Ifi? FOUR . TH E U UARDIAN

llllfllllll Dull; (Founded In 1M1)

lilltiurlnil no Hes-uni! Cline llull. bun Ollioo llfplllnnsllb, Ottawa. Tin Inland liunrsllun Publinhlnn C0.

Idttur imil Managing IHIFPBIII. J Ii. llurnolf-

Anuovilulo Editor, Frank Walker.

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"The Strongest Memory is Weaker Than the Weakest ink."

CHARLOTTTTWJWN. TUESDAY, JAN. 1B, 1949

Britaln’s Austerity Program ‘

That Britain is making slow but sure re- covery under her post-war austerity program is evident from a recent report by Sir Stafford Cripps. Receipts from exports and re-exports have, he estimated, improved by nearly a billion and a half dollars in 1948 over 1947. The index of industrial production for the second quaiter of 1948 was 13 percent above that of 1947. Coal

i production in the same period was up nine per

cent. Steel was expected to be up about two and a half million tons over 1947. Cotton w"! rayon yarn were up Z0 percent; agricultural machinery was up (in Canadian currency) from 44 million dollars to'67 million dollars. Poultry flocks are up by a fifth, pigs by a third. There is more land under cultivation, more livestock in the meadows, more clorhes in the shop win- dows, morc food (though still scarce) and a greater variety of it on the table.

The steps by which this progress has been achieved under Britain's Labor Government are scarcely likely to appeal to labor leaders in this country who have been insistent in their dc- mands for more pay and shorter hours. Address- ing q Labor party meeting in Cumberland re- cently, Sir Stafford said that such demands were unfair to other workers. "lt is absolutely crucial at the present time," he declared, that every section of the population should exercise restraint in their demands ulpon the nation for increased purc asing power. _ I

What the British Chancellor was saying in effect was that only the Government could tell any group of workers what their hours of work were worth in terms of the work of others. Ob- viously if the railroad employees (to whom he was referring) had their wages boosted while others didn't, it would be automatically lower- ing the wages of all other workers who bought railway tickets or had their industryngoods shipped by freight. lf every one was unionized and provided there was no increase per man hour in production, whenever the Government decided that one group should accept less in terms of the other's product, then its wages would go down. This, under British Labor re- gime, is about the extent of the freedom which the worker enjoys. lt is a strikingdllustration of the difference between socialism in practice,

and socialism in theory as expounded by its propogandists. tiueliec fly-Election The Progressive Conservatives have an-

nounced that they will run a candidate in the Federal by-election for the Quebec constituency of Nicolet-Yamaska on February 7. Earlier it had been stated that the party would nut will“? the seat in view of the Federal general elec- tion in the offing. The change of plan is at- tributed to the fact that two Liberal contes- tants are appealing to the electorate and in so doing have created o situation which poses a challenge the Conservatives feel they should not ignore. In the approaching contest their party supporters in the riding will have a candidate of their own for the first time in fourteen years. This in itself should give some intctflt t0 ti" outcome. The threrway contest has been oc- casionod by the recent death of the sitting lri- dependent Liberal" member, Mr. Lucien Dubois, who in the general election of 1945 defeated the Government candidate, Mr. Paul Trahan. llY "1 plurality of 1,315 votes. _ I

As intimated in a despatch in yesterdays issue, the by-election will mark the Conservative party's first test of strength in Quebec since Colonel Drew was elected leader at the national convention last October.

Confusion In Matsfltlllt

The present situation as regards margarine,

says the Ottawa Journal, can best be described

l as a mess. Neither the dairy producer nor the margarine manufacturer knows what is ahead, neither can plan for the future, and there is so much uncertainty and confusion that neither is

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- 5i. likely to do much constructive planning.

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What was formerly a fight centred in Ot- tawa alone has become a matter of controversy

"- and importance in nine provincial capitals. For

the present at least there are no regulations surrounding the manufacture of the new pro- duct, no standards either of quality or purity. a; Two provinces, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia, have taken a temporary stand against

the product, but the other seven have adopted ' » waiting attitude, want to know what the Do-

ll‘ minion intends to do. While the big companies

now manfacturing margarine can be depended upon to employ quality safeguards to keep their reputation, there is nothing to prevent unscrupu- tlous individuals taking advantage of public in- torost in the product.

The Dominion Government seems to be

' I anxious to got from under-throw the problem

ck on provincial jurisdiction. That means nine ights in as many provincial legislatures and , iiie sets of provincial lows and standards regu- ting margarine. In short it means more con

Iii tho meantime neither the manufacturers

f margarine nor dairy formers nor the trade

__ likely to be too lioen about producing eith-

r-biittor or margarine in quantity. An added

of confusion is that the U. S. market may

. opened to all Canadian dairy products, soma- ‘ ._ ' result of which it is-practically im- faction now.

__ __ _ w _ THE IEDITORIAL NOTES]

About the only product thrit shows a ten- dency to fall in price is that of the farm, and even in that case milk has jumped a cent.

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From the Pacific to the Atlantic by plane in 8 hrs., 32 min:., is going some. lt takes 26 hours almost to go to Montreal by express

train.

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lt is encouraging to learn that, in spite of official restrictions, potato shipments have been higher than last year. Now that the facts are known the farmer's credit rating should be considerably improved. Rudyard Kipling, English novelist and poet, died this date 1936. He was no politician but he knew the politician's art to a nicety:

Man propounds negotiations. Man accepts the compromise, '

Very rarely will he squarely push the logic of a fact

To its ultimate conclusicn in unmitigated act.

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The return of bargain clearance sales is a healthy sign and a welcome one to the closely budgeted housewife. lt appears that the sales are not an indication that scarcities are some- thing of the past, but just good business prac- tice, a matter of keeping stock moving to make room for what may be available in Spring lines.

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The railways do not regard their freight rates on Maritime fish shipments to Ontario as being competitive, because there is no truck competition on that haul. The probable diver- sion of shipments to non-Canadian markets should have been an equally effective check.

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Some difficulty is being experienced with the new Canadian Postal notes. When purchas- ed they consist of the note, detachable coupon and detachable receipt. The method of perfor- ating these two parts makes it easy to detach the coupon, consequently'the payee is often unable to cash the note because the. remitter fails to include the coupon. As the result is inconvenience and lost time, some means should be found to eliminate this possibility of error.

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According to an Ottawa despatch, so far as the manufacturers of typewriter ribbons are concerned, the'war' isn't over yet. The Post Of- fice Department has posted a notice asking its employees to salvage the metal spools used for typewriter ribbons. Officials disclosed there is a continuing shortage of spools, now apparent- ly aggravated by the steel scarcity. Typewriter firms soy the empty spools are being returned to the ribbon manufacturers.

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Ottawa's suburban expansion, like " Chor- lottetown’s, is tending to reduce the city's as- sessments. The capital's population declined by 2,811 to 161,455 during 194B, figures released by the city's assessment department shows. Of- ficials soy the drop has been caused by Ottawa residents buying and building of homes in subur- ban areas. ln addition there has been some ex- odus of persons temporarily employed immedi- ately following the war. ln 1946, Ottawa's popu- lation reached its highest peak of 165,352. i‘ i‘ i

Butter prices are high but, as an article in the Financial Post points out, that has not prevented Canadians from s. nsuming more than their fair share of it, 28 lbs. per person, which is nearly three times as much as the American figure, and is surpassed only by New Zealand and Denmark. From the Ontario farmer's point of view, he could make $75. a month profit on an output of three cans a day in 1946. Now it would take a daily output of six cans to bring in the some profit. ‘I W The British Parliament is going to have an exciting time discussing the Palestine situation. The Bevin administration is being attacked from two sides, the Left Wing Labourites who con- sider the Attlee Government has gone too far in its interference, and the Conservatives who charge it has not gone far enough. Meantime Rt. Hon. Anthony Eden has gone on a sort of Cooke tour of the world, to find out by por- sonal interviews what the powers-that-be over- seas think of the whole situation. I ‘k ‘I News from Kingston announced the death of a distinguished lslander in the person of Col. Alexander MacPhoil former head of Queen's University engineering department, who died on Thursday in his 79th. year. He was named department head in 1919 when he returned to the university after serving overseas with the Canadian Army. He retired in 1939 but con- tinued to act as editor of the Queen's Quarter- ly Review until 1943. He is survived by one son, Moray St. John MacPhail, teacher of mathema- tics at Carleton College, Ottawa. Q i i

The question whether the Dairy Industry Act, 1937 actually prohibits the manufacture and sale of margarine ingPrince Edward Island, while not technically sub judice, will be com- ing up for decision by the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island as announced lfy Prem- ier Jones. Apart from that, the ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada was that the bun on the manufacture and solo of the product is ultra vires the Dominion Parliament, the plain implication being that it is a Provincial matter in which the Dominion cannot interfere. That is the very circumstance which motivated the Island legislation by which it is provided that the Dominion act ". . . . so far as it is within the legislative competence of tho Province and out- slda that of the Dominion, shall him tho force, of law in the Province." This clearly adopts the provisions which tho Dominion enacted but has no power to enforce. We will see in duo course

QQARmAN. _ CHARLOTTETOWN

PUBLIC FORUM

This column to open to the dlucusulon by correspondents of quelslnnn of Interest. The Guardian doe: not necessar- ily endorse the olllnlun iii correspondent;

JJ%OO-IQOZ>M%OB}OOQ PEN-FRIEND WANTED

Sin-I desire to make pen-friends in Canada. I am 22 years old, a student, am keen on general sport, mainly swimming. tennis and fool.- ball, have as hobby stamp-collect- ing, and am very desirous of learn- ing more about. people from your country.

Trusting you can help me with my request,

I am, Sir. out. PETER G. DUDLEY.

88 Chaiidos St...

Crow's Nest,

N. S. W.,

Australia.

THE MARGARINE BAN

Sir, The Provincial Govern- ment should realize that every- one‘s wages were nct raised when the members of the Lefslature boosted their 0\\'l'l salaries at. i113 lust. iesslon. 1;. banning th= sale s.‘ ‘Ilfltllfltille have they forgotten the many families today who have lo live on an lliicmplOymflll. check? They could have tlvlr brciid covered tirith something, margarine had been all0.\‘cd to hr- solrl How many fumlicg l‘\'- irtg on $12 to $16 per wcr-k can afford l0 butter every slce c“ bread at. 74 cents p"r pound? Everything we buy tCday hrs gone U’! in price. which makrs it s1 difficult that housewvcs c-n hardly afford to enter the graccrv store. 1f rulings such as thc om‘- laboi" union law and the marg r- lne ban are carried out rritrh longer. there is tiolhing loft for half the fecp‘e hut starvation. Lei us hope snmeonv will hp alilc l1 battle this mailer to svccrss n“d give us a chance to Fed our it'll: 0110s.

I ftm. Sr clc. PRTNCF‘ C/‘UNTY C'TIZ'N Siinmersfdc, PEI.

The European Recovery Program

(Monthly Revlew of the Brink of Nova Scotiui "Probably the most important fact about the European Recovery Program is its emphasis on a com- mon Eurcpean approach" says the currenf Monthly Ricvicw of The Bank of Nova Scolia, the second of two uumbrrs on "Rccovezy in Western Eurcpc“. Though only a beginning has been made. the in- itial steps towards closer econ- omic rclntlonssropresetita._no. small achievement." In particular, the lntra - European payments plan providing for mutual aid among European countries is a striking exam-pie of co-opereiicn under very trying circumstances. The Review adds, however. that serious barriers stand in tltc way of a genuine integration of the western European economy", "The persistence of inflation and of s3- c-lal had pCliticnl disorder in such countries as France rind Italy has caused great difficulty in Euro- pean trade. The Belgians or the British, for example. are not in a position to accept francs cr, lire in unlimited amounts until there is some assurance that these cur- rencies i, ill retain their value and can be used to purchase the sort of gocds which the Belgians or the British need." O

A closely relati ‘ difficulty 1s the special position of Great Britain as the centre of the far-flung sterling area. With her heavy sterling liabilities and greatly re- duced overseus income, she is un- able to accept unreservedly Euro- pean currencies or luxury goods ln exchange for British exipcrts which are needed to pay far es- sextial imparts from overseas, Then ‘here ls the question of German economic recovery. For some time, ll: has been clr-iir that drastic restriction of Genrnan in- dustry would not limit th- ability of western Germany to stand on its own feet but would also great- ly rostrIi-t the extent of general European recovery. At 1hr- some time, fear of a revived German economy, solidly grounded in bit- ter experience and suffering, has led France and many other ccun. tries participating 1' ERP to take a very restricted view of the de- izree to which German industry should he allowed to recover.

Bu! if the difficulties in the way of an integrated WBSlQTXI Eur- opean economy are great. “so too is the need to sunnount firm. It is hard to see how western Europe can recover its solvency and at- tain reasonable and gradunny 1m. proving standards of living by following any o‘hr:~ road. It i; also difficult to envisage a world at peace without n healthy and more unified western Europe", The Review points out that the readjustment in world trade no. ccssury to restore Europe's iioi- vency is great in magnitude and radical in nature. It requ'res u big expansion 1n Europe's exports. 0t necessity, much ot the increase must be directed toward the West- ern Hemisphere. Considerable pro- gress ‘in been made in the past year but there is no dez-iyng that the well-supplied and highly com- petitive North American market. presents serious difficulties to countries which have yet to ovsr- eome the pressures of inflation and rising colts.

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It to also vital that. Europa should increase her eirooru to other part0 of tho world. "There 1| no nil-ate which Europe can obtain inereu rig stqrpllel of good: from the sterling area for exam- ple. it rho docs not succeed in

whether those provisions have the desired af- fect.

earning through tier own alums nt goods and lei-vicar the [neces-

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JANUARY _ 1s, 19...,

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5575mm of payment. Msreovcr. Errrupeg ability to earn dcllars indirectly, as Brltulti and Holland did before the war lhrc-ugh their trade and investments in such countries as Malay: and the Dutch East Indies, depends heavily on increasing experts to llicse re- gions. It also clcarlyi depends on the recovery of picduction and

exports in the nrcas still plagued

by political unsetticntcitl.‘ Though thr- difficullics 0f

greatly increasing European ex-

ports appear formidable. it is well lin consider fliri consequences of failure. Evcii if the eXPQYl- 911-199’ lives of the ER? countries are achieved, their purchases in the Western Hemisphere will still 11B restricted fol‘ 501119 YCBFF 10 “m9 However. should they f"il ‘ii 1n- creaso their exports substantially, the curtailment of their purchases would be (‘Xiremclyr severe. "There are, after all. two ‘WW5 of balancing nu account. One is that is

lo increase the income. the exports. and ihc olhcr ls to decrease the expenditure. that 1s

the imports. The gap ln nlrstern Etiropefs international accvnls is s0 big that cvcn with EFlP bulb methods must: be used. bu.“ the {are i0 glvr- the pDllClCS of expansion a chance."

The fundamental problem of PB- adjustment 1n.Eur.0l99'-< ire-fie h“ tiwo sides. Otll‘ ls Europe's "m1 m Qxporf a "feat deal mcre. Th? other is the necessity for the Un- ifed Stairs to lmnort much more. not only from Eurcpc but from lhe what» world. This part of "i" problem is only now lifffnfluii! if? iippcnr as increasing, prcdiiciinn in Europe is making more flfiifls M“ nilahlg for expert. Yet. says ‘he Review. lookuw further u“e"tl ‘he ability and ivllllngness cf thr- Un-

ited Stains to increase hcr imports are vital to the success of EFP Call Of The Yukon

(Exchange) .

The Alaska l-lighway has brought the Yukon into the news in n‘ manner that. 1t has not. known since the gold rush days of’ l838,| writes a. LOlKlOll Timcs corrcsparv- dent 1n the Yukon. 'I'here have been few changes in the territory ln the his: so years; it is W" u wild and beautiful land, “WhWC the mountain; are nameless. and the rivers all run God knows where." Above all 1t 1s still. as Robert Service knew lt. a land where “surely the weak shall per- ish, and only the fit survive." What; citange has taken place has been largely the result of 1m- proved communications, and it is‘ upon their further development that the future of the Yukon mainly depends.

The population of the Yukon, at. present only some 8.000 whites and about 1,800 Indians is on the increase. The whites are mainly of Anglo-Saxon stock, and are loyal Canadians 1n spite of their feeling of separation from the rest of the country. It is over 1.000 miles to Vancouver or Edmonton. and their isolation ls increased by the fact that they are largely de- pendent for their source ot news on the powerful West. Coast Un- ited States radio stations.

The inhabitants are intensely proud of their territory, and a strong love of it seems to affect newcomers after they have been there only a few months. It is a fascinating country, with immense distances and its wild beauty of mountain, forest, lake and rlvczr. Life is healthy nncl simple. frce frcm most ot the worries that b:-

sr-t a man elsewhere. O O o

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The Yukon Territory is admin- lstered under the direction of the govetnor-ln-eouncll or the minis- ter of mines and resources ln Ot- tawa by a commissioner 1n charge whose functions approximate to mo” 0t a lieutenant-governor c! a province and a provincial prem- ler combined. and who has wide local autonomy. The commission- er who resides in Dani-son. is ud- visedi by n territorial council of three members. elected locally, which meets at least once a year. A taxation agreement with the federal government was signed lost year, under which the terri- tory abandoned the proceeds of income, inheritance. and certain other tunes and received in return s grant which amounts this year

to £50.50. ~From its own resource: the ter-

ritory collects £175,000, nearly hail of which comes from the lair on