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PAGE FOUR

THE GUARDIAN

Morning may (Founded in see-n. Authorised as Second Class mu. Poet 010w Department. Ottawa-

Tlse Inland Guardian Publishing Co.

. lass A. “, Vice-r Wm I. Burnett; Seam-Tress. G. M. Burnett; Edit-or and Mimi»; Director. s. n. aura-iii: Armin" Edi"!-

Frank wsiuu. '

_ ' (‘The Strongest Memory is Weaker Than

_ the Weakest Ink." CHARLOTTETOWN. MONDAY. MAY 8. 194B

The Musical Festival

This week is dedicated to sweet harmony. The annual Competitive Musical Festival, sponsored

'by the Prince Edward Island Musical Festival

Association, opens officially this evening with addresses by His Honour. the Lieutenant Governor, the Premier, the Mayor and other prominent citizens. The business part of the Festival, how- ever, will open at 2 p.m. and will be well under way before the evening. From then on the pro- gramme continues strenuously until Saturday. _An entry list of over 500 contestants, with tempting scholarship awards unprecedented in the Associ- ation's history, indicates that this will be a ban- ner Festival year, and there is no doubt as to the keen public interest with which the events will be followed. The contests are being held in the Prince of Wales auditorium, and the main problem will doubtless be to find seating accom- modation for the audience, which last year pack- ed the hall to capacity.

Musical festivals are of long standing in Eur- ope and the British isles, but it was not until i945 that the movement was inaugurated here. As usual it was at a Women's Institutes conven- tion that the idea. took shape. No immediate action was taken on a resolution passed at that meeting, but a few months later a local group of Institutes comprising Central, East and West Royalty, Harrington, South Milton, Maple Hills, Brackley Beach, Spring Park and Parkdale org- anized a Festival committee which went to work under the skilled direction of Mr. Walter Mc- Nutt, A.T.C.M. The syllabus drawn up at that time has formed the framework of later Festival programmes. This year's programme, both in variety and in the number of competitors, eclipses anything heretofore attempted.

The Association presiden‘, Mr. R. F. Mug- ford, A.R.C.O., has been o host in himself in organizing the Festival; but he modestly declares it is due chiefly to the able support of his execu- rive, committee convenors and active members from all parts of the Province. This underlines an essential feature of the movement, which is a community enterprise and not something super- imposed from without or from above.

The Association was fortunate in obtaining as adjudicator Mr. David Ouchterlony, who holds an important position with the Conservatory of Music at Toronto and is organist and choir direc- tor of the Timothy Eaton Memorial Church in that city.

>-—-—-—-———-i-1 Farm Accidents

v A word to the wise is implied in figures recently released by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, which show that there are more acci- dents in the month of May on Canadian farms than in any other month of the year. The safest month is January. December has l0 per cent more accidents than January, and in order of increasing danger, the months are: January, December, June, April- and August, March and September, July, February, October and May.

A sample survey of ii,000 Canadian farms made in June, i947, by the Bureau, produced an estimate of 37,200 farm accidents for the year i946-l947. These accidents were classified by geographical areas, by age, sex and type of ac- cident. The results -indicate that in experienc- ing a total of 20,800 accidents, prairie farmers accounted for 55.9 per cent of all form acci- dents, with only 32.9 per cen of the total Can. adian farm population. This high percentage is no doubt due to the great development of farm mechanization in the West. Quebec had fewer farm accidents than any other Province.

According to the figures, farm women have four chances of avoiding an accident to every one for a man, with only 7,200 accidents for the year of the survey, as compared with 30,000 for men. Women have more accidents resulting from burns than men, but only about one chance is i2 of having an accident from crushing.

Of 37,200 accidents of all kinds by both men and women, i5,400 resulted from falls. Farm folks have about as many chances of being oi:- cidentally crushed as they have of being cut or pierced with some instrument. The latter caus- ed 5,700 accidents, while 5,400 resulted from crushing. _

Only 3,900 accidents occurred in farm llvlllil. II! 0905"" 5.300 reported in barns and outbuildings. It is‘ apparently safer to leave tho farm and go to town than to go to the barn, be- cause only 5,500 accidents occurred off the farm. Stiangely enough, the most dangerous place is in the middle of o field, 21,500 lam qggidgnfg in l946-i947 occurred in fields and other outdoor ports of the farm. Almost one out of three of all farm accidents is due to a fracture, and naoriy one in five is a sprain or strain.

The some surveys recorded damage from farm fires for the year ending June, i947. There rare ailpxxlmntalylw fprm fires ri prcpo on ‘nuns r o farms, that more tlias in Ontario, where there were compared with‘ MW in Quebec.

Tiie mcstilrnportorit single cause of farm tires is from heating ar-cooliing lquipsyignf, ‘mgr,

in Canada. C

TIZE QUARQIQISL

O

_cgtgi_ir.o'rrrzrdwiy_

farm fires caused a loss of $0,254,000, and only

36.8 per cent of it could be recovered by insur- e. .

a" The moral is writ large in these statistics:

Be careful; be more careful; be most careful.

__ EDITORIAL NOTES ___

The i948 Musical Festival commencing to- day may be expected to provide a week of pleas- ura to music lovers.

I lt is still not clear whether the Government or Canada Packers are running the Charlotte- town plant, but it is noteworthy that application

for office jobs must b: made to the Packers.

i O I

The Commons price committee last week traced the high dost of meat back to the price paid the farmer. lf they had looked o little further they would probably have found that the farmer's cost. ofrpi-oductign is also up.

Perhaps Premier Jones was right in making his Ottawa trip unaccompanied by expert od- visers. As Premier Stuart Garson of Manitoba put it: "It is a matter of getting them to change their minds. lt is as simple and as diffi- cult as that.“

IIII \

Revenue Minister McCann told the House of Commons that if a farmer is not taxable there is no legal obligation on him to file an in- come tax return. However, he added, it was "very desirable" that the farmer file a return, especially if he wants at some later date to re- port his tax on the three-year averaging basis

allowed farmers.

n n t

A Massachusetts professor has announced a new method of making a very tough synthetic rubber which he predicts will replace both not- ural rubber and present synthetics for auto tires. The valueyof such an invention seems question- able when the raw material is something so much in demand as is petroleum. g n I c I

I

On the agenda of the conference of the International Labour Organization when it meets at Sari Francisco June i7th will be a draft treaty stipulating that unions "shall not be liable to be dissolved iir have their activities sus- pended by administrative authority" and shall have the right to join international federations. If the treaty is accepted and ratified Canada would seem to be in breach of it as long as the island's present iobout legislation is in ef- fcct. I lt seems old, tough turkeys are sold in Mon- treal and Toronto to groceterias and restaurants and riot to the ordinary consumers. Mr. Jules Lambert, a Montreal commission agent, explain- ed to the Prices Committee he sold turkeys to u Montreal firm of groceterias but never C-grade birds. "You can't sell old turkeys to retailers," Mr. Lambert said. "They're bought by restaur- ants and eating places." A startled member of the committée asked: "Does the parliamentary restaurant buy old turkeys?" "Well," said Mr. Lambert, "probably." i I

I O I

I O

Tom Hood, English humorist and poet, died this date i845; trained as an engraver, later be- came sub-editor of London Magazine; published Odes and Addresses to Great People (i825) Whims and Oddities, and in I830 launched Hood's Comic Annual. His life was a ‘long struggle with ill-healthand debt; he was at heart a serious writer, and his The Song of the Shirt, which appeared in Punch in i843, stimulated more than anything else of that day the. movement for social reform: "Hys was the Blisse of Ignorance, but We, being born to be learned, and unhappye withal, have noght but the Ignorance of Blisse."

i ‘k W fi

Mr. F. M. Nash and Mr. W. R. Show, who ought to know, assure us that our egg and dairy producers will not be affected by the increased freight and express rates, though it is different with our raw products, potatoes, etc., which reach their markets by the long haul. lt comes back then to still follow the advice of the late Pro- fessor Robertson, father of our dairy industrv, and concentrate largely on butter, cheese, eggs and poultry, together with" hogs, which in rural economy is good both for the pocket-book and

the soil.

fl O i I

_A long indictment of the Truman Adminis tration issued by the Republican National Com mittee uses the word "double-talk" in the sense that it seems now to have acquired to the ex- clusion of its original meaning. Double-talk originally called for skilful interweaving of ab- solute meaningless words into a conversation so that the hearer was almost convinced that what he had heard made sense. But what the Re- publicon National Committee means by "double- talk" is that Mr. Truman told one story on Friday and another on Monday; or that what ho mid he would do on Friday was poles apart from'whai he did on Monday. . ‘

. I I O O

Confession is good for the soul even of a politician. Hon. Mr. Humphrey Mitchell, Min- ister of Labour‘ was in a tight corner in tho House the other day when being questioned by members on the Government's profit and loss ac- count. On the subject of the Government run- ning businesses at a loss, he waxed voluble. "Take this- House of Commons as an example," he suggested. "We cannot even run o restaur- ant. You get a $l.75 meal for 75 cents, but who pays for it? The people of this Dominion oi anada pay. We cannot even run a barber shop an a sound basis. You get a 60 cent hair cut for 35 cents.” The House listened with eager in- terest. "ls that true?" demanded aria M. P. "Of course, it's true, and my honorable friend knows it's true,” Mr. Mitchell retortad with fine

Vi." ffilillilfl‘ f" LBW! loot chimneys and scorn. "That is a debatable point," C. E. John- fllll; lpariuan rcotsthat would rton (SC-Bow River) lntsrlectad energetically, . , ,r' l_ lg m; inflammable liquid 900; but ambiguously. "Lat my honorable friend go i. ‘l’? , ‘ doll other miscellaneous and into any union shop in Toronto and try to get en All of these Canadian a haircut for 35 cents." said the Mini-m. » .

'4\.. "\|-I-P -.-.

-iletes

lyTiie

Way-

When you get in the mouth think about Jonah - he come out. all tight. — Golf. Reporter.

High tobacco prloea here (20 cla- arettee cost 70 cents) have decided more than 1.000 fuming smoker- to grow their own. Several of our London neighbours were at. the club's first meeting this week. They are organizing groups throughout Britain to form n. "seed pool" and discuss cultivation. The idea was started by an Essex vic- ar who smokes five ounces of his garden-brand tobacco a week — and likes it. — NANA correspon- dent in London.

Those who complain that we have lost the art of conversation are sadly mistaken if they think people cannot talk intelligently. f' ls the art of listening that we have lost, and it is undoubtedly because of the fact that. in this day everybody takes newspaperi and megazlnesf and each citizen is so well informed that he wishes to do a great. deal of talking. Even when others in the company have the floor he is riot listening, out. 1s turning over in his mind the things he will say when it is his tum to talk. Good listeners are so rare today that when you meet one and notice that. he is paying strict. attention you are embar- rassed. -— Ohatham News.

Someone is forever telling as that one swallow does not. make e Sum- mer. But. what is the good of the first swallow, skimming on his side through the April afternoon. if 1t. cannot raise n vaunted hope or encourage us to defy the gloomy and the unco circumspect! If they are right, those folk who are for ever defiding the first. man to try a. thing, forever predicting disaster and living cautiously for n per- fectly hypothetical old age, than let rrie. pray, be wrong. May l.’ still, when I can count my hairs, be given grace and fortitude in the chill spring weather to say when first. I see the wlld spiral of the swallow that Winter is over and done. - Donald Culross Pest.- llt in “Ari Almanac for Mod- ems."

Britain's House of Commons was almost. completely destroyed in e German air attack May 10, 194.1. It. had been hoped that contrac- tors would heve a new House of Commons ready by the spring of i050, but. the Ministry of Works has recently announced that "in present circumstances" it is doubt- ful if the date can be met. Archi- tects of the new building, whlch is to cost. 5.000.000. have had to plan with Britain's respect for tra- dition in mind and, at. the same time, introduce s few revolutionary features —< such as sound amplify- lng. air conditioning end. most. astounding of ell, foot warmers! Each occupant of the chamber will have a heating panel under his feet and, as the architects rather drafilly declare, "a gentle current of nlr from varying directions e- round his head." The foot. warm ers and gentle air currents should enable members to debate grave issues with warmer feet and cooler heads, — Kitchener-Waterloo Roc- ord.

A Briton set out. the other day to explain why telephone cords get. twisted, as for some perverse rea- son they will. His theory -- tukc it or leave ii.- is that. most meu and 90 percent. of women lift. the receiver with their right hand. then transfer it. io their left. which ra places it. ‘This, he maintains, puts a little kink in the cord. and after a time the kinks add up to is full- grown twist. He could be rigiht. But. as the picking up and putting down is done automatically, even unconsciously, phone users with twisted cords will have to decide whether they're victims of their ambl-dexterliy. If not, then they'll ‘know they have e little gi-eniiiri in their homes and nothing can bi: done about. it. - Windsor Strir.

Dr. J. Blurry Geddes took occa- sion to warn Landon Klweuirins that in his opinion: "Exercise ud- dicts have n streak of the Pun- tan in them that. makes them think comfort is immoral." It sves the good doctor's reply to the positive urglngs of another Klwanian, Charles Marlin. that the members brisk up a bit. and flex their muscles. He suggested sprinting. long-distance rurmlng and hurd- ling. The other members, however. felt no shame in admitting that ease and comfort were more in their line, and when Dr. Gedries tool: the stand on their behalf, they felt. much relieved. 5o do we. Klwunlan Ma iris an energetic hot gospeller or the vigorous life and we respect. him for it, but we are glad his intolerable motion was defeated. Why run when you can walk? ‘Why well: when you can sit? This is spring. '- londoa Free Press. r

An interesting cane is new gollli on in Britain over golf bells. l! seems that. lest year nvgentleauu named Herbert was found on e-golf course with e pocketful of golf balls. Although he claimed to have found the balls as l. result of dili- gent search, he was brought into court" and fined n pound. Herbert has now appealed the also to a higher court. During the course of the appeal the presiding Justice made a remark which shocked British lolfors. The lustice _llll|Z "If I picked up s golf bell while welkina across a common and out it. in my pocket, 1 should not. think I hnd been guilty of larceny." The Justice a non-golfer‘ presumably. takes it. for granted that anyone who hits a bsll in such n fashion that he cannot find it, really does

not went it any mcre- Winnipeg n-fbunc. .

o-o-w PUBLIC FORUM This column h open to the dilaalloa by corre-

spondents of questions oi Interest». The t. lottatowii

Guardian does not macabr- tty endorse the opinion a|_ correapoudalsll.

EDUCATION IN A NEW ROI]

Bin-In the emancipation of the human mind from the shackles of ignorance education at different times has been called upon to play strangely dissimilar parts. Today a new subject is being added to the curriculum: "Alcohol and its Place in.a Well-ordered Universe" as education. Under the provisions of the British North America Act. this

have and was definitely better

is a provincial affair; each Prov- ince will approach the questori in its own we)’. While differences a detail w satisfy local conditions will be noted, in broad outline the syllabus will be the some.

The fundamental principles upon which the new system will work can be stated as follows: "The manufacture end sale of alcoholic‘ beverages have become an absol- ute ireceralty. so great. is the rev. enue to be derived from this source, and so easy is it to secure satis- fied customers that no government can afford to lei, this opportunity slip. Prohibition has been tried and found wanting, and the oniy remaining avenue of approach to the solution of the liquor problem ls through education."

That educational leaders in this country could have been prevailed upon to assoclate with the brewers and dlsilllers in formulating this plan can only be understood when we realize the great changes that. have ‘taken place in morals and manners during the pest. twenty- five years.

Temperance education fri the schools is nothing new. For the last thousand years education nae been directing its heaviest artil- lery against the curse of the llq- uor traffic and the more the traf- fic is exposed the faster it grows. Neither for a man nor for a his lion is education any protection against the ravages of alcohol. ‘Th: most. highly cultured and educat- ed netlons on this planet are she greatest consumers of alcoholic beverages and suffer iihe most. and the illiterate nations suffer tlie least.

For the liquidation of tho liquor traffic education is not. s solution at all. It is only e flimsy. bit of camouflage behind which the liquor interests exploit their vic- tims and governments hope to get a little extra money the easy W81, part of which they would use to provide health services, social ee~ curlty, and other public conven- fences.

The Department of Education that would es-k our teachers to tench temperance in the schools. while the Government provldesin- creased facilities for the consump- tion of alcoholic beverages in our hotels and in our homes, is plamng our teachers in a, more humiliat- ing position than the Government placed the .Medlcal Association when it. sponsored that hybrid drinking device known as the Cul- len Amendment. If our purpose were to discredit the teacher, no better method could be found than to suggest that. he should give his blessing to this sordld and soulless merchsndlzlng. To destroy the liquor traffic is the teacher's high- est. hope. Ask him to sirpp rt. Pra- hibitiori when Prohibition ecornes the law of the lend. and the en- f moment of the Act is taken our. of politics, and he will willingly play his part.

If the people of Prince Edward Island are sincere in their desire for a dry Province, they should be on the alert and wide awake when they ere selecting candidates to occupy seats in the Legislature. Flooding the House with wet. sen- tlment and at the some time ex- pecting to keep the Province ‘lry is aberrations of the human mind that. makes us critical of the pas. and not. too sanguine about the future. When we vota for Prohibi- tion on June 28 it will be with the definite understanding that the entire control of enforcement forces will be taken out. of politics and kept. out. The way in wh.cli democratic governments ,are at.- tempting to control every activity of man from the cradle ‘to the grave is becoming o. public nuis- ance. Right here ls a splendid op- portunity for conducting n non- palitfcel experiment in the inter- eshs of the whole hovlrice.

l em. lir, ei.c..

VERNON OROCKETT. York, P. E. I.

IMPROVED TIMPEBANOI

(Note: Owing to e typographi- cal error in the publication of this letter in our Saturday's issue it. is being reprinted today.)

Bin-Ln Wednesday's Public For- um n_let.ter entitled "From the Pllibit" appeared and. while sucn letters don't as a rule bother mo any more than to perhaps evoke e chuckle, I em moved to comment on this particular one.