PAGE FOUR

THE GUARDIAN

Morning Daily (Founded in 1887i. Authorized as Second Class Mall. Past Oftico Department. Ottawa. ifiesldent. tan A. Burnett; Vice-President. Wm it. Burnett; Been-Trees" (i. M. Burnett; Editor and Managing Director. J. It. Burnett; Associate Editor Frank Walker.

"The Strongest Memory is Weaker Than the Weakest Ink."

('ll.-\RLO'l‘TE'l‘0Vl’N. FRIDAY. ocronrzn 3i. 1H1 llallowe’en

Hallowe'en is traditionally a night for fun and frolic. It used to be associated with the lighting of bonfires and the belief that on thE one night of the year, ghosts and witches wan deied freely abroad. Evcn the children are too sophisticated nowadays to credit stories of Halloween which once made our ancestors tremble. _

Only the festive customs have been retain- ed, and so long as these are truly of a festive nature there can be no serious objection. An- other and most reprehensible practice, however, has been engaged in during recent Hallowe'en observances, which is absolutely alien to the oc- cas'on. That is the rowdyism indulged in most- ly by teen-agers and youths with a bent for boisterous rampaging and causing damage to property and other objects not their own. For

demonstrations of this kind there is no room in

any community which prides itself on being law-

‘abiding, and it is to be hoped that tonight's cele-

bration will see the horse-play cut down to a minimum and undue annoyance to householders eliminated. The police will be on hand to see that this injunction is obeyed, but parents are expected to co-operate by cautioning their children as to their own responsibilities. Last Hallowe'en in Charlottetown passed off very quietly, and this year it is hoped to see a similar exhibition of good manners.

Hallowe'en, like Christmas, is a children's night and the youngsters should have every scope for good-natured fun. The limit is eas- ily definable as being any kind of fun that is harmless to themselves and others.

Lessons 0f The Past

An analysis of the last provincial general election, made by the Canadian Press, showed a drop of nearly 7,000 votes from the I939 total of 73,604. This was attributable in part, at least, to the fact that comparatively few public meetings were held in i943, the candidates pre- ferring the easier method of making radio speeches. It is to be hoped that in the coming campaign every effort will be made to regain touch with the electorate by having open dis- cussion and debate of the issues involved.

An analysis of the last election figures also showed that the Liberals, though winning two- thirds of the seats, polled only 5i I-2 per cent of the ballots. On a proportional representation basis, this would have entitled them to—at most -—sixteen seats. The figures clearly showed that the Liberal victory was due more to organiza- tion than to any popular appeal made by its party candidates. Conversely, the Conservative fig- ures revealed a weakness in organization as the determining factor. This is an old story. In i935, though polling about 40 per cent of the ballots, they lost every seat in the House, and again in I939, with 43 per cent of the total votes, they gained only three seats.

Had the overseas soldiers’ vote been taken at the lost Provincial election—this right was de- nied them by the Jones Government-there is little doubt but that the Liberals would have come out on the minority side of the total. Even then it is possible—-due to the C. C. F. com- paign which split the Opposition votes-that with their better working machine they would have. obtained a majority of the seats. Such is our antiquated system of voting that these things have happened, and can happen again. It is useless for the Conservative Opposition to ex- pect to win unless it plugs every leak in its org- anization pipeline, and gets back once more to the old-time democratic custom of appealing dir- ectly to the people in public discussion.

Scotland's Problem

Cancdicns, deploring the exodus of young people to the neighboring United States, will have considerable sympathy for Scotland, which has suffered a similar movement to a larger neighbor for many years.

The trek of Scots to England is still con- tinuing. During the first three months of i947 i2,000 people left Scotland for England, accord- ing to an announcement by the Scottish registrar- |eneral. in l0 years the net loss has boon 40,000 people. The result of this has been a great lack of middle-aged people and children, and a lot of old people.

"Scotland," says the registrar-general, "has led all Europe in exporting people." Even though over l00,000 babies were born in I946, the high- est figure since i926, the birth rate was much smaller than it was at the first of the century.

Keeping the Scot in Scotland, in the face of the drawing power of England, the other Com- monwealth countries, and the rest of the world, has long been a problem. Measures are being token to promote new industries and to stimu- late economic growth in a variety of directions which, it is hoped, will have this desired effect.

.___._.______.r__ Mr. llraliken's Background

Prime Minister King recently accused Mr. Bracken of having once been a Liberal himself. Surely this would be no terrible crime; but, as an exchange points out, it happens to be untrue.

Mr. Bracken comes from a well-known Ont- ario Consorvotivo family, but he was an educa- tionist rather than a politician till tho United Farmers of Manitoba invited ilim to become Promior after their Provincial victory in i922. Ho was then President of the Manitoba Agricul- tural College, ilnd had not token any port in tho oloction that sont tho U. F. M. into olfico

in that year. The Opposition to his Government consisted of Conservatives, Liberals and Inde- pendents. The Brocken Government, adopting the name of "Progressive", was returned in I927, I932, and i936, and finally absorbing the remnants of the Provincial Liberal party, carried the Province in 194i as a "Liberal-Progressive" Coalition. In i942 the Conservatives entered the Coalition, which also had the support of 5 C. C. F. members. In December of that year, Mn Bracken resigned office to accept the lead- ership of the Progressive Conservative Party in the federal field.

It is therefore quite inaccurate to say that John Bracken was over a Liberal. But while his family background was Conservative, he was never openly identified with either party till he was chosen Progressive Conservative leader at tho Winnipeg Convention in December I942.

- LDI-Iill{l..\l iNilllitS -

All Hallowe'en. .

o o o

Rt. Hon. Herbert Morrison, British-M. P., is ’ to he made a Freeman of Lambeth today.

There is something almost reassuring in the {news of the barricades being manned in Paris, ‘even though this time Parisians are out under the name of Communism. Parties have changed but not Paris.

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Souris is to be congratulated on the acquis- ition of a new and efficient quick-freezing and cold storage plant within its boundaries. The plant was built and will be operated by the Eastern Cold Storage Company Ltd.

. . . .

Britain's steel output has passed the target rate. In the week ending October 4th, accord- ing to a statement by Mr. G. R. Strauss, the new Minister of Supply, its output was equiv- alent to more than i4.2 million tons yearly. The target for i948 is I4 million tons.

.. . . .

Glasgow University students elected the Rt. Hon. Walter Elliott, M.P., former Minister of Agriculture in the Coalition Government, Lord Rector for the next two years. There were four candidates, including a Socialist and two independents. The Lord Rector represents the student body in dealings with the Universitv Court and faculty.

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The Guardian has received one or two let- ters on the approaching election which it has consigned to the waste-paper basket because thev were not argumentative but abusive. Abuse is not now, and never was, a fair and honour- able means of furthering a cause. Resort to rt merely indicates the writer or speaker has a poor case to put before the electorate and so be- comes personal.

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I We have gone through a period during which everything was scarce except money. In- comes were high arid the government could not embark on any road building or other public works program. Consequently the province should now have large reserves with which to finance all these things that have had to wait. if there are such reserves, however, they have been well concealed ii: the public accounts.

_ _How Your taxes steadily mount upwards. Do- minion Department of Labour cost to operate, in i933, $951,000; in i939, $I,282,000j in 194i, including the Unemployment insurance staff, $2,029,000; in the current fiscal year, $49,755.00. Of the total cost, $12,500,000 will represent Dominion Government payments in un- employment relief. This looks like an expensive way of administering charity for the unem- played.

. t . .

Dr, Gaspard Fauteaux, Speaker of the House of Commons, on return from consultation with Im- perial authorities on how to run the House.suc- ccssfully says he would like to see his successor giver. the same treatment as the Speaker in the British House. There the Speaker is elect- ed by acclamation, is given a house at Westmin- ster and usually is elevated to the peerage after his rerm as Spzcker. In the United King- dom today, the Speaker chcsen during the Con- servative Government's tcrnl of office still is serving under the Labor Government,

The uniformity in the fireside customs of the Eve of All Hallow; is remarkable. Nuts, ap-

plcs are everywhere in requisition, and consum- led in immense quanlirics. indeed Nulcrack gNight, by which Hallowc'cn is popularly known in the Ncrth of England, indicatss the predom- inonce of these fruits in making up domestic entertainments of the evening. The nuts are ;not only cracked and carcn but mode the means of vaticination in love affairs as well described in Burns’ poem on the subject. It is the cus- tom in Ireland, when young wcmcn would know if their lovers are faithful, to put the nuts upon .the bars of the grate, naming the nuts after their lovers. If a nut cracks or jumps, the lover will prove unfaithful; if it begins to blaze or burn, he has a regard for the person making the trial. If the nuts named after the girl cnd her lover burn togcther, they will be mar- ricd. I I A‘ I

The Kirkconnell Case or Windsor (says The Letter Review). deserves the widest publicity. Professor Kirkconnell of McMoster University is a well-known writer and speaker against the totalitarian system. He speaks with great auth- ority on xinternationol questions. The United Nations Society, Windsor committee, sponsored a meeting, with Professor Kirkconnell as one of the speakers. Two local unions passed resolu- tions of protest, evidently for the purpose of preventing any discussion in which the Commun- ist party might come under criticism. Canadian Labour is not Communist as a whole. This is just a sample of how Communists operate In unions. They capture as many posts as pos- sible in tho union, and, as soon as they aro strong enough to do so, operate the union as a branch of the Communist party and all og- oncy of tho Russian Government.

' has set up a. permanent. shortwave

rue GUARDIAN. llotes By Tho Way

Magistrate Gore-lllcirmani anot- ea policy of never giving less than Jo days to a. person convicted of drunken driving is a good one. There are too many magistrates who are too lenient in such cases. They should remember that drunk- en drivers are almost. in a class with attempted murderers. -I..eth- bridge Herald.

Parents should realize that they lioid an extra responsibility at this time of year, because o. very inno- ccnt bonfire started by youngsters can cause serious damage. Tinder- dry leaves are everywhere, and there is enough breeze to carry iriazinir lcavcs farther than anyone tiiougli they roultl go. — Cornwall Standard-Freeholder.

A Cambridge. England. last firm communication service with lls

cars. When a client rings up for u car". the car nearest to him is

picked out; on a map and ordered by wireless to go to the address concerned. The firm expects at. least a twenty per cent saving tn gasoline as a. result of the system. -~U.K. Information Office.

Five years ago some influential British leaders were saying, "We want Churchill to win the war, but we want Cripps to win the peace." If he succeeds in his almost. in- superable task, he may go on to become prime minister. If he falls. his political star will probably van- Ish from the British flrmament. — Regina leader-Post.

There's no accounting for tastes. Coolies selling water piped into Chungklng under a. new system that has been introduced have put mud into it. before the public will consider buying it. Apparently the Chinese are so accustomed to con- suming water that is dirty and

impure they are suspicious of the clear, clean variety. - Brackvilie Recorder and Times.

Tho moot striking record of de- velopment. in recently released sta- tistics is that of British Columbia. 1n proportion to its population i. ls growing at a rate for above that of any other province in the D0- minion, including tho province of Quebec. In fact, to Oqual Britlsn Columbia's relative rate of increase Quebec's increase would have to be more than doubled. - Montreal Gazette.

Tho lov first winners of the scholarship presented by Lord Beaverbrook arrived in Britain Y'a- cently to begin their twelve

months’ free post-graduate course at. Lrorldon University. They are students, tutors and graduates of the University of New Brunswick of which Lord Beaverbrook is the first Chancellor. Two of the stu- aents served with the Canadian Forces in Britain during the war. -O.K. News Bulletin.

There is fascination in plowing. There is scarcely a more beautiful sight than a well-matched team "liythmically and leisurely plodding up and clown a field and heaving clean, straight swathes of brown earth where pasture or stubble were before. Science says that straight furrows are not. the thing, and the farmer is a con- servationist. But he's glad that. he can still plow. Plowing is satisfac- tory work whether in a straight line or following the natural con- Lour of the land. —Kitchener Rec- ord.

With the recent changein fash- icns in women‘s ivearing apparel raising more conversational points than the Russian attitude, it. is in- lureslillg to note that styles in central Africa have changed as well, remarks The Winnipeg Free Press. This change was seen on

receipt of numerous news photo- graphs from the Dark Continent. Tlicy all show the African native fully dressed in the most; puritarr. ;ike manner. High-necked. low-j hemmed dresses for the ladies are. apparently the order of the day.

Even the doughty, battle-hardem, ca, Congo warrior appears to have, succumbed to conventional Western | a: ss habits. sadly he looks on,

ed in open-necked shirt. and

- s, wearing boots his feet were

l.c cr made for. As recently as twui years ago a sight like this would! have caused aiarm and despon-l dcncy in some circles. Iu those no. 1.0 distant days the natives walk- cr. around happily with little more rm than was needcdto provide a packet for his or her money- imtl, at that, some used to string it around their necks. Now this has changed. Just another alteration u. an altering world. The superior- Western civilization has moved in and brought the erstwhile happy lrntive to heel.

To some Americans royalty and "hereditary title spell only one thing: special privilege. l-Iere is something tor- them to consider: The daughter of a Spanish noble- man who long supported Franco,

the Spanish pretender, Don Juan. was married recently. Against (he national background of widespread hunger and hardship. her 8370.000 wedding. her $130091” Jewels, her magnificent. wedding gifts, stcod forth with eonsptcious splendor.

| points

though he ls now in the camp of »

Princess Elizabeth of England la also to be married. Against a no.- llonal background in which there lS plenty or hardship but less dlro hunger than in spaln, her wedding will have OTiSidfirnbly less than the traditional splendor. Her ward- robe ls to be augmented only by a wedding dress and a going-away costume. From all parts of the Ern- plre food parcels for needy British families are pouring in as the most. acceptable sort. of gifts for the young bride. It. is evident that monarchy may come to symbolize democratic responsibility as woil

_ gcienco Monitor.

as feudal prtviiefl. — Christian

cunrzcorrlzrolvis __

Canada and Palestine

i

(Statement by Rt. Hon. J. L. lisley)

The Report of the United Natl- ons Special Committee on Pal- estine contains the considered Judgment of a group of con- scientious observers on a problem of world importance. Tile Cana- dian delegation considers that it. must. express its views on the rc- port. if for no other reason, be- cause the lives and hopes of count- less persons and the blfliiillllllty of great areas dr-pvrrll upon our- ability lo fillrl sulisfzlctor)’ ull- swers to lire question hrfnrv us.

The Caluuliilll rielegzitiisn has approached the Palestine question at this session of the Assembly without commitments. The Can- adian representative an the Spe- cial Committee on Palestine was in no way bound by instructions from the Canadian Government and his freedom to use his own Judgment and to reach independ- ent conclusions was made known publicly at the time o_f his ap- pointment. The Canadian Govern- ment appointed to this Com- mittee a Justice of the Supreme Court at Canada, Mr. Justice Rand, who was specially qualified to consider evidence and to form impartial judgments. and who, in addition, was known to bring no preconceptions or prejudices to the consideration of the Palestine problem.

The conclusions which the Can- adian Government has reached in regard to the question of Pai- estlne and which I now propose to outline to the Committee are bas- ed on a careful consideration of the replrt as a whole, and the‘ important discussion which has taken place in this Committee.

The Canadian delegation agrees in principal with the eleven re- commendations of the Committee which were unanimously approved and with the twelfth which. was approved by a substantial major- ity. In particular, in our view the special Committee established beyond doubt the need to end as practicable the mandate for Pai- estine, to grant independence ill Palestine and to clear out rapidly by concerted international action the assembly centres for displaced persons in Europe so as to re- lieve distress and create a better climate in which to carry Out l! final solution of the Palestine problem.

Supports Partition

The discussion which has taken place in this Committee has in our view, tended ta confirm the pr- incipal argument given by_ a ma- jority of the Committee rn sup- port. of its proposal for partition with economic union. The report says: "The basic premise under‘- lying the partition proposal is that the claims to Palestine of the Arabs and Jews, both possessing validity. are irreconcilable, and that among all of the sotutions advanced, partition will provide the most. realistic and practicable settlement, and ls the most likely to afford a workable basis for meeting in part the claims and national aspirations of both par- ties." In the debate to which We have listened. siren: arguments have been advanced in support of both Zionist and Arab positions. 0H me basis at geographical, historical legal, social, ethnological and ‘ot- her considerations. These argum- ents iead in opposite directions rather than pointing the way to B mutually satisfactory adjustment. There has been much discussion of the principle of self-determina- tion and of the areas and gPOI-IPS to which this principle should 617' ply. much debate on the character. the interpretation and the pri- ority of commitments. While these considerations are of great IMP-

‘ ortance and none of them can be

ignored, we have come to the can- clusion that lire most icuPOPU-mi question for our consideration is “ha; ary-angqnujnf, will best enable 1w.) people living within the con- fines of a restricted gefltlffll-Ylilcal area to avoid obstructing 011B anolherfls rlcvclopnlcntliifld most conducive to their welfare and frec- dom. Our own experience predis- poses us in favour of notional un- ity in some form. In Canada we have had to workout. a problem which while not JIIIIIILTQOUS has of resemblance to that which confronts the Committee for we ourselves are a nation 0f two peoples with two cultural traditions. During "lmmi “'9 Con‘ turies, both before and after‘ ti"! attainment of self-gfli/Pinmelii l" 3511mm, a numbpr of solutions have been tried, including bulb partition and complete union. Ev- entually we reached n satisfact- ory working arrangment in n forl- eral state which is now 80 Y9K" old. Every year which passes rou- firms the wisdom of the decision we made and strengthens the In- terdependence and the mutual regpect, which made it possible. Confederation in Canada. W115 however. based on aslfeflmenb The representative 0f P1113513" h“ said here that Parmlli" slmuld no; take place without consent- butlthe question arises as to whe- ther lt. is any better to try i0 maintain unity without consent- There is no evidence yct. in anv- lhing we have seen or heard that both Arabs and Jews will accept accommodation within the frami- work of a single state. We main- tain the hope, based on our own experjgngg in federation, that they will some any fir"! i" M‘ oration a means of solving their Problems, For the moment. how; ever, we must accept the fact. tho they ha“ emphatically "IP91"! oven the form ot federation sul- geoted in the minority report. In the circumstances. ‘We have bee" loll to accept. somewhat reluct-