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THE CHARLOTTETOWN GUQRDIAN

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ANUARY 29, 1941

». .'l'llE ~ DIIARLDTTETDWII GUARDIAN

loriilng pally (Founded In I887)

Aiiuioruoa no Second cum Moll. Pm 01"“ Department, Ottawa. Prenldent. lnii A. Burnett; Vice-President. Wm. IL- lilrnett; sOCL-TIOIIS" (i. M. Burnett; Editor and [gauging Director. J. It. Burnett; Associate Editor. "Prank Walker.

“The Strongest Memory is Weaker Than the Weakest Ink."

ivadnizsfiixvjniv unity 29, 1941

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The Ilew

llwar Ferry

There are persistent rumors to the effect that the new car ferry ”Abegweit" will not be ready for service this summer, as was predicted last fall. lt is now doubtful, according to the some reports, if she will be available before next winter. lt is to be hoped that this is not the case, and that the optimism of Transport Min- ister Chevrier when he visited here last Septem- ber will be justified. Mr. Chevrier was hope- ful of seeing the new ferry in operation "early" this summer. However, he was cautious enough to add that this was contingent upon no further delays occurring between then and early spring, and in any case he was speaking "subject to correction." lt now appears that further de- lays have occurred, though this may seem in- credible in view of the many times we have been disappointed in the past, and the solemn assur- ances we received after the long-delayed launch- ing of the boat last September that the work was at last going to be speeded up and carried through to completion.

Unfortunately it is next to impossible to check the latest reports regarding further de- lay. Even questions asked in Parliament do not always olitit the truth with regard to work at the Sorel shipyards. lt may be recalled that last June Mr. McLure asked specifically in the House of Commons when the new ferry would be ready and he was told specifically that she would be ready "next fall" (I946). We know too that Premier Jones was misled on one or two occasions when he made inquiries at Ot- tawa, and came back with promises which sub- ooquently he had to state were groundless.

Mr. Chevrier when he was here might have enlightened us on ‘a good many things about the car ferry situation; but ho was not available to be interviewed on his arrival and on the fol- lowing day, in his address at Rotary luncheon, he left untouched practically everything about which we wore interested. One very important question, for instance, was whether tho now ferry can operate efficiently until the new piers at Tormentine and Borden are completed. A $5,000,000 contract for the Tormentine pier was lot only recently, and apparently the Borden contract has still to be awarded. ln any case it will tako years to complete these gargantuan projects, and the people of this Province would like to know all about the arrangements for docking the big new ice-breaker whilo this work is going on. Also they were entitled to know, when Mr. Chevrier announced that the ferry had been launched, just how much work on the in- terior remained to be done. They also would like to know about the progress, if any, made in providing an auxiliary ferry steamer for the tourist season this year. Wn are otill ln the dark about these and other matters of vital concern.

lt is worth reminding ourselves that the S. S. Charlottetown was lost on June I7, l94I— nearly six years ago. This created a transporta- tion emergency which has been confronting us over since. The excuses given for allowing this emergency to go on, year after year, would fill a good-sized volume. They all boll down, how- ever, to the fact that we haven't been able to make a big enough impression at Ottawa, to make our grievance heard above the clamor of more vociferous and better organized sections.

Stato Control on Increase

"It is significant that tho dispute between

the Dominion and the Provinces all centres about the division of taxation," remarks a contributor to the Fortnightly Law Journal. "Each wants to control more revenue than the other will allow: it looks rather like the robber barons along the Rhine quarrelling over the div- ision of the tolls. Personally, we are on the side of the Provinces not that they are neces- sarily less inept than the Dominion though they appear so, but that may be merely because they 'liave not had lately so much opportunity to show their ineptness. We prefer them for the rather unhappy reason that we think the inevitable ox- plosion will ba postponed ta a later dato that

way-that is all.

"For the melancholy truth is that with ooch successive appropriation of more social power the less ability the State has shown in tho handling of the power for the benefit of Society. lt is as true now as it was sixty years ago when Herbert Spencer said it that 'lt is not to tho State that we owe the multitudinous use- ful inventigns from the spade to the telephone: it was not tho State which made possible ex- tended navigation by a developed astronomy; it was. not the State which made the dis- cov-aries in physics, chemistry and the rest, which guide modern mGHlIfui-IUFQISI it was not the State which devised the machinery for pro- ducing fabrics of every kind, for transferring men and things from place to placo and for ministering in a thousand ways to our com- forts’. Nothing shows more clearly the essen- tiall porasitical nature of the State than these wo s. All those instances were the results of social powor. What has the power of the State produced?

"And yet we hovo tho amazing anomaly that whenever a problem comes up for solution we rush to tho vary a nt who is loast capablo gljfldllngdt. A ral syatom through over-

‘mlsnionogemont goos brolio: call h hopelessly bungled tho man- only railway it had previously dhlvlflds. New rogrilationa aro nood-

lod for banking practice: call in the State which has always shown a pronouncod inability to run its finances without going into the red. Maritime shipping is in difficulties; tho State which has never even operated a ferry boat suc- cessfully is invited to take over a shipping line. It is a striking tribute to the hypnosis that State votaries have induced in the people that after countless warnings to put no trust in legislation, the trust seems in no way to have ‘ imshed.“

-. EDITORIAL NUFIIS 4

The annual meeting of the has yet to bo held. I

City Council

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Perhaps Prime Minister King could do worse than appoint Premier Angus L. Macdonald to one of the vacant Nova Scotia Senatorships, and Col. Drew to one of the Ontario vacancies.

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Field Marshal Earl Haig of Bemersyde (Douglas Haig) lst Earl, died this date I928. Between the beginning of I9I6 and the Armis- tice of Nov. II, I918, he saw more fighting in a single month and commanded more British troops in a single day than Wellington did dur- ing the whole of his career.

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Dairy formers are not opposing the im- portation of New Zealand butter into Canada to meet domestic needs, as was indicated in yesterday's editorial reference to this subject. What they are protesting against—and quite properly—is the Government policy which has resulted in the necessity of importing butter

into this country. I

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About the only point made by Finance Minister Abbot on the tax situation which the Maritime: will be found to wholeheartedly endorse is the fifth, viz.: "The concentrati n of wealth in a few Provinces would make dif i- cult any division of tax fields aimed at making it possible for the Provinces and the Dominion to raise all their awn revenues." This has been our grievance for ages, the central provinces "hog" all surplus profits from the Maritime: and utilize them mainly for the purpose of further- ing their own interests. lt is the business of the Federal Government to see that this is tighter-i, and that is why the late Hon. J.A. Math- ieson introduced a minority report in the White Commission insisting upon the claims of fiscal need.

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An extraordinary proposal has been made by the City Water Commissioner that, on the surface appears to be opposed to the interests of the City. The Fire Underwriters’ Associa- tion offers as a special inducement for the in- troduction of the Sprinkler System of Fire Pro- tection, a reduction in premiums on fire poli- cies. The City Water Commissioners on the other hand suggest that the enterprising busi-- ness houses which go to the trouble and ex- pense of adopting the system be called upon to pay $50 annually for the privilege. lt cannot be claimed that-the installation calls for any great- er consumption of water,‘ the reverse being the case, as it does not operate unless a fire actu- ally occurs and even then aver onlyvthe part affected.‘ It would appear, therefore, that the Water Commissioners in a desire to increase the revenue would resort to a measure contrary to the best interests of all concerned.

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Wholesalo and retail Maritime trade was maintained in satisfactory volume during Dec- ember with turnover somewhat in excess of a year ago despite shortages in many lines, ro- ports the Bank of Montreal. More cautious buy- ing was in evidence but Christmas sales com- pared favourably with the high level of last season. Cutting of logs and pulpwood is pro- gressing satisfactorily under favourable weather conditions but a shortage of labour is still in evidence. Tho demand for all woodiproducts continues strong. The potato market is sea- sonolly quiet with prices low. Production of fresh fish during December was below average. Shipments of dried fish are going forward stead- ily under quota and stacks on hand are low. Prices for pickled fish remain firm. Manufact- uring plants generally are well employed despite difficulties in obtaining raw materials. Ship- yards and shipbuilding plants are actively en- gaged. Coal production in Cape Breton during December was below that of tho previous month but considerably higher than in the corre-

year I946 was 2,885,966 tons, as compared with 2,6lI,946 tons in I945.

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A big and,livo target for the new Parliament is the creation of the Gordon commjssion to in- quire into tho salaries of top people in the Gov- ernment service, the kind of report it submit- ted, the promptness with which the salary recom- mendations were acted upon without awaiting the meeting of the legislators, and the discrim- inatory treatment that has resulted from its adoption. Critics of this commission project, and these happen to be of the Liberal persuas- ion, go so far as to brand it a salary grab, that Parliament has been by-passod in the matter of making startling salary increases at a time when most taxpayers aro eagerly awaiting lower taxes, and they also contend that to have resorted to the naming of a royal commission to do this sal- ary job was in effect an abdication by theGov- eminent of its propor functions. Somo egis- Iators, moreover, seemed to have been under the impression that action on the Gordon com- mission report would be deferred until tho next session-tho coming session -— but the business was all dono a short time ago by ordir-in- council. There was no inclusion of salary in- crease items in the estimateos is done in tho cases of other public servants. It just went through by legislative order. Parliament rhay not be disposed to question the salaries thainsolvos, for such izvariobly raises tho objection that tho dobato is oing lowered to the personality lov I, but Parliament slioulrfquostion tho moans which those, chiefly in the Elist Block, who have boon insisting they were underpaid, wont iliout to oet the situation rectified.

sponding period a year ago. Output during-the-

Ilotoo lly Tho Way

Salary Increases granted Ot- tam’; secondary school teacher; will mean $350 more this you far most. at them who have not recali-

ed their maximal-n. That would Seen a not ungenercus adjust- ment. ~ Ottawa Journal.

Lady Alexander rightly la appall- ed at the accldenial deaths in Cari- ada of which she reeds ln the news- papera-on the icacls. in first. drowning, shooting cud all the rest And practically all of them could be prevented by a little more care

on comebodys para-Amherst News. Women. on the average. llve

longer than mcu. and we think that. their longevity may have something to do Willi their cus- tom of wearing ccrseis. Any doctor will tell you that the human body ls rot. well related to ll5 spine when in an erect position; mankind or- iginally went on all fcurs. as the great apes still do. and thousands of year's of standing erect have not yet altered hls essential musculature and skeleton for the new stresses. Women give themselves assistance by wearing corsets; men do not. Could it he lira: avomen show superior wisdom in thus giving suppcrt where it is most needed?- Peferborough Examiner.

The best. check on enamels-e in- creases in many cf ilie items now released l5 the stimulation of com- pcfilive production. Indeed, the whole value at what has been done. so far as prloe stability L; concom- ed, depends on how speedily other materlals can be released, especially many of the raw and semi-process- ed items basic to the production of the wide range of consumer goods. -Globe and Mall (Toronto)

Busybodlea who more than once have suggested that Canada annex itself to the United States have a final answer from Canada. Canada has clarified her citizenship laws, establishing herself as a nation, definitely wlthln the British Com- monwealth of Nations, and tho new oath of citizenship contalns the sentence: "I swear that. I wlll be faithful and bear true alleg- larice to His Majesty King George the Sixth, hi5 heirs and successors." etc. That. suit; Canada, our good friend and neighbor. and let ll cult us. —Bosfon Post.

‘Letter from a Californian ln- vltlng a Minnesota relatlvg to visit the coaat. and printed in the Min- neapolis Star Journal. —Br-rrr. its oold here today! . Get your fur dost and bring it ouLhere be- cause I really think you'll riecd it. Bring romethlng warm 14> wear on your hands too, and some struggles. So far we have hail very little rain —only three or four rainy days, but I am sure that during February lt wlll start getting quite nice and. maybe even quit mild. Be sure to bring your umbrella out. with you

Hand rubbers too. Bring a sweater or two and warm dresses ....I W821i you to be prepared so you will be comfortable—becau.se once you have the right cloths you Wilbeinlayy ib-even the rain.

General MiicArfhiirb latest character-building for the Japs ls an order- tliat. they solve their own problems. Flpthers ‘who have be- comp hazy as to algerba in llie years bet/ween will understand. -Siral- ford Beacon-Herald.

—Afrlkaans, which the two Prln- cesses are leamlng in preparation foi- the coming royal tour. ls the lmipires youngest language. South Afrlca has two cfficlal languages. constitutionally on a basis of equality-English and Afrikaans. Until fairly recent years Afrikaans was regarded by many Engllslimen as Bgllllfllllige especially devised by pOIIf-ICBII; for the pastlme of "twisting the Lion‘; tall". Actually It ls a language which has grown naturally for over two centurles out of the parent lantlllfise of The Netherlands. ft has been written. consciously, for two generations. and ls now for the Afrikaners. who are the majority of the white in- habitants of South Africa. the general medium not only of collo- qulil speech but. also of the pollfest and must scientific discussion.- Manchester Guardlan.

Four to eight pictures belonging to the Scottish Modern Aria Assoc- latlori, lent to Australia for exhib- ltlon during the war years. have now been presented to the Dom- inlon gs g gift. To Auairalla has been glvezi "The Rescue’. by William McTaggart. now housed tn the National Art Gallery. Sydney "Hie Mirror". by S. J. Peploc has gone to Canada. but ll! "ll-WSW ham; ha; not yet bcen decided. “Curling at Wengeri". by Sh‘ J01"! Lavery given to South Africa, la MW 1n the 50am Afrlcan National Gallery. and Geznmell I-lutchlson‘: "Bnlrnlea cuddle doon". 8W!" W New Zealand, 'ls In the 5616311!

Gallery at Wanganul. ' -—L§md0n Times. A "g, nary loo otariii tilt tlill

ally, made traffic vefy 003mm"- n la pretty iiira .to be Phllowvllli! lndlvldually_about personal incon- venience, such as bad Wcnlhtl’. bu! the tici remalna that an Ice 510m ls of lncalculsble benefit to the grulr, growing Industry of the dll- frlot says The St. Catherine! simaira. 1r knocks out she's“ Jose scale like nothing else. ‘Rita judgement la on the siownem v1 am of the best-known growers of the Nlsaiirn Peninsula, W. H. llunsbeny. Jordan Station, who uld: "This Ice storm does us Ill good."

Prom lie Tower the Ring pron-ed- ed In anclerit days. nocompnnlod by hlo mlnalrels. ln lils resplendent barge slang the rlver to Wootiiiliils- rep to cpgn Parliament, mo Tho Port of f/mdon Monthly. 3y tlilo river dame also tliooo who entered ‘Prolldrh Gale all their tourney to ono scaffold and the block. Hero It

woo that Anne Solon aria oriioll.

PUBLIC FORUM

' Tlilo column Io open to U15 dllollllall Iy gal-ge- opondaiita of quest-loan of Inherent. The Charlottetown Glinrdlln. doeo not iiooelar- tly endorse the opliiloii of correspondents

DISTILLEBS NOT FARMERS: OB. Pl-IIALANTIIIIOPISTB

Sin-In looking "over the pages ct Your issue of the 20nd I was surprised and pained to come across the advertisement afHlram Walker do Son. I noted their statement and propaganda. How they would llke- to have us be- ileve that they are the farmer's friend and benefactor. ixfillo what they do is spoil a lot of grain that should go to feed starving peoples and from that. grain pro- duce the "Devil's brew" that ls ruining the lives of so many of our boys and girls and ls the greatest evil and the greatest cursi- that we know anything about.

If the full power of your fine publication could be exerclsed to safeguard the best Interests of the people-ll you would sound the alarm when the bllghllng. degrading business, the llquor traffic. or any other evll llfts its ugly head you would, fri iiddltlon ti: being "The Guardian of the Gulf." be a real Guardian of our

riios. MOYSE.

WHAT 1'1‘ MEANS Sin-Will the proposed new taxation agreement with Ottawa put the Province on easy street so for as its finances are con- cerned? It ls generally supposed that such wlll be the result and that. the increased revenue wlll relieve the Government of many worries which ln the past pre- vented services being expanded for lack of funds.

‘Ihe reaction which followed

the announcement of the agree- ment was as a rule very favor- able and It was conceded that Premier Jones and his assistants performed a good job. It is true ill-at. we will receive from Ottawa more money than ever before, but ln view of the great expan- sion of Provincial services during the past. few years there wlll still be the necessrlty for the greatest economy in order to present a balanced budget whfdi ls the desire of all ‘Treasury De- partments. No one wants a con- ilnuatlon of dcflclts. o Let us look at. the agreement and sec what. lt. really means. For the year ending 31st. March, 1M6. the Dominion Government paid the Province under dlflctent headings a total of $1,557,483, and for the next five years this a- mount will go up to an estimated 02.285900 per year. or a better- ment of $728,000 yearly, an a- mount barely sufficient to pay of! lust year's deftdt. The additional amount is a large sum-noihlng like it has ever been obtained by any previous delcgation and It will augment our yearly revenue up to about $3,500,000; but 1t wlll require all that money to pro- duce a small surplus, and ln my oplnlon that should have’ top prl- orlty. After that the sinking fund should be augmented so as to reduce the lerrlflc funded debt, and then the claims of rural teachers should receive conslder- atlori.

The Increased subsidy wlll not _IJP sufficient. to enable us to go places. We wlll have to‘ keep pretty well wlthin the llmlts of our present commltments.

I am, Sir, etc..

J. F. W. Charlottetown.

Jerseys Survive_ Nazi Occuption of Island

(Professor raw. Wllflldon ‘in London Calling)

On June It. 1940. when t-he Channel Islands were occupied by Germany- breeders of Jersey cattle “T008110”! the world felt deep con- cern as to what would be the effect on both the people and the cattle. "mil lhet happy air. May a. ma, when llberallaii came, lnfortnatlon 0.1’ In accurate and reliable char- acter was not available to the pub- llc ln genernLJn the months that have intervened since the libera- "011. We have hadllmg to page; the effects of the pacupatlon on the lllimd and the com, in Iitrticullf. Breeders of Jersey cattle will bo most Interested In what happened lo the herds. es every on of avail- lbll! llflld had lo be devoted lo dir- wl fwd mos. lt was necessary to reduce cattle stocks to l\ mlnlmum. Wflllflflltl)’. the great importance of the doll-y cow waa recognized at the outset. and while regulations limited the number of calves that wflld be reared. the dalry herd was malntnlned at almost It; urn-mat level.

At the end ot tho occupation, there were practically as many dnlry cows on the island an at the begin- nlng. although. at gourse, owing in reetrlctlon ln focd eupplloo. portfo- lllllly Micontraies. the yield would