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Mol?i)'A3i' AUGUST l,-1955 :

I OTThe Decline?

It does seem as though totalitar- ianism, both right and left, is losing its grip. In the Soviet Union it ap- pears to be weakening so rapidly that some Western observers are al-

.; ready talking about free elections

behind the curtain. But perhaps thc

chief evidence of the decline is to be found in Moscow's unprecedented

, action in publishing President Eisen-

hower's post-Geneva speech, with-

out bot.hering to delete that part ot it which referred to the ”satellites' right to freedom".. Indeed, one un- official report has it that the satel- lites are to be allowed to go their

own ways, beginning almost im-

mediately. Still another rumour is

that the governments of some of

, these States are pleading with Mos-

4. cow to go slowly in the matter. Ap- parently. the people in these places have been under Soviet domination for so long that they are a little frightened by the prospect of free- dom with responsibility.

, Over in "the Orient, the voice of Chou En-lai is becoming more and

p more subdued daily; not for a month

Q . or more has he threatened to ”lib-

L T crate" Formosa. Moreover, it is

oommonly believed that at the am- bassadorial talks in Geneva the Chi- nose Reds will go a long way. per-

. haps the entire way. towards ll set-

; tfement with the United States over

s number of important issues. To top it all, there have been whispers in Poiping-very low whispers, to be

A lure-about "legalizing" opposition

v to the regime.

L Down in Argentina the dictator- lhb of Juan Peron is, for all prac- tiloni purposes, at an end. For the tint time in more than ten years his political opponents have been per- nsittod to slr their views over the nstlonis radio system. Reports arc

. Hunt they took full advantage of the opportunity and denounced Peron and all his works. What is more

"f they "demanded" elections to bring

f l about the ”rebirth of democracy",

' and the indications are they will get

them. -

l It's all very wonderful, of course

-if there's no hitch to it!

Calendar Reform World calendar reformers have scrapped their old target date of '- January 1, 1956. They now hope, with United Nations help. t5 change the civil calendar once and for all on January 1, 1961. Miss Elizabeth Achelis. president of the World (Tal- endar Association, Inc., says that's the next New Year's day after lll5tv' on which the proposed world calen- dar will coincide with the (ire-gorizin calendar, which has been in gcrlcral use for the last 373 years. The world can't shift from the one to the other sooner, she says, because at least l two years' preparation will he need i ' ed beforehand. it is still very doubt- flll whether any change will be made at all.

A lot depends on the llnitcri Na- tions economic and social council. At the 18 nation council's request. Sec- retary General Dag Hammarskjold has asked 84 governments. in and

- out of the United Nations. what thcy g think about the idea. Only Thllilanrl ' so far has said it favors changing the calendar. Sixteen countries, in- cluding the United States, say they are against it. Nine put themselves down as undecided. The rest have yet to reply.

in New York City. It claims 55,000 members and has 39 national affili- gates. It contends that the calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII is faulty because quarter and halt years are unequal and each year starts a day or two later in the week Athnn the lost. It would substitute the ll-Oiled world calendar. This would onsmontlt ofv31 days and two lllolgtllrof 30 doys each inlevery

I

UARDIAN"

The association has headquarters,

day called "Leapyear day." This would make the calendar perpetual. New Year's day would always come on Sunday, Christmas always on Monday.

India argues that the present cal- endar is inexact and makes ,it (1) impossible to arrive at exact quart- erly and semiannual statistical com- parisons and (2! nccessary for auth- orities to fix court and legislative sessions, and so on, anew each year.

The United States, Great Britain, Burma and others object to the blank days. These” would break up the- cycle of Sabbaths every seventh day. Israel says this ttwould bring confu- sion into the religious and social life of. Jews all over the world." Pakistan says "the dislocation of Fridays would be unacceptable to Moslems." Australia and the Philippines call the prescn) calendar satisfactory. Portu- gal. . orway, Sweden and Finland say a change would be inconvenient or untimely. France sees no "wide support from public opinion." Yugo- slavia asks continued United Nations study. Canada says reform might prove useful. Chile, Colombia. Costa Rica, Ireland, Monaco and Paraguay want to know how the Vatican stands. '

The United Nations has askeld the Vatican, but has no answer yet. In 1912, the papal secretary of state told the international chamber of commerce the Holy See would not oppose calendar reform if fixing feasts was left to the church. Last Jline :28, the Vatican newspaper Os- servatore Romano reaffirmed this VIFTV.

A Refreshing Story

The news these days is so deeply involved in the odds and ends of hu- man disarray that it is refreshing alld encouraging to read the little story which appeared recently about yollng King Hussein of Jordan and the poor boy, Mohammed Ali Mu- liisn. The king comes riding into a certain village. He stops to speak to a lad of thirteen, who explains that he is tired of following his tribe across the desert; he wants to go to school, but he has no money, no par- ents, no friends to aid him. Tim king listens attentively in the very best princely manner, then tells the boy to come with him to the palace. There he is fed and clothed by the king's mother and told that, begin- ning tomorrow, he is to be a royal charge and educated by the king's own tutors at the king's expense The young lad is so happy that he can scarcely express his gratitude. lie merely intones the ancient dogma of his ancestral faith, "there is no God but Allah". The young monarch is happy, too. He has done a kingly deed. Allah will not overlook it.

The story is redolent of some of the more fabulous tales in the Arab- ian Nights Entertainments. As time goes on it will be revised and embel- lished llniil in dlle course it takes its place among the epics of the king's l't'tllnl. It is a refreshing story be- cause it iiramaiizes the shining glory of ”a good deed in a nallghiy world." It is enl-ollraging in that it dis- plwiycs the cynical and widespread assumption that the grace of king- ship in modern usage is pretty much a matter of bureaucratic systemat- ism. Young Muhisn will have the good wishes of a,host. of people ill all parts of the world who like an oc- casional dash of rare piquancy in thcir normal news rations.

EDITORIAL NOTES

it it's a joke it's one that's in very bad taste; bill it is difficult to believe that Social Credit member Blackmore is in earnest when he says that J. B. McGeachie. of the Toronto (llohe and Mail, Patrick Kcailcy of the Manchester Guardian. and Matthew Halton, CBC corre-, spondent in London, among others. ”follow the Communist Party line" in their periodical comments on the news of the day.

0 O 0

When a Conservative member from British Columbia joins with a Liberal member from this Province in seeking some solution to the potato tariff problem, there is some hope that the important matter will attract governmental attention. Per- haps Major General Pearkes' ex- prcssion of concern when Mr. Math-. eson brought the question up in Far- liament will help to point up a cir- cumstance that is often overlooked,

. namely. that the difficulties of one section of the country should be con- l slderod sympathetically by all other

ssaglons. lsolstlonlsm is just as un Klt'abie. in a national sense as it is

gtoward the

S

Freaks Of Lightning

Milwaukee Journal

The other day tional Falls, Minn.. I bolt hit the plate glass window in I dress shop and opened a crack about an eighth of an inch wide and eight feet long.

Half an hour later, after a glass firm had been called to replace the window. the crack disappeared, according to a

in interna-

score of witnesses. All that re- mained was a dark streak. which also disappeared in a

days time. The window appar- ently had mended itself.

That's weird enough. certainly. hilt it doesnt top the list by any means. Any natural phenomenon that occurs as often as lightning- about two billion strokes a year over the globe-is bound to pro- duce some amazing stories.

Just last March, for example, lightning hit a church belfry in Maryland. short circlrited an electic chimes switch and started a recital of recorded hymns, including, "Be Still, My Soul". Lightning also has been known to curl a womanis hair, by sizzling through her bobby pins. 10 000k 98128 in a bowl, roast potatoes in a patch and even give a man a haircut. It singed his hair in a neat crew out about a quarter of an inch from his scalp.

0 O O

A lzreat deal more has been learned about lightning although the experts are the first to admit that there is a vast amount they don't know. Among the facts that have been discovered are these:

The lightning flash that you see goes up from the ground, not down from the sky

Each flash is made up of a number of strokes, moving so swiftly that they can't be d-5,. C9"lC'd- UP to 47 strokes have been counted in one flash.

An ordinary bolt involves .500 million kilowatts of electric

p;iwer--more than 30 per cent, 0

the total p o w e r plant Capacity in the United States. But the commercial value of

this tremendous surge would be less than a penny because of its split second duration.

Lightning is a means of res- toring the balance of electrical forces between the earth and the heavcns.

Clouds in a thunderstorm build up electric charges by the break. Int! up of water drops and the freezing and melting of ice crystals. Winds within the cloud roar up to speeds of 160 miles per hour, Cllurninlz the mass in the fashion 0f 3g hlllle electric generator. After a time, positive charges gather top the cloud,

n e g a l i v e charges toward th6 bottom.

0 0 0

To meet this challenge from the underside of. the cloud, the earth gathers its pogllive ”"Wf' '0 8 spot Just below the t h u n fl e r h e ad. inevitably, "WV 0l1D0-ling charges wear down the relstance of the air brlweep earth and clolld

Invisible streamers of electrons dart toward the earth, making up in 150 feet before they spelid the-gr force. One streamer follows in the Path of the other. making more and more progress downward until earth is almost reached. This pm- 9955 Mk?! Only on hundredth of a second.

Now comes thc return stroke, from the earth to the cloud, This is the flash you see, gl. llloullll .voll could swear that its moving downward, not up- ward.

The flash can last from one five-hundredth of a second lo 1-3 seconds. depending on the number of strokes in the flash. The speed of the bolt lug beg; estimated at 22 million mjlg per hour and its lempenlm-g at 27.000 degrees - higher mu

the surface temperature of the SUN.

I 0 C Thstls how lightning worn,

and it explains why a pang. walk. tug through I bare. level field in s thunderstorm is asking for it. lies taller than anything glgg h the vicinity. and his body rodueu ll! full! that amount of height the distance a lightning bolt must ll-nAvel through the ah,

Iron is taller. of course, but than no llelbl The not will of- lrscl the ball. but the surge will .".":.t tl"....”"'"'. ”

I . nnrllco canpnny survey indicates that at least one- lhlrd of all deaths caused by light- nm In of MN: who saw an

shelter under storm.

Lightning prefers certain trees over others - oaks. and firs. for example. get hit 15 times as often as beeches. Maybe. it's because there are more of them. When lightning hits, the heat turns the sap into steam, causing the tree to explode.

The rule of thumb to be used in a thunderstorm is to get inside a building, if you can. If not. make yourself as inconspicuous as possible. Lie down in some depression in the earth. It may be uncomfortable. but it's living.

Lightning strikes water, too. but it vastly prefers fishermen in row- boats holding metal fishing rods. inside the house, use of electrical appliances telephone, radio,

a free during a

stove and so forth - does not 2

increase the danger ..from light- ning. The current ia too small to afford any special attraction for the bolt. If lightning strikes, it would have struck anyway, even if all the appliances had been turned off. 0 O 0

So there is logic in lightning, even if the publicity is given to its erratic tricks. Why did a bolt kill all of the black sheep in a flock in Lapleaux, France, and not even singe the white sheep? Why did it strike a cow in New Hamp- shire and not harm the farmer who was milking her?

On the other hand. lightning held off on one historic occasion when it had every reason to strike.

A group of top level scientists were placing the activating core inside the world's first atomic bomb. This work was going on under s 100-foot steel tower on top of which the bomb was to be exploded.

Unfortunately . the plutonium core refused to slide into position, and the work went on for hours. Then someone noticed a desert thunder- storm headed toward the site. All but six scientists, including Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer were ordered out of the vicinity be- cause of the danger. The steel tower was the logical target for any lightning bolts - and the A-bomb was lying beneath it.

The bomb was covered by a small army tent. while lightning played all over the desert. But it did not strike the tower. days later the bomb was exploded. and the atomic age was born.

Big Task Ahead

(Kitchener--Waterloo Record) .

The Royal commission set. up by the government to probe deeply into Canada's basic problems is beginning its herculeau task with a study of the far northwest ex- tending beyond the Arctic circle. its formal hearings will begin soon after in Eastern Canada.

This five-man commission, bend- ed by Walter L. Gordon, has Ill assignment much like that under- taken by the Paley commission in the United States. It will be in large part a stocktaking of the nation's resources, both material and human.

It has been given wide powers by the government to dig into every aspect of the economy. It may even visit Washington, since one of its jobs will be to deter- mine now dependent Canada will be on the United Slates for her economic prosperity in the next three decades. It will try to deter- mine how much control outsiders will have over the direction of Canadian industry by that time.

The commissioners, sldod In a research turn. will endeavor to find the answer to such questions as these: What is happening to use soil. to the forests. to the leg? What resources are ger of depletion and win! can done either to conserve than to find substitutes? Bbould we be In certain industrial activities?

The answers should be a vain- Ible tuldelmt to Canadians in all walks of life. The colnpre ve study of how the will share unzooraoyesnlromnow should he A great help in mg pm. we framing of sound public pu. lcy. ,

. PERMIT GIANTID '

CARCAS (OP)-Tbs civil uro- nsullcs board of the United ltntus has given s limits on psrntlt D Aoravlss Veaesol.-ans, sntllzrizinr It to operate Venesods ssi Iluul and

"El

Three -

Short Of Expectation

(Sydney Post-Record)

The mistake of expecting public projects to be a cure for unem- ployment is demonstrated repeat- edly il: government-financed works that fall far short of expecta- tion in creating employment.

A case in point is the Canso Causeway, a point raised by Clnrle Gillis. M.P., Cape Breton South, in the House of Commons. Mr. Gillis argued that the labor content of any public works programme was too small to be a real factor in solving the unemployment prob- lem.

When the causeway was proposed during the war years as a post- war project it was argued that it would provide employment for 1,500 men for five years. Actually the work was completed in a year and a half and it employed not 1,500 but 263 men.

Employment is best provided by everyday undertakings that satisy day-by-day public needs it was pointed out by Joseph Lister Rul- ledge, a writer on this subject. To assure such employment it is ne- cessary to have a demand for widely used C0lllIl'l0dliZicn that in turn restores the demand for ba- sic products.

"It may be argued that it h hard to do and it is," wrote Rul- ledge. "But it can also be argued that we are not fighting unem- ployment induced by hard times. We are fighting the fact that in many lines we are facing com- petition that we cannot meet, be- cause our prices have grown out of line with competitive foreign products. We are pricing ourselves out of the foreign markets we need and, bit by bit, out of our own market. It is largely a matter of

wages and taxes, or might we just say taxes, because behind most wage demands is a depreciated dol- lar. So taxes have been a large factor in creating unemployment in good times.

"If, instead of make-work pro- jects to provide a trickle of teln- porary employment at a heavy cost. measures were taken to relieve the situation that makes for high prices and high unem- ployment we might get farther Substantial tax and other reliefs might mean a postponement of some government undertakings. But perhaps we could bear that if we could all get back to work at our own jobs."

Franco's Atlantic Colony

(Exchange)

Capd Breton'a neighbor islands St. Pierre and Miquelon. a col- ony of France, have I new, youthful and enterprising admin- istrator in Governor Pierre Sic- and, who is determined to do everything possible to revitalize their economy.

Governor Slcsud is becoming favorably known in Sydney through his visits here, and his awareness that many of. the problems confronting the people of his Atlantic fisheries commun- ity sre slmila to our own and can be solved by the some meth- ods that are proving successful in the Maritime Provinces.

Mainly Governor slcsud is seek- ing sn expenditure of 32 millions for harbor improvements in st. Pierre. and assistance for the island fishermen in replacing their Id-fashioned fishing boats with modern small trswlers to enable them to extend the scope of their fisheries and to obtain lsrgsr cntacbss; . .

What In found in his initsnsivc research

The colony is important to France as its last remaining North American colony. and as a station conveniently located for the Grand Banks fistulas. in one of the most prolific areas of flslitsg in the world. The llslltns nest has been snunontsd

floss fli- ermen com from It. Motel and cribs ports o.Br.ltl:ny in France.

31. Pin-l-I and Function. ls-est rd a 1”"! to tho south soul on tv onn-.isnd.m'e i:-nu eesssu of scans rock. with I an sov-

.pnwsrof the Kabul rlvsr. Th

Medically x Speaking

ll: llormn N. lnndosen. II. II.

New drugs and new medical ' hnlques are constantly mak- ing our lives safer and much more comfortable.

Our monthly report on medical advances today includes the fol- lowing: Cllsiln Maleate. s new antibistamimc agent with little side effect. This drug ll reported effective in alleviating symptoms of allergic rhinitis, uticaris and other allergies.