. , nip-tin» _I'-¢ll epecs with rho Increase in the surround-

PAUL rUUR 1

TIIE

GIIAIILIITTETOWII ‘GIIAIIIIIAII s-mnlishmfi‘ $31.1 "éfi.“."‘;l'.£ ‘ii-iii om»- nepnmilf? hlliga-‘Pftooldenh Was. l. '.""....."..=.l::;.:::";:::...€2"s..'.:: Frank Walker.

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

"runsnav. JANUARTYP-‘ll 194'! The llcw Judges Act

The new Judg-es Act which was passed at the last session of Parliament, went into effect on New Year's Day. The Act increased judicial salaries arid added about $600,000 a year to the Canadian tax bill. Th-ese increases did not pass without opposition, particularly from the C. C. F. group. But they were supported vigorously by all the lawyers in the House of Commons who spoke on the bill and undoubtedly have the support of th"e legal profession of the country.

Such bodies as the Canadian Bar Associa- tion have been on record for o long time in favor of higher salaries for judges. The salaries in et- fect last y-ear were the some as those paid in 1920. The Government took the position that increases were long overdue. Behind this con- tention was the assertion that it was becoming inc-easingl, difficult to get the best men in the legal profession to take judicial appointments and it is to be hoped that this will be the test in selecting future judges.

A return made to the House of Commons last April gave the following figures on the ages of judges in the Supreem Court (King's Bench) and Appeal Courts of the provinces:

Age Groups

Between 80 and 90 Between 70 and 80 Between 60 and 70 Between 50 and 60 Under 50 ..

All Federal and Country retired at 75 years of age. But any move to retire the high court judges of the provinces at a stipulated age runs into constitutional diffi- culties. Under the Britislt North American Act these judges are appointed for life and good conduct. They are paid by the Dominion, but they function in provincial courts, i.e., courts set up by the Provinces. As late as last spring the Minister of Justice, Rt. Hon. L. S. St. LaIir- ent, wrote to the Provinces suggesting com- pulsory retirement of high court judges at the age of 75. One Province replied that it would definitely oppose this suggestion, so the matter was dropped. .

One of the difficulties which’ has faced the Dominion in any thinking about improvement of the courts, says an Ottawa LuHBSPOIIdQIII, has been the problem of maintaining the independ- ence of the judiciary while exercising any form of discipline of judges. The appointment of judges has its hazards. There is some difficulty in telling what kind of a judge a man will make before he is appointed and functions. But the real trouble is that quite often a man is appoint- ed who clearly has not the qualifications. Judgeships should not be political spoils. It is seldom that a person recognized beforehand as qualified turns out otherwise. But if the choice turns out badly, as has happened occasionally, it is too late to do anything about it. Impeach- ment is of course always possible but this is drastic action that has seldom been resorted to in Canada or elsewhere.

In almost every other line of public serv- lce, some track is kept of the way public serv- ants perform. But this is difficult to do in thb case of the judiciary. It is only in rather flag- rant cases that judicial misdemeanors are brought to the attention of either Dominion or Provincial Attorneys General. Under the new Act it will be possible to keep track of regular attendance on duty by the high court judges. From now‘an no judge may be absent from duty without leave for more than 30 days without ob- taining permission from the Governor General in Council. The Chief Justice of each court is now required by law to notify the Minister of Justice when any judge in his’ court is absent for more than 30 days. c

The high court judges of Canada now re- ceive $12,000 a year. The Chief Justice in each court gets $13,333.33. Judges who serve 15 years, or retire because of disability, can claim an annuity from the Dominion of two-thirds of their salary. County Court judges, who have been 30 years on the bench or who are compuls- orily retired at the age of 75 years may receive three quarters of their_salary. Those who so desire can elect to share this'with their wives.

These pensions are now equal to B9 per cent of the salary that judges were drawing be- fore the first of the year. This should and, it is believed, will result in a number of retirements from the bench in the near future.

No. of Judges

Pralrlo Contrasts .

‘The Dominion Bureau of Statistics, re- porting on o preliminary survey of 1946 Prairie Provinces census returns, shows that in the five years from 1941 to 1946 the population of Con- oda‘: greatest agricultural province, Saskatche- wan, declined by no less than 70,000 persons. Two of her cities showed not losses in this por- iod,-while the remainder mode only small gains. Since 1931, which marked the beginning of"a

‘vleng period at decline in agricultural prices "and production in the West, Saskatchewan's total

his fallen" by approximately IDOMD persons. Coinc ent with this picture of Saskatche- won pligh comes the glowing report of pros- ity and population growth in the areas around nllibriilgs in Southern" Alberta. While e trend ‘started in the unhappy 'tliirties in So - etcbenon continues, SDIIIIIIIAILIPM continues ts super. Lest year the district around Lstli-

1 _ , I sioo ,ooo m. i ' mflflfffi prodhlcoe. The.

and economic wealth of Letlibridge

ing countryside. Building permits in the city totalled $2,000,000 and banleclearing’ S69,N0,- 000 during 1946. All these figures are new rec- ds.

o’ The differential between neighboring agri- cultural zones in Western Canada is. the result of neither good weather nor good fortune. The answer lies in methods of forming. Saskatchewan is almost entirely a "dry farming" area; South- ern Alberto to a great extent irrigated.- In all of Saskatchewan there are only about 100,000 acres of irrigated land, and these largely_in the form of scattered projects. In Alberta more than 500,000 acres are under irrigation, 260,000 of this figure concentrated in the immediate Leth- bridge area. And new developments under way near that city will put a further 345,000 acres under water control.

lf Alberta is the most "irrigation-minded", Province in the country that sentiment is well justified. Water control has paid enormous dividends, not only by increasing direct returns from farm acreage, but by making it possible to stabilize farming,’ to remove the element of risk which so constantly bedevils the other areas of tho West. Twenty years ago the‘ popu- lation of the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District, for example, was 1,500. Today it is 10,000. Dry land farms in the Westsupport an average of 3.5 persons per square mile; irri- goted forms thirty per square M118‘. Average re- turn per acre throughout Alberta is S12. _ln the irrigated sugar beet fields near Lethbridge it was $111 in 1946.

- EDITORIAL NOTES -

‘No, air flying is not yet all that it is cracked-up ta be.

new

_ We seem to be getting somewhere at length with regard to the much needed groin elevator. It takes action by the formers themselves to obtain results, for then politicians sit up and take notice, with a view to being on the band wagon.

e

I I I I

Feodor Mikhailovitch Dostoievsky, Russian novelist, died this date 1881; was one of the leading intellectuals whose writing and influ- ence led to the subsequent Russian revolution; wrote very powerful stories dealing with peasant life, Illllfflfll! and tragedies of a depressed people, his masterpiece being Crime and Pun- ishment.

I I I I

_ It is significant that among the topics in- dicated as likely to cause heated debates in the coining session of Parliament, no mention is made of the boost of members‘ salaries, and the still more flagrant and illegal boost of dep- uty ministers’ salories. lt seems all sides of the House are satisfied that they, and their friends should be beneficiaries under loose ad- ministration, let the taxpayers suffer as they may.

nwwe

The _joint_ committee of all railway labor organizations in Canada, which has been meet- ing with the management of Canadian railway companies at Montreal, has given notice that it will seek two weeks vocation with pay for all railway workers in the Dominion. lt is also re- ported _that when the joint committee recon- venes its meeting with the companies Febru- ory 3, the 40-hour week and union security will feature discussions.

' I I

I I

Mr. Graham Spry, prominent Canadian who was executive assistant to Sir Stafford Cripps during the Second World War, has been op- pointed Saskatchewan's representative abroad for trade and other matters, it has been an- nounced by Co-aperatives Minister L. F. Mc- Intosh. _He will also represent the "interests ot' the province in connection with the use oftthe Hudson Bay route for two-way trade." Only two other provinces, Ontario and British Columbia, have agents-general in London.

ochre

"To err is human, to persist is diabolical." Premier Duplessis declared when his qttgyytjgn was called to the persistency of certain Ottawa dispatches to the effect that Quebec will toe the line and sign a taxation agreement with Ottawa. The Quebec Premier, probably feeling the occasion to be of more than ordinary in- terest, gave his interview in Latin, namely: "Errare humanum est perseverare dialbolicum." He added: "lt_is most unfortunate and unfair propaganda, which may be worthy of the bureau- crats behind it, but unworthy of anyone having the least regard for the truth."

It does not do for a Governor-General even to hint at a political situation, as our pres- ent representative of His Majesty is realizing. Viscount Alexander "stuck his neck out," Pot Conroy, secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Congress of Labor, said in commenting on a speech in which the Governor-General urged use of the armed forces in opening up undeveloped areas. "lt was a surprising statement to come from a Governor-General,“ Mr. Conroy said. "Statements of that kind should come from the properly-constituted government defartment handling defence matters."

woe

IIII

"The more one ponders over Mr. King's letter to the Premier of Nova Scotia on the mot- ter of Dominion-Provincial relations," says The Halifax Chronicle, "the less there seems to be in it. The more one examinos the principlds on which Mr. King takes his stand, the more one is compelled to wonder how much true Liberal- ism remains in the thinking of the Canadian Government. At the time I of' Confederation,‘ it was the Liberal Party that stood firmly for provincial rights. Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the pot- tsrn upon whom Mr. King professedly based hls own political thinking, continued Ioyally in that tradition. Today that tradition appears to have adopted o good deal of back-door Socialism, with emphasis on the centralizing tendencies of that

creed, and on lti bludgeoling methods of com- pelling obedience." _ '

llotss By The flay

. If you spent st the rape or g dolls: s. minute, it would take you 10 centuries to spend n bllllin diollsrs. There's s. piece of new: to take the edge off your avarice! -—Pctcbrcugh Examiner.

‘llsero In e clllg of young C“. salons who are becoming embittered over their position u: our postwar world.

They are the young men rejected by army doctors because of Physical urufltness or who were not cld enough to go to war.

Now. through no fault of their own. they find themselves virtual outcasts from the labor market. when they seek jobs in private ln- dustry or government service, they usually are confronted with the slgn-"veiera-ns only need apply." —Vsrncouvcr Province.

Ste. Anne do Bellevue. an many readers; know. lg nbi. for from the Dorvel airport. 1i is from DUIVBI "lil- llle big planes fake off for the trens-Arllamlc trlp to ltnglaind. In Ste Anne there l; g laundry flmd dry cleaning establishment that ‘IRS Pride in the rapid rdrvlce it elves to par-trons. m Ehlglllld, the laundry come-Quack in three or four weeks and clothing ls scarce. A British pilot irled out m, 319, Anne cleaners one day and was pleased with the results. relates '1"he Fergus News-Record. He and his frlendg brought more ihingg to ‘be cleaned. Their wives started Houdini: over pieces of the family washlrmlr wasresdyby the time they started their return trlp. Talk about the worldbeatlngaputhto the door of the man who makes n better mousetrap! That's nothing mm- pared with laundry delivery by nlr across the broad Ailesiilc.

A little common some doeg no harm in an advertising slogan. The Q0101‘ ‘ill’ the radio urged us to ‘drink fresh coffeg and gtgy Young." Now, wlthaut wishing to be flmnkerms. we think that our flfllnflcs of staying young are very poor under any circumstances. and fr-arlrly. We don't care.—Pete-i-. borough Iibramlner.

As some of the “jewels of om- plre" seem about to be surrender- ed by Great Britain. the bonds of voluntary co-operatlon are drawn closer between various parts or ihe Brltlsh Commonwealth. ‘The zrowi ing spirit of Commonwealth unity finds its latest expression ln ihe isnIIOLLIIEG-TTIGTII that Australian and New Zeelend news agencies are to bccome partners with Un-lterl Kingdom newspapers in the c-wner- ship, cc-nircl and management of the great British agency. Reuters. nu. ls good news and should make for better news far all those readers who‘ are served by Reuters. —Ohrisilisn science Monitor.

Several thousand packaged wasps were recently flown to Victoria, B. C.. on a Trans-Canada Air Lines passenger plane. They were brought ln lo combat the sawfly. The vuasps. whlch are of n special kind known as “slumla," gr parasite wasps. 13.y eggs in the larva of the sfl/Wfly- Sawflies are threatening some lush stand; of timber in the Queen Charlotte Islands, off the British Columbia mainland. The hemlock looper has already attack- ed the forests. and. when the sawfly threatened to Join forces with it,

a-tr Government authorities

acted to prevent devastation much

gorse then that caused by forest res.

Ordinarily we aren't much influ- enced by tradltlon as such, How- ever.’ we can't go along with this Chicago fellow who wants lo drop the pollte selutistlon wit-h [which letter; customarily are begun. We have too few gracious amenities as it Is. when e man takes pen in hand to tell somebody that! he ls s. lying. cheutlng tumcont. and cuthroet whom g, self-respecting skunk would not give den room. we belleve he can afford to start out with n “My Dear Mr. Dracula." in- stead of just a stark blunt “Mr, Dracula." The practice costs noth- lng and in its, small way makes the world e more friendly place. -Detralt Free Prws. .

—Young Cholomoiscdely was dis- appointed when he arrived In Lorn- d\n last Spring. l-lis people had been scattered by the war. so no- body met hlm at (Sharing Gross. l-lls club was silll In the process of be- ing rebuilt. The streets were n5 crowded as ever. b t: ln the crowds thero was no one he new. Oholmon- delay felt. lonely. He wanted m old friend to whom 11c could tell his adventures from the day, giX yea-rs before, that he had left a famous public school to join the RAF to hi; recent release from n Japanese prison camp. I-lls od- venturcs weren't unlque. of course but still he felt he'd like to swap yams with someone from the old school. That thought led to taking a train from Pnddlngtan and ira- velllng through the fnmlller coun-

ryildc to the little town where

he oldschool stood untouched by sir-raids. As he walked up the lam! driveway. the lost stroke of the ohnpel bell were sounding. Watching the last of the students scan‘! through the door wee Mr. Ohlns, es unchanged as the school itself. l-le IOOIQd up. "Oh. hello aheimcdioe he oald." e you comlng to chaoiilt". "Yes iilr, answered Cholmondelfl- And they went in together.—- The Printed Word.

riionsson pins n ll 4 '

Rev. l. W. Hyde/ho, prelessorl (emeritus) Queen's University and tamer p-rlnolpsl of Robertson College. liter merged with St- ltepheriu college horfldlsd lLhlp

Dr. Dyds was lPIXIlMe profani- sar of church history at Queen's

In I926.

ley l

‘IDMONTONTTIEn. as .- mew,

home bore‘ t . I-Imhgl been in ‘ tll health for e at three-days. - j

rut: Cl-IARLOTTETOWN GUARDIAN

1A i Fable About

j Government Aid .

I l (W. B. Foster in Canadian

Business)

1n n certain community the pas- tures of three farms were sisraimd- ed by snake or pole fences.

After a time the fences began to rot.’ Cows brake into the fields and ravaged the crops.

‘Phi.- owners of ihe forms were

t aroused. They were indignant at gihe tum of events. Here they were Fproduclng food without which the nation could not endure. The! being the cnse, what was 111d‘ nation going to dombout. the rotting fences?

The three tanner; hsd spruce trees an their farms gnd could have c-ut pales and renewed the fences. but. they did not. They had heard about other persons getting help from the government.

So. after some talk among them- selves. they decided to form the National Pole Fence Association. The rillht way to organize. IhQv felt was not to meet ln the kitchen 0! one of their number but to go la a nearby form and organize" with a banquet at a good hotel.

The three met at s hlgh-class casavurcary- Invited guests at the banquet included several employees of the Department of Agriculture

vrho gave addresses after- lhe feed was down. They told the farmers why a snake fence decayed. It was good to have the scientific facts. I I I

Before the banquet broke up, the three farmer; had organized. One was made president, another vlce- president. and the third secretary- treasurer.

Each kicked ln flve dollar; for n year's membership, so they started rwlth fifteen dollars in the pot.

The time had come for actiui.

A telegram would scare the gov- ernmerit more than a letier. so the secretory-treasurer was instructed to patronize the telegraph offices as long as the fifteen dollars lasted. A fast day message we; sent. aslilng for government assistance for the association's‘ pole fences.

A few days. later came s letter acknowledging the wlre.

But nothing happened. So the secretary-treasurer sent more wires. Still there was no result.

The funds having become ex- hausted, another meeting W85 held at the hotel and en assessment made on the three membc a. More wires were sent.

Finally the government broke down. A letter was received to the effect that a. commissioner was headed toward the pasture fences t0 look info the mutter.

The commissioner knew nothing about pasture fences, so he brought two experts with him. A hezalfl! was held. The commissioner did not ask many questions; mostly he lust eat. The government had provided 5 layvyer to do the 8511108- The three farmers gave evidence. A stenographer took down the ques- liens and answers. The five GOV" eminent employee; were there at the expense of all the taxpayers. including the three farmers--

I O I

Six months later the government received the commissioner's report. There were 86 typed prises. Th! manuscript was handed the Dim!" erg and g month. or slk weelq later the printers delivered the Printed reports. One thing and another Mme up, delaying definite decision ln the matter. However. four months after the printers had got the manuscriPi off their hands. the Eovemmeni found lt advisable 1n the interest 01' the national economy to rebuild U" pole fences.

So sealed tenders were called. AH advertisement Wig inserted in the press and small posters were hunfi up In post offices and stores-

The winning contractor had been obliged m include ln 111s prlce the cost of e good-sized office staff. as

to be calculated and unemlllflymcm insurance stumps had f0 be P"! Ofl cards. _ However the government would have to pay the whole thing. which meant the taflliayfll- lncludlnl 9h! three farmers, would have to l!!! it. The work didn't go as smoothly a, wag expected. The contractor brought. the poles lnlo the carn- munity. as he had them already cut and wgnted to gel; I118 J01) dCTlC l3"- ‘The ihree farmers were core about this. as they ma hoped w u" v01“ from thelr awn iwoodlots lo the contractor and two of them W110 belonged to the party ln power t001< the matter up with their member. There was more trouble. on the Job was one workmen who be- longed to an oppflilllon lmllb n seemed he had cot on throuilh "'9 influence of the village merchant who belonged to the an!!! In WW"- The workmen owed the merchant fl

figured the only wny to S" B! 1"“ some of that. account wen to III I lob for the debtor. But this explana- lion didn't. BIIIBTy a good many of ‘the party workers and they We!!! to the member abou: lt- I

Plnslly the fences were rehsblll- tated, es the saying ls. '!'he govern- merit sent an inspector who pllwl the Job.

The next day the Inspector "wh- ed supersnnuniion nee and was re- tired. His retiring allowance had to come. In some part st leset. "(In

"lives?

the lncometax on the workmen had‘

blg store blll end the merchsnl=

tion will be held in the

I. R. HOLMAN, President.