' Presents‘ Case For Rural Mail y Carriers

- ery constituency

l

Following are excerpts from the Ransard report of statements made by lyir. W. Chester 5. MeLure, Pro- gressive Conservative member for Queen's, in the House of Common: recently, the House being in com- mittee on discussion of mall con- tracts:

Mr. MoLure: "Mr. Chairman. last year, on February i2, the hon. Postmaster General moved a, simi- lar resolution, reading: .

“That it is expedient to present a bill to authorize the payment oi moneys under a mall contract. sup- plemental to the amount agreed to

be paid under the contract, and for the continuance of the pay- ment of bonuses in respect of

mail contracts, presently authoriz- ed by order in council, as supple- mental payments under the propos- ed act."

On that resolution there was con- siderable discussion in the house with reference to mail contzacts and the obligations of mail cour- iers, in which a great number of members, representing almost ev- in Canada. took part. There was a general request at, that time that a special commit- tee be set up to look into the prob- lems of the rural mail couriers throughout Canada. Not only one but several members urged upon the Postmaster General the set- ting up of a special committee "for that purpose, and the Postmastnr General said. at page 374 oi Han- sard: "I have no objection to hav- ing a commit-tee consider this matter in an effort to improve the service."

Cites Hanna-rd

You will note, Mr. Chairman. that at that time the Postmaster General was rather in favour oi a special committee being set up. One year passed, and then on Febru- ary 10, 1948. I directed this ques-

' tion to the Postmaster General and

the Prime Minister. 1t will be found at page 1039 of Hansard of February 10, 1948:

.“Is 1t the intention of the gov- ernment to set up a $080131 Wm‘ mittee of the house to study the problems of the rural mail cour- iers in order to give these most faithful servants a living wage?"

The Postmaster General rcphed".

"It is not the intention oi the government to establish a coin- mittee, but as I said before, a bill will be brought in to give authority

to make further supplementary w» Dam: at‘a loss to understand the

reluctance of the Postmaster Gen- eral to having- a special committee set up in the best interests of his own department. It is difficult to understand why such a commit- tee should not have been set up t0 study this serious problem this ses- sion. n!‘ Otherwise how are the rural mad couriers to know where they m“ with reference to their contracts? They have no security what-Weller once their contract e-Ylllffl- v6“; icw officials of the Eiwemmen stand in that position‘ and I think it is time that we save eve-elder” tion to these faithful mail cour- 1am I; we glue them no support at this time. once the“ "mmm is expired, we can say of them. “The last state of that man i5 worse than the first." That is this} position we are leavinfl 0“! ma contractors in tonal’-

Want Living W559

The mail couriers are not looking joy large remuneration, All they are looking for under present-day considerations is a living Wflle- Bu‘ they would like to have a little security after their long years of service. so that under the present obnoxious tender system the!’ would not find themselves. 8t the mg of a $5. bill on a four-year tontract. That is the posit-ion they are in today. I suggest to the Post- master General that we get rid of this obnoxious tender system and that a. new and better system be Sea; up which will give the mail couriers a certain amount of secur-

Buppose. for in ‘ , we start with a mileage basis oi $50 per mile for the carrying and distribut- ing of mail on an improved high- way. If it is an ordinary dirt road the mail courier should be allow- ed something extra per mile for travelling at a disadvantage over an unimproved road. In addition to this basis of $50 per mile, there should also be taken into account the number of boxes served and the number of post offices.

“Consideration should also be given to the time ‘required for the delivery of t e mail. If considera- tion were given to these three fac- tors I am sure that our mail cour- icrs would be 100 per cent satisfied. and the cost to the country would be vcry small.

“Let us not forget that these men are the most faithful servants of any department in the govern-

ive ask them to put in twenty-five years‘ service, and a few of them have longer service than that, or it may be twenty years‘ service, or fifteen, and then at the end of their contract period because some- one tenders to do the work ior live ciollarsvor it may be one dollar less, they are out. They have on secur- ity under the present tender sys- 1cm, and they are poorly paid.

~ a

Costa!” '

"The cost of their equipment ,shoulcl also be taken into account. True, on a good highway they can use an automobile during the sum- mer months, but that is an expen- .slve article today. Even if they buv second-hand ones, the repairs and so forth are expensive. We as a committee should urge upon the department the necessity of tak- ing into consideration the extra cost to aWiilCll these couriers are put at this time, and they should ‘Be reimbursed for it.

"We might look at another side of the question. In my own ‘con- stituency there are several couriers —one in particular -wlth a thirty or thirty-one mile route. Last, win- ter was a very hard one, and there was no opportunity whatsoever to use s car, even if they had one. Under those conditions the courier I have in mind was forced to use two horses to continue his work. He did his work faithfully and well.

Have hon. members ever consid- ered what it takes to feed two horses at the present time? It costs 100 per cent more than it did a few years ago. When this man was finished at the end of he month and took his expenses into consideration I doubt whether he would have fifty cents left for him- self. Hon. members may say that that was because of a very hard winter in the east, but that is apt to occur at any time. We should do something for these men, and do it now,

"Ii the resolution which is be- fore us goes into effect tonight. what will it do? It will assure the mail courier that he will have his little bonus extended to him as be- fore, but it gives him no security whatsoever at the end of his con- tract. I have already said, and I repeat that he loses his position after probably fifteen or twenty years service because of a some- what smaller tender. or a tender $5 or $10 less than his.

Great Discrepancies

"For a moment I should like to refer to the great discrepancies that exist between the mail contracts in the constituency. of Queen's. I hold in my hand a list of rural mail contracts in my constituency, and I want to bring it to the at- tention of the Postmaster General. These mall routes are of the_ same length, and possibly the some num- ber of boxes are served; yet there is this great difference. 0n an eight-mile route the average price paid is from $300 to $400. On a nine-mile route the average price is from $400 to $450. On a ten- mile route the average is from $32.

ment of our country. Why should-

sa,sa1,445 Subscribed in lied Gross Drive

. %—- _

TORONTO, June ' —1"lnal cam. paign returns issued by Canadian Red Cross officials on the Society's 1948 national appeal for funds re- veal that 03.637345 was subscribed by the people of Canada.

"We are very happy to report the successful conclusion of the I948 campaign with all nine Div- isions well over the-top of their provincial quotas." said Dr. Fred W. Routley. National Commission- er. “The national objective of §3,- 000.000 was exceeded by $637,446 Ol 2i per cent, Altogether, this has been a very satisfactory campaign. Public reaction has been most sympathetic and augers well for the future of Red Cross in Canada."

Reports from Divisions all indi- cate public reception of their pro- vincial campaigns as excellent. Provincial figures are: Prince Ed-

ward Island. $23,000 or 115 per cent of objective; Nova Scotia. $150,152 or I25 per cent of objec- tive; New Brunswick, $119,092 or 158 per cent of objective; Quebec, $700,000 or 101 per cent of objec- tive; Ontario. $1,429,068 or 119 per cent. of objective; Manitoba, $312,- 051 or 173 per cent of objective; Saskatchewan, $205,222 or 1C0 per cent of objective; Alberta, $15,860 or 121 per cent of objective; Bri- tish Columbia. $456.000 or 152 per

cent of objective. Total, $3,637,445.

to $400. On a fourteen-mile route the average is from $564 to $700. On a sixteen-mile route the aver- age is from $638.07 to $1,000. On a nineteen-mile route the average is from $668.31 to $925. On ‘a twenty- six mile route the average is from $902.50 to $1,450. They are all dif- ferent. On a twenty-eight mile route the average is from $1,100 to $1,470. On a thirty-mile route the average is from $1,318 to $1,440. The difference shows up clearly. and is hardly fair to men covering the same distance under-the same coli- ditions. One is paid $100, $200 or $300 more per annum than the other.

"I should like to cite just one or two instances. Take the sixteen- mile route. I think this will occur in many constituencies other than my own. The mail courier gets $1,000 for the sixteen-mile route. but at the same time the courier on a twenty-six mile route gets only $00250. The man with the longer distance to travel is penalized to the tune of $97.50 because he has to deliver the mail ten miles far- ther than the other man. Iihese things are unfair. and the couriers realize it. They expect the depart- ment to look into the matter at this time.

Cites Other Instances

"I want to_cite one other in- stance, but the same discrepancies occur in s. great number of cases. One mail courier with a seven- teen-mile route to travel gets only $1,200. I know the route very well He is not too highly paid at $1,200. But another man serving a twenty- eight mile route gets $1,100, $100 less because he has to travel thir- teen miles farther every day. I ask the Postmaster General if this is fair.

These things should be taken into consideration at this time; and, in- stead of tenders being called. the courier should have the right to renew if he has been satisfactory. Men oi that type should have con- sideration. In fact, through all these mail contracts these discrep- ancies occur. I am not going to labour the point any further in favour of the mail courier.

"Last year quite a number of hon. members spoke on this ques- tion, and with one accord they were all of the opinion that the mall couriers were the most faith- ful servants of any of the depart- ments of government; yet they were the most poorly paid of all men. and no security was granted to them beyond the renewal of their contracts, These are things that I hope the Postmaster General will give consideration to at this session."

ity as well as a livin! W189-

IIJetYI

Whittle Gets $400,000 Iavx Free

w-yr-Qnwww-

GUARPIAE-

Situated on a hill overlooking one of the finest agricultural districts in the province is the attractive Tryou Presbyterian Church, which was erected in 1858. Previous to this date the worship had been conducted in the homes. The first Presbyterian minister to visit Prince Edward Island was Dr. James Mc- Gregor who preached in 1794 1n Tryon. one of the oldest lhtglish settlements on the Island, also on several occasions up to the year 1810, when Rev. Johrl Keir was ordained and inducted in Prince Town. Until 1820 Dr. Keir paid regular visits to this congregation but lie could not give them the number of services demanded, so in 1822 a call was given to Rev. William Hyde, an independent min- ister, who had preached for some time 1n Cape 'I‘raverse and Tryon. Mr. Hyde accepted and on October 23, i022 he was inducted -the first induction by the previously form- ed Presbytery of Prince Edward Island. The ministers taking part in this ceremony were Rev. Wil- liam McGregor, Dr. John Keir, and Rev. Robert Douglass. In less than three years Mr. Hyde severed his connections with this congrega- tion. then until 1867 there was no resident Presbyterian preacher in Tryon. Rev. R. S. Patterson, MA, who had settled in Bedeque prior to Mr. Hyde's departure. was giv- en the spiritual oversight of these worshippers. The land upon which this church was built was donated by Mr. David J. Thomson — the contractor and builders being Messrs, James and Adam Morrison. An old document reads as follows. "At a meeting of the trustees of the Presbyterian Church, ‘rryon. December '1, 1857, for the purpose of having a building erected and other matters thcreunto belonging, present David}. Thomson. Chair- man; Alexander Howatt, John Lang' and Robert Muirhead. It was re-

T 0 A Developing ' Jet Propulsion

VANCOUVER. . 0., June , - The introduction of North Star aircraft on the routes on Trans Canada Airlines is the culmination of one stage of aviation progress in theDominion, and the develop- ment of jet propolusion u the next stage is already well ad- vanced. The Rt. Hon. C. D. Howe, Minister of Trade and C

told a luncheon here, Saturday, May 39, making the introduction of the new Canadian built trans- port irate service on the Trans- continental route.

“A jet. transport is already un- der development in Toronto and it is possible that it will be the first jet transport to be produced anywhere in the world." he told the guests at the luncheon which was jointly spons u’. by the city of Vancouver and the Vancouver Board a1’ Trade. '

The Minister recounted briefly the history of T. C. A. and com- pared t-he survey flight which he made across the continent in 1081 to the North Star flight "which he made between v er and Montreal last fall in the record shattering time of 0 hours, 52 min- t.

es.

The survey fligiht, he said, took seventeen hours and I minutes. and was made Without lny of the modern aids to flying which avail- able on the airways today. -

It. is nth possible, m. Howe continued, for the poet office 0e make available to the people of Canada, the advantage of all-up mail. This new feature of Dom- inion communications was an- nounced recent by the poet office department an Canada. theteby becomes the first coutnry in America to provide this It!!!» "1

_ CQIAARLUKPETOVYN

' ‘Tryonpresbylerian Church 7

solved first. the chairman do sp- ply to the representatives of the late James Thomson for a docu- ment respecting a piece of land leashed for church property; sec- ond. that advertisements be nost- ed in the neighborhood. for the our

pose of selling to the best advan- tflzc the contracts of getting the frame and raising rough boarding and shingilng the roof and. accord- ing to a plan and specification to be submitted at the iimef.’ As there was no organ in pioneer days, the singing was led by Mr. William Chisholm, precentor.

Among those supplying during the vacancy were Reverends: Allan Simpson, J. K. Bairsto and J. G. Cameron-the last named being or- dained and inducted pastor of Try- on and Bonshaw in Maren, 1067. Rev Alexander Falconer preached the ordination sermon. Rev: R S. Pattersonpresided and offered the ordination prayer; Rev. Alexander Campbell addressed the minister and Rev. Robert Laird the congre- gation. Bonshaw had been separ. ated from the West River congre- gation and united with Tryon in 1805 to become a distinct and sep- arate charge. For six years Mr Cameron remained as the minister, a most earnest and faithful labor- er: a man of superior administla- tive ability and greatly beloved by both young and old of the congre- gation. -'I‘he following eighteen the members of

the Presbytery,

then in September, 1875, Mr. W.P. Archibald, M. A.. accepted a call and was ordained and inducted as pastor, The ordination sermon was

"“"‘\-~-.....-'

INIIIRITID MILLIONS PARADE! WITH PALS

Pending with tlfe Rldley Coi- lege cadets during the annual in- spection, John Bmsllmsn. reported Canada's richest schoolboy follow- ing his recent inheritance of mil- lions, is in foreground of this picture. Not once during the in- spection at St. Oatharlnes, Ont... did he look at the camera». his classmates taking more notice of

108 PC0910,

the cameraman than he did.

months’ preaching was supplied by

Islanders‘ ' i | ,Have Met

l1. ‘Islander Abroad’ ' '1- to the other our‘! m: “Annie Dave! and h"

daughter Janet. Mrs. Dave! m. daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ale! Aiken of atshchel. P-E-L, end I- sister of Mrs. Milton Buell who with heiyhushmuh ilvihe in the Yukon where Mr. Buell is sta- tioned in connection with tho gnfly, A brother Daniel, gradu- ates this month from the Aber- deen Hospital in New Glaelvw. N5.

1 also met Miss norothv Mec- Nevin, daigihtcr of Mr. and Mrs. Hector MacNevifl. Cm” 6°"- P.E.I. and Miss Annie Matheson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Math- ggon, Appin Road, P111. with them 1 met Alma and Mary Gar- diner, daughters of Muncey Gar- diner of Cape ‘Pruverse. P-E-I-

O O O

on Tuesday last 1 visited the home of W.W. MacPhee on Lins- mare crescent where I Islet Mr. and Mrs. MscPhee and their daughter lixhel. The Math-ll! family at; one time lived in Char- iottetown.

Mr. MacPhee who is recur"- ating from a serious illness was for some years on the staff of the Evening Telegram, Toronto.

.The MacPlliee fondly. W00 had a visit from Mr. and Mrs. J-M- MacFadyen enroute to P.E.I. af- ter a. visit to the coast, ga-ve me an interesting “bid-bit” news of Islanders in and about Toronto.

Through the MacPhees I learn- ed about the illness of Rev. Mur- dock MacKinnon, formerly of Canoe Cove, P.E.I., minister oi‘ the United Church at the Beaches, Toronto; and the set- tlement of Rev. Jack Murdock, formerly oi! Murray River, P.E.I., in a Presbyterian Churdh in Wat- erloo, Ont.

Mr. and it's. MaoPhee lost a son John Goodwill in the ail-force overseas in World war 11.

a

Later in the Jfténoon I visit- ed the family of Mrs. Elizabeth Compton on Thyra St. where I met Mrs. Ccmptons daughters, Esther and Matilda and son David. ‘Ilhe son David has begun his studies for the Christian ministry,

In the evening I called to visit another son Wellington who is married to a Maclsaac girl jrom the vicinity of Milo, P.E.I. They have two dlildren.

The Coirnipton family lived in Charlottetown for many years. Of this family Mr. Compton and .a son Malcolm died suddenly and a son Philip was killed in a plane crash when t/wo planes collided in the vicinity of Southport, P.E.I.

Wellington 1s employed with the C.N.R. and David was em- played with the CPR. before he quit his work for the studies to a higher calling.

I preached by Rev. John Murray and the ordination prayer offered by Rev. Alexander Campbell, dur- ing which time Mr. Archibald was ordained to the office of the min- istry "by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery and in- ducted into the pastoral charge of Tryon and Bonshaw. The minister was addressed by Rev. H. S. Pat,- tersoil and the congregation by Rev J. M. MacLeod. Although Mr. Ar- chlbalds ministry extended only a little over two years he endeared himself to the hearts of the people. Succeeding him in i871 was Rev. J. W. Mscleod. afterward mission- ary to Trinidad, who supplied for two years. Rev. Allan Meet-eon accepted a call in 1880 and was in- ducted the following month by the members of the Presbytery, includ- ing Rev. John MaoKinnon. Rev. Isaac Murray, D. D. and Rev. Wil- liam Grant. During his ministry the congregation prospered — a comfortable manse was purchased. l church erected at Hampton and the Tryon church repaired and lm-_ proved. With diluence, fidelity and zeal, Mr. MacLean labored in this field which made progress numer- ically, financially and spiritually. After Mr. MaoLesws resignation in May, i593, Mr. J. F. McCurdy was ordained and inducted in May. 1804, remaining for four years. He was succeeded by Rev. G. C. Rob- ertson, inducted in 1899, and Rev. M. Hooper McIntosh. inducted in i003. Subsequent ministers were Reverends, A. B. Maclood, J. I‘. MacDonald. Joseph MacKay and Malcolm MscPherson. In 10H Hampton and Bonshaw became af- filiated with the United Church, but Tryoh remained Presbyterian. Students supplied until 10B when Dr. M. E. Cienge became the pas- tor remaining for a number of years. During his ministry a new manse was erected on the church property. i