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DOMINION-PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE

By FRANK ARNOLD

French, English Canada must have equal voice in constitution

REMIER DUPLESSIS went to the Dominion-Provin-

. cial conference in Ottawa with a big tear in the seat

of his constitutional pants. Duplessis’ “autonomy” dema-

g0gy was ripped and exposed in a heated exchange be-

tween the Quebec dictator and provincial LPP leader Gui Oaron. j

~The constitutional battle was joined when Caron Wired Duplessis for an interview to place the LPP pro- posgals on the constitution before the government. Duples- sis reacted immediately and violently. He called a hurry- up press conference. Admitting he hadn’t read the docu- ment, Duplessis said the proposals were “audacious” and “cynical”, ; :

He went on to state that “communism is not recog-

‘nized in Quebec.” Having thus withdrawn his recognition

of the legally constituted party of the French-Canadian working class, Duplessis then argued that the LPP were “centralizers”.

In. reply Gui Caron stated, ‘There is really no cause for the premier to become hysterical. All we have re- quested is that he should hear our views on a matter of deep concern to the people of French Canada. We hoped that, for once, the premier would listen to representatives of French-Canadian workers, instead of listening to the representatives of the Hollinger, Johns-Manville and other American corporations.” © :

The main proposals put forward by the Quebec LPP were Summarized as follows:

® “It is the Canadian people and not a handful of in- dividuals, as was unfortunately the case in 1867, who must discuss and adopt a Canadian constitution. We therefore propose that a Constituent Convention be elected by the Canadian people with full authority to draft and adopt a new Canadian constitution.

@ “A truly democratic Canadian constitution, must recognize that there are two nations within the Canadian state—French Canada which comprises Quebec, and Eng-

THE DOLLAR CURTAIN

lish Canada which comprises the other nine provinces— two nations joined in free association on the basis of complete. equality.

® “We affirm that neither the federal government nor the provincial governments have the power to amend the constitution by legislation. All amendments to the Ganadian constitution should henceforth be made by pop- ular referendum: and no amendment shall be adopted unless it receives both a majority of votes in French Can- ada and a majority of votes in English Canada. This is the principle of the ‘double majority” which was trecog- nized in Canada from 1840 to 1867.

@® “We demand for French Canada the right not to be dragged into war against the wishes of the majority of its people.

® “In order that French Canadians and all Quebec citizens may have the démocratic liberties which exist in other provinces, we propose the adoption of a National Bill of Rights, guaranteeing to all Canadian citizens firee- dom of religion, freedom of speech, press, assembly and trade unien organization.

@® “We declare that the division of powers as between the federal government and the provinces must be such as to assure to the people of Quebec living standards equal to those enjoyed by people in other provinces of Canada. We therefore propose that social security legis- lation (to those already in existence health insurance should be added) and labor legislation (including mini- mum wages, etc.) should be established on a country-wide scale under the responsibility of the federal government.”

Despite an attempt by the press of Quebec to black out the fact that the LPP is the only party in the proy- ince to submit proposals on the constitution, the national- ist French-Canadian daily Le Devoir carried the full text of. the policy statement,

‘The LPP indicated, as well, that a detailed study of over 50 pages on the constitution will be circulated throughout the province to French-Canadian organiza- ations.

By RUPERT LOCKWOOD

Here are Soviet achievements the daily press tried to hide

O you notice how the press always drops its own

iron curtain on news of Soviet scientific progress, and concentrates on faked stories about the “Russian menace” and the “Red terror’? This newspaper policy is understandable, because they do not want to report So- viet achievements that underline Socialist construction for peace—not war. Here, are a few items that you have- n’t read much about in the commercial press:

® Electric tractors worked for the first time on the

‘collective farms last year. They are now being produced

tn large numbers, because the problem of picking up electricity for power ploughing and other work has been Solved.

@ Self-propelled combine-harvesters helped to bring in last year’s record Soviet harvest, One self-propelled com- bine-harvester, which takes off a huge area of crop, does the work of more than 100 men in a working day. Com- bine-harvesters also took off sunflower seeds, sugar-beet and flax. The beet combine-harvesters quadrupled the

harvesting speed. :

@ A new tractor-drawn cotton-picker, with pneumatic mechanism to suck the cotton into special bunkers, is at work in large numbers in tHe Soviet fields. It replaces the labor of 40 men.

@ Vastly improved television sets will soon be in Soviet homes. They are much more simple in construction, cost less and are easier to handle than previous models. The Sets, according to Soviet News, provide perfect reception and a non-fadihg, high-quality image.

@ The new Soviet “Donbas” coal-cutter, which fully meéchanizes coal extraction, has doubled and trebled pro- ductivity where used.

@ A special bulldozer for railway construction work is being produced at Tula, The new machine mechanizes

ballasting and snow removal and does the work of 400 men,

@ Employees at the Stalin plant in Novo-Kramatorsk have mastered the output of “striding excavators”, which cut 7,357 cubic feet of coal per hour. The machine is also used on big building sites.

@ One-cylinder semi-diesels which, working in station- ary conditions, take the place of a tractor, are now being mass-produced in the Ukraine.

@ A newly invented machine in the Ukraine is loading a 3-ton lorry with sugar-beets in three minutes,

@® Ivanovo flax-spinners used a special emulsion which »

protects spinners’ hands from industrial disease once prevalent in the industry. x

@ WNew-type prefabricated houses in the Soviet Union have double walls, with two thin layers of aluminum foil inside. The air-gap between the layers serves as a heat insulator. Four-inch wall, which includes the air-gap, retains more warmth than the most massive brick wall. Plastics are used instead of conventional face work.

@ Soviet surgeon Golosnitsky operated successfully for the first time in medical history on a double wound of the heart. Working at top speed, he applied four stitches to one wound and six to the other, The injured man is about again. | ; ‘ :

@ More durable synthetic rubber tires carry a truck nearly 19,000 miles of highways and country roads, whereas American tires turned out during the war lasted only 11,000 miles in the same conditions. ©

® A Latvian linoleum factory discovered a new method

of making linoleum, which replaces expensive quick-dry- |

ing oils like linseed with other materials. The production time for linoleum has been cut by two-thirds,

LABOR FOCUS J. B. SALSBERG

Carry petition into union, shops

T ISN’T accidental that the World Federation of Trade Unions, which speaks for more than 70 million organized workers, has placed the tasks of fighting against the menace of imperialist war in foremost place. This is because the danger of war is very real and it is in the spirit of the great past of organized labor to fight against imper- jalist wars. ‘ ‘ From the moment that workers began to unite into their most elementary class organization, the trade union, they also began to act consciously and unitedly against the wars which the ruling class conducted for their own en- richment. This was so in European countries and also in the New World when the labor movement was formed. Read the preambles of practically all early unions and you will find the resolve to not only fight against class exploit- ation but also against war. ‘ ‘

Only when the rulers of the richest imperialist coun-

-tries began to bribe and corrupt small sections’ of the

working class at the expense of the majority, and when they secured the services of labor leaders who became their “lieutenants in the. ranks of labor’? did working class op- position to predatory wars begin to suffer. Such leaders lined up with their respective imperialist rulers to fight their fellow workers in other countries. This was the role of the corrupted “labor leaders’’ in Kaiser’s Germany, in the Russia of the Tsars, in MacDonald’s Britain and in all other capitalist countries.

Today the issues are sharper. Victory over fascism and the splitting of the atom created conditions for lasting peace and for unparalleled economic and. social progress. Yet we are faced with alarming perspectives of the most criminal drives to war by world reaction led by Wall Street and with the perversion of the greatest scientific discovery for devastation.

6.

Should the whole union movement spring to action against these dangers? The interests of the common people and plain decency would say that it should do just that. Unfortunately in the U.S. the AFL and CIO chiefs sur- rendered an independent working class position. Wall Street and the White House speak for them. In Canada the official union leadership repeat External Affairs Min- ister Lester Pearson’s words on foreign affairs.

It is the left wing, the genuine progressives and the great union rank and file, who hold up the traditional working class banner of struggle for peace. It is they who constitute the only articulate opposition to the war policies of our own imperialists who attached themselves to the war chariot of Wall Street.

At the moment the Ban the Bomb petition of the Peace Congress is being circulated in unions and work- shops. If I could reach the thousands of militant unionists personally, I would say:

“Brother, don’t fear and don’t let anyone in- timidate you. When you take the Ban the Bomb peti- tion into your factory you are rendering a supreme service to your family, your union, the whole working class, your country and humanity at large. Don't shrink from this. You will put to shame those of your leaders who sabotage the peace fight. Y our mates and your neighbors in due time’ will hold you in higher esteem for what you are now doing, as they will despise those who hinder you.”

The military mind

HEN the U.S. entered the war, Einstein—

now a life professor at the Institute for Ad- vanced Study at Princeton, N.J.—wrote President Roosevelt proposing that efforts be made to split the atom. Roosevelt appointed: Henry Wallace to inves- tigate whether taking the chance was worth going to the immense expense involved. Wallace contacted other refugee scientists, decided it was worth a try.

Over the objections of military men, the Man- hattan Project was launched. Yet recently a military man testified that the Manhattan Project considered Einstein a poor security risk and was careful not to let him know what was going on. (Jokesters said it was like not telling God about the Creation.)

—wNational Guardian.

netition!

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JANUANRY wW, Ivovu—cAGE 9

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