Elm -Euarrliun

covers Prince Edward Island Like the Dew ‘« s . P every week-day morning at 165 P,1'ince Street Lm» A 0:11, P.E.l., by the Thomson Company Ltd . urnett. Publisher and General Manager Frank Walker, Editor Member Canadian Daily Newspaper Publishers Association Member of The Canadian Press Brawn Member Adult Bureau of Circulation: K‘. ’ offices at Summerside, Montague and Albeflon .u.esented Nationally by- Thomson Newspapers ' Advertising Service . 5‘ King Street West, Toronto, Ont. 640 Cathcart St. Montreal 8», {Va 1030 West Georgia Street. Vancouver “um. rriei Chailottetown, Summerside $10.00 peg ‘n. ’ Elsewhere In P.E.l $9.00 Other Province. and U.S. $12.00‘: oer annum

i3'A'G"I1j4

What Of The Future?

Few Canadians ‘will quarrel with- . the Prime Minister for calling an

election for March 31st. The position of his Government since Mr. L. B. Pearson assumed leadership of the official Opposition was clearly in- tolerable. It is essential that the country have a stable government which can work at long term pro-

grams without having to risk par-

liamentary defeat almostdaily. ‘A

_ The question remains, however, whether the new election will as. sure the required stability, which- ever party happens to win. To bring that about, the winningiparty needs at least 135 seats, preferably more. At the mOment—th-ings may, of course, change between now and the

end of March——it would seem that p

the Conservatives -have -the edge Over the Liberals. This opinion is based on the fact that never in re- cent history has a‘ Government! im- plemented so many of its pre-election promises in so short atime.‘ The fact remains, nevertheless, that in order to achieve stability the Conserva- tives must pick up an additional 22 Or 23 seats. Where are these to be found? 2 ,

-It is reasonable to suppose that the Atlantic region will provide a few extra seats, perhaps a half dozen Or so. Even on the pragmatic. basis -of reward for work done in the in- terests of the region, this prediction seems plausible; for the Diefenbaker‘

Government has the distinction of ‘I v being the first Government in many

a day even to recognize the special problems of the Atlantic Provinces. A few additional seats may be gar- nered in the West. But the prospects there must be balanced against the

. "entrenched positions of the CCF and

Social Credit parties. This is the one section of the country where ideo-

logical barriers have real meaning, I

especially as regards the CCF. _

As far as Ontario is concerned, the Conservatives made great in- roads there last June-—greater in- roads, indeed, than anyone expected. Whether" these can be extended. much further is a question which,» no doubt, is causingleaders of-both major parties some anxiety.

Coming to Quebec, this is. per- haps where the issue will be decided. The Liberals, although they were’ forced to relinquish some of their

traditional strength in June, still re- '

tamed a strong bastion. But in Que- bec as elsewhere a bandwagon car- ries a certain appeal. It may there- fore be_ argued——with what validity remains lto be seen—-that if the Que. I becers believe that the rest ‘of the country, by and large, is bent on strengthening the Conservative pos- ition in Parliament, they too will want to be on the winning side. Should that happen, the new Con- servative Government will probably have a clear and indisputableman- . date. Otherwise, another minority Government——with still‘ another election within a few mOnths——-may be in view. That is not a pleasant pro- spect; but he would be a specially-. gifted prophet who would say cate- gorically and convincingly that the

March 31 election will-make it utter- I

ly impossible.

Valuable Publicity

The Atlantic Provinces have re- ceived valuable publicity in the Jan- uary 25 issue of Canada Weekly Re- view, published by :the Thomson Company in Great Britain. Fifteen’ pages of the issue are devoted to this section of Canada, dealing particular- ly with -the evidences of economic expansion. The activies of APEC as well as of the four governments are featured, and bright messages from the Premiers of the four Pro- vinces are given special prominence.

Premier Matheson in his mes- sage recalls-that Prince Edward Is- land formerly carried on a large volume Ofbusiness direct with Great Britain by sailing vessels. “Today we would like again to resume that trade with our mother country,” he says. “A steady supply of agri- cultural and fishery products is available for export as we are the

WEDNESDAY,.FEB. 5, 1958

in this section of Canada.” He notes that this Province has for years led all Canada in production of Grade “A-” hogs and «cites also our achieve- ments in small fruits and high qual- ity field crops, as well as in dairying and the fisheries industry. He calls attention to the, extensive geological survey now under way, and the commencement of drilling operations for natural oil and gas. He deals also the prospects in the tourist in- dustry and ends on a note of con- fidence with respect to business op- portunities generaly. In another article _this PrOvince’s chief indus- tries are discussed in _more detail, in a manner ‘both interesting and infor- mative.

The Canada Weekly Review is

lished in Great Britain and it has done much to stimulate interest in Canadian affairs. This special Atlan- tic Provinces issue" is one of the best it has turned out. It will reach a wide and, influential reading public overseas, including many who will undoubtedly be interested from a business standpoint in ourimproved economic prospects.

-Significant Appointments On Saturday last two appoint- merits of special significance to Can- ada’s- cultural growth 'were an- nounced. One was that of Douglas Jung to "the Presidency of the Young Conservatives’ Association. The other was that Of James Glad- stone-to the Senate of Canada.

Mr. Yung was selected by the Young Conservatives not because he ‘is of Chinese ancestry but because he seemed to the majority of dele- gates to be the best available man for the post. Nevertheless, the selec- tion reflects credit on the association; and it will enhance the prestige‘ of Canada in many lands. There was a time = when it could not have happen- ied. Mr: Yung, whose victory in the June 10 election was one of the more startling achievements in the con- test, has already‘ given a good. ac-

He can bg counted on to givegood leadership in his post. . '

. The appointment *of Mr. Glad- stone, on Indian, to the Senate was the fulfilment Of. yet another elec- tion promise made by _Die,fen.-'

fact that in Canada a person does not have to be -of the Anglo-Saxon or French race to be_ honoured by his fellow’ citizens. time, no doubt, other ethnic groups will /be shown consideration inthis,

therance Of _ 'Canada’s influence abroad. It will also help in the devel-

- opment of a truly national culture.

a EDITORIAL NOTES

On each of the‘ four occasions when elections were held in the win- . ter the party in office was returned to power. The Liberals can be count- ed on to say that this is _nOt an’ in-

almost bet that-they are a little wor- ried about it. Tradition is a powerful force even in such a little thing. * iv 9

President’ Eisenhower has receiv- , ed another lengthy letter from Pre- ' mier Bulganin. NO doubt other West- ern leaders will get their copies in ,due cOurse.‘If Sir Winston Churchill ' is right in his opinion that “so long ' as there is jaw-jaw there is not like- ly to be war-war,” the ‘same prin- ciple must apply to “write-write”. The more letters, therefore, the better.

* t I

Prime Ministerl Macmillan says he thinks there will be 110- war “as long as both-sides are about equally strong in arms”. But what if the Rus- sians, fresh from their achieve- ments in missiles and rockets, were to imagine that they are a little stronger than the West? It isn’t

World War Two if he had not thought Germany was in a position to win. 1 ‘A’ ‘k

Prime Minister Diefenbaker starts the election campaign in Newfound-_ land. Thislis not simply a matter of starting East and journeying to- wards the West. Five of the seven seats in that Province were held by Liberals in the last Parliament, all of them by substantial majorities. Mr. Diefenbaker, naturally, would like to change the pattern; and per- haps he reasons that an early visit, thus giving preference to Newfound-

land, might help to do the trick.

only surplus goods producing area"

the only Canadian newspaper pub-

count of ‘himself in the Commons.

new and important _

baker. But it was more than. that,’ It was official recognition of the,

From time to '

. or some other manner, to the fur-_ .

flexible law. Just the same\, we would I

likely that Hitler would have started ,

Q

- fellowlcitizens magically convert.

LOTTAWAI REPORT

Horol Problems In Economy

By Patrick

TRYINGTC SPLIT T.'-|El'EAMp- ,

E

Nicholson

‘ .-Special/Correspondent for The Guardian ’

OTTAWA; DO the votes of his

any lawyer or ‘farmer into a brilliant economist? Can elector- al success convert Joe Citizen in- to a wizard statesman?

This was‘_the thought roused by the conversation when I asked Blake Huffman, the Liberal M.P. for Kent County, Ontario, about his reactions to the government’s Farm Prices Bill. V

Mr. Huffman, long a practical and successful farmer himself, is inclined to reserve his opinion un-

ti1‘he sees the answer to two’

questions as the bill is put’ into practical operation. To what ex- tent will the daily application act- ually benefit the farmer; and how will it operate in the case of crops which are in effect restricted to one province?

‘ In his district around Chatham, for example, soya beans and tob- acco and corn are all cultivated. Soya beans are creeping into Man- itoba, Mr. . Huffman says, and perhaps in the odd community elsewhere a little corn or tobacco is grown. But in general, these

jthree are Ontario crops, he be-

lieves.

So the problem may ahise: Are their prices the responsibil- ity of provincial marketing boar- ds, or of some federal agency? There appears to be a conflict of federal and provincial i..terests here, in Mr, Huffman’s opin-

this will be resolved in practice to the satisfaction of farmers. WHAT LIVERALS URGE

In this connection, Mr. Huffman

referred to one of the resolutions approved by the Liberal conven-.

tion. As a member of the agricul- tural branch of the resolutions gcommittee, he made a careful "study of all suggestions. He es- pecially favoured a clause urg- ing the establishment, by agree- ment between the federal govern- ment and the provinces, of a joint agricultural advisory board.

In this column I have expressed my belief that we urgently need a royal commission to make a, deepprobe of our national econ- oiny. Such a commission should. examine the daily operations of the factors which _are the moti- vators and gvernors of our daily economic life. It should \. let its examination‘ and recommenda- tions-range between such diverse subjects as the relationship bet- ween wages, productivity and prices on the one hand, and» the operation of our central bank on the other.

It is a quarter century now

since our most recent national

blueprints on these important topics were prepared by royal commissions, and times have cer- tainly changed significantly since then. ‘ ~ JUST LIKE IKE?

Perhaps we even need a stand-

ing economic committee to ad-

ion. and he is anxious to see how Co nod Ion

The inquirey initiated by Prime Minister Diefenbaker into the United States social "security plan may result in some improve- ments to Canada’s Old Age As- sistance Act. There is always room for improvement in any piece of legislation. But it would be imprudent for the public to conclude, form Mr., Diefenbak- er’s continuing concern with and apparent admiration‘ for the Am- erican method, that‘a study of

& U. S. Pensions; L

Ottawa" Citizen -

the Us. pensions system could with advantage to old age pen- sioners result in any major chan- ges liere. '- , Under the American system a salaried person" pays 21/4 percent of his gnoss income up to $4,200 into the fund (which is kept on an actuarially sound basis, as with unemployment, insurance), and the em loyer pays an equal amount. T e fund has been go- ing into the red, and the rate will

, Progress In Sierra Leone

National Geographic Society

A new roar is being heard from Sierra Leone, the Mountain of the Lion. ,

It is talk of independence, ris- ing in volume as the small Bri- tish colony and protectorate on the hump of Africa marches along the trail that near - by Ghanafollowed to s./ereignty.

The first country-wide election was held last May. Talks on con- stitutional changes to bring in- dependence nearer have been held recently in London. STORM GAVE NAME

A Portuguese mariner who sail- ed the African coast in the 1450’s gave Sierra Leone its Portuguese name, meaning Mountain of the Lion, because of thunderstorms that play around its coastal peaks The roaring can be heard Well out to sea. ‘ <

Although slaves were the chief export of the area in early days, Sierra Leone has had a long as- sociation with freedom, the Na- tional Geographic Society says.

It was founded in 1787 to of-

fer a home to destitute ex-slaves who were shipped.out from Lon- don. When Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807, Sierra Leone served as the base from which the Royal Navy enforced the pro- hibition. The cargroes of captur- ed slave ships were liberated there, and the colony grew.

Most former slaves settled in aptly named Freetown, the cap- ital. Their descendants, called Creoles, are the largest group in the town today.

The Creoles feel a strong bond with Europe and often send their sons to English universities. But the vast majority of the 2.500,000 population are tribesmen who live in their ancestral villages

in the interior. ,

The colony proper is-a coastal region of 256 square miles. In 1896 Britain established a pro- tectorate over a 27,669-square - mile area of hinterland, making a combined area the size of Ire- land. -

The seacoast extends 210 miles northward from Liberia to French -Guinea. Inland, Sierra Leone bor- ders both countries.

WAR STAGING POINT

Freetown has a natural harbor‘ that is ranked among the best in the world. Many Americans be- came familiar with it during World War II when it was an important convoy staging point. On one occasion 250 ships were anchored in the no-a-dstead, in- cluding two converted troop car- riers—the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth. I

From the port move the col- ony’s exports——iron and chrom- ium, palm kernels, cocoa, cof- fee, and other agricultural pro- ducts.

Diamonds are also exported, and rich new deposits have been found. Many residents have ab- andoned farms and work to seek a quick fortune. This rush has caused some scarcity of food and other basic tiems, driving up prices. The colonial government -has had to take strong steps to thwart diamond smuggling.

As in other emerging count- ries of Africa, there are sharp contrasts in Sierra Leone. Free- town, a modern city of 100,000 inhabitants, is served with tele- phones, electiricity, and water- works, A twisting railroad and growing network of roads con- nect it with the thatched,-hut vil- lages of the interior.

factors which so directly influe-

. employment insurance. The Can-

vise each successive prime min- ister on these highly technical

nee‘ our trade and ‘prosperity. President Eisenhower’s economic advisory committee could be an idea whichshould be adopted in Ottawa. , .

For, as Mr. Huffman agreed, the votes of fellow citizens are no substitute to a statesman for a mind attuned to economics, trained for several’ years in econ- omic theory, and, experienced through a lifetime. It is not rea-'-, sonable to expect a politician to acquire these- technical skills overnight, be he a Quebecker ele- vated into highest office or a Torontonian appointed to the Cabinet. '

To reinforce our agreement as we discussed this point, Mr. Huff- man read me short extracts from a thought-provoking brief submit- ted to him by one of his support- ers in Kent County advocating something very like the commi- ssion this column has urged.

said, “an impartial non-partisan body to guide it through these critical times, until such’ body can provide the nation with ya non-biased appraisal..... such a body would restore confidence ‘-and set an example to the rest of the free world on how a dem- ocratic nation can meet the chal- lenge of dictatorship, and achieve the happiness of its own people.”

be raised until by 1957 it will be V41/4 percent. Sell - employed per- -sons, such as farmers and fisher- men, pay 3 3-8 percent of their gross inco-me annually, up to $4,- 200. By 1975,‘thcir rate will be 6 3-8 percent. If'they do not en- ‘ ter the scheme, they do not bene- fit .

-MAXIMUM ENEFIT

The maximum ” benefit at age 65 is -$108.50 per month to the man, plus half that amount to his wife. However, a means test is applied, and if the man’s in- come is already considered~sa.tis- factory, benefits may not be paid until age 72. To collect the max- imum, a man has to earn an average of $350 per month dur- ing' the 10 years prior to pay- -ment of benefits. The minimum payment ‘is $30 per month. This wide range in benefit payments has, curiously, not been mention- ed by Mr. Diefenbak-er either in Parliament or on the h-ustings. Only the maximum benefit has been noted.

The basic principle behind the plan is little different from that governing industrial pension plans already ‘available to large num- bers of Canadians, or to the pay- ment of government annuities.

The basic principle behind the Canadian plan is quite different. It is universal, being applied to salaried workers and sel-f-employ- ed persons alike. It is contribu- tory like the American plan, but has added flexibility becuase it can apply to the Treasury for loans, or gifts, for it is not an insurance scheme. The Diefenbak- er government made use of that flexibility whenit raised the pen- sion by) $9 per month. / EXPENSIVE SETUP

Finally, the United States, scheme by its very ‘nature re- quires a large, expensive‘ admin- istrative setup. Exhaustive re- cords must be kept, as with un.

adian scheme is handled through the ordinary channels of the De- partment of National Health and Welfare. For’ contributions in- Cludfi payments of 2 percent of taxable personal income (a very different thing from personal gross Income), 2, percent of cor- porate taxable income, and a 2 Percent sales tax. ,Thus, every taxpayer, both individual and cor- porate, whether self-employed or not automatically makes his pen- sion contribution when he pays his income tax or buys go,ods_ Administrative costs are negli- gible.

It is an errorto speak of Can- ada’s pension plan in terms of charity. In 1955, contributions to the fund from individual income totalled $101 millions, the spec- ial sales tax brought in $143 mil- lions, and corporate contributions

“The country badly needs,” it‘ ' A

Nosiy Weoiher Sours Tempers

By Herman N. Bundsen, M. D.

Do.you feel depressed and frustrated? Does your SPOUS9 11" ritate you with almost every little thing said or done?

Does your boss seem to make more stupid mistakes than usual? Are you just about fed up with things up to here?

Well, then let off some steam —and blame your troubles on the weather.

STORMY WEATHER

Scientists and doctors agree- more or less—that stormy W93‘ ther (even beautiful snow-storms) generally means a stormy dls‘ position for many of us. As ‘the barometer falls, so does our think- ing ability. We are apt to_ be- come easily irritated. Statistics show that stormy weather also is “suicide weather”. _

Attempts at self-destruction are much more common during low- pressure periods. If you are sub- ject to headaches, you probably will find them worse during nasty ,weather. iBE EXTRA CAREFUL

Sore throats, influenza, colds and pneumonia also are more pervalentduring stormy seasons. Windy, rainy weather means you should be extra careful to guard yourself and your family against becoming run down. You can muster to fight off disease at this time of the year.

Winter, of course. generally means a lot of turbulent weather. That’s why it seems like such a miserable time_ of the year.

So when you become dejected. as the wind begins to whip and the snow begins to fall, take heart in the certainty that brigh- ter days are sure to follow. REGULAR ROUTINES

Meanwhile, it may be a good idea to continue with your regu- lar routines, keeping. them as simple as possible. Don't attempt any major decisions or changes during this depression period, if you can possibly avoid them.

Rather, baby yourself. Make things as cheerful as you" can by treating yourself to a new dress or suit, an evening at the theater or movies.

Try it. medicine. QUESTION AND ANSWER * G. D.: Ihave had one baby who is a Mongolian idot. What are the chances of another one?

Answer: The birth of a second Mongolian idot is not frequent. However-, every once in a while it is possible. ‘-

ma Age Old Story,

It is of the Lord’: mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is they faithfulness.

It’s rather’ ' pleasant I

COMMITMENT , We "come on beauty wl:_ien gout’ eyes, are barely more than a child's, which find and fling away; . yet _we commit that young en- counter early

day.

We come on beauty then with later sight, -

surer to recognize the fierce re- semblance- ’

This meeting, too, we savewith all our’ might '

in the safekeeping of the mind’s remembrance.