4 WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER From Page 1 "Congo Scene’ power resources awaiting development are the greatest in the world. Its exports come close to three billion dollars a year, a fact that explains the continuing interest of its one-time exploiters. Until 1908, this country was the scene of the cruellest form of colonial exploitation, when it was the exclusive property of one man, King Leopold II of Belgium. Historians report that the population which once was 20,000,000 was reduced to the present 12,000,000 by the cruelties practiced in the ruthless search for rubber and ivory. To prove their efficiency, the bosses of native labour gangs used to bring in basket of hands, for mutilation was the chief weapon of the terrorist rule. Administration improved, when King Leopold was forced to turn over the country to the Belgian Govern- ment, but conditions continued to prevail which have a bearing on the present situation. The Belgian Government established a system of state capitalism by which it could dominate the large corporations engaged in extracting the wealth of the country. Five enormous corporations controlled 70 per cent of the country’s wealth. It represented a concentra- tion of economic power, unprecedented in the entire world. The Belgian state extracted both dividends and taxes from these corporations in which it held the controlling interest. The Congolese cow was milked at both ends. The great weakness of the Belgian administration was that it refused to grant the natives any opportunity to secure an advanced education for fear that they would demand an increasing share in the shaping of their own affairs. The world was warned on more than one occasion that the Belgians were trying to curb a force that would eventually become irresistible. The natives were kept isolated from world trends, on the pretext that they should not learn their lessons of self-determination “before they were ready.” The natives were not allowed to cultivate a sense of responsibility. It is also reported that Belgian interests allowed Congo independence suddenly, in the hope that Congolese rule would soon collapse, and that the country would demand ‘the return of Belgian administration. There is also good ground for the suspicion that Belgian interests are behind the secessionist move in mineral-rich Katanga province. Trade union forces across the world are supporting the policy enunciated by Secretary-General Dag Ham- marskjold of the United Nations. Aid to restore order in the new republic must be conducted with strict im- partiality, and without provocation of native opinion. The attempted interference by Soviet interests is to be deplored. The Soviet brand of colonialism or im- perialism has proven no better than the Belgian, when the results and terms of freedom in the Soviet satellite countries are measured. However painful the process may prove to be, the Congolese people have the undeniable right to work their way through the wreckage of Belgian colonialism to the democratic freedoms professed by the western world. Inflation Raises Value Of Human Body The declining value of the individual is so widely deplored nowadays that we note a counter trend with particular satisfaction. Cynics used to disparage humanity by declaring that a man was made by 94 cents worth of common chemicals. : The current quotation, computed by Dr. Albert L. Lenninger of the John Hopkins school of medicine with proper attention to inflation, is $5.66.—Milwaukee Journal. Publication date of the next issue of the B.C. LUMBER WORKER is September 15th. Deadline for ad copy is September Ist and for news copy September 9th. THE WESTERN CANADIAN & Tl Hova 8 wir Slee PUBLISHED TWICE MONTHLY ON THE FIRST AND THIRD THURSDAYS BY International Woodworkers of America = a (AFL-CIO-CLC) Regional Council No. 1 qe § REGIONAL OFFICERS: President reco ru amet ewes er TOe 1 MOLES ist Vice-President . ee ieecreererers Jack Moore 2nd Vice-President ..... an nce BOP Be 8rd Vice-President Se TM Liew dead Secretary-Treasurerr .....----.-0-----————-- International Board Members ~.... Walter F. Allen S. M. Hodgson Address all communications to GEORGE H. MITCHELL, Secretary-Treasurer 2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. TR 4-5261 - 2 tes...........--$2.00 per annum eee i oprenentative f &. A. Spencer Post Office Dept., Ottawa cond Class Mail, Authorized 28, SOPIES PRINTED IN THIS ISSUE NEWS ITEM- PRINCE GEORGE BOARD OF TRADE RAPS EDITOR FOR PRINTING PESSIMISTIC NEWS STORIES ABOUT THE LOCAL UNEMPLOYMENT SITUATION... MISS SMITH, AT THE REQUEST OF THE BOARD OF TRADE, ARE NOT TO BE REFERRED TO AS THE UNEMPLOYED ~ BUT AS THESE APPLICANTS POTENTIAL EMPLOYEES. Old Public Sale Notice "Sign Of The Times” Editor’s note: The following, submitted by Mr. Archie Moore of New Westminster, is an exact copy of an old public sate bill of the year 1849, at Versailess, in Kentucky, and gives the reader some idea of the conditions of that time. PUBLIC SALE Feb. 20th, 1849 Having sold me farm and I am leaving for the Gold fields of California, by ox team on March Ist, 1849, I will sell all of my personal property, except 2 ox teams, Buck and Ben, Tom and Jerry, consisting of the following: Two milk cows, One Gray Mare and Colt, one pair of oxen, One yolk, one baby Yoke, two ox carts, one iron plow with wood mold board, 500 feet of poplar weather boards, 1000 3 foot clap boards, 1500 10 foot fence rails, one 60 gallon soap kettle, 85 sugar troughs made of white ash timber, 10 gallons maple syrup, two spinning wheels, 20 Ibs. mutton tallow, one loom made by Jerry Wilson, 300 ground poles, 100 split hoops, 100 empty barrels, one 32 gallon barrel of Johnson- Millar whiskey seven year old, 20 gallons of apple brandy, one 40 gallon copper still, 4 sides of oak tanned leather, One half interest in tan yard, one dozen wooden pitch forks, one 32 caliber rifle made by Ben Miller, One bullet mold, one powder horn, 50 gallons soft soap, ham, bacon and lard, 40 gallons of Sorghum, six head of fox hounds, all soft mouthed but one. At the same time I will sell 6 Negro slaves, 2 men 35 and 50 years old, same party must buy all as I will not separate them. Terms of sale, Cash in hand or note to draw 4 percent interest, with Rob. McConnell security. My nome is Two miles south of Versailess, Ky. on McConnell- Ferry Pike. Sale will begin at 8 O’clock A.M. Plenty to eat and drink on the grounds. Volkswagen Wins Court Case Anti-union management of Volkswagen Canada Ltd. has again blocked an organizing drive by the United Automobile Workers of America. A UAW application for certifi- cation at Volkswagen's suburban Scarboro plant was dismissed by the Board on a technical issue. Meantime, Volkswagen, dupli- cating the pattern established in 1948 when the company crushed an earlier UAW move, fired six employees—all members of the union’s organizing committee. The UAW charged the company with dismissing the six for union activity but York County Judge F. J. McRae, acting as a commis- sioner under the labor act, ruled that the union had failed to pro- vide sufficient proof to support its case. As New 1958 SERVEL KEROSENE REFIGERATOR in top condition. Will crate. $250.00. MRS. McKEE 116 E. 16th Avenue, Vancouver Phone TR 9-3693 i nt Socialist Thoughts It may be necessary for state-owned firms to be estab- lished in areas of unemploy- ment. —Hugh Gaitskell, leader of Britain’s Labor Party. INDUSTRIAL FIRST ASSOCIATION OF B Duncan Lake Cowichan HANEY Printers of The Western Canadian Lumber Worker “THE STORE WITH TH HANEY * WORK. SPORT or DRESS LIMITED PRINTERS AND LITHOGRAPHERS 944 RICHARDS STREET MUtue!l 1-6338 - 6339 Phone 1600 The Fifteenth Annual Convention of Industrial First Aid Attendants will be held on September 30th and October 1st, 1960. For further information communicate with THE INDUSTRIAL FIRST AID ATTENDANTS 152 West Hastings St., Vancouver 3, B.C. BUSINESS GUIDE ESQUIRE MEN’S WEAR (Graham Mowatt) Complete Stock of Work and Dress Clothing WOODWARD STORES (PORT ALBERNI) LTD. “YOUR FAMILY SHOPPING CENTRE” Closed Wednesdays All Day AID CONVENTION RITISH COLUMBIA DUNCAN BUSINESS GUIDE LOUTET AGENCIES LTD. INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE J. Lindsay Loutet Gordon R. Loutet 131 Jubilee St. S. Shore Road. E POPULAR BRANDS” BRITISH COLUMBIA PORT ALBERNI BUSINESS GUIDE MacGREGOR’S MEN’S WEAR For Everything A Man Wears We Can Afford To Sell The ..-- * BEST For LESS! Hours: 9 - 5:30