Page Iwo

THE PEOPLE'S

ADVOCATE

i

August 26, 1938)

THE PEOPLE’S ADVOCATE

Bublished Weekly by the Proietarian Publishing Association, Room i10, 163 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C. Phone Trinity 2019.

Three Months... $ .50 Single Copy -—-----—--: 3 .05

Biake All Cheques Payable to: The People’s Advocate

Vancouver, B.C., Friday, August 26, 1938

Break the Fruit Combine!

(Continued from page 1)

From our experience, and from the fact that the rich Western Grocers, Ltd., is the mainspring of the conspiracy, there is ample reason to believe that the biggest financial interests in Canada have their fingers in this rich fruit pie.

The investigation therefore should go to the limit.

The Dominion and provincial governments must at once act on the demands of the growers.

The fact that the srowers receive 44 cents a crate for strawberries which retail at $2.98 is sufficient to arouse the people of BC to action —and to foree similar investigations into milk and other staples.

The growers of the Okanagan Valley are to be congratulated on the great public serv- ice they have rendered. We hope their or- ganizations become strong, for without solid organization of the producers and ability on their part to fight for a guaranteed minimum price for their products, all the marketing legislation in the world is useless. They should heed the advice of Dr. MacDonald, BC min- ister of agriculture, who told farmers recently: “Tf the agriculturist had cohesion like union labor, he would have little difficulty in marketing his produce.”

Public Works Program ——_The Answer

HE problem of the single unemployed men

is once more acutely before the city coun- cil and the provincial government, and the problem of staving off hunger and starvation is once again the immediate concerm of the jobless sinsle unemployed themselves.

The tricky provincial government evaded the issue following the mass demenstration at Victoria. Pearson declared there was work in the interior of the province, and gave the men temporary relief while they were seeking work from place to place. Only a very few of the men found work; and no wonder, for al- most every town and city in the province already had its own unemployed. And on the farms there is no work to be had.

It was a scurvy trick on the part of the pro- vincial government to send the men out on such a “wild goose chase,” and was done solely for the purpose of scattering and disorganizing the men, regardless of the additional suffering it brought to them. There are signs, in the protest of interior cities against the govern- ment’s policy, that the trick has backfired, however.

Now the unemployed are back in Vancou- ver, empty-handed, penniless and on the verge of starvation. As on previous occasions, they have approached the responsible authorities in an orderly manner and applied for relief or work, preferably the latter.

Little encouragement was given to them. But they were subjected to insolent criticism, not to say abuse. Comfortable, well-fed poli- ticians enjoying sinecures undertook to tell the men about what they considered to be mistakes they had made in their past strug- gles. But when the men asked them what they should do now they are told that nothing can be done—they are invited to make more mis- takes so that the authorities can have some- thing to “chew the rag” over instead of dis- cussing with the unemployed what can and must be done.

Pearson is still harping on the men who ‘belong to some other province,” the “transi- ents,” as he terms them, to whom he offers transportation to the “land of their birth.” Those who could establish domicile in some other province have long since accepted trans- portation and have gone there.

The group of men that Pearson terms transi— ents are “men without a country,’ that is, without a-provinee. They have been away from the province of their birth so Jong that they no longer are regarded there as resi- dents. They can not properly be called transi- ents; they are homeless men. And Pearson, Pattullo and Mayor Miller,of Vancouver, the city in which the unemployed men are resid- ing now, are, like Pilate, washing their hands.

Tt is all very well for the authorities to blus- ¢er and threaten and warn against sit-downs. Do they think that the men engage in sit- downs because they like the concrete floors or the hardship and privations that such pro- tests entail? Hard though these protests may be to endure, they fade into insignificance in the face of snawing pangs of hunger and the hollow spectre of starvation; and just as insig- nificant become the threats of the authorities in a situation where even prison is an immedi- ate solution.

The authorities have had ample warning, as they have had before. They may as well face the problem right now. Hither relief for all the single unemployed, or the provision of gainful employment is the legitimate, reason- able and unescapable demand of the single unemployed men and their hosts of support- ers which must be granted. There is no other way out. And the quicker the authorities face this stern fact the better it will be not only for the unemployed, but for the authorities as well.

The Greatest Gamble...

NDER the pseudo-

nym. Lama Peach, this pungent article ap- peared in the June issue of Country Life. Because of its timeliness and the information a contains, the People’s Advocate is glad to reprint it. In his concluding para grapl, Iama Peach drives his point straight home...» - “There is a gold-mine in the agricultural sky,” he writes, “but its the others who are getting the agri- cultural gold, after the farmer has produced it.”

= SS

Another result of the long, warm, dry spell is that the lower flats and the higher benches are practically at the peal of the Season at the same time. Usually there is from 12 to 15 days in between peaks of the lower plantations and the higher ones and the berries come in sradual- ly and can be fed to the market the same way. But this time we have received in six days over ninety carlots of strawberries, all Ad quality, which number of cars is the equal of the total shippins of last year’s main crop of straw berries.

This again creates a very dif- ficult marketing condition. But the Lord is so far with us, by Sivine the western prairies ood erop prospects, and now fine warm weather, and everybody back there is eating strawberries like they have never eaten them before. This is as it should be, because it is the finest thing for the health of the prairie people. But right here is where the sad part of my story begins.

ECAUSE we have an immense

country and only a few peo- ple in it, especially out here in the west, and because we have @ monopolistic out-of-date trans— portation system, and because the laws of the country are not made for the protection of the masses but for the protection of about 5 to 8 percent of the Gana- dian people of che upper strata that are in control, we, the berry farmers, not only here in BG, but all over Canada, are working be- low cost of production and there- fore cannot constitute a goins eoncern.

The Berry Shippers’ FPederatiou early in the year, through a com- mittee headed by J. B. Dickey, the distributor of the federation, made application to the Express Trafic Board at Montreal, con- stituted of representatives of both transportation companies, which men are entirely eastern Canada minded, and therefore could not possibly make a fair decision for the west, since their biased and crampled minds do not allow them to understand the situation, for assistance to move the huge expected crop as economically as possible east to the prairies.

We asked for a reduction of the express carlot rates from $2.40 per 100 pounds to $2 per 100 pounds. We at the same time agreed to use a higher minimum weight in the cars loaded, by raising this minimum from 17,- 000 pounds to 20,000 pounds in all three prairie provinces. This would have made a difference of $8 per car, less to the transport— ers. But since the rate to Alberta is only $2 per 100 pounds and we offered to load a 20,000 pound minimum, we actually offered them $60 per car more than they are getting now. And since Al- berta takes about 40 percent of all berries shipped, companies would have actually received more money per car than they do now.

The reason why the Shippers’ Federation asked this concession was not to give the growers more money, but to be able to get the berries to the consumers as cheaply as possible, so they in turn can help by buying more to distribute the record breaking erop.

After repeatedly stirring the memory of the transportation companies’ officials in charge, we finally got an answer, and lo and

behold, those considerate and kind-hearted and all wise Solons of the well protected railway

companies granted us 30 cents per 100 pounds reduction to sey-— eral out of the way towns In Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where we never have shipped a carlot of berries, and stuck out their chest, so as to say, behold the three wise men of the east— the benefactors of the people of the west. Wise men—my eye! Dumb clucks I would call them. @

\ UT here comes the best part.

The berry growers of Ontario and Quebec, the two pet proyv- inces of our great Dominion, can and do ship their berries an equal distance to ours, say from here to Calgary or Edmonton, and they use the same equipment, the same railways and live in the same country of Canada—but they pay only 95 cents per i100 pounds compared with our rate

the railway .

FA | . 2

"

MING

» NCE again the hustle and bustle of the berry season is upon

us, and such as it never has been before in the history of the Fraser Valley ... The continued dry spell on the one hand is producing the finest strawberries in the world. But it is doing more than that. It has cut the largest crop in the history of the Valley in half, which perhaps is a blessing in disguise. We have had no rain, excepting a few drops this week, since May 6.

of $2 per 100 pounds.

This discriminative difference is explained to us in this way: There is much more competition in the east—there is much more business in the east, and what they do not mention—there are many more votes in the east. Therefore, based on these three facts, the rate is adjusted to bear down on the western fruit grow- er, to the benefit of the eastern one.

Zt was our intention freight cars this season exten- Sively, but the dry spell, that brought on the berries all in a lump, crossed us up and we were compelled to use express, and pay the express barons their ex- cessive and unfair discriminative rates once and for all.

Let us look a little deeper in- to the picture. Im spite of the unfair rates, and the rush of berries te the prairies, the grower se far is getting about $1.10 per crate of strawberries. Of this figure he pays 26 cents- for his empty crate, 25 cents for picking one crate, and about i2 cents for packing it. Then he has to haul it or get it hauled to the assembly plant, which is another 4 cents per erate on the average. This makes a total of 66 cents per crate, leaving the grower 44 cents for 13 pounds of delicious strawberries which it took him perhaps three to four years to produce from the bush stage oi his land to ripening stage of the strawberry.

What a magnificent return for his labor! Just think of it. it’s a wonder growers don’t get drunk with the effects of their success.

This is the farmer’s side of the

to use

picture. Let’s look at the dis- tributor’s side, to get enlight- ment.

Hirst comes the shipper; he

gets from 15 cents per case with well organized co-operative non- profit making associations, to 25 cents per crate that is taken by private concerns more interested in making revenue.

Then comes the unfairest of the lot, the railway companies, who take an average of 58 cents per case, for the privilege of hauling the crate of berries from here to the prairies. This is what I wish to bring into the limelight.

HE grower works about four

years to get 44 cents for a erate of berries net for his work, out of that he has to defray the expense of fertilizer, hoeing, cul- tivating, trimming, hand weed- ing, pest control, taxes, interest, providing he can borrow any money, upkeep of his farm and last but not least, upkeep of his family.

These are all direct against that 44 cents.

charges

On the other hand, the railway company comes along, and in order to support a top-heavy, over-financed, in many cases in- lated stock proposition, also to support out-of-date equipment and a medieval system, and for the service of taking the crate of berries for which the grower gets 44 cents to the prairies, charges an average of 58 cents per crate.

What a grand application of equity in a so-called democratic country.

Then comes the broker. He gets 10 cents per crate. Then the job- ber; he gets all the way from 25 cents to 75 cents per crate. It all depends on the number of berries available and on the healthy con- dition of the market.

Then comes the retailer. He strives to get at least an average of 60 cents per crate for selling these berries.

And what originally was a erate of berries bringing the grower 44 cents, has swollen to a erate of berries, costing the

consumer $2.98 per crate.

So much for the fresh berries.

S

: Ow let us look at the manu-

facturing side of the berry business. Once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived out in the west, on the wide and woolly prairie, a young and ambitious man, who tried and did make an honest living by turning over the virgin sod, day after day and year after year, to plant a crop and obtain a harvest sufficient to keep him going. At the same time a little farther out west, there lived another young man who did

the same thing at the same time.

As time moved on these two ambitious men, who started out with the same idea, drifted more and more apart in their accom- plishments and actions. One took up politics, at first operating in His province and rising to the highest position in politics, to be premier of Saskatchewan. The other used up his energy and ap- phed his ability towards the emancipation of the downtrodden farmer.

As time went on, much was accomplished by both men. One rose in politics, as his party was favored by the fickle public. The other worked hard to establish the United Farmers of Alberta, the Wheat Pool, and a sugar fac- tory, finally breaking down his health and being compelled to go to British Columbia, where he found more misery and barefaced exploitation of the fruit growers, than he ever thought possible.

As time went on, both men pro- gressed, one finally going to Ot tawa and rising to the position of finance minister of the Dominion, the other, busy organizing fruit growers of the Fraser Valley into a strong body, able to withstand the onslaughts of those that grew fat in the past on the labors of the producers. Both men are still at their task, doing their best in their own way.

aS fae what a difference! The one

who moved east and is solidly Settled in Ottawa, as long as his party is in power, has very much forgotten his beginnin= on the plains of Saskatchewan. He has very much to do, with the best and highest capable financial ex perts procurable, to try to balance the budget.

if, in trying to accomplish that task, a few millions of farmers are discriminated against, that is only a minor matter. The main thing is te balance the budget and protect the upper strata of something like 5 percent of the Canadian people. Therefore the man who chose polstics, although he has been made thoroughly ac- quainted with the fact that the unjust burden of the sugar tax is helping to destroy the small fruit industry, cannot see his way clear to adjust this maltreatment of the fruit grower.

The man who chose polities and Suides the financial welfare of our country does not see his way clear to remove the sales tax on jam and jelly, which is a semi- manufactured product of the Browers just the same as honey, maple syrup, maple sugar, cheese, butter, canned milk, canned meat, and many other agricultural semi-manufactured products, but all of which are not subjected to the 8 percent sales tax.

He fully knows that this 8 per- cent sales tax is gradually elimin- ating the grower of smail fruits, but in his rise to political power he has completely forgotten how he felt back there on the plains of Saskatchewan, when he was pushing the plow around.

Then his mind was clear and unbiased and unhampered by the powers that be and he felt for the farmer. Now he understands only one thing and that is to keep the almighty dollar staple, regardless of how this procedure presses upon Some sections of the Canadian people in favor of the other, and that other being far in the minority.

At the same time, the man who went west, is plugging at the man that went east, showing him the unjust and unfair and discrimin- ative nature of the setup, going into details so the man in the east might fully understand. This has been going on for years, but all that comes back from the east is the usual and casual letter, stating that this matter will re ceive fullest consideration when the time comes.

But the time never comes. And meanyhile things on the berry iarms are going from bad to worse, all because Ottawa dis— criminates against them. Trans-— portation companies mulict them and the distribution sys- tem is altogether too costly and top-heavy.

Which one of the two men who started out together has chosen the better hot? That’s for you to answer.

But no relief will come to the farmers until they work, think, vote together.

aet and above all

UA AWAN Anan long ne

SHORT JABS

A Weekly

Commentary

By Cl’ Bill

sisi

A ‘Steal’ Wouldn’t you like a YVolksauto now? ha It won't be a very good auto because? |) In Autos there will be no iron, steel, brass or |

copper in it since these metals are needed for war against peaceful peoples. It is being made of ersatz | Steel, near-rubber and far-away leather upholstery Every German worker is to have one, except, of | course, the Jewish workers. And believe me, the Jewish workers who can’t have a car will be the lucky ones, for the Nazi plunderbund has developed © the fine art of giving nothing for something to @ much greater degree than it has ever been done before. :

-For instance, the price of the Volksauto is to be + $396. Each worker must immediately start paying | $2 per week out of his scanty wages (4s low as $6 per week). The ersatz cars will be ready for use | and a few of them will be delivered three years from 47 now. The worker-buyer will have paid in that period: 4) $312. And by the time he gets delivery of his jallopy, 4% if he ever does, he may have paid the entire score) But in the meantime Hitler will have used the 539§) | in furthering his bleod and conquest policies.

W. S A local “colyumist’” some ase @Y SOMES -2sco, commenting on the death of 1 the writer of “Tipperary,” takes time out to sing |} the praises of that alleged war song and “the other © greatest sons of the war ‘Over There’.’ together with a cheap sneer at the bagpipes, which, no mat | ter how low they may stand are still higher than the warblings of the hack writers of the capitalist — ( ) im press. Ee Any soldier who went through the slaughterfest © and used the brains he carried in his skull Knows: that these are pre-war songs written by pluggers’ to drum up patriotism, writers who had no know - ledge of war, songs to popularize the war and fed ; to the boys who were to do the fighting. Neither of them was the greatest war song, nor the second | greatest either. i

The greatest war song was not written by any” individual, but was the joint effort of the men who) ; lived and died in the mud and filth of the trenches, who Knew the horrors as well as the false glories of, the war. Part of it went like this, if I remember ~ right: et:

i

I-want to go home, I want to go home. ;

i The bullets they whistle, the cannons |

they roar, 4

i don’t want to go to the front any more. :

Take me across the sea, where the Alle mand can’t get Me.

Oh my, I don’t want to die, I want to go

home.

That was the greatest war song, and the second ~ greatest was “Mademoiselle From Armentierres” |

How To Handle Hitlers number one fang - member in Czechoslovakia’: Fascists {

is quote in the press as say ing, “We do not want our borderiand turned inte. battlefields.” Such bullying fascist scoundrels never — do want their homes to be laid waste, knowing from, their Own experience as bandits and pirates on sea, land and air, just what that horror means. What’ 4,

people does want its homes turned into batile fields?

Henlein and his boss, Hitler, were both prepared | to spread desolation and death on Czechoslovakia before May 26, but they changed their tune on that date—and one of the reasons why, besides the firm ~ attitude of France and the Soviet Union, was the | secret note (since made public), sent to Hitler by President Hodza of Czechoslovakia, informing him | that the moment Nazi troops marched into Czecho Slovakia, the Czechs would wipe out all the towns and factories in the Sudeten borderland inhabited by the German minority.

So they are biding their time, depending on the: aid of the Chamberlain government, that usurpation) © that Maintains itself and commits passive treason” against the British people by equivocation. They are banking on the personal representative of Chamberlain, Runciman, who is disowned by the people of Britain, being able to hog-tie the Bohemi-” ans and Slovaks and make them an easy prey for) Hitler’s bombers, so that their homes, and not those” of the Sudeten Germans, will be left like the ruins” that once were the homes of the Spanish people. ;

Once upon a time high treason was a crime, but fascism makes it a virtue!

Any objection that may remain in Japanese the minds of the doubting Thom- Spying ases about the extent and influence

of Japanese spying, May be dispelled by the follow- ing incident. When the Japanese steamer, Arizona Maru, arrived at Durban, South Africa, from China, about a month ago, an English woman, Miss Kath- leen Weston, was one of the passengers.

She had been arrested in China as a Japanese spy and as she stepped ashore, a Japanese officer ap- proached her and slipped a sealed envelope into her hand. When she read the contents she turned pale” as if she had had a shock.

To the newspapermen and friends who were ex- pecting a story from her she said, “I can tell you nothing after all I have had instructions in that letter.” She added that it would be unwise for her to reveal the contents of the letter, but that her sympathies were with the Chinese people who treated her well.

Even in South Africa as hand of Japanese fascist imperialist conspiracy reaches out. It is a further proof that the Chinese must be given every assistance in their righteous war of defense against imperialist aggression. So, if you have not already contributed to our $50 fund for the 8th Route Army’s school at Yenan, do so at once. We have still another week to gc. Let us keep our promise.

Contributions this week: G. Krussell, $2.50; Matty Matheson, $2. Total received to date, $33.75.

in Vancouver, the

5 Last Saturday, after doing a little Service chore at a YC school, If had oc casion to travel from Deep Cove, sixteen miles out

of the city, to Joyce and Kingsway. The bus took 34 minutes from Deep Cove to Hastings and Ren- frew. From there to Joyce Road car terminus took 42 minutes. The distance cannot be more than three Imiles. This is what the B.G Collectric calls service! By-the-way, I had only five minutes to wait for the Collectric bus at Renfrew. Telling a friend about this experience later, he said, “it serves you right; you should have waiked.”