RAGE FOUR

_'I‘HE CHARLOTTETOWN ‘GUARPIAN

_ FEBRUARY 21, 19,2

present us from this Province:

“This House regrets that Your Excellency’; advisers, instead of giving to the country the ieadership so essential at a time properly describ- ed in the Speech from the Throne as the greatest crisis in the world's history, on the contrary have sought to evade their responsibility by holding a plebiscite, which, in the view of this House, is the negation of responsible government;

“And this House regrets that Your Excel- lency’s advisers have not seen fit to recommend to Parliament without delay additional measures designed to

"( a) Completely mobilize the wealth and ma- terial resources and, on a selective basis, the full man and woman power of the nation, to the end that the nation may wage total power in any theatre of war;

"(b) Supply the imperative needs of agricul-

THE IIIIARLUTTETIIWN GUARDIAN

Morning Uiitly il-‘ounded tn llfli

President: Lieul. Col. W. Chester 3- Mill-ll" Vice President: J. R. Burnett. FJ-l. neirrt-tiiry: Lieul Cul. l). A. Mlfilllllllfill- 9-5-0‘ mm" and alanagin; Director. .I. R. Burnett. FJ-l- Associate Editors: Franlr Walker and lan A. Illlrllfll

SUBSCRIPTION RATE!

By ititin lli r.i;.i.. sauu per year: sun fur ii wvvll"

$1.25 for 3 months; 50o for one month gut» Delivery $5.00 per year: $3.00 for 6 mOIII-lll

SL751 for 3 months; 60o for one Month.

By lllail to other Provinces and U. S. A. $5.00 P" i9"

Saturday Weekly: $2.00 iwr m": 51-00 l" f‘ "Wm"-

50c for I months

T," chn,i,,yi_r-ioivii Uilariituii iiiuy on obtained at uumflugu. M“... Apt-nay, Times Squiiro, New lurk: "l!

3 h N t A ~i Corner itlllli anil uluahlnllon. _ _ _ 522:0,“ Eiiifnupfilhh. hows span-y. mu l'sel so. ture, industry and the fighting tcrces of the na- lluntreiil; J. Fine, Hot flay BL, Toronto; News ltald, “on; and

, , on - z Wolfe's News Bland. lludlvlr). , 3I,'§:°TI'.,.,I 11.11;“. still: blitnvton s. n. ~ “(c) Prepare for the postwanperiod."

If it were not for party affiliations, is there

any doubt that this resolution would be ac-

claimed by every loyal Canadian citizen?

"The Sirongest iIfemory is Weaker than the Weakest Ink.”

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21. 1942-

EDITORIAL NOTES

Is Tobacco Tax Legal?

March secnis to be coining in like the prover-

Wllat happens when an irresistible force bial lion.

meets an immovable object? Don’t 100k 110W- bu, “.6 are about l0 be given a demonstration of ibis unique phenomenon. The Campbell Govern- ment's iicw iolizicco tux cunics into cllcct 0'1 March l, and it iiicans aii increase of I0 per cent to the purchasing public. On Oct. 18 last, Prime Minister Mackenzie King announced i115 Government's intention of putlliig 6 Ceiling °“ all prices, and thc lYzirtiiiic Prices and Trude Board has >lllC€ been established to giro cllccl- to this policy. It provides, specifically, that "am retail store or cslablislmmi! Hill Cllmllla“ and no ram/l bityrr can paw-prices HIIOW nirariiiiiim at ‘(P/He'll goods or services were s0! 12v Hm! store tlilrlllr/ t/iu four "weeks of 50p]. i5 to Oct. ii, 194i.” 'l'his regulation is iiow_m force throughout Canada, with stiff pcnallifi for its violation _

Mr. Donahl Gordon, chairman of the Board. says the lziw will he rigidly: enforced. He givcS cugcllt reasons why the price ceiling must be “non-discriiniiiatory." The purposeus to erect “an absolute barrier" against rctiiil price ill- creases: and. says Mr. Gordon, “Y6 {1113201113 in hcw- m thc liiic without discrimination.

So what? Local officials argue that the tax on tobacco will not affect the ceiling on the “price." It will be superimposed on tlw Pim- the price remaining what it was in a-Ccflfd with federal YCQLIIZIIIOHS. The purchaser, of course, p',\_\~_; 1o per cent lliUfL‘, bttt he will liave the satisfaction of knowing that llic “piifi? liiififlt gQng up-iiugt tliC taxi ‘

This would appear to be a_ very debatabe qrlniciitimh "Price" is defined in standard dic- rliillflflCgk, as “the Ci|lll\'lll(‘llt ui iiioucy for wliicii | CUlillilOtlllV is sold or pufcliilfied"; “the 511m

' . - l, or equivalent given for an article; the C“? D

- .

"the exchangeable value of a commodity.’ flit!- Thcsc clefiiiitinns iiiclliflc la-‘WS and 0th" charges, (In ilicy not? j

The \\'zirliiuc Prices llll(l IIFIKIC iw-"lflljli" parciiily thinks so. 1t (letincs cash price as flit! purchase pri¢¢ of any article, if paid in full on (itdivcrv, \\'llL‘lll(‘t' in nioucy 01' goods or both. ixijrtinxi: .\\\' ixxxias and ‘my installation. trniislioriziiiilii or >L‘1'\'iC(,‘ rliiligc Paliiblc b)’ ill‘: puicliziseix" cit‘. ‘

\\'e find, moreover, from the Act itself under which the new tobacco tax is being lcvllid. f5“- 7, m“; "at only may the tax be considered “as mi itlciiiciit iii flit: price ‘.17 lliC CQIISUIHPY » l)!” l/Wl it mus"! ttclitiil/v [in so (oiiritlcrird, and ciiiiiiol l)’: assumed or absorbed b_v the retail vendor, or advertised as Iiciug other than an element in the retail purchase price.

1K I Ii i "Keep the lioniefires burning" with Victory Bonds-this is not exactly hoiv to put it, biit you know what is meant. l! What is an ice-breaking car ferry steamer do- ing dowriin California? Breaking a way to the South Pole? Let's see it any way. Hi ‘Ii ‘If 1i

Iti ill It!

So many silent R. A. F. pilots and observers are on the move it is hard to keep track of them. They spend a week-end visit, say “so-long," and the next you hear of them they are in England.

a it- s a

In December, i941, the United Kingdom had nearly four time as many men serving outside of her territory as had all the dominions serving out of their respective territories. Canada's effort has been called, and deservedly s0, magnifcient. What accolade shall we give England? \Ve are sure all she would ask is the simple words, “Well done."

l i Ill I

Pity them! Winnipeg citizens, their teeth chattering, scurried to work, Monday morning. against an icy wind and in I6-belo\v zero weather. Ice-coated streets, covered with a thin layer of gritty snow, made the going difficult. The blizzard started late Sunday night, but it was at daybreak that the mercury fell to its lowest point, Haven't we much reason to be thankful that we have yet to experience a I6 degree below zero blizzard in this favoured land where every pros- pect pleases and only transportation vile?

' w 4 a- a

Front the stony silence of - oiir representatives at Ottawa one would imagine that they had passed away. This is not so, as their names ap- pear as members of the following standing com- mittees: Hon. Cyrus MacMillanz Banking and Commerce; Marine and Fisheries; Industrial and International Relations; Library of Parlia- ment. Dr. Grant: Public Accounts; Mines, For- ests and Waters; Printing. Mr. Douglas: Rail- ways, Canals and Telegraph Lines; Miscellaneous Private Bills; Agriculture and Colonization.

1! i! i‘ i

Many will learn with regret of the death of Col. R. H. Campbell which took place on Mon- day at Rowell River, B. C. A former Superin- tendent of Education, he played an important part in thc organization of the 105th Regiment during the last war, with which he went over- seas. On his return, there was no place for him in the local government, the Conservatives having been defeated, so he went to British

Si. we arc bark iii ill" ‘llicsllvlli “lint flc-‘ii? Columbia where he carved out for himself a ‘i successful career in the educational world. U. S. Farm Income v i. ~= w (‘i _ -_ We have already heard grim warnings from During mil .\llil‘l'lC.'lli farmers Plllofed m‘ the Prime hliiiistcr, from Mr. Winston Churchill ¢"<"'\*<‘<l l"““l"°l'll."- ‘lQ-‘illlc ll"! Cillllllg "if 0i and President Roosevelt that the risks and perils """'.\' "l ll‘<‘ll' l"’l'*‘l.'~"l “lilllwls- Th“ decline I“ by which we are surrounded are mounting daily.

oriliiiziiw‘ exports of farm products was more Ilia-ii

offset hv the Sliflfp expansion in domestic de- '- . i

itiauil, reinforced b_v the (‘I'll’) I711" policy of liiif

_Not since the summer of i940 did Mr. Churchill speak with such gravity as on the eve of the Vic- tory Bond Campaign, and his clear warning that

giv\'(‘i‘liiiit‘i'lf {Hill iht- pzirchii-"t" 0i Rfilrlmlllllhil worse was to conic was supplemented by Mr. coiiiiiioditivs loi‘ >llllllll°lll “l'l"'"il llllilcl‘ ti“: King's blunt statement that in “zlctual," iintiiedi- LCiitl-Lciisc yirogrnin. _ ate fighting power, the enemy is still stronger

'l‘otal farm income received from marketiiigs than me forms of freedom.” Mr. Roosevelt 8dd-.

ruiil government yiaviiiciits are estimated at 3411-‘ tiooyiornmiri for if).ll, the Iiiglicst for any yczli‘ siiirc i020. :i~' riiiiiinircil with $9.l20.0o0,000 in I940, zui iucrczi-c of :7 per cent. The gain was due to increased czisli income from farm market- iiigs, which is c=tiuiatctl at $II.000.000.000 115 compared with $S.3.*8,ooo.o0o in 1040. Gfwcffi- nicnt pziyiiiicnis for the year at an estimated $600,000,001) were 2: per cent below the I940 total of $766.<>oo,oo0.

The greatest incrczisc in income from market- ings was from tiil-bcaring crops. particularly cottonseed and soybeans, hut ntarlvcd increases wgrg also l'(‘L‘(rl'(I('iI iii income from thc niajo" crops of wheat, rye, grain sorghums, cotton lini, applies, grapes and stiqar cane. Corn and pota- toes were the only major crops for which income in I941 \v.'i< ltws than in V740. Stibstautial in-

cd his o\vn powerful voice to the theme. 'I‘herc will be no doubt of the response of Canada in every field of war activity. But the greatest task at this moment at home is to iriake the War Loan an overwhelming success. This must be done, and doiic quickly. We have done well so far but there is still a long way to go before our objective is attained. Let the tide of support sweep in like the tides of thc sea. The loan must he ovcr-sub- scribed, our immediate objective being only thc

minimum . '

i iti it! II‘

The Reichstag was seriously dziiiizigcd by fire of an incendiary nature this date i933 which Hitler blamed on the Communists; next day free speech and free writings were suspended and the death penalty introdticcd for those advocating Communist propaganda; in the same week Hit-

crcascs iiPii‘ 11h" i‘i'qi>l<'i'i‘il i" "WOW" liviii lliv lcr won great victorv at thc general election, and various iicnis ..i' livc suwli i"'"(lll°i‘i ll" i-Tcir" proccctlctl to tlcvcltip his Nazilmllilv for extcrPai- 95f Hall's llclllf-T l" l'<‘ll1l'">‘ llill" lWl-I- mid (“KS5- ing the Jews, prohibiting trades tiiiioiis, and seiz- -*-—*“'"‘—~“'—‘"_"—*‘ iiig Labour Ranks; at specially convened meet-

OII RECOFd iiig of the Reich llitlcr said no European war

would improve the situation, and that war would be madness; Germany, I10 said. wanted to have peace with all nations, was ready to join the League of Nations in it non-aggression pact, and zipprove of .\Iu.-‘soliui's peace plan; qiiarreled

lion. I\Ir. [Inn-on ha. takcii the proper course. after lillllitg In pbr-nriiit- tht- Government of the ilziiiger ZlIliI llsl‘lt‘~< vvpciist- of taking a plebiscite m this iiuic. in <l.lli' Iris slllliil mi tlic question t“

be snbniiiivil. Ill‘ iiiul ibc timscrvaiiivc Party with both Catholic and Protestant Church aii- will vntt- iii iriinr t-i‘ i'i'l('ii~lll}_' thc (Znvcrnincu: thoriiics: voted Si25,ooo,o0o supposedly for fiinii its pzi-i tonnii5iiin-i.is restricting ilie methods building restoration, actually for war purpose; of rzfsflig nun for iuiliiarv wrvicc. That is ivhat withdrew from the League of Nations; (lissolved Priuic .\lini~:i-i- King w zinis. It is the only the Reich to ascertain the nation's opinion on his iiiitn-zioii h- will Zllli|\\‘ Iii fie yiizicctl nil the ballot. policy; thc election, firing merely “for" or 2e it snI Hut as .'i ui:ii'i-i- of I'I‘(‘.'II"I, here is the “against,” gave him aii enormous majority, after t~ii>.i‘\'-'ili\'<- .'iiiii'iiiliii<"iii in tin» Ihuifi Atlilrcss which he proceeded almost openly to Iiiiild up thc whit-h .\li-. Hanson uiuvctl n il.e llouse, and huge ivar machine with which be has ridden

w. It‘! \\".'is it"s w iv A t‘ 'ii lil( iis irirv ill ll(ll(II_\I‘I\IglII yt,

_ rough shod practically ovcr all Europe with thc followers, lllCllldlllg thc stalwarts \vc sent to re-

cxccption of Britain and Russia

I

\

NOTES BY THE WAY

A brief notice hidden away on ‘an inside page (of B 1068i P8P") wntam; o. 5l81€m€flb frcm the Chief Constable of Plymouth, battered south of Eiiilflnd seaport and naval base, from whose R1161- ent "Hoe" Drake set. forth 0n his voyage around the world. Sflyfi I119 Chief Constable: "Plymouth is a1- most without public houses now. one hundred and four have been so damaged by air raids they can- not, be used." The few remaining pubs are so short pf WllBI. the dis- creet offioer refers lo as “suppllee" that they can serve only tea. -- London Free Press.

Tim-e are people in this country vilio are unwise enough to proclaim. in loud voices and with the air of authority. that, Germany ls crack- 13g. As gvldeiice, they tell how machine-gun nests and pill-boxes have been erected in Berlzn. These defences, they say, have been erected by the Gestapo t-o prevent a Gcmian i-cvolut-f .i. But there are pill-boxes and machine-gun nests in London. We knew why they are there, but that. doesn't prevent the German propaganda department putting out the story that they have been erected to save Mr. Churchill fi-cm the tuiy of the British people. Ridiculous? Yes. But. is it. any more ridiculous than the story about the Gestapo? The Germans knew flint they have to be prepared against. the attacks of British and Russian paratreops. Hence the pili-bcxrs in Berlin. There ls another optimistic story Mitch bolsters up complacency It f; the story of the decline and fall of the German Air Frree. The Luftwaffe, they tell us. has been smashed in Russia. One-third of its strength is bsin-g frantically re- paired in Germany. And, they tell ua with great glee, shortage of oil ts keeping many machines ground- ed. Are the Germans so weak? No. German and German-con- trolled industry in Europe ls work- ing at. full strength. Their atr- craft factories, beyond the leach of blitzes, are turning out. replace- ments by The thousand. New re- cruits are belrig pressed into the Luftwaffe from the vast reserves of German man-power. — Smi- day Clironfcie (London).

‘l-‘rom being more or less of a political pariah Sir staffcrd Qrlpps now finds himself right 1n the spotlight. ‘Ihis is entirely due to Mr. Churchill's psrspicizcity in sending him to represent us at Moscow, and to his own patriotic attitude in going there. sir staf- ford returns home probably Second only to Mr. Churchill in wartime prestige as assessed by the man in the stiieet. Yet If is doubtful whether, but for Hitler's blunder tn doublecrosstig Stalin, even Sir Bradford's undoubted ability could have made a success of his Mos- oow ambassadorsliip. Sir Sta:- ford, some of his extreme Loft admirers may be reminded, la pulaka Old School Tie. From Winchester he came to London University to study science, but chanced over to law, and dasplte some political prejudice, com- manded as a K.C. as princely fees as any legal contemporary. Sir statfdord went. to France in 1914 with the Red Cross, but, tn 1915 was brought back to act as direct- ing chemist, in a, government ex- plosive factory. when this war broke out. he threw up his legal practice to hold it diplcmaitc To- bruk at Moscow. Virtue has been rewarded. - Ottawa Journal.

Traffic on what used to be known as the Intcroolonial is the subject of many a. campaign to which we are asked to give publicity. Re- peated delays are certainly an- noying and even detrimental to the trade and to the travelling public, but we like to think that the administration of the railway is doing its best und-er the present circumstances. The trouble is that. the Intevcolonial is a single track railway. Why not dcuble track it? It is effective enough in peace time, but. not in war time when it has to carry enormous traffic of military supplies from every tn- dustrlal centre to Halifax to meet the requirements of national de- fence. And so it, seems to us that the proper solution would be to double track that. section of the railway, mid should that be im- possible for the prestnt, at least to provide aufficieiit. siding iiocom- modatlon to avoid frequent, and long stops. Everyone knows that railways and tliippnig are vital de- fence factors in the drvelopment of a country. The tragic story of our two regiments in Hoiig Kong

and the subsequent. full of that. stronghold for want. of rapid transportation of an adequate

equipment slioitld ctziiviii-sc us of the necessity of fKlCqllHLO means of conveyance in wartime And one should never forget. that the In- tercolonial is the main railway. 2f not. the only one liiiklrg our great. military port with all the large pro-

ducing and military centres o.’ Canada -- L'Actlon Catliollque Quebec.

What offence iPd M. Drladler commit in leading Franc: into war? She was pledged to go to the aid of Poland. She ivns the ally of Britain, Poland's cs-giiarantor. Honour and interest. -- the vital interest of France to prevent. a Nazi dcmlnation of Europe -- alike pointed the course which the Da- ladler Government reluctantly fol- lowed. Daladier, it is true. must bear s. large share of responsibility for the state of unpreparcdnesa in which France found herself when the Nazis storm broke. I-le had been War Minister longer than any other Frenchman, and remained so almost until the debacle, when Mynaud succeeded in disumdglng htm-Reynaud. wtisss "crmra" is that he tried to wage the war more vigorously and wanted to cc. .1 tt tn defiance cf this drfeiitists. But. Daladtsris "guilt" for the st-nle of French defences is sh .' d hv most. of the leaders of pie-war Frame- and not least by Psiain iinri Dar- lan. his pfzstT‘. aecuszrs. - Syd- ney Morning Herald (Australia).

British Public Opinion

(Ottawa Journal)

What. a tremendous thing is Bidttsh public opinion! Mr. Churc- hlll has an ovsrwheimlnq majority behind him 1:1 Parliament, leads the strongest. party in the House of Commons and the country, has vast. personal prestige. Yet Mr. Gnu-chill. entrenched in all this power. and tn a. position at any time to call on his whips to brlnc

litm a vote of confidence, surren-

ders to a public demand that he reform his cabinet. It is lust. one more proof of the impact of Brit» ish public opliifozi» upon Britt-ah governments; testimony for the reality of British democracy. Here in Canada, alas, public opinion counts far less. According to our theory. certainly according to our practice, public opinion la supposed to remalh static, suppos- ed at any rate not to change be- tween general clectlcns. ‘rhua a government takes office and, no matter what, happens afterwards, uses its majority to hold on to of- rice; putting on its whips again and again to turn down proposals which . Jeaent changed opinion. Hardly a doubt. can exist. that opinion in thts country favors a National Government; not. a Na- tional Government in the sense of a coalition of parties, but a Na.- t-ional Government that. would be more representative of Canada than a straight party government. Yet. despite that srch q govern- ment has been prcptxssd again and again, and notwithstanding the gravity of the war. Mr. King can safely ignore it. Unlike Mr. Chum- hlil. he can entrench h‘mse11 be- hind hfs party support/er: and ivhlns. knowing that nothing can happen to him, that Canadian pub- lic opinion ls not. sufficiently vigorous to make much d‘fference. Mr Ktniz knows. too, thmt the Canadian Parliament is o far dif- ferent thing bro": the British Parliament. Mr. Churchill's critics the men who demand-ed a. change in his Government, were not main- ly ms political opponents: some 0f the strongest of them were mem- bers of Mr. Churchill's own party. Over here, where the party whips tiave far more power, and where there is less of a tradition of ln- dependence in our House of Corn- mons. such a thing couldn't hap- pen. Certainly lt ta dlflflcult to imagine a. group of Liberals 1n the present Paitfafiient of Canada de- manding that Mr. King strengthen his Ministry: or that he form a more national Ministry. Whatltallslmsltp bistlwt Brill-sh Public men and the ordin- ary British citizen have s belitier understanding of what. icpresenta- tive government ts about. Bid-fish Nvemments are not so concerned with election planks and pledges u they are concerned wit}; who", m; mm 0f the b90910 believe and de- mand at a given time. Mr. Chum. hill knows that. he is the people's servant, not their master.

IIATAAN

Deep in irreen shade.

Deep in wlndless gloom.

Deer) under layer on layer

Of leafarid fern and bloom. Something moves

As stillv as Death

Flexing cold musolq

To strike, tn a darkened room.

mOVQl

elrwf". ‘A

brake vine.

is ready strike. bhi

n8 snake.

Strike first, MacArthur! Strike first once more

At the baleful worm of deceit 0n the Jung floor.

Strike quick and hard aaatn As you struck before!

—'I'heodore Goodrldizo Roberta tn the Ottawa Journal.

RAILWAY OOLLECTS INSTEAD UP PAYING

PALMERMass, Feb. Z -When an atomobile driven by John Haniac collided with the rear end cf it Canadian Nattzrial-Central Vermont. Railway freight; train, tipping the caboose over with tn- jurles to Conductor P. W. Porter and two brakemen, one of Whom had six teeth loosened, railway officials were peeved especially when they found that damage to rail equipment amtunted to $1,- 588.53. so the clatma department went to work with the result the motorist arranged settlement on the railroads dams 00 the tune of $1.600. for equipment damage; one employee received $4,500 with hospital and medical eXpenSeS and the other two employees, lest se- riously injured, collected abtut; $500. In addition. the motor car was completely demolished.