PAGE SIXTEEN

T-IIE GUARDIAN

.. -L:.wj.j -- - - Authorized as Second Class Mall Post Office Department, Ottawa. The Island Guardian Publishing Co.

President and Associate Editor, Ion Burnett, Associate Editor. Frank Walker.

CIRCULATION "(fovcrs Prince Edward Island

like the dew"

"The strongest memory is weaker than the weakest ink”. E

(run RI .o'r'ri:To3t':4.:sX17uAkT.( if" liar." zo.'i'9is2" 1. Christmas - Tide 3

l A notable contrast between the celebra-i

lion of Christmas and the New Year is1 that while the big city seems to have great, advantages for the latter, the tiniest coni- munity is far superior for celebrating Christmas. Great crowds gather in Timcsy Square and Trafalgar Square to see the New Year in but on Christmas Eve the em-3 phasis is on home and church and it is in the smaller communities that they can be. enjoyed most fully. !

On the farm, in particular, this is th-;-I perfect time of year. The fields are cov-1 ered with a clean white blanket which has not yet become a problem for those who are "trying to keep roar)-.s and lanes open.. Christmas dinner in the country. prepared very largely by the family itself, is much more memorable than the more or less syn- thetic feasts which are nevertheless enjoy- ed by city dwellers.

In town and country there is a feeling, of good will which is far more important than differences of detail in celebrating the Christmas season. The cheery, "Merry Christmas", or more thoughtful, ”l-iappy Christmas", are exchanged by all and an atmosphere of friendliness prevails which make the wishes expressed real and heart- felt although repeated again and again in unchanged form. Even newspapefsv 111W” erate foes of cliches, feel no embarrass- ment in wishing "A Merry Christmas to all." This is indeed the theme of today's

.special supplement, which has been issued

n

with the co-operation of our advertisers and which will, it is hoped, make an appeal to young and old alike at this season.

:The Farmer's Side

A delegation from the steeiworkersl un- ion met cabinet ministers in Ottawa to ask aid for the farm machinery industry, complaining of drastic lay-offs in the liarge plants due to lack of orders. It was sug- gested the Government might consider gifts of farm implements to under-developed countries, suggested also that an investiga- tion be held at finding out if there existed a monopoly in the industry fixing prices at such levels that sales to farmers were re- duced.

Apparen”)-' says the Ottawa Journal. there was no mention of what appears an obvious explanation of sales resistance in this particular industry. It is that a lot of Canadian farmers lack the money this vear with which to buy new machinery. The cost-of-living index has clearly pointed to this trend in recent months. Practically the entire reduction has been in food items. which indicated that while labor and.0iher costs showed a tendency to rise owing to new pay demands being met the farm in- come generally has been shrinking at '-1 fairly rapid rate. .

i"The agricultural economy of Eastern Canada centres around. dalrymg :1ldT1:: production of meat animals. ad 5 - Journal. ”Due to the U. S. .embElllg0drf sulting from foot-and-mouth disease an. 0 l,,we,- me-at prices throughout America, Fastern farmers lost millions of dollars this in comparison with the record high Dairying was affected by loss of export market for ih0uS'(:I'lt(ItS tgf animals, by the ST95119” use. of 5.” S lfuth: and the threat of a furtlfer invasion 0 dairy market by imported 0115.

"Consumers, and union members who work in farm machinery plants are arfllong them, have been in recent years comp ain- lng about high food prices. Now these are lower. Industry should not expect ever-ln- (greasing wages and cheap food at the Samt-1

time."

year. income of 1931.

Operations In Labrador

"The vast scale of the operations in Lab- rador in connection with development of the iron ore deposits is indicated in an article and photographs dealing with the construc- tion of the railway which ill eventually convey this natural wealth o the world's steel plants. The railway is being pushed through a formidable terrain for a dis- tance of three hundred and sixty miles. Mountains have to be tunneiled, turbulent rivers bridged, undulating sections levelled and solid beds laid across swamps. There are the extremes of climate to be faced by the workmen, the sub-zero temperatures of winter and, in the summer the heat which the-tomenti of black-flies and mos-

-ivltbitlse which

lto be done by hand labour, are operations

confronted such undertakings formerly, however, notes the St. Johns Telegram, the work proceeds under very different circum-h stances. Better clothed and fed to ISCU1 climatic conditions, the workmen are not exposed to the same hardships. Fly repel- lants and spraying of infested localities have considerably lessened the discomfort from these pests. Tunnelling, leveling, the filling in of depressions and swamps, the ballasting of which in the days of the con- struction of the cross-country railway had

in which the bulldozer, the tractor, the scarifier and the pneumatic drills have. worked immense changes. I

It is news to learn that in addition to. the Canadians from the mainland and from. Newfoundland, there are engaged in thel construction of the railway nations froml almost every country in Europe as well as- from other parts of the world. How the, problem of overcoming the language diffi-: culty is solved in what might be.i"egarded' as a modern Tower of Babel is not ex- plained, but this does not appear to offer any great handicap, and it also seems to be apparent that in this conglomoration of nationals friendly relations are maintained.

Here, too, in the depths of what was long spoken of as Newfoundlandls depend- ency, and by some regarded as a liability, is being brought to pass development which will materially affect the economic life of the country. The extent of the iron ore deposits is almost beyond estimate. The mineral is of high quality. The demands for steel throughout the world exceed supply. The undertaking gives an incentive to oth- er projects as well, and underlines also the huge potential market possibilities in this area, which is so near to our farm pro- ducers in this Province.

EDITORIAL -NOTES

Ember Day.

. 'llomorrow, 4th Sunday in Advent. I I O

Tomorrow is the shortest day, although the sun has been setting later for some days and will continue for a while to rise later. Winter begins at 5:44 p.m.

, O O C

We had to wait considerably longer than parts of California and other places but Prince Edward Islanders are also en- joying seasonable Christmas weather in time to get in the mood for the festive sea- son. 1

C I O

At this season the Post Office staff, aid- ed by numerous temporary workers, is coping with a vast flood of Christmas mail. Their success in an individual parcel buried in that mass of letters and packages may mean a happy Christmas or one of disap- pointment for someone.

O 3 D

So many letters are addressed to ”Santa Claus, Norway" that postal author- itiesin Oslo arranged to turn this mail over to the Norwegian Travel Association, which maintains a regular "Santa Claus Service.” Each child receives a Norwegian Christmas card, with a greeting that concludes: "May

all your wishes come true."

The closing last Thursday of the port of Montreal for the winter is probably the best Christmas gift Halifax and Saint John looked for. The Maritime ports have al- ready been busy, of course, with the traf- fic which did not head up the river during the past few weeks.

0 O 0

Lights are appearing all over the City and Towns to help give a Christmas air to our communities. Services, choir practice and other activities result in beautiful church windows being seen much more than usual. It would be well worth while if the churches would remain lighted even when no special activity is going on dur- ing the Christmas season.-

Robert Gordon Menzies, Australian statesman and lawyer, was born this date 1894. After serving as Attorney-general, minister of railways and deputy premier of Victoria, he became attorney-general of Australia from 1935-1939. Then he became Prime Minister, leading the United Australia party, and controlled the war effort until 1.941 when a Labour government took over. He became Prime Minister again in Decem- ber, 1949.

, O O (O

A museum can be a profitable invest- ment if "the subject is of sufficient interest. After the Thor I-Ieyderdahl expedition to the Polynesian Islands 'on the primitive balsa raft Kon Tiki, the Norwegian Gov- ernment established a museum in Oslo, dis- playing the famous raft.. with profits from the musepm it scholarship worth s700 will be hawardedifor cthnographicai studies, pre- ferably In connection with the problems at

THE sU3gtbr.Al '.

Just Before Christmas

criARg.9:r;rs'r:.tmr'

IN rlmiss

Is it morally practicable to sing the praises of work and of leisure at one and the same time? Cer- tainly. The one is complementary to the other. Indeed, one is neces- sary to the other. No man can work intelligently-whether it be pushing a wheel-barrow or making it symphony-who does not find time for silent reflection. And I am sure it is equally true that. no man can engage in honest reflec- tion (or meditation which means much the same thing) unless he knows what it is to work and work hard.

I have already suggested in an- other ertlcle that there are people who look upon work, especially the physical kind, as B. necessary in- convenience. There are also people -a great many of them-who are so busy doing things that they cannot. think of leisure intany kindly way. In fact. they see no sense in it. The chronic idler is, of course, a. nuisance to himself andto society, but the man who plans both his work and leisure ylntelligently is to be honoured as a public benefactor. i O U

o

i To be leisurely in B reflective sense in distinct from the playful sense (which also has its place) means to be absolutely silent. Now. it. is unfortunately true that most people are literally afraid to be silent. And, like badly trained lchlldi-en. they have a terror of be- llng alone. Yet, if the records were searched, I believe they would re- yveal that many of the bright things in history were brought about by those who knew how to take advantage of deep solitude. In silence-perhaps for only five minutes 0. day-one finds the strength to cope with problems

that speak out very loudly, or at

Notes From

' Another Island By "Anson"

LONDON, England:-

We can fly faster than the speed of sound. and we can send radar signals to the moon; we can make a. machine that will give us the answer to a fearfully compli- cated mathematical problem in less time than it. takes you or me to take out pencil and paper; and, of course, we can split. the atom. There are so many things we can do. But wait,-there are so many, many things concerning which our success is not nearly so conspicu- ous.

From time to time the scientific ego receives something of ii knock. Such an occasion came recently- and doubtless will return before the winter is through-when Lon- don and a large area of the sur- rounding country as well as other parts of England lay shrouded in dense fog. Thus it was that whilst a giant air liner might come across the Atlantic in a few hours in total darkness, with never a sug- gestion that it might get lost, no- thing yet devised by, human brains could get it down to earth with safety at London airport. Its course may have been sure and certain over thousands of miles of ocean. but here in the fog-bound capital city hardly a single 'bus or car could move a yard.

. . .

So inevitably we find ourselves faced with the problem: of what avail is it to span the globe at hundreds of miles an hour if, at times like our recent foggy week- end. it remains an adventure fraught with excitement even to walk to the end of the street?

Looking at it in that light oney can see the whlmslcality of the; situation. Those among us who.? being of a philosophical turn of mind, can bear with the annoy- ance and discomfort, may even de- rive some sort of sardonic amuse- ment. from the seeming impotence of the scientists to whom it is natural to look for the solution to the problem. But it is not really very funny.

0 D

The London fog costs money by clogging the wheels of industry, commerce and pleasure. It also costs life; many people. especially the elderly, find the fog getting into their throats and lungs with consequences often fatal. For the London fog is dirty: after our latest encounter with it, it was calculated that soot. and grime left behind was on a scale of several tons per square mile. Housewives needed no telling about this; the evidence was all too plain, in the extra. house-cleaning that was necessary and in the linen that looked as if it. would never come clean again. .

It is an invader difficult. to keep out of hearth and home, this Lon- don fog. It creeps in everywhere, grey and dank, until there is al- most as little comfort indoors on out. And not the least. infuriating thing about. it seems to be that it has its own way with us; it will go away only when it; chooses.

Science remains silent on the matter of B cure, in the way that science has. Perhaps the experts are working on it, if they have any time to mare from their other pursuit; At least newspaper-and publlc-comment. has made it plain to them that for all the WODdCl'a that they have no for wrought here is something. that demand: their urgent. attention.

Royalty On Stamps

(London Times)

Portraits of Prince Charles and Princess Anne grace? this year's issue of "Health" stamp: from New zeaiend. Euectfvoiy repro- duced in photogravuro, the baby Pt-inceu appears 'on Hid. stamp. in red (sold at 5. premium of 1,511. in aid of Children's Health camps), while the 2d. brown (premium Id.) has on up-to-date likoneu of the young Duke of

Cornwall. This in Prince chu-ios' uccnd once on than annual post- age-cum-charity stamp: of the

z Notes B);

A phowrrnph of the moon, 200-inch telescope .on Mt. Pale. mar, is now being displayed, pros- pective picnic parties awaiting the first rocket. passenger service will now have a better idea what the satellite looks like. Maybe they won't be so eager to g.).- omin--.. Citizen.

Bi-itone bathe less than weekly on the average, says the government”: department of

scientific and industrial research. About eight per cent of the nation gets a. scrubbing five times or

less than once weekly. The re-1 want about three baths weekly but lack enough hot. water.-Wail Street. Journal.

1To refer to Oslo, Italy. will longer be an example cf once or carelessness, wll

no ,

near Rovlgo, in the Province

ed houses from Norway. bought with contributions to the Norweg- ian Red Cross, IOii0lVlIiiZ disas- trous fioods in the P0 Valley. - UNESCO Bulletin.

A Quebec City alderman is en- raged nt 9. column by Maurice Richard of Les Canadians reflect- ing on the sportsmanship of Que- bec City hockey fans. The piece. appeared in B Montreal paper, and the alderman is reported as saying that if Mayor I-Ioude had known about it he would never have ni-1 lowed its publication. Trifles like the freedom of the press don't seem to worry this public servant. -Ottawa Citizen. 1

As an antidote to pessimism about the future of humanity, consider the case of the two Brit- ish scientists who have gone tn. West. Africa to conquer R deadly river fly which is the scourge of the native inhabitants. Dr. Fred- erick C. Rodger, 36 years of age, is an eye surgeon; his companion. Dr. Geoffrey Crisp, only twenty- slx. is an entomologist. of their own accord they are vanishing into the obscurity of the West Af- rican wilds for three years to savei thousands of unknown natives from blindness.-Edmontovf Joitr-; nal. .

So the Prague trial is not en- tirely a comedy; rather it. may well mark the beginning of major tragedy is the Kremlin swings fur- ther toward anti-semitism mask- ed as anti-Zionism. For, Slanskyl and his co-defendants we need have no sympathy; their real crimes as Stalin's executioneors make them as worthy of condem- nation on are their prosecutors. with whom they worked hand in glove only a year or two ago. But well over 2,000,000 Jews live in Stalin's empire. and this latest evidence that Stalin can emulate

Hitler bodes ill ind d for these hepleae people. so rribly conven- iently loceted to become the

scapegoat: for Communist mlsrule. -From New York Times. 1

Saskatchewan's Premier Doug- las recently appointed two more

upon his. mother's lap. similar speclol stamp issues made by the post. office idepnrtment of New zeohnd yearly since 1931 have made important contributions to the child welfare scheme. Last year hnore than five ' million copies of the lI,5d.x'Ad. denomi- nation, and wwmio of six mil- lion of the 2d.xld. were sold. Pint. among the younger mem- ber! of the Royal Family to have his portrait on A postage stamp win the Prince of Wales (afterwards Kin; Edwmf VII), who figured in Highland costume in the design of I .11 unis stamp of the Province of New Brunswick

Dominion, the first being two years

the Kon Tiitl expedition.

ago, when be we: portrayed seated

in the year 1000, when.he was 19' years of no , - - 1

"a'cablnet. cl0se'up" 1511911 11111011311 the Siam-ltotal strength of me

charge lWir.8 I cuious.-Calgary Albertan.

a nation-uidc scheme. now. ments to find money for more 3 week but over half thelshould be siymed because of DODUIEI-ion enjoys It tub or showcr11aCk of y . (equipment, We have not the hoe- 5e”C11e15 17131111 1119 B”11311 T9a11Ylpitais, we have not the machinery.

151101” step. But it should be a planned 11 c0m'1step. Though this is not pletlon of a village now being buililpmmme mm . . . 1111health insurance scheme it is the VEIi8ZlE.' The village bearing lthatmme L,, M. mi,,ki,,g about gt name will consist of pre-fahricat-lm(,.pm.,n: mo bh,(.m.m,sg m van.

l He that is humble, ever shall

least gets to know more accurately what. one's problems really are. In systematic loneliness one is forti- fied for mingling with the crowd, In reflection one is more likely to see life as it is. O 0

The Way I.

. It is noteworthy that, all the great. world religions have allotted time and space in their liturgles and formulas for silence. My know- ledge of Buddhists and Hindus or any other non-Christian religion- iste is necessarily second hand, 1 know only what. I have been able to read about them. But. so far as Christians are concerned it. seems fairly clear that only a few here and there have been well trained in the art. of systematic silence. So far as I know, only the Quak- ers have traditionally and normal- , ly used silence as a real spirltuali aid to the practice of religion and report has it that even they are Kmdually losing their hold on it One can speak only for onseif in a mother like this but I am frank to say that one of the richest. experi- ences in my life was when I sat down, by invitation, at an old. fashioned Quaker meeting which was part of an anniversary celeb- ration of a. college which had been founded by that group. O C 0 There were, of course, the usual speeches which one expects lit. a gathering of that nature. But the distinctive highlight and one which I shall remember always was me w-m long period of silence during which The y I I tr! Mon the crowd that. filled the large yr llnillllf '1 WFIWII 6 5 Ill auditorium waited and waited and of this province has shown ywlsdnm waited for what Quakers call "The and fill. understandlnghof its re- Voice of the Spirit". Being un- sbonslblhtlcs in refusing at this accustomed to such discipline I time to go after the 30-hour week. first found the silent period a bit There had been some talk that it. wearylng. But. as the minutes would. but its leaders evidently Passed I began to feel that here came to the conclusion that to do WES 50mei-hing these Dec-pie had so would be to deal a crippling 9"111V5l-ed 35 a Pure. healing art. blow to our present economy. The onA11;3:8pli:fr0gn18lIlI1fUl5hf-S D0091: 30-hour work week will come n ” '33 9 Ellen time, but surely that time is not R111115 -101195-then Well up in his now. This generation has a re- 918111158-One 0! the really profound sponszbllity to the future. as past. ichmms and 1113151195 01 0111' 311118 generations had a responsibility rem" w0nde11113 1101” 11111911 We to us-mostlv tiiex fulfilled it. by an 01 silence” wmch 119 113d C1111'1' working hard for British Co1um- ;Eega::urt1chly'dhad m"1'11b”19d 10 bia. -- Vancouver News-Herald. 1 an 1'0 111' 1155111111555