PAGE F OUR

_ UTHE GUARDIANLHCHARLOTTETUWN

- FEBRUARY u. 194,

THE GUARDIAN

llornfal Dill! ‘|'l"‘""|"' l‘ n?” Author-fun no new-nu (lm-n nun. ion OHM Department, uunvn.

The lnlnnll liuerdlun lullllr-illnl Cl‘- Ihfltor and lhenngtn; Ulrewllll. J If ""1""- Auoelntu Editor. Frnnli “other.

"The Strongest Memory is Weaker Th6" l ' the Weakesfllnk."

CHARLOTTIITOWN. FRIDAY. run. u I919

Too Much Legislature? the 21nd of this

The Legislature meets on month, and while there is reportedly) not much matter of a controversial nature in the off- ing, it is likely that the session will last for three or four weeks as usual. Otherwise, the mem- bers might feel embarrassed at taking their in- creased sessional emoluments. Last year, follow- ing the precedent" set at Ottawa, they generously boosted their $400 indemnities to $700 each, plus an additional $300 tax-free grant for ex- penses incurred in relation to their attendance at each session.

lt is generally conceded that our members heretofore have been poorly paid and certainly none of them, on this occasion, voiced the re- luctance expressed by the late Mr. Peter Brodie to an earlier indemnity boost under the Bell Gov- ernment. Nor did it appear to occur to any of them that other solutions might have been found, at less expense to the taxpayers -—such as "cutting the cackle" to a minimum, reduc- ing the membership in the House, or even ol meeting less frequently.

The latter proposal has been raised by the

‘Vancouver News-Herald (Liberal) in connection with the British Columbia legislative sessions. How is it (it asks) that Washington State, with I population of more than 2,000,000, can" get along with a session‘ every two years, while every Province in Canada (including Prince Edward ‘Island with less than 100,000 population) HWSI have a session every year? Washington State seems to be governed quite efficiently, with a minimum of wasted effort.

"With a session here each year," says the News-Herald, "there is a tendency on the part of the Government to shelve its responsibilities to the House. In the three or four months before the House is to open, the Government has a habit, every time it is faced with an awkward situation, of saying, ‘Let the Legislature figure a way out of that one.’ In these few months the Government doesn't do much more than keep the books."

There is, of course, danger in too much government by order-in-council. In colonial days we had bitter experience of that under such dictatorial regimes as Governor Smith's. On those occasions, however, the House met only of the Governor's pleasure, and was abruptly dismissed for long intervals when if’ failed to comply with his demands. Under responsible government this procedure would not be tolerated. But to quote again from our Vancouver contemporary: "A session every two years seems to a lot of people to be quite sufficient. It would cut out a lot of foolishness, long-winded speeches and much ex- pense. When necessary, the Government could always call the House together at a week's no- tice, as has happened in the past."

,Without going to a totalitarian extreme, or even inviting such a possibility, one improvement which could be affected would be to streamline our present legislative procedure, particularly with regard to the time-wasting formalities in- volved in the Draft Address and Budget debates. Last year nineteen of our thirty Island stalwarts took part in the former debate, which could very well have been disposed of by the mover and seconder, the leader of the House and the leader of the Opposition. In the Budget debate, sixteen members delivered more or less lengthy oration: — on hour each would be a moderate computation —- after which they went into com- mittee on the Estimates and covered the same subjects in a less formal and more pertinent manner. Those who spoke in the Budget debate and had not previously spoken on the Draft Ad- d-ress felt called upon to make two speeches in one, dealing, quite improperly, with matters already disposed of on the plea that they wished to associate themselves with, or take exception to, certain expressions voiced by so-and-so, and with ‘the Speaker's permission they would say, etc., etc.

All this rodomontade goes on at every ses- sion, not infrequently before a House barely able to make-up a quorum. Obviously it is not directed to the speaker's colleagues at all, but to his constituents at home, in the hope and ex- pectation that it will be channeled there through the kind offices of the Press, whose patient representatives are sometimes the only wakeful auditors in the chamber.

Practices of this kind belong to the more leisurely past, when party politics was of burn- ing interest, and partisan rhetoric ranked among the popular arts. Today, to the intelligent voter, such debates have no more meaning than the drone of an ill-tuned bagpipe. The members could do them-selves, and the public at large, a good service by confining their speechmaking to plain statements of fact, and to giving more attention to committee work and other matters essential to their business as legislators. This session, being only the second of the forty- sixth General Assembly, with not even a by-ele:- tion in the offing, affords an excellent opportun- ity of making a fresh start.

Issue 0n The Prairies

The recent by-election in Quebec indicates the difficulties the St. Laurent Government will face in this traditionally Liberal Province in the coming general election. But out in the Prairies it will have another problem to deal with. The big election issue there will likely be the British- Canodian wheat agreement made by Mr. Gar- diner, Minister of Agriculture, through the ag- eney of the Wheat Board in I946. The agreement was for the sale of l40 million bushels of wheat per season, over a 4-year period, to the Govern. ment of the United Kingdom. The price was

fixed at $1.55 per bushel for the first two years, 1946-47 and 1947-48, although the world price was over $2 for the whole of this period. But the agreement contained what everyone thought was a "saving clause,“ to protect Canadian grain-growers against any ultimate loss on the whole 4-year trade. It provided that, in deter- mining the prices for the two final crop years, 1948-49 and 1949-50, "regard" would be had fcr any difference between the prices paid in the two earlier yea-rs and the prevailing world market prices.

The Searle Index estimates the losses to Canada's grain-growers under this agreement at $352,000,000. The price for the third year, 194B- 49. which is still current was set at $2, but in the first quarter of this year losses aggregating $33,000,000 ensued and the Western farmers quite naturally expected a big boost in the price for next year, 1949-50. to make up these enor- mous losses. But the best Mr. Gardiner has been able to do has been to sign up for $2, which is thus to be the contract price for the two last years. It is of course possible that the world market price will drop between now and April 1950, and in that event the Canadian exporter's position will be improved somewhat. But the whole deal has been most unfortunate for the grain-growers, whose losses up to November 30, 1948 had aggregated $385,000,000, and who would need $5 a bushel for the final l40,0lX),000 bushels to place themselves in as favorable a position as they would have occupied if the agreement had never been made.

.li EDITORIAL NOl ES 1' A $50,000,000 in subsidies for one year is not to be sneezed at by NFL.D.

"The Road to llustico" will soon sound as pleasantly in the public ear as does "The Road

to the lsles."

can

Charloftetonians are inclined to look upon Halifax as a gloomy city of rain and fog, but the official figures for January tell a different story. Halifax had 105.5 hours of sunshine as compared with only 48.6 hours for this city.

I Q l

One drop in city revenue which will not bring complaints is the drop in the Police Court receipts which Councillor N. W. Lowther reports have fallen from $15,000 in 1946 to only $7000 in 1948.

‘r I U

Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor, born this date 1847. Through Edison and Bell, practically all modern electrical contrivances have been introduced into modern life, from the electric pen to the electric torpedo.

:0 a s

The proposal of the Milk Producers and Vendors Association that milk be paid for on Government test has certain attractions. One disadvantage would be that dissatisfied produc- ers would no longer be able to compare their test with another recognized standard.

s .- .

That was a commendable action on the part of Dr. Harold Shaw to invite Dr. the Hon. W.J.P. MacMillan to sit in with him at the Fed- eral Health Conference at Ottawa the other day. The former Provincial Minister of Health hap- pened to be in Ottawa at the time attending on executive meeting of the Red Crass Society.

i‘ U O

The powers-th-at-be should let no unneces- sary time elapse before getting a memorial pile to Father Belcourt erected at his native place, Rustico. The Rev. Father had two historic dis- tinctions; he built and ran in 1866 the first liorseless car in North America, and he baptized Louis Riel the leader of the Indian rising of 1885.

was

Undrawn bank balances going abegging. Ac- cording to a return made to the House at Ot- tawa there are I7 R. A. F. men who left as much as $30 apiece in the Royal Bank at Charlotte- town and never came back for it and there is the $35 left in a Sussex, N. B., bank by the men's canteen of the 8th. anti-aircraft unit.

a v I

The arrival at Summerside Wednesday of the first two aircraft to make a trans-continent- ol flight to this Province is an historic event of importance. Soon such flights and longer ones will become routine. In the age of steamships we failed to make the most of our fine harbours. We must not make the same mistake in the age of flight.

Depuly Minister of Mines and Resources, Dr. H. L. Keenleyside, predicts that "Canada is at last on the verge of a period of vast develop- ment." Psychologically, economically, industrial- ly, politically and socially we have been tried and tested. What we still need is increased popu- lation lo mulch our opportunities.

The London Sunday Tiines has a suggestion fcr bringing the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council into line with the realities of to- day's situation within the British Commonwealth. The proposal is either to create a new Common- wealth iudical committee or simply appoint more Dominion judges to the Privy Council and select boards from them.

Who has not suffered at Burns celebrations from the long windedness of the proposers of 'The Immortal Memory"? Mr. James R. Crawford F.S.A. (Scot), at the annual celebration in London told the story of a Burns supper in a Scottish mining villcge where the proposer of the toast made an excessively long speere. Most of the guests had dined and wined too weLI, and one of them, bolder than the rest, called out to the chairman, "Hit him on the head with the ham- mer, Jamie." The president promptly leaned over to do so-but hit,.instead, a diner who was sit- ting between him and the speaker. If that inci- dent did not deter the speaker, the subsequent remark must have had the desired effect. As the "victim" was slowly sinking under the table, Ire was heard to plead, "Hit me again, Jamie-l

can still hear him!"

(9 ‘\ NW? I ~ \

A

\

/

' Th ac; =5 - _

\\ I / g \ ‘yo ezmg/rff-f

l/‘tr-

\\

\

IQ ‘\ \

Pllifliilt

ll Jones 1 '

r

PllE MIER DUPESSIS

4

---_i.

THIS ITIME THEY SEE EYE TO EYE.

\

i}

l / . NWO /

41 ‘° L4 \ 496F111 / \ , t,’ ~ /

\-

i I

QU$B£C D4‘ IQ y kbr€

\\

/ l) i

.31..»

= *9\')\<9/\')t~>i00%00i>00€"

PUBLIC FORUM

Thle column Is open to the discussion by correspondents of questions of Interest. The Guardian does not necessar- ily endorse the opinion of correspondent;

i

OMDOOO-DQOQ LONGEVITY CANDIDATES

SII‘.—TI'IG following additional names have been received for the longevity list:

Mrs. Arthur Wright, Augustine

Cove . . .. Mr. William Teed. 10 Pleasant

St.. City .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Mrs. Emily Ford, “Tnsloe . . 90

I am. Slr, etc. UNCLE JOE.

TheIevel Of Prices

(Monthly Review of The Bunk of Nova Scotla)

‘The great generating forces be- hind the rise In prices have bee" losing strength," say! U18 Curie"! Monthly ltevlow of The Bank o! Nova Scotia. "The backlog! °l d?‘ mand from the consuming Public and from business have been in- creasingly filled by large PPQdI-IC‘ fro“ and pared down by rising prices. External demands have les- sened. And much of the excei! money supply has been utilized and further expansion Irmilgd b)’ Him" inflation fiscal policies. y

"The scale a! defence Q-‘Pendk tures is the largest- ""l<"°,""" I“ the outlook. So fur. the Increase In U. S. defence outluyi hi" “'3' been sufficient to cause a renewal of the post-um‘ inflation and the balance between the UPWBTII and downward forces in the U. S. econ- omy appears to be a close anc with the scales tippinfi’, R “m? d°“'“' ward. Unless defence PYQPRFBUMIS are agaln substantially Increased- m» other government expenditures notably enlarged. there is reason to believe that the long-sustained n53 In prices may huge tun its course.

e

In discussing the doubling of the wholesale price level since pre- war. the Review points out that some prices Iiuve risen u 809d deal more than others. Prices for the products of the greet- Pflmfllv In’ dustries Itave risen substantially more as compared with the period between the two wars than the general flYPffigP of wholesale prices‘. So. ton. have building ma- terials, Though such n comparison is not coiiilusive evidence. of uri un- balanced price structure. “It l5 H fact that marked changes Ill the prior.- structure of Cnnudri and‘ the United States hnvo occurred in n comparatively short period’ r-Iiarigcs of ri character very like [h0g9 Qt‘ past booms."

Behind tho apparent lack of balance In the price structure Ilc the extraordinary und pflYl-l." Wm‘ porary demands uf tho early post- war period. The durable-goods In- dustries flllPiifly stimulated by the uar were further stimulated by the requirements of business and con- sumers. accumulated as n rr-sult of the war and the long period of de- pression before ll. The ilemanrl for basic materials and foodstuffs invrnr-isr-rl rather than declined wlicu the \\f\l' was over. in part because of tliu roncentratioii on North America nf tlio urgcut d2- mands of War-ravaged countries.

e e e

flow. says flir- ffovlew. this pal- iovn of (lcmantl is beginning to change. Three yours of high pro- duction and rising prices have whittled down the backlogs of (le- mand. There are no longer exces- sive rlemarrls for consumer goods. and even the backlogs of demand for automobiles and housing linvu been considerably reduced. In- ventories have been replenished and built up. Notable progress has also been made In expanding and mod- ernlzlng the capital equipment of industry and agriculture. though much stlli remains to be done pur- tlcularly In adding to electric pow- c-r capacity. in developing natural resources and In Improving trans- portation nnil educational facilities.

Meanwhile. export demands have been declining despite the advent of the European Recovery Fragrant. Recovering production abroad has reduced the urgency of demands on North America. "Though ERP helps lo sustain Europe’: ability _to Import. there can be no doubt that her purchases will be carefully lim- Ited for some time to come. Nor. from is Canadian ntandpolnt can too much reliance be placed on off-shore purchases with ERP funde since they may be restricted as U. S. supplies become more plentiful."

The Review also suggests that there Is no longer a great surplus of money searching for an outlet. In 1946 and 1947. there can be lit-

tle doubt that the money supply

- rorllc

l

was excessive In relation to the]

supply of goods available at ex- isting prices. By the end of last year, however. prices had risen very substantially and the supply of money. which had been rlslng much less rapidly, appeared to be In closer balance with the supply of goods at current prices.

There has been Increasing direct evidence that. the supply of money ls becoming less plentiful. The wartime savings of businesses and Individuals have been heavily drawn upon. Consumer credit and mortgage borrowing have expanded substantially. Bond financing has also Increased notably. as has bank lending. Restraints an the con- tinued expansion o! borrowing have been coming Increasingly Into play, natural restraints resulting from the relationships between debt and income and between debt and equity capital, from high break- eveu points and high Inventory valuations, and from less favour- able profit expectations In a more and more competitive marker.

The Review points out that Can- adian prlces have been steadily moving upward toward U. S. levels and that the process of adjust- ment now appears to be approach- ing completion. "It is. therefore. of special Interest to note that the upward course of prices in the United States has been checked and followed by a slight decline In the past. year.“ The official week- ly Index of wholesale prfbes In the United States Is now 4% lower thuii a yeur earlier. Prices of farm pro- ducts ure down about 15% and foods are off 10%. Orv the other hand. building materials and fuel are higher than a year ago. And metals and metal products are considerably higher. Recently, haw- ever. some of the "strong" com- modities Iiave shown signs of weakening In U. S. markets. irrcluil- lng lumber. some kinds of paper, pulp, all and steel scrap.

Siberian Meteorite

tMLncbester Guardian;

The arrival on earth of a giant meteorite is a rare occurrence. When It happens iwe may be reas- onably c011tmt if It. is at the other end of the world rather than In our awn neighborhood. There seems no reason in the nature 0f things why the thousand-tanner which struck a remote spot In Eastern Siberia on February 1'2. 194’! should not. have landed In Lancushirn.

Wi- should not then have hart to wall to find Its arrival rccuixled in "Nature" nearly two years later, but. on balance we nccd not grumble at. tbaL. We are more in- clined. If It Is not. too late. to cou- gratulate the distant. inhabitants of the M11001‘ River valley that tho strange monster found its tur- get In a neighboring mountain ramzr and apparently caused little human loss. ‘II came in daylight and almost. outshone the sun for the few seconds for which it was seen from cvcry town and village ivlihln I25 mllcs.

The noise of the explosions which accompanied it and of fhc final crash were carried nearly as far. and the meteoric fraomcnts win-p scnlirrorl avi-r a rnilius of sovrn or eight mlIr-s There recrns f") leave been no rrritral crater of ‘no Arirono type. lho u-hoie me- breaking up Iiit8 thous- ands of fraizmcnts. but more th-in a hundred funnels were found In the rocks. some of them six )"'l‘(l5 deep and three times as wide. and there was considerable destruction of trees.

Though rather fanvifully cits.- crlhed by ‘oni- of the Russian scientists as "a minor planet." this ivns certainly an outsze In Innd- fnlilitg mctoorltes. and goo-phys- lcIsls the world over w‘ii ta-"e all the Interest In It that they are allowed“

A large part of the rflfccted rc- "Ion has been closed and placed at thi- dispose] of the Academv of Sciences of the U..S..S..R... vifdfi has already rent, two exped't'ans to the site, But m Ion: n! the nrcsent theory of Russian 8"lr‘n(‘0 for the Russians prevails. Inter- national scientists are likely to find Eastern Siberia even more remote than Ii. has usually been-

COALVILLE- Lelcestershlre. Eng- land -fOP) -—A man who stopped a runaway horse and cart In a crowded street. refused to give his name ecsuse he ntd he dldift want le boss to ‘mow he had left work early.

NEW RACKHEATH. Norfolk. England — (C P) — An airfield otnrmn has been turned Into a church by villagers here.

- Il'l the wlrflviims

éoefiéma

. u...

Thereteeonsethtxigefe, ‘ox In the feet that Communists know the value of the vote and use It. persistently to forward their own cause which. If successful. would terminatetbe privilege. — Port. Ar- thur News-Chronicle.

It II molt: deelreble. Mo, that. the choice of newcomers be made from among those most familiar with conditions prevailing In Canada. Experience has shown that the best new citizens are those who come from comparable climates and like conditions. With a broad policy of Immigration and a form of selec- tion which fakes cognizance of nil the factors. Canada could profit greatly from new Immigration. -— Port Arthur News Chronicle.

There will be general approval. we think. of the refusal to allow a last message from Austin Craft to be read In e local church. Craft. was hanged for the murder of a penitentiary guard. and wished to write a message to be given from the pulpit on the eve of hls execu- tion, but the authorities refused to relax regulations which farhlrl mes- sages of this description. Messages from the gallows belong to another day, to the day when persons fac-