PAGE FOUR

T49? , GUARDIAN; QBARIQQTJ-FTQWE.

ABRIL __16,

1948

isn- THE GUARDIAN

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Morning Daily (Founded In 1887.. Authoria ’ as Second Claae Mail, Post Office Department. Ottawa.

The Island Guardian Publishing Co. Prefldont, Ian A. Burnett; Vice-nesioent, “'11s. It. Burnett; SeL-Treaa. G. M. Burnett; Editor and Managing Director. J. B. Burnett; Associate Editor. Frank Walker.

(‘The Strangest Memory is Weaker Th0" the Weakest lnk."

CHARLOTTETOWN. FRIDAY, APRIL is. ism

An Acid Test

The great issue between Communism 0H0 the Anglo-Saxon tradition of democracy based an human freedom W05 elmiuelllll’ d'5¢“_55ed Pl Dr. F. Cyril James, principahof MCGIll Unlr versity, in an address delivered in reply to o de- fcnse of the Russian policy by is His Excellency Dr. Julius Katz-Suchy, senior representative of Poland to the United Nations, at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, in Philadelphia on April Z. One strong point made by Dr. James was that liberty is a live plant which can and has been cx- ported and transplanted successfully from its country of origin to distant parts of the earth. This he apparently regards as an acid foil‘ 0i political systems. Communism too has been ex- ported, but under what conditions?

”There is no story in all the seven hundred years of Anglo-Saxon politics since Magna Carta," says Dr. James, "that is as sad as the recent story of Czechoslovakia. There is no sui- cide as tragic as that of Mazoryk. There is no rccord of attempted sabotage of a common ef- fort, and of subversive efforts to undermine thc government of o,friendly ally, comparable to that which is set forth in the sober paragraphs of ‘The Report of' the Royal Commission appointed to investigate the facfl relating to . . . the com- munication by public officials and other persons in positions of trust of secret and confidential in- formation» to agents of a foreign power.’ That Report is a detailed and damning record of the iprocedure by which Russian agents, operating from within the walls of the Russian Embassy in Ottawa, suborned the leaders of a Canadian

political party and used that party to betray Canada in the Russian interest. It is a detailed and damning record, investigated by a Royal

Commission and subsequently proven to the hilt in Canadian Courts of Justice. lt should be read in detail by every man and woman who doubts the existence of a fifth column and does not yet be- lieve that Russia can be guilty of the ultimate crimes against human decency, and against civ- ilization, which are daily recorded for us by news- paper correspondents in distant European coun- tries."

Pertinent Questions

From the point of view of tho Government, the annual report of the Canadian National Railways and the statement of Mr. R. C. Vaughan that railway freight rates must be increased still further if the railways are to remain solvent, could not have come at a better time. Mr. Voughan’s statements are very positive and on their face seem to bolster the stand of Trans- port Minister Chevrier and the government.

The fact that the railways of Canada are not making the profits they would like to see, or even those they ought to make if they are to remain efficient, is not in dispute. The ques- tions left unanswered, both in Mr. Voughan’s report and in the Transportation Commission findings, are thus summed up by tho Halifax Chronicle:

Why should dividend and fixed charges on a system comprised of steamships, railways, tele- graphic systems, cind other large holdings be on- tirely borne by the railroad port of that system?

Why does the Dominion Government, cn- joying a huge surplus in its budget, still exact the IS per cent ticket tax, and the high in- come tax on the railways?

Why do not the railways carry out the ex- plicit instructions of the Canadian National- Canadion Pacific Act of I933? This Act ru- qrrired the directors of the railroads to meet each vcor and plan for economics through t0- nperrsiioii. This direction has hccn more. hau- orerl Irr the breach than in the observance.

There lhus appear to be other nlterirrrlivc. which merit at least examinations before the consumers of Canada are saddled with niiorlrcr $70,000,000 or $80,000,000 a year. ll none of these alternatives, or all of them together, are inadequate, then there might be a case for in- creased rates. ln that contingency, however, it was the duty of the Transport Commissioners to see that the increase was apportioned fairly be- tween the Provinces, with due consideration given to existing statutory obligations such as are in- volved in the Maritime Freight Rates Act. The

‘ fact that the only Provinces which accepted the flat increase are Ontario and Quebec where truck and water competition make it impossible for the railways t0._|>iit the full increase into effect, is the most damning evidence of the arbit- rariness of the findings.

i The liew Look

Some "wise cracks" having been publish-

Ied about the "New Look" policy and its appli ‘cation to kilts, Col. E. R. Rivers-MacPherson of the Clan MacPhersoa retorts: "These 'at- ., tacks’ on the kilt occur every ton or fifteen iyeors; this one is the third this century. it is \always a good ‘draw.’ Iut may I remind the Guild of Merchant Tailors, that they are a bit late with the ‘new look’, as the historian, John Moior, wrote in I5i2: ‘The habit of the upper ,CIGSIOI, however was thd Leiiiechroich‘ or saf- fron colored skirt, . . of 24 yards following Jbdiow-the knees when so required.‘ in i600 the "ilelleadli-beog" or little kilt come into vogue,

and set the standard of length for all time. Thus the kilt is of far older vintage than the more prosaic pants of the Sassonachs! I should like to remind those South of the Border, that apart from the length of the kilt, there is yet an- other most jealously guarded sartorial custom, viz., the number of plaits in a kilt. We find the ’Black Watch’ iiilts have 3i plaits, whilst the Gordon Highlanders have one less; on the other hand the Pipers of‘ the former have only I9. There are of course historical reasons for this. These customs are welded into the ‘esprit de corps‘ of all Scottish Regiments, whether in Canada or Scotland. No, Sir! We shall have no sleepless nights on this. We Scots are not entirely lacking in humor; the latter is a nat- ural 'gil.t'!"

- IIIUIIURIAL NUTLS ._

Today lFriday) meets the U. N. General As- sembly's extraordinary session on Palestine.

1| y it rr

The I8 more diesel locomotives coming herc should go for to relieve the smoke and soot

nuisance.

w w w w

Perhaps now that the curling season is of- ficially closed we may have an end to wintry

weather.

w w iv w»

Flyers on Arctic missions have many prob- lems to contend with, not least of which are con- nected with navigation. For example, over the pole itself there is only one course, due South.

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Since Canadians cannot take funds abroad lor holiday spending they will have to be con- tent with charms of their own country. Per- haps reading our local tourist literature would change necessity to choice.

i a w

The tally stick may not be coming back, but golfers will be using a mechanical gadget along similar lines. The score is recorded on o wrist-watch sized dial with nine indicators which may each be set to show from one to nine. What won't they do next for people who can't write?

K 5T 9i‘ ‘k

lt sounds peculiar but is nevertheless true that the only Liberal representative of the Island who was 'not petitioned to vote against his party on freight rates was the member for King's. Of course, by being the only Liberal member from the Maritimes loudly applauding Hon. Mr. Chev- ricr while defending the Government, he put him- self on recordiof standing by his Party whatever the consequences to the Maritimes. I I I I

Trade Minister Howe reports that discussions are under way between eastern consumers and western producers to determine a basis for the price of coarse grains for livestock feeding. He also told the Commons that if Manitoba and Alberta do not move to implement state market- ing of feed grains the Dominion will take this as an indication that the majority of their peo- ples do not favor such legislation.

A‘ * A’ ‘K

_ The unemployment insurance fund now amounts to more than $440,000,000,"the Un- employment Insurance Commission announced. While noting that the amount was large, the Commission said it was necessary to maintain sufficient reserves to meet any contingencies. A commission statement added that the fund had not yet encountered serious unemployment. Six years of high employment hail biirll- it up‘ but a shorter period of marked unemployment would reduce it more rapidly than it had grown.

Q fi I fl

Nellie Farren, English burlesque actress, born this date I848. She was recognized as the best woman ”boy actor" in history, and for years no Drury Lane Pantomime was complete without her. This is the centeiiory of her birth, and the theatrical professions are making a feature of it. She was barn in the profession her lather, Wil- Iiem Farren, was tamed for his Sir Peter Teazle; ho married Lady Martin, and his two sons, Henry and William, as well as Nellie were actors of outstanding reputations,

* i’ ‘k

The first sign of approaching increased hunger for Britons is seen with announce- ment that the cheese ration is to be reduced

from two ounces to one and a half per week, corri- nrenung this week. ln its statement, the Food Ministry sarrl lhrrl llu‘ cut vrir. duo la llrituiif; lowing bought m; looil from the United States Slllil! lost August, but when and if dollurs urn llQOlll available for" buying United States cheese ll will be possible to restore the present ration. At one and u hull ounces instead ol two weekly in Eirgland wlrero people eat cheese in hunks, it will loek more than ever like bait for mice. I Q i W

Special powers permitting the British Gov- ernment to deal with combines or individuals guilty of practices in restraint of trade are pro- vided under terms of a bill published recently. The bill, which will be considered by Parliament soon provides for a monopoly commission with a staff operating in some respects along lines ol the United Nations Federal Trade Commission. Under terms of the bill monopolies as such are not necessarily illegal. However, if the commis- sion finds that any individual or group of in- dividuals controlling a third or more of the sup- plies for any one market have a tacit or express arrangement to limit competition in any way in a particular trade, it may recommend govern- mental action. The commission will have the responsibility also of judging whether other practices detrimental to thq public interest are being carried on by a business group. The Brit- ish proposal isbroader than United States anti- trust regulations in that exports come under the some restrictions. Under United States laws sales to foreign markets, are not affected because ex- port sales come within a statute which allows price fixing agreements for soles outside the United States. No criminal proceedings can be brought against offending companies or indiv- iduals under terms of the bill but eivll pr ‘

ings such as court injunctions may be sought.

-iietss By The flay-

If people would discipline then:- selves in the spending of money arid provide against old age and the rainy day, (iovernmenta would not have to be so austere In their taxing program. - Farmer's Ad- vacate.

Advance showings indicate that although milady ls wearing more clothes, including longer Skiff», on the street, she's going to wear lea than ever on the beach. If she lives up to the 1948 fashions. —S¢. ‘Fuonrzis Tlmes- Journal.

The people who worry ahout liow lirllc time they have to do so uruuy tlurigs i-eririird us iif the farmer ulm said ti) his hired man alto‘! ‘ni-eakfirst: "Well, today's Monday and before we know it, it'll be Tuesday. Then comes Wednesday . . Say, we'd better hustle. Hail the week's gone by and we ain't. ‘ted to get that. liay lri yet."- Iiitcllezier-Waterloo Record.

5..

We have a lot of beautiful coun- tryside —-Ontario, when you soap to think about. ll. is an expressly beautiful land — but. we have per- muted commercial interests to spoil a lat. of it for us. Our roads 51.1 through i-hrirniiiig scenery, btll/ ramshackle ho‘. dog stands, rim; filling stations and blatant bill- boards rob the motorist. of ii good deal of cujoyrmezit, that. is rightful» 1_v his. — Guelph Mercury.

Canada's sheep industry is a. vnnislilirg one. Steadily sheep film‘.- brrs in Canada have liCCIl deterior- ating. 'I‘oda_v it is doubtful If we have 2,500,000 sheep. Last year our wool output dropped by 4,100,- 000 pounds. It. is doubtful if we produced much more than 15,000.- 000 pounds of our $8.000,000-pound t-equlrement. Actually, Canada ia- day has about 1.000.000 less sheep than we lind in Confederation year. 1867. — Letlrbrlclge Herald.

Many think an atomic bomb dropped ori Moscow would silence the war talk from tile Kremlin. The Russians are afraid that. is just what will happen. They are trembling lest. someone in Great. Britain or the United States gov. fed up with Russian aggression arid COIICIUdES the best. way to stop ilie aggressor would be no let lirrn have ivlrat. he has been asking for. It is ii thought that is gaining popularity‘. Windsor Daily Star.

Duty paid, raw leaf tobacco laid down In Britain today Is worth more than sliver. (Approximately 70 cents on ounce.) The duty of $3.55 per pound is nearly six t.nres the prewar figure. After the Na- poleonic Wars the British people thought they were crushed by taxes, but. budget makers were then mere pygmles compared to the men who fix the tax rate on luxuries in Britain today. With such levies is it any wonder that smuggling, practically extinct In pro-Great. vim Britain. is now a bustling ln- dustry? - Financial Post.

American golfers will know just how members of Edmonton Golf and Country Club In Alberta, Ca- riarla, feel. The club's 420-acre holdings lle on the fringe of the new IJJKIU? oil field, yet. its golfing number-s me by no means certain that the club ought to sell its acreage and move elsewhere. Some members, In fact, are said to have suggested that. the club do its own drilling on the rough and leave me fairways undisturbed. The pros- pect. of riches nroves these players inrly as fr. raises the fear that a. new course might. put thorn off their game. - New York Sun.

Canadians have not only fought in tivo world wars lo protect free» rlem. hey have fought for it through two centuries, ivilu every weapon at their disposal. and with the courage of the pioneers triey were. 'l‘hey sllII cherish that free- dom, and they will not, give it. up. B\'9I1\ClIOUgh there are those In our midst who would sell our fr-ee- dom, our liberty rind our way of rlo to n iirrliorr not their OWII. (Iinurlrirnr. urn only beginning to i". irr they \\'Ill IIIIVI‘ l0 fight l'"lrlrnlll1isiri. but. with the rel-lim- '!lll llrvv '\"' Iii I'f'iItl\ i.ir lllzrrt, "lllr _|-r;.l, < rrrrrrir rrl lllr‘ lilirll-‘vi l'lllll"‘l"l*. their farclnliicrs. hl-iull. Ste. i\l.irrr= Hlrrr.

t.

“Builerlioppcrs “as the name i-iirricrl on the srgol. by lu bright si-Iiorrlboy \‘.I\l'|I ire examined some curious grasshoppers (Ill display at lire Royal Ontario Museum. 0b- vlously they fasclnabed him. And no ivoniler -foi' these ‘hoppers from tropical South America. re- cently acquired by the Museum. lind tlic grlnr-looklrrg bodies of their kiud, but were transformed into things of benuty by their gor- geous butterfly wings. With a spread of about six Inches. tne wings have a coloration In shades of reddish brown, and dainty as butterfly wings should be. These winged ‘hoppers have a formidable scientific label, of course, but. "Bu - terhoppets" stilts them perfectly.- Royal Ontario Museum News.

An amusing commentary on the multiplicity of forms to be oom- pleted riowadsya was given by I. M. Mitchell, county clerk of Fife, when he addressed members of Edinburgh Business Club. "The lu- frint of the future," he said, “will have a significant Imr ‘uctlon Into the world In that his mother will have to herald hi: pending arrival by the completion of a multiplicity of forms. "The chaacee are that. before the Ink has dried and the doctors, nurses and specialists have ascertained where she ls to be found~ut home. in a ellnio, or In a hospital -nature will have Inter- vened. arid the baby, in defiance of the law, wIII have been born by natural ptocessee. "It will then

become an Interesting matter fai- rirrhnlo in inw ns tn ivholher the

' PUbllL ruuum

‘Ihle ooleinn la open to the dine-Ion by earns- J “ of ' at

lntereet ‘IhrG-harlottetown Guardian doee not rreaemr- lly endorse the opinion ol eorreepondenla. »

-+oo+0-o+++»o¢o++o-e+o4+4 CAN THE ISLAND BE RIGHT’!

Sun-Can the Island be right. and all the swrid wrong? The question has recently been repeatedly ask- ed In connection with social anti political discussions on the floor of the House of the P. E. Island Legislative Assembly as well as by interested outsiders; for there are llrose in the Assembly and outside of it. rvlro tell us that our Islunu province has laws and customs that. are unique In comparison with 1.‘. the rest. of the world.

I do not. now propose to discuss the merits or demerits of any one of these laws or customs. but I do propose to defend tire general pro position that lire Island can o- right, and all the world wrong, in respect. to any unique lfIW oi" eas- iems In vogue In this counrry. Ant! first, let. us observe that this pro- position is only a particular case oi the general and Ivéll-ESLEUII-Siih} nrnxirn thzic Ii small minority may at limes b: right, and all tire world “rung. not. only from a uioi" n] viewpoint. but also from a scion Lific viewpoint as well. This fact I presume is so well attested rn history, bath sacred and secular, that I need hardly mention pa.’- ticular" instances,

And now llllilllg the genera; maxim as granted, let us get aloiiu to the particular case under con- sideration, namely. can the Island be right. rind all the world ivruiig. Arid first by way of argument lo‘. us YCLTIII ivhat this Island was like half a century ago, At that time visitors from all parts of the world could hardly fall to observe that this Island urns perhaps the most. plague-free and pest-free country Ill Lire world. Scnrcely a noxious weed was to he found In Its suin- mer fields, and scarcely a poison-

ous plant or poisonous Insect Ill its fortsts. All nature was chaste, wholesome and inoffensive. Visr tots especially noted that the whale Island was peculiarly free from offensive odors. About. thirty years ago however. a progressive-minded Islander ap- parently made up his mind that Prince Erlurqrd Island was tize only country In North America, and perhaps In the world. that. had no skunks In the wild state in Its forests. nor yet In captivity. He of course asked himself the question, can the Island be right. In this respect, and all the world wrong? He answered himself 1.1 the negatlvtx-the little Insignifi- cant. sweet-smelling Island could not. be right, and so now we have our full share of these well-known little animals. both in our forests and elsewhere, thanks to the man -perhaps the first-who asked himself the question, can the Is- land be right. and all the world wrong? But. here perhaps some op- ponent with apologies to Mrs. Mal- aprop may very properly protest that. the comparison In this case Is especially odorous, and will not force the comparison any further.

The above comparison however does lead on quite naturally to another important subject. that bears pointedly on the question ‘IIT der consideration. Premier Jones during his premiership has an- nounced on different occasions that Prince Edward Island In re- spect to cattle tuberculosis is Llie only disease-free and effectively Isolated province in Canada; and I am not. sure but. that he said the only such isolated area in North America. It this is so, and we have no reason to doubt. our Premier's knowledge on this point, who than we ask would be so rash as to ‘m- port to our Island disease-infected cattle. or any type of cattle highly susceptible to contagious disease on the sinister plea that Prince Bd- warcl Island can’: possibly be right. and all the rest of North America wrong in its type of cattle? And again; Premier Jones has just. re- cently announced that. during the year 194'! Prince Edward Island (IFZIIIK more milk per cuplta than the people of any other ooimtvgv In the world. ‘Fills is sirrely an ln- lercsting announcement but now arisen lho tlirestloli, ciiu llie lslnliil- rrs he rlglil. in lirolr prirliality lor

rrilllt-rlrlukiiwg. and rill the wine drinking. borer-drinking, coffee drinking. lea-drinking, . ivater-

ilrlriklirg irntlons of the world coni- paratlvcly wrong? In other words nro not the Islanders wrong. sue- ing that. they drink more mlik than any other people In the world? Let. Premier Jones give the reply.

I may say In conclusion that. I have mentioned Premier Jones’ announcements. because he Iilmself In discussing out educational sys- tem has been prone to aver that it is at variance with every civilized country in the world, and to risk. can the Island be right in this respect. and all the rest. of the world wrong? I need hardly men- tion too, that. the advocates of radical changes In our school sys- tem are prone to ask the same question. Ironloal enough too. Premier Jones’ political opponents especially a-mong the ranks o! la bor are now charging him or tne government of which he is the head of posing a labor control-Ian at. variance with any labor legisla- tion in the British Ensplre, and perhaps in the whole civilised world. It lo not. my intention to prove that. the Jones government. In this particular case la right. or to prove that it is wrong. But I do submit that. the general proposition that the Island can be right, and all the world wrong is a sound one, and can be sufficiently prov ed, even ll I should have failed to