" PNHE RECENT CCF convention, held in Vancouver,

April 11-13, failed to give an answer to the vital issues Bia! facing the people of British Columbia. Meeting at time when postwar problems on a world, national and

ovine} : Provincial scale are crying

for solution, and when the

People want leadership in beating off the attacks of fascist- i big business, the convention did not measure up eat 1¢ challenge. The April convention met under sharp- - Ng struggle between the forces of reaction and democ- acy. It met at a time when American imperialism 1s

ce to extend its sway a e greater part of the dea including Canada, and Sahai the freedom and inde- nae ne of the peoples of many : - It met at a time when

“© Canadian ruling class, tak- Reet cue from Wall Street, Peters, through a sharp of- ‘ing an against the people's liv- Be eo forcing the work- ae Seek increased wages aS fie of maintaining their

ng purchasing power. Bree = convention also meet at ing. Wnen B.C. faces a grow- & political crisis brought on oe the Coalition’ government’s n alignment with the Cana- a fe nutacturers’ Association oe oe consequent vicious at- the pt Organized labor through Now infamous Bill 39.

hag CCF convention was ‘a ae to these issues. It nei- 8 ea reflected them nor eA 8ive a lead to the people how to mobilize most ef-

ie fective} : y for th : reaction. e Strueele saslege

The forej lutio

discussion of Canada’s §N policy produced a reso- fetnns which, although it con- Rot Some good proposals, did mili ch eaaatl the King-Truman a haved pact nor did it call for ie : to the collusion between ‘threat ‘WO governments which €ns to make Canada a eee aggression against our ,, -7€rn neighbor, the Soviet Peon, ene resolution did not call for Mmdependent Canadian for- eu Policy in place of the pres- ane which is tied to the ie Wall Street. By lump- aah he Soviet Union and the a ed States together, and ac- ng them of “power politics” CCR “waving of weapons,” the ~~ objectively contributed to ae Anti-Soviet Ped to conceal

cat

be the U.S. im- . pel threat to peace. * “Mmediately following the

naveation, ‘the CCF News car- ate 8 leading editorial sharply okt king Henry Wallace, who t o erheading the fight against Thi en imperialist doctrine. : _@ditorial respeats all the

Slanders and criticism of the

Saily press, and can only serve -

nl (Confuse and divide the peo- “Ss fight for peace.

- AMONG the more positive ac- tic tions taken by the conven- Cor was a resolution pledging

m iN Support to the labor move-

Ret in its fight against the mJectionable features of Bill 39. Also timely was Dorothy

FRIpay, MAY 9, 1947

campaign and |

Steeves’ warning against red- baiting. In her vice-presidential report she said: “Make no mis- take about this... the present anti-communist drive will be- come a drive against any or- ganization and individual which threatens their (big business’) vested interests .. .” It is well that the CCF has learned that lesson. It is to be hoped that it will also see in time the need for unity of all democratic forces to foil the vested inter- ests in their conspiracy against Canada.

A guide to good reading

To recently published books, one a novel and the other non-fiction, are most appropri- ate in view of current reaction- ary efforts to whip up every prejudice and fear to halt the march of progress and at the same time to perpetuate sland- ers and\falsehoods through rene- gades from the people’s cause.

The first is Man Against Myth by Professor B. Dunham, a critical analysis of the para- _lyzing myths which are care- fully cultivated and. protected in this capitalist society. Dun- ham does a threefold job, He shows the reactionary purpose

served by each of the myths he

examined, its historical and philosophical origin and “he an- alyzes and explodes it. His writ- ing through is brilliant. It is a pleasure to read the book, al- most, one might. say, for its gifted writing alone.

-Who hasn’t struggled with a victim of the myth that there

are two sides to every question? —

Or that you can’t change hu- man nature? That the rich are fit and the poor unfit? That thinking a thing makes it so? Man Against Myth is a book anyone can profit by reading. Even those who have penetrated these myths for themselves can learn from Dunham’s analysis. And it is certainly the best book we have seen for a long time to give to some confused sym- pathizer. This book will straight- to give to some confused pro- gressive. This book will straight-

“fONFUSION in thinking and

the lack of any clear-cut critical standpoint could hardly be better exemplified than in a publisher’s review we receiv- ed the other day. Right along with enthusiastic reviews of

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WAROLD WINCH

‘Two events widely publicized at the convention were the cen- suring of Harold Winch, House

leader, for his support of the BCElectric franchise, and the exchange of words between

Winch and Cameron, CCF pro- vincial president. The delegates were absolutely correct in their criticism of Winch who astound- ed all supporters of public ownership of the BCEHlectric by his attempts to rationalize an obviously incorrect and reaction- ary stand. Attempts have been made to present the clash be- tween Winch and Cameron as a fight between a right and left

wing. This is not the case. The-

exchange of words arose from a struggle between different fac- tions in the CCF and not from

two anti-Soviet and anti-Stalin books was a brief review of The Judas Time by Isidor Schneider.

We can’t do better than quote direct:

“In the prelude to this extra-

ordinary novel, Judas Iscariot explains to a Roman friend that he had acted to forestall a be- trayal by Christ! This rational- ization of treachery sets the psy- chological scene for a _ novel that throws light on strange darknesses of our time. Our period has been called the ‘Age of Treason.” The Moscow trials were luridly accompanied by the

‘yast diplomatic treacheries of.

Munich. Munich was followed by

iE foreign policy. of two

Western powers is exam- ined in two studies presented in the Spring issue of Science and Society (Vol. XI, No. 2), Harlon R. Crippen’s “American Imperialism and Philippine Inde- pendence” and Richard Schneer’s “Famine in Bengal, 1943.”

Crippen’s article is the second of two pieces ‘on the Philippines. The first, “Philippine Agrarian Unrest: Historical Backgrounds,”

_ published in the Fall 1946 issue

of Science and Society, was ‘awarded the Pacific History Award by the Pacific Coast Sec- tion of the American Historical Association.

In this second article, Crippen tells of recent history in the Philippines with special empha- sis on war and post-war de-

' velopments. In a clear analysis

of the composition of the vari- ous political parties and— their

any fight for progressive poli- cies. - : e main criticism of the CCF convention is that it failed entirely to give an answer to the problem of government in B.C. It is no secret that the Tory-Liberal coalition is in dif- ficulties. The pressure of big business groups drove it sharp- ly to the right at the last ses- sion, with the result that it has narrowed its base among the working class.

The next’ few months are likely to see a considerable sharpening of the governmental crisis. Already the powerful B.C. Federation of Labor (CCL) has announced it will seek the de- feat of the Coalition: The cen- tral problem facing the labor movement is how to unite all progressive elements to bring about the defeat of the Coali- tion and present to the public a winning progressive alterna- tive. In short, the present di- vision in labor-farmer-progres- sive ranks must be overcome. Unity of these forces around a people’s program could achieve a major advance for labor and the people in the near future.

But the CCF did not even dis- cuss the question of unity. of the progressive forces. The main perspective held out for the or- ganization was outlined in Colin Cameron’s_ presidential’ report. What was that perspective?

Cameron asserted that “before ~

two years pass we shall face an economic crisis even more severe than that through which we passed before the war. When that time comes men and women will seek desperately for a way out of their impasse.” Hence, everything is to depend on the economic crisis to elect the CCF. There is no doubt that an economic crisis is com- ing, but if the people, through united action, can bring about the defeat of the Coalition and

Quisling, Petain, Mikhailovich and hosts of lesser known trai- tors. Recent fiction, so far as it has dealt with the phenom- enon, has followed the formula of Judas. The traitor has been presented as the man of faith

and ‘the deserter as the man of

courage and the steadfast have been vilified. In The Judas Time the characters return to their proper roles, treachery to the traitor, loyalty to the loyal.”

At a time when the labor movement is plagued with Sulli- van and Budenz, The Judas Time is an important book and one we predict will gain wide recognition. —

It is the story of men and women of whom movements are

positions, he reveals the back- ground of the present Roxas re- gime and the role of the U.S. both. militarily and through its civilians in determining its pres- ent character.

It is observed that twice Am- erica came to the Philippines as a liberator and stayed as a con- queror, and that whereas in World War Two American de- mocracy fought and won the war, American imperialism won the victory. With illuminating documentation Crippen shows that in the Philippines the choice was

tween the moderation of Os- mena and the near-fascism of Roxas,” and that a reactionary American foreign policy made the latter choice.

e “RAMINE in Bengal, 1943,” while a study of a specific local situation, nevertheless gives

‘

“not between fas-- -eism and communism, but be-

elect in its place a progressive government, the possibilities would open up for lessening the ravages of an economic crisis among the people. :

The CCF’s perspective is not one of struggle against the vested interests. Its view of the future is colored by the idea that when things get tougher for the people they will vote CCF. This perspective is harm- ful to the labor movement be- cause it disarms the working people at a time when big busi-. ness is carrying out the most vicious onslaught against the population, and particularly the trade unions. It flows from the contention that the CCF should not cooperate with any other” group and that the CCF con- stitutes the only alternative to the old-line parties, and it has been maintained through defeat after defeat in provincial elec- tions.

There are powerful forces in ‘B.C. which, if united against the reactionary Coalition, can — send a real people’s government to Victoria. There is the power- ful trade union movement. whose very existence is placed in jeopardy by Bill 39, there are the CCF and LPP, as well

-as farmer, pensioner and other

reform groups which can be ral- lied around an immediate pro- gressive program.

To continue to insist, as the CCF does, that the answer to every problem is to “elect the CCF” is to narrow the progres- sive camp to exclude all but

_ those who are prepared to accept

this CCF position. This lessens the chances of defeating the big business government,

The alternative to the Tory- Liberal Coalition is a people’s coalition which will bring to- gether the majority of British Columbians around a program to curb the monopolies and ad- vance the economic and social welfare of the people.

composed; some. growing and strengthening, others weakening,

“sometimes to the point of be-

coming traitors under the strain — of holding to difficult ideals mm an unrelenting struggle. It is a book cut from the very fabric of our times——HAL MILLER.

e ' RECOMMENDED BOOKS

American Sahib—by John Meuhl

$3.75. ‘.

Man Against Myth—by B. Dun- ham—$3.50.

The Judas Time — by Isidor Schneider—$3.50.

Gentleman’s Agreement — Laura Hobson—$3.00.

Underground to Palestine — I. F. Stone—$3.00.

Science and Society _

insight into the causes of the problems of colonial people in its statement that British im-

_ perialism of the 19th century.

laid the ground for today’s situ- ation because “the destruction of India’s industries with the subsequent over-crowding of the land is one of the primary causes of her present economic distress.” : ‘ ;

Schneer details the faltering efforts of the British, always “too little and too late” to try to institute a weak price con- trol after prices had jumped over 300 percent. The inade- quacy of the British adminis- tration is laid bare in statistics of death and destruction and the declaration substantiated that such was the result of an imperialistic policy. where the responsibility of government and the will of the people bore little

relationship to each other. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 11

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