"The strongest memory is weaker thdh- the weakest link.” ~ ”

The Natural Way”

is often a wide difference. This dif- ference is nowhere more marked than in the controversies waged over edu- eational methods. It was a practical educationist who spoke last evening before the Prince Street Home and School Association in the person of Dr. Frank MacKinnon, principal of Prince of Wales College, and his com- ments were full of the meat that one would expect from such a source.

There is much evidence, Dr. Mac- Kinnon said, that those who plan achool curricula have misjudged the, Natural capacities of pupils and have get-too slow.a pace for the covering of school work. He noted the fact that this approach is now undergoing modification. It is criticised usually on the ground that learning is made too easy by making it agreeable and comfortable; but he suggested that it could more logically be criticised because it actually makes learning more difficult in many subjects and almost impossible in some.

One reason is the system’s neg- lect of what he aptly called “educa- tional deadlines”—arbitrary ones which nature herself imposes. A strik- ing example was cited in the case ef language learning. Small children Jearn languages with incredible faci- lity; but if in school they are started on the elementary -declensions and eonjugations at thirteen or fourteen, they are at an age when their natu- ral capacity for languages is dying. The subject is thus made, not easier, but infinitely harder.

Young people, Dr. MacKinnon eautioned, are often more capable than adults think they are. Under- estimating«their abilities is a com- mon mistake. He cited numerous in- stances, resulting in the pupil

“sampling and not digesting, being _

guided cautiously into things and never getting into them himself, and being confronted with the arranged and expected at.a time when the planned surprise and his own initia- tive moves him more.”

The same warning, we note, is being sounded by leading practical educationists across Canada and in the United States, where the “soft approach” to teaching appears to nave originated, but is now widely discounted. This is just another ex- ample of getting back: to first prin- ciples. Pupils must be taught at their natural level and not at what theor- ists think is a suitable level. As Dr. MacKinnon well says: “The deadlines are there and we should not ignore them. We are also realizing that overemphasis .on teaching methods must change in favor of more scope for initiative on the part of pupils

*

if it) is nurtured tarly, learning soon becomes the re- warding and stimulating experience it deserves to be.”

First Weather Satellite

The satellite boosted into orbit by a U.S. Vanguard rocket from Cape Canaveral the other day may prove of mpre practical importance than any of its famed predecessors, The first of a series of revoluntidnary developments in weather forecasting, it may lead to the detection of earth- ly storms and thus.help avert their havoe through greatly improved forecasts. : -— Cloud observations from a satel- lite could give the meteorologists a view of the entire weather pattern of the earth. Though this would have significant advantages for the mili- tary, the immediate benefits to civi- lians are-likely to be such that there, is little doubt that the weather satel-

lite is predominantly a civilian ven- -

ture into space. There are, however, many interim experiments to be made. At least three more weather gatellites are expected this year. Each will tackle a different phase of the Weather information problem and €arry mor@ complex instruments. As

the bigger rockets become available

ities increase many times over. ~The first weather satellite has } two oa windows on opposite sides.

sone accuracy improves, the pos-

=

a Ree Te ee ee ee) ee ee ee ae, a,

*

anrougn cnese openings ' pnoto-elec- tric cells record the reflection of the sunlight off the clouds, sea and

-Feflections into. electric impiilses, which are stored in a tape recorder. On signal from the earth, the tape recorder’s message is released. After the message has been transmitted, the tape is ready to record more in- formation. Once the data is received on earth, it will be processed by an electronic machine which will trans- form it into. crude . photographs. Making approximately 16 orbits of

lite should disclose cloud cover data

‘figs | over about 25 per cent of the earth’s _ Between theory and practice there:

sunlit ‘surface, mostly north of the equator, in 600-mile-wide ‘strips.

Man’s ingenuity has seldom been put to better advantage than in this remarkable device for kéeping a weather eye upon the earth. The satellites which will track more pre- cisely the hurricane and the tornado are several years away yet; but we now have a tool that supplements the present indirect methods of wea- ther forecasting, with almost endless possibilities of development in its field. ee

Good Word For Potatoes

One trouble with marketing pota- toes is that people generally don’t eat enough of them. Thé myth still lingers that they are fattening and have relatively little food value. The experts, however, know better; and it is high time that other people re- vised their thinking on the subject.

A noted Canadian dietitian, Mrs. Agnes Higgins, executive director of the Montreal Diet Dispensary, told delegates to the Fruit Wholesalers

only are potatoes an excellent non- fattening food item; there is strong evidence that they are helpful in prevention of Sommon types of heart disease, since they are a great source of patassium, lack of which contri- butes to cardiac disorders.

Commenting on Mrs. Higgins’ statement, the Fredericton Gleaner observes: “A 42-per-cent reduction in Canadian consumption of potatoes in the last quarter century, partly due to the unfortunate misconcept- ion that potatoes are fattening, may thus have had some part in bringing death and-—crippling disability to thousands of Canadians.”

Here, surely, is a fine basis for an intensive educational campaign. And since, by common consent, pota- toes grown on this Island are the best in the world, when properly pre- pared and cooked (with their jack- ets on, preferably), there is no rea- son why our farmers’should not pro-

one could be persuaded to eat an extra potato or two a day for health reasons, the resulting greater de- mand would be of tremendous im- portance.

EDITORIAL NOTES

What is this about Indian girls | winning three trophies in an _ Irish | dancing contest in North Vancouver?

One boy; from Limerick, Ireland, also took part in the contest, but he ; didn't get anywhere. Were the jud- | ges “fixed,” or what? Somebody ought to look into the matter. |

* * * ;

When is a cow a “good” cow? R.

F. Dixon, supervisor of herd improve- ment for the Province of Alberta, answers the question this way; “A

| good dairy cow should fave a lac- | tation of 10 months with a dry period of 6 to 8 weeks and should calve vearly. A butterfat yield of. .300 pounds or more should be’ attained in a 10 months lactation. Any cow producing less than 200° pounds of butterfat a year is unprofitable and should be eliminated at the earliest opportunity.” ~

Premier Smallwood’s clash with the I.W.A. in the loggers’ dispute in Newfoundland is causing concern to fellow Liberals in other parts of Canada. He has been accused by . Arthur Laing, Liberal leader in British Columbia, of ignoring party principles in labor matters. A mem- ber of the Ontario Legislature wants Mr. Smallwood called before the p/ council of the National Liberal Fed- eration to explain his action, but this Hon. Mr. Pearson has declined to do. Evidently he believes that in this case discretion’is {he better part of valor. Certdinly, Mr. Smallwood _ is not easily cowed. If it came to a choie between upholding his convic- tions and submitting to dutside pres- sure even from the Liberal chieftain, there is no doubt - that he would choose the former .

* *

earth below. These cells translate the

‘the earth every 24 hours, the satel-

Convention the other day that not:

fit by this expert testimony. If, even ¢- in our own Maritime markets, every- _|

{

\ which the American and Cana-

DAVID AND GOLIATH-NEW VERSION

OTTAWA REPORT |

Mr. Chevrier’s Complaint

By Patrick

So, the few Liberal Members in | the House of Commons just can- not perform all their parliamen- tary duties, according to the loud complaints of Hon. Lionel Chevrier.

There are so few Liberal M Ps that they just cannot staff both the House of Commons: and Par- liamentary Committees at the same time, he said. It is unfair to the Liberals for committees to sit while the House is sitting. -

Perhaps Mr. Chevrier would prefer 20t to have these overlap- ping sessions; then Parliament would be here not for six months but for perhaps ten months each year. Would other M.P.'s prefer it that way

PUBLIC FORUM

interest. The Guardian does not nesee

sarily endorse the opinion af corres pondents.

L

APPALLING TOLL

Sir.—This year’s Yule traffic | toll im the United States . came to an appalling total of “594. I do not remember the exact figures for Canada, but, per capita, the toll was considerably higher.

This is an annual catastrophe

public seems to take “‘in

stride.” Oddly, although Dr. Linus Pauling, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, and various liberal

groups throughout the two coun- tries can get all worked up over the possibility of a rela- tively few deaths supposedly caused by fallout from nuclear testing; I have yet to see any of them ‘holding indignation meetings in Unitarian churches calling for a. universal ban on automobiles. Yet continued nuclear testing is our only guarantee against being swamped by Red barbar ism. .It is necessary for our survival as free men whereas the automobile is, # not a luxury, at most a convenience. I am Sir, etc. A READER.

Charlottetown.

FROM JHE SIDELINES

2

Sir,Since I have taken part | in a number of model parlia- ments I have a special interest in that democratic -institution, | the Island Legislative Assembly. | Herewith are my impression and | observations of the procecdings during the latter part of the sit- ting on February 17, 1959.

As I entered the Premier was in the process -of whitewashing the late lamented federal Liberal regime while vehemently black- balling the present inausp:cious (remember the Bennet catastro- phe) Conservative Government in Ottawa. The Opposition House Leader was indignant to hear the federal government ca'ied stingy and to hear that hearten- ing cry_‘‘my fellow Canadians!" taken in vain. Mr. Beil without hesitation gave the Premier a verbal blow for blow. (The House I am sure must be guided by a set of parliamentary rules com- pletely in the category of ‘‘Top Secret”, otherwise how could Mr. Speaker have allowed Mr. Bell and the Premier to carry on this entertaining but unnecessary and. time-consuming _ political sword play without either even acknowledging the Speaker to be present?) The Provincial Treasurer with one foot on_ his desk courageously helped the Premier along by heckling with most diligence of purpose the outraged Opposition leader.

My impression: A good time was had by all!

Then rose the Minister of Education to brave the. fray. He dramatically waved a cheque to show just what cheap skates the Federal Government is in reality. An Island farmer had been paid the sum of sixteen cents minus fifteen cents for ex- chante as a subsidy for some- thing like sixty bushels of pote-

io~

| the piece of land which | given to the farmers in bygone

Nicholson

Hon. Howard Green, Govern- ment Leader in the House, ridi- culed Mr. Chevrier’s complaint, with a scathing impromptu wit which lurks unsuspected behind his somewhat dour exterior.

“These Liberals have been in power so long, sitting in their seats and letting’ other people do the work, that they do not know how to take their coats off and go to work,”’ declared Mr. Green. toes. The

Conservative member for First Quecak Mr. Myers, was aghast and asked when the cheque was dated. Here was a golden opportunity for revenge —the Premier barked (Arf! Arf!) at Mr. Myers. That was that.

It is evident that a great deal of time is spent in childishness and between-election politicing during these sittings. There are @ great many important and outstanding issues to be dealt with in the complex society of today. If those members on both sides of the House would stop trying to startle the public by pointing accusingly at the skele- tons in each other's political closets and get on with the seri- ous business of governing this Province, I am positive that the public would hold them in much higher regard.

I am,

Sir, etc., J. NORTON Chariottetown.

e

REST ROOM NEEDED

Sir,—We have read in your

paper, where there is to be a

wharf built in Charlottetown at

|a cost of two million dollars,

which will no doubt be an ad-

| vantage to the city. Why don't

We petition the Federal Govern- ment for a grant to build a rest room with toilet accommodations for the public, which is so badiy needed, and have it placed oa was

days as a market place for. their produce, and which rightly be- longs to them, buf has been con- fisticated by the city tor a park- ing area.

What other city its size Is without a public rest room? The farmers and their “‘amities come to the city to do their shopping and leave hundreds of dollars especially around Christmas with the merchants and business men every weex, and after walk- ing around all day, are unable to rest their feet fr a few minutes, simply because there is place to rast, unless one walks out to Eaton's, where they have provided a beautiful rest room with toilet facilities for their customers. - Unfortunaiely it is rather out of the way Too bad some other outside firm wouldn't set up business in the centre of the cily. Our local de- partment stores are not interest- ed in accommodating the people who help to keep them living, for without the country people, they would not exist. And what do we get in return?

Every autumn scores of sports- men from Charlottetown flock to our farms and run all over our property without as much as “by your lease’ and without any con- sideration of damaze.

Some of those are good sports, no doubt, but a great many are quite undesirable, and they think they have the right to use our farms as they see fit, even to cutting Ohristmas trees for their use. Then again when our young men find work in town to earn a few much needed dollars, the hand is outstretched to them, not the hand of welcome however, but the nand of the tax collector, demanding $25.00 for the privilege of working in you: fair city. Now, I think its about time the farmers got a square deal. So much is planned and no expense spared ‘on the tourists, but I wonder what those tourists think, when they ask to be diree- ted to a rest room, and are told that the city, such a luxury.

Wake up, City Fathers, and dq something about it.

I am, Sir. etc., a4 FARMER'S WIFE Mt. SteWart, R. RB. . #¢

doesn’t boast ‘of |,

Then be explalined how four exabinet Ministers, all that remain of the much vaunted Mackenzie King and St. Laurent Ministries, have to do. all the work, :

“These Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have to be on every committee, and naturally they get out of breath sometimes. And their leader Hon. Lester Pear- son) is just like the little Dutch boy at the dike, only he has to run from one dike to another all the time to stop ail the holes.” Why not make other Liberals do some work too he asked.

There is: much truth in Mr. Green's comment, The Liberals im fact consist of the Four Horse- men, Lester Pearson, Paul Mar- tin, Lionel Chevrier and Jack Pickersgill. A handful of support- ing stalwarts includes Alan Mac- Naughton, Dr. W. H. McMillan and W. L. Houck who use their heads. There are Alexis Caron and Yvon Dupuis who use their French-speaking tongues And fi- nally there are the other forty voiceless. wonders on the Lib- eral benches, who seldom use any- thing but their seats and their railway passes.

ARITHMETEIC POOR

Mr. Chevrier complained about six important committees which are empowered to sit while the House is sitting. In fact, his ari- thmetic is poor. Only five com- mittees were under discussion, and on these there are 51 Liberal representations.

Mr. Chevrier, an experienced

lawyer, knew perfectly well that i

his argument was phoney.

There are today 4@ Liberal M. Ps. Over the long Liberal years from 1935 to 1957 inclusi:e, there were an average of only 48 Pro- gressive Conservative M.Ps. They didn't whimper about being over- worked: they toiled in House, they worked long hours in their offices, they each sat on more than one committee. They shar- ed the work and when their call came, they did not have to de- pend upon Four Horsemen to form a Cabinet - the whole party represestation was experienced in parliamentary procedure

Then Mr. Chevrier overlooked this very significant fact. Com- mittees need a quorum of about 30 per cent. Thus the 51 Liberal representations need be repre- sented by only 17 M.Ps on com- mittees inthe unlikely event that they all sit at the same time The batance of 32 Liberal M.P.’s could sit in the House. ABSENTEES

While Mr. Chevrier was mak ing his loud complaint in the House, there were only 26 M-Ps there to hear him; no commit- tees were sitting. Six more hust- led) into the Chamber when the division belly rang.

Evidently no less than 16 Lib- eral M.Ps were out of Ottawa, just members of the “Tuesday to Thursday Club.” That they were permitted to be absent o that. Friday morning, while Mr. Chev- rier was lamenting his party's thinness, completely destroys his argument.

In contrast, the C.cC.F. mem- bers were 100 per cent in atten- dance - more able, more indus- trious, more eloquent but infin- itely less numerous than the Lib- erais’ No Thursday tintil Tuesday absenteeism for them; they re- present their electors right here in Parliament. ‘

OUR YESTERDAYS

(From The Guardian Files)

TWENTY—FIVE YEARS AGO (Feb. 20, 1934)

While packing cranberries last fall for Messrs. Paul A. Murray and Co., Mr. J. V. Oatway en- closed his address in one of the shipments overseas, and yester- day received a reply from a re- sident in Edinburgh, Scotland, in which the writer stated’ that the shipment had arrived in excellent condition and was now in cold storage.

The Montague Primrose Hockey Club held a successful skating carnival in the rink on Monday evening. The winners included Winnifred MacDonald, Mildred Killam, Raiph Morse, R. Crosby,

.

All Should Have Anti-Polio Shots

lated? Oh, they come up with all sorts of reasons. Most of them gite fear and uncertainty of the vaccine as their main reason for not being inoculated or not hav- ‘ing their children protected. ? Others concede that they mere-

to seek vaccination. Opposition of husbands has blocked some ‘well - meaning mothers, and some complain about the cost of the vaccine.

HOW WILL THEY FEEL?

How will these persons be able to live with themselves should a member of the family be strick- en with paralytic polio this year? The nationa! polio season begins in June and reaches a peak in August. That doesn’t give you very long to make up your mind about getting the series of three, and maybe four, ingculations.

I recall saying to myself as far back as 1955 that the introduction of the Salk vaccine meant that I probably wouldn’t have to write about polio any more..

CASES HAVE DROPPED

Since that year, the national number of polio cases has drop- ped for three consecutive years. This is. contrary to the usual trend, which sees years of high polio incidence following low ones.

Do we need any more proof that the vaccine works?

Yet here I am, writing anoth- er column about polio and all its tragic implications.

If you 44,100,000 uninoculated

vaccine, maybe I won't have to write anything about # next year. | If you don't do it, maybe you twon't be around to read what I do write. QUESTION AND ANSWER

P:A.R.: What causes a wide irregular crack, lengthwise and almost full length, in the tongue? | Answer: What appears to be a crack in the tongue is usually a split in the heavy coating in the tongue e

Such a coating may result from mouth breathing, stomach or lung disturbance. or from a general disease such as diabetes.

Harry Clay. Robert Clements and Calvin Hilchey.

TEN YEARS AGO (Feb. 26, 1949)

Electric power was turned on Saturday evening in O'Leary less than 72 hours after a fire destroy- ed the village’s electric power plant. The current is being pro- vided by a temonorary power set- up. It is understood the Gov- ernment may-build a power line from Mount Pleasant along the Western Road from which it may be possiblé for companies which service areas along the way to purchase power.

Mr and Mrs ‘had a narrow escape from seri- ous injurv, or possible death, on Thursday morning, when the car in which they were driving, was struck by a jitneyv; at what fs known as the Margate Crossing at Kensington. Mrs. Caselgy es- caped injury, but her husband re- ceived cuts and scratches . from broken glass.”

‘Te a | Fits Corner

TO-A STARRY NIGHT

O Mystery that moulded dust And gave it choice of fate: To orbit on in ways unjust; Or purge itself of hate:

How vain it is to serve the dream

With artifice and lies,

When atom-blast and mis- sile-scream z

Foreshadow. earth's demise.

Whence comes the right to tumb- le man ;

From_his frail perch of bliss

And frustrate every move to ban

The fearsome lethal kiss?

O Mystery that fathered joy,

We ravish it with tears;

And speed the bomb with base alloy. 2

Of faith and pagan fears.

When fallout claims the final sigh And makes of life a fraud Grant me respite to offer my. Apologies to God.

Percy Adams in Toronto Star POTATO CONFERENCE OTTAWA (CP)—A confefence on the theme of “potatoes for health” will bé held next Aug 19-21 at the University of Mani- toba in Winnipeg, the Canadian Horticultural Council dec ded Wednesday at its annual meeting. 4 similar conference- was held

last August at Fredericton.

’

ly haven't “taken the trouble”.

people will go out and. get the’

Nelson Caseley |

NOTES BY

° 5

g &

years\the cattle market has been served more and more by cattle from the smaller producers who each contribute a few head to the large total. No doubt this has been accelerated by recent bigh prices for cattle, a situation brought about to a great extent by the high U. S. demand.—Cal- gary Herald :

There is a thing. about cake; eating it and having it is a trick that precious few have master- ed. And that includes _politi- cians. In the last election Can- ada voted for cake. Indeed, it was offered no other choice: the two major parties simply promis- ed it different varieties—spending (Conservative); tax cuts ‘Liber- | al). Overwhelmingly it chose the former flavor. Now the country at large evidently wants a sec- ond helping. Second helpings have to be paid for.—Vancouver Pro-

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ranches are a part of the AlbeRa story: Yet, in recent |

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iat least 1.500 hours flying, in su- perb physical condition. less than forty years old and not more than five feet 11 inches tall. al- though it doesn’t matter how much he weighs. Of course. it goes without saying that he must 'have a certain disregard for the future.—Toronto Telegram

A Canadian growing a little long in the tooth says that when he was a boy there were gangs of youngsters who became involv- ed in fights and caused trouble, being. he thought, just as bad as some modern juveniles. He agreed the present situation was more serious as a threat to .aw and order. Why? Because the old gangs were confined te small areas close to their homes but now, With cars, they can spread their mischief over a whole city. disturb more people and are far harder for the police to find. —Ottawa Journal

MAXIMS

| doing what not do.

people say you can-

Clarifying Th

President Eisenhower has made it clear that the Allies have no intention of shooting their way into West Berlin if the Russians carry out their threat to with- draw from that occupied city and turn their duties over to the East German government.

He put it into thése words at his weekly press conference Wed- nesday:

“We are not saying that we are going to shoot our way into

Berlin. .: . I we are stopped, it will be somebody else using force.”

What the president was saying, in other words, is that the West doesn't intend to shoot first if it comes to a showdown in the problem of maintaining Western garrisons there and taking in supplies for the 2,200,000 West Germans now living in the old German capital.

Eisenltower left unanswered the vital question of whether the Western forces would shoot back if the Communists opened fire in any attempt *to supply the be leaguered city. Presumably they would, since the Western Allies have expressed their determina- tion to maintain aceess to the city.

RESPONSIBILITY THEIRS

But Eisenhower obviously was trving to make it clear to the Russians--and to the world -at large—that the responsibility will be theirs if a shooting war de- velops out of the Berlin~crisis.

His statement, in fact. Was a direct reply to a Moscow declar- ation by Premier Khrushchev

The greatest plossure in life is’

The Age Old Story

He that followeth Me shall not eee Sear ot eee ee the light of life.

e Berlin Issue

Kitchen | Canada bree Staff Writer,

Tuesday that it would be the be. ginning of war if the West tried to shoot its way into West Berlin after Russia turns the occupied area over to East Germany.

The West faces a formidable supply problem if the Soviets go through with their plan and at- tempt to prevent the Allies from moving supplies through East Germany and into West Berlin by land transport.

The current situation finds no counterpart in the 198 blockade when the Soviet military govern- ment in Berlin opened a land blockade of the former German capital by refusing to permit American ‘and British supply trains to pass through their zone. The Allies took to the air and flew 2,343,315 tons of food and coal into,West Berlin in the next 18 months.

DIFFERENT PICTURE NOW

But present-day Berlin is far different from that ‘of a decade ago. In 1948. West Berlin was a stricken, war - devastated city with limited supply requirements and a considerably smaller popu- lation. West Berlin today is @ bustling, heavily industrialized city with a big appetite for food and other materials.

It is for this reason that the West needs and wants a ‘confer: ence with Moscow on the Berlin problem specifically and the Ger. man question generally. The So viet Union also may want to reach some. arrangements with the West, ‘if only to give its ac- tion in reneging on its Berlin responsibilities some semblance of respectability.

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