price cuts and
increased .
They are possible because
the Two-Year Plan is a plan;
because every part of Czech-
oslovak industry works as

an integral part of a coordin- —

ated machine,
In the present cases, the

profits do not nearly match

British urge outlawing of anti-

—LONDON.

pe ‘plague of anti - Jewish

vandalism and _ hooliganism
which has broken out in Bri-
tain in recent months, coupled
with the increasing boldness of
utterance by fascist organiza-
tions grouped around Sir Oswald
Mosley (now a publisher), has,
stirred up strong, democratic
demands for the enactment of a
bill outlawing anti-semitism by
the mother. of parliaments.

At the annual general meet-_

ing of the National Council for
Civic Liberties, a resolution was
adopted expressing “deep con-
cern and abhorrence at the
growth of anti-semitism in this

-. country, and particularly the in-

tense activity that is now be-
ing conducted by Sir Oswald
Mosley and his satellites.” :
The resolution, moved by. in-
ternationally distinguished D. N.
K.C., M.P., lawyer, ap-
pealed to Home Secretary Chuter
Ede to “introduce legislation
at any early date making ille-

gal the dissemination of anti-
’ semitism and racialism.”
‘The flabby policy of the gov-

ernment has been one which

?

vi economic al-
chemy is this possible? Who

social benefits? .

the price cuts that have been
made in particular industries.
The mechanism employed is
the ‘balancing fund’ to which

all enterprises, nationalized.

and private, have to contrib-
ute one to four percent of
their gross income,

There are, of course, other

‘reasons why these cuts and

benefits are possible.
One reason is that com-
modities are not loaded with

_a whole pile of middlemen’s

profits before they reach the

has played into the hands of
British fascists who, exploiting
the actions of Palestine -terror-
ists on the one hand and gov-
ernment weakness on the other,
are inciting Britons to anti-Semi-
tism, ‘

There has been a flood of leaf-
lets in the West End, urging
‘Christians’ to shove Jews off
the street, spit on them, boy-
cott their shops, and destroy
their homes. ;

Typical of the fascist tactics
is the firing of synagogues; at
the seaside resort of Margate
in late April, police were. called
out to help put out the fire.

lengths of fascist impud-

ence recognize no bounds.. Re-
cently, there was a court trial
wherein fascist leader Mosley
(released from internment camp
in 1945 with an assurance that
he: had retired from politics)
summoned to court three offi-
cials of the National Union of
Printing, Bookbinding and Paper
Workers on a charge of ‘con-
spiring’ to prevent the distribu-

tion of his Mosley Newsletter.

public, And in this regard
the position will even im-
prove, for there is a cam-
paign on now to nationalize
those chain stores and whole-
sale enterprises which still
remain in private hands.
Another reason is that the
supply of goods and prices
is not subject to the whims

The union had indeed refus-
ed to do so, and as a result
the news agents refused any

longer to distribute it. But, as

the judge pointed out in dis-
missing the case, it is lawful for
trade unionists to withhold la-

bor if that labor is to be used

to assist its enemies.
Nonetheless, the spectacle of

fascists having labor men drag-

ged into court has aroused great

of the market. There is no
question of speculating in
foodstuffs, for example, of
holding back supplies against
a rise in prices, or of cre-
ating artificial shortages.

Production for use, not for
profit, is the prime motive
of Czechoslovakia’s _eco-
nomic life.

iti |
indignation among all democratic
circles.

It is this indignation which
led to the passage of the reso-
lution (similar to one adopted
by several unions) by the Na-
tional Council for Civie Liber-
ties, and for the intensification
of efforts to influence ‘the gov-
ernment to take a more positive
stand against these enemies of
democracy.

ization and workers’ rights.

: African probe for WFTU

ELEGATES to the Pan-African Trade Union Conference
held recently under World Federation of Trade Unions —
Sponsorship in Dakar, all stressed that they are tired of
colonial rule and seek complete independence for their people, —
according to South African delegates who just returned here.

The conference was chiefly for information purposes, the
delegates explained. Disclosure of the -slave-like conditions in
many parts of Africa will be discussed and probably acted on
by the WFTU Prague conference in June. : ‘

One recommendation is that a WFTU commission should
tour the principal African territories to examine union organ-

—JOHANNESBURG.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 11