From Merrie England

Editor, Pacific Tribune:
Wancouver is fortunate in hay-
ing among her newspaper men
two columnists who are usually
persuasive, Sometimes provoca-
tive, and always stimulating. TI
refere to Elmore Philpott of the
Sun and Ol’ Bill of the Tribune.
As a Vancouverite at present
visiting in England, I always
jook forward to the arrival of
- the Vancouver papers and usu-
ally it is to their columns that
Zi turn first in each of those
papers. This week I have re-
ceived the Sun of April 20,
with Philpott’s treatment of re-
ligion and opium and the Tri-

bune of May 3, with Ol Bills
treatment of Philpotts treat-
ment.

Your readers may perhaps be
interested to read MKingsley’s
words about religion and opium
in their context. This is what
Kingsley actually wrote:

“We have never told you
that the ... true poor man’s
book, the true God’s voice
against tyrants, idlers, and
humbugs, was the Bible. Ay,
you may sneer, but so it is.
Ht is our- fault, our great
fault, that you should sneer,
Smeer at the only news that
cught to be your glory and
your strength. It is our fault.
We have used the Bible as if
it were the special constable’s
handbook—an opium dose for
keeping beasts of burden pa-
tient while they were being
overloaded—a mere» book to
Eeep the poor in order.”

That was written in May of
1848, and it was written of the
generality of the clergy of his
day-

ft think that the context
makes Kingsley’s meaning clear
enough. The date shows that
if Marx did in fact write The
Gritcisim of the Hegelian Phil-
osophy of Right in the date as-
eribed, namely 1843—and appar-
ently he did—then Marx’s use
of the term antedates Kingsley’s.
While on the subject of re
ligion and opium, may I be per-
mitted to make one or two ob-
Servations? it is a fact that
mo honest reader of history can
gainsay that institutional re-
ligion, especially as represented
by the pronouncements of ec-
clesiastical’ hierarchies, has far
too often been on the side of
tyranny and reaction. For that
ne condemnation can be too
Strong. But it is perhaps not
always realized that there has
always been, in some ‘parts of

the Christian church at least,
a left Wing element, which,
despite much official disfavor,

and many persecutions, has ney-
ertheless come down like a thin
red line through the pages of
history. Qne thinks immediately
of John SBall, who preached
Communism to the people of
Kent in 1381. Qne thinks of
the Dean of Ganterbury, one
of the boldest of contemporary
preachers, whose words and
works will be known to most
of your readers, and who is on
the editorial board of the Lon-
don Daily Worker.

One could go on citing ex-
amples of the Church’s Left
Wing, but space forbids. But
here is a thing which will per-
haps” surprise Some of your
readers. At the time of the
Russian Revolution a Church of
Hingland society held a meeting
at Essex Hall, Strand, to give
the revolution a welcome. Mad-
ame Litvinov was present, and
Spoke, expressing her surprise
and delight that a church so-
ciety should be so ready to wel-
come the revolution. The movy-
ing spirit in this was the Rev.
Conrad Noel, Vicar of Thaxted,

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 5

of whom one knew him has
written: “He spoke with unas-
sumed authority. He sang the
psalm; the choir and congrega-
tion responded as he headed the
procession round the church. . .
A minute later he was telling
uS with urgency how we ought
te be helping China or Spain
or whichever Left Wing cause
he was at the moment support-
ing. - - it was very simple
and direct, and though the text
came from the New Testament,
the application was to twenti-
eth-century Thaxted. It was our
business te support the Interna-
tional Brigade, if not to join it
and fight. It was our business
to stand up to the powers of
darkness here and now. Phari-
Sees and Sadducees? Yes. In
Conrad's chureh that meant Hit-
ler and Franco, Ramsay Mac-
Donald or Chamberlain.”

i am afraid I have trespassed

vather long on your space, and’

it may be that you will have to
‘cut out’ much of what T_ have
written. But I would be grate-
ful if you could give me what
space you can. ET happen to be
one of those who believe that

a ‘United Front’ on the widest
possible basis of all those who
Sincerely desire to see a new
and better world is the only
thing that will answer the needs
of the hour. It is the purpose
of this letter to help toward
that end, by helping to create
that atmosphere. of understand-
ing and knowledge which is es-

sential to any such ‘United
Front.’
PETER DISNEY.
Northampton, England. ~
Biankets

Editor, Pacific Tribune:
Why don’t you
get wise to yourselves?
partiality

communists
Your
towards everything
Russian is getting you properly
isolated from socialism in Can-
ada. Hor instance, in the recent
drive you put on for the Pacific
Tribune (and I must admit it
isn’t a bad paper) you have a
lot of trophies, books, premi-
ums, “socialist competition”? be-
tween your clubs and all that
sort of thing. Since you reached

the objective desired, I sup-
pose you will say that this
eritic is haywire, but I still in—

Sist in making my point.

Why couldn’t you have se-
cured a carload of socialist blan-
kets from Saskatchewan for
prizes in your drive for cireu-
lation ? Haven’t you got any
imagination? Just think of the
thrill your star boosters would
have got to crawl in under a
pair of soft fleecy rose tinted
(thats as far as we go in the
red) blankets, direct from a so-

Cialist mill in Saskatchewan?
Up here, in our tar-paper shacks
which the King government
called “temporary housing” four

years ago, Such souvenirs would
be a double-barrelled godsend.
But no, you must run to shields,
trophies, books and so on. With
Why don’t you get smart like
the CCE News. Now, with your
paper and a socialist blanket ...
BINDLE STIFF.

Prince George, B.C.

Who's Who?

Editer, Pacific Tribune:

EI would like space in your
valuable paper to call pub-
lic attention to what is going
on on Granville Street. On June
15, the EWA loggers and mill-
workers held a tag day which
is within the provincial and
federal law although some

ing over

Caainent
(ou (TEMME..

of our city fathers in the city
Say it is unlawful for workers
to hold a tag day.

Qur tag canvassers started out
from headquarters at 11 am.

In an hour. some of them on
Granville were sent back to strike
headquarters by the police prowl-
er cars. What the public should
know is—Did the Granville St.
business houses call the police
to drive the tag canyvassers away
from their premises? If so, it
Should be an easy matter for

all working people to stay away |

from Granville St., and do their
buying elsewhere and find ho-
tels to stay in On some other
streets after the strike is over.

THOMAS SINNES.

Father's Day

iditor, Pacific Tribune:

Last Sunday was Father’s
Day, and like most people, -we
tried to celebrate the occasion.
The motto in our house is “al-
ways try to live within your in-
come.” What a job in these
days of high food prices. Being
Bather’s Day, we decided to
make a splurge by giving “Dad”
an extra good supper — roast
beef, asparagus, cauliflower and

new, potatoes. For dessert — two
boxes of strawberries, 1 dozen
bananas, one dozen oranges, a

real fruit salad and
te top it off. Hiveryone is in
high spirits, oh boy! What a
rand meal the family echoes.
Why isn’t it Hather’s day
every day, then we would all
feel happy. You know, say the
kids, we_ feel more like study-
lessons when we have
a swell dinner. Another one
chimes in, why Mom, do you
make a fuss over food prices.
We have to eat good food to be
healthy. Yes, I know, but the
wages will not always permit
us to buy good food. Then first
to conclude father’s day dinner.
Let’s count the cost for a fam-
ily of six: = ‘

ice cream

Roast of beet ss. oss 22 2 5 $2:00
Two lbs. asparagus ...... -35_
POlLatOes: sya es eee .25
Cauliflower .........:...... -30
Iwo boxes of strawberries . .60
One dozen bananas ........ -60
One dozen oranges ee e- -09
Tees scream, ais 5c ee -25

$4.94

This does not include bread,
butter and milk. This is a fath-
er’s day special. The kids hSout,
“Gee, what a price to pay for
meals. The youngest had a
bright idea. Say Mom, why
don’t all the mothers unite
against these high prices. tr
need some new skates and we
cannot spend all dad’s wages on
food! That’s how the re-
mainder of father’s day was
spent; discussing high living
eosts.

MAY THOMAS.

Pawn’s Ring

Editor, Pacific Tribune:

Good luck to Mona!
the good work on the air! If
the workers win this _ strike,
which I hope they will, what
about the old-age pensioners
and the starving reliefers? <A
single person only gets from
$25.00 to $27.50 per month and
everything has to come out of
it, rent, clothes and fuel. I was
se Short last month that I had
to sell my $15.00 wedding ring
to buy food—my husband would
turn over in his grave if he
knew. The grocer doesn’t charge
less to the aged and people on
relief. When we are unable to
work we should be given a de
cent pension at my age.

(Mrs.) A. JESTUCK.
Whonnock, B.C.

Keep up

Short Jabs by OF Bill

Heroes

HERE are two callings in which workers earn their crusts, in

which they are greeted as heroes oftener than most of their
fellow-workers—coal miners and seamen. In these two callings, too,
they are oftener denounced and slandered than the ordinary garden
run of wage-slave. ‘

When an éxplosion or other disaster Kills or traps a number
of men in a coal mine, those who are lucky enough to be above
ground at the time, immediately don the mine-rescue harness and go
down to bring out their buddies, alive—or dead. They are hailed by.
the press, the pulpit and in parliament, as heroes.

Sometimes they make the front page. Particularly is this the
case, if they are attempting to rescue a mine-owner and his friends
as happened in a broken down Nova Scotia mine a few years ago,
when the heroic miners were played up in the whole Canadian press
on the front pages for about two weeks.

When a marine disaster occurs the sailors involved become, for
the time being, heroes to write about. Every seamen who worked
the ships through the minefields and sub.-infested oceans, who faced
man-made dangers on the surface of old Mother Ocean, attack from
under by torpedoes and machine gun bullets’ and bombs from above,
te deliver the weapons and foodstuffs needed to win the war, was
a hero while the war lasted.

They were acclaimed as heroes then—and rightly so—but when
the need for heroes is over and the miner or the sailor asks for
better working conditions or an increase in their miserable wages, ah,
what a change in the song.

A few months ago a young Vancouver teen-age seaman swam
ashore with a life-line to aid in the rescue of the crew of a ship that
had run on the rocks off the Mexican coast. He was a hero in the
press stories in the local papers. But when he stepped ashore in
Vancouver he was arrested and charged with mutiny on the high
seas or some such crime, for carrying on the ordinary activities of
his union on board ship. Z z

INo matter how high the degree of unselfish heroism displayed
by overworked and underpaid ‘seamen, when they attempted to carry
on, in line with their trade union program while at Sea, they are
criminals whenever they make port and are hailed into court im=
mediately to be insulted by some upstart Dogberry in the Clobber
of a police court magistrate. t

The seamen of the Great Lakes are in the press today. They are
not being described as heroes. They are being clubbed and beaten

“up, not by Nazi sub-commanders or airplane machine gunners, as

they were in the not so distant past, but by alleged Canadians, hire-
lings of the shipowners. They object to an 84-hour week, so they are
not heroes any more—they are bums and reds and wreckers of our

democratic institutions.

One Kind Of Labor Minister

HUMPHREY MITCHELL, minister of labor, in some of his proposals

for settling the strike, has mentioned that the strikers snould be
taken back to work “except those who are under indictment.” That
is the strikers who are charged with breaking the law. It means,
men who have been on the picket line and have been arrested for
loyalty to their union. Mitchell makes no mention about doing any-—
thing to the ship masters who have broken the Canada Shipping Act
by taking ships out of port undermanned. That is the kind of labor
minister we have in Canada.

The ignorant Dogberry magistrates before whom the union sail-
ors are hailed are liberal in only one way—with their own personal,
insulting comments. One of them recently remarked that he did not
know what sailors were coming to these days.

But sailors are not changing so much, although where they are
organized they have changed more than the 84hour week has
changed on the lakes. I remember the crew that took the CPR ship
Monteagle te Montreal from Vancouver in 1922, after her period of
service in World War One was over. :

The crew signed on in Vancouver to sail the ship to Montreal
and pay off there. The captain and chief engineer were that type
of officer who forgets that sailors and firemen are human, who looks
on them in fact, as sub-human.

When the ship reached Montreal, the chief, who would have sold
his mother for a pound of steam, wanted the stokehold crew to turn _
to for a “field day.” That is, a kind of spring cleaning in the engine
room’ and for which they would not have received any pay. One of
the firemen asked him if he had heard that Queen Victoria was
dead and didn’t he know that field days went out of fashion with
that venerable old lady. That crew “was organized.

When paying off in the shipping master’s office, the captain told
them they were the worst crew he had evef had under his command.
“Wait until you sign on a Liverpool crew here this afternoon,” one
of the sailors told him. He did sign such a crew and the same night
everything in his cabin was cleaned out; all his Christmas presents,
all the nick-nacks he had gathered in the Orient, everything in fact
except his mattress. The Dogberrys don’t know so much about
Sailors!

Sailors have no
That is why any changes that are being made in the sailor’s way of
living are those they are winning through their union.

Justice For Mihailovic

THe claims we have made here from time to time, that the Social
Credit movement is potentially fascist is borne out every week
in a paper circulated here called “The Social Creditor.” Z
‘These people, who are talking of establishing a Social Credit
ehair at the university of Alberta and using the public educational -
machinery for furthering their own anti-social propaganda, expose
their connections with reaction in all they write.

Two or three weeks ago, the Social Creditor had a spread head-
line which read: “Six Hundred Airmen Demand Justice For Mi-
hailovic.” That is precisely what 13 million Yugoslay people are de—
manding, so it would appear that the Social Creditor is not so far
out of line. Z

But the content of the Social Creditor article took the steam out
of the demand for justice for Mihailovic. Their demand did not have
the same meaning as the demand of the 13 million Yugoslavs. What —
they wanted was that measures should be taken to prevent Mihailovie ;
getting justice, that the U.S. government should butt into the in-
ternal affairs of Yugoslavia te save Mihailovie from his just deserts,
just as they would save other traitors.

in identifying themselves with Mihailovic, who has since ad-
mittea his guilt, his collaboration with the Nazis and Hascists, the
Social Creditors are proving the charges levelled at their leaders of
that movement, Solon Low and others, beyond any shadow of doubt. :

They should be scotched as the Yugoslay. people will do with 5
their friend Muihatlovic. ‘ Z

ERIDAY, JUNE 21, 1946

rightS except those they themselves enforce. .