LABOR’S VOICE FOR VICTORY

Vol. Til. No. 14.

5 Cenis

By SHARAF ATHAR ALI
Gable to Allied Labor News

BOMBAY. — (ALN). —

: At the largest open air.

' gathering in this coun-
\. try since August, 1942,
| when the National Con-
| gress leaders were arrest-
ed, nearly 100,000 peas-
ants attending the conven-
- tion of the All-India Kisan
_ Sabha (peasant union) de-
; manded the release of im-
)| prisoned National Congress
leaders and called for an
end to the present politi-
eal deadlock. :
: (Meeting around the
_ same time in London, the
_ National Council of Civil
_Liberties, at its annual
conference attended by
750 delegates represent-
ing 1,000 affiliated organ-
izations, urged the British
government to give imme-
_ diate independence to In-
- dia.) -
Reiterating its stand
against fascism, the Kisan
Sabha declared in a unani-
*mous resolution that “our
s country:s freedom can
only be won by allying

Axis forces, and by forg-
ing national unity for the
achievement of a national
government.”

_ fhe resolution contin-
ued: “The anti-fascist and
Patriotic stand of the Kisan
Sabha, together with its
campaign to free the im=
- prisoned national leaders,
) unite the peasants to win
| their day-to-day demands

Weer AEMccdUbobabarcommnind!pmNwTT

) and solve the food erisis,.

has strengthened the
Sabha as a mass organiza-
tion. It is attracting a
| growing number of patri-

a}
Ags

—Continued on Page 8

—

EMA Disupts
Steel Mill Project

Members of the special semi-public committee seek-
ing to promote establishment of a steel industry on the
Coast this week saw in the resignation of the Canadian

Manufacturers Association’s representative from the —

committee evidence of pressure by industrial interests
in eastern Caneda opposed to the project.

At the same time, Mines Minister EF. C. Carson, ad-
dressing the steel committee in Vancouver, declared that
“the provincial government is now against urging estab-
lishment of a major steel industry here since costs are
too high and the future market uncertain.”

(Speaking to Vancouver Board of Trade, on the other
hand, Carson stated that “It has long been plain to us

that we cannot develop this province through the ex- ~

tractive trades alone. ... We must encourage our manu-
facturing industry. . .. This war has made us realize
how extremely fortunate we are in being able to live
so extensively on our own resources. At the same time
it has brought home to us the extent to which we have
neglected our opportunities. We must begin now to de-
velop those sources which have not heretofore bulked
so largely in our economic scheme. In other words, we
must begin to foster our home products ... at least to
the point where we are able to afford employment to a
greater number of our people.”).

families
at the end of April, Van-
coUVer
week maintained
tude that “the call for 5,-
000 new homes now is
just foolishness,” and ex-
plained its
pointing to obscure loop-

ourselves with the anti- -

With five thousand city
facing eviction

council this
its atti-

city

position by

holes in the 60-year-old

OTTAWA.—Will Canada
have a government-owned
merchant marine worthy
of her position among the
leading nations? And what
measures is the govern-
ment taking to ensure that
cargo ships turned out by
Canadian shipyards are
of a type able to compete
with the American and
British vessels? These were
the pertinent questions, in-
volving the livelihood of
thousands of shipyard work-
ers both in eastern and wes-
tern Canada, raised by Fred
Rose in the House of Com-
mons last week.

“T am not raising this issue
to argue that it was not ne-
cessary at a certain time to
build the kind of ship we
have as rapidly as possible
to carry supplies and muni-
tions of war to the armed
forces,” Rose declared. “But
we have reached the stage
where we must think of the

_ Officers

SUA AVNET ELTA A

Canada Needs
Merchant
Marine,
Says Rose

Labor Minister Ernest Bevin,
this week denounced the ac-
tivities of Trotskyites who

have been disrupting efforts —

to get striking British coal’

miners to resume production.
of the Yorkshire
Mine Workers Association,
condemning the Trotskyites,
said they were “not going to
stand idly by and allow them
to ruin the labor movement

—Continued on Page 8 by wrecking tactics.”

city charter.
Admitting that this
would continue to be the
council’s attitude towards
demands for housing, Ald.
George Buscombe, chair-

—Continued on Page 7

sce TRU

City Council Obstructs
Campaign
For Needed
Housing

Because of apathy on
the part of city officials in
face of the serious hous-
ing crisis the “5,000 Homes
Now” committee will car-
ry the fight for immediate
action to Ottawa on
April 19.

“According to eminent
authoroties this city will
be a base for future Pa-
cific operations,” states the
brief to be presented to
the federal government.

“lt follows that housing
conditions will be even
more chaotic than at pres-

—Continued on Page 7

: ATO CCRC nOHRTOMOOOORHENMHHERANREMNRRNS