PAGE FOUR

THE CHARLOTTETOWN GUARDIAN _ .

TIIE j BIIIIRLBTTETOWII lilllllllllAIl

Morning Dally (Founded In 1887) Authorized as Second Class Mali, Post Office Department. Ottawa.

President. [an A. Burnett; Vice-President, Wm. I. Burnett; Seen-Tread, G. M. Burnett; Editor and Managing Director. .I. R. Burnett; Associate Editor.

Frank Walker.

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

WPIDNESDBY, JANUARY 8, i947

Maker of Modern P.E.l.

Probably the greatest statesman this Prov- ince has so for produced entered into rest yes- terday, in the person of the Hon. J. A. Mathieson, retired Chief Justice. No one was better ac- quainted with the rights and needs of this Prov- ince than Mr. Mathieson; he had them on his finger tips, as it were, and could enumerate and enlarge on them at any given time or place. He was o living encyclopaedia of in- formation on the history not only of Prince Ed- ward lsland, but of every province in Canada and the Dominion itself. He was recognized as an outstanding authority, and was consulted by statesmen and historians alike on both matters appertaining to Confederation, and to the re- spective powers and responsibilities of the prov- inces and the Dominion.

So far as this Province is concerned, Mr. Mathieson was its practical preserver and up- builder. Prior to his coming into power, Prince Edward Island was on the down-grade, gradually falling into a position where it would have been a comparatively easy matter to merge it with Nova Scotia whence it came. When he first entered public life, Mr. Mathie- son foresaw the danger, and determined to face it ‘resolutely and to overcome it. After many years and many sleepless nights he evolved a plan and policy for the salvation of the Prov- ince, and gathered round him a body of stal- warts who steadfastly supported him in the at- tainment of his objective. These were mostly Conservatives, but included not a few Liberals who saw whither we were drifting, and were pre- pared to sacrifice party for Province. He took office as Premier in I911, the year of tho Bor- den Federal victory, and the two Governments worked as one in an endeavour to restore the Province to its rightful place, and to revive its Prosperity.

Mr. Mathieson was a man of great determ- lnation, of indominitable courage, of clear vis- ion; he was an excellent judge of character, not easily fooled, and of steadfast friendships. He enjoyed the respect, regard and esteem of most of the statesmen of his day, and genera- tion; and this_was never more manifest than when he and Hon. Mr. Arsenault went to the I913 Inter-Provincial Conference. From Nova Scotia to British Columbia he had friends at Court, as it were, and they rallied to the ls- land’s support. Similarly at Ottawa, where he worked in association with the late Mr. Angus McLean, M.P., and Mr. Donald Nicholson, M.P. Mr. Mathieson had personal friendships on both sides of the House, which he cultivated for all they were worth to the Island, and consequent- ly when it was proposed to amend the British North America Act regarding representation, Mr. Mathieson was able to have our House of Commons membership fixed at not fewer than four, irrespective of population, similar to the number of our Senators. This may be termed tho charter of modern Prince Edward Island; for with that we also got through his and Messrs. McLean and Nicholson's efforts, our regular communication with the mainland rec- ognized as a Confederation right, and the in- stitution of the Borden-Tormentino Car Ferry as the first step in that direction.

In domestic affairs, Mr. Mathieson intro- duced many reforms, not least being vote by ballot and the administration of the Prohibition Act by an independent commission representa- tive of temperance sentiment, which proved re- markably successful, and freed the administra- tion of many details and worries.

In the position of Chief Justice Mr. Mathie- son ably maintained the dignity and reputation of the Bench so long associated with his pre- decessor, Sir W. W. Sullivan.

lt may be said of Mr. Mathieson that he was the Maker of Modern Prince Edward Island, and his name will hold a foremost place in its historic annals.

The Freight Rates Rearing

lt is estimated that the present application I the railways lor a i!) per cant increase in freight rates will, if granted, mean additional revenues to th-e railways of $85 millions per year; and since freight rates in Central Canada are held down by water, highway and U. S. rail competition, this increased cost will inevitably fall chiefly upon the Maritimes and Western Canada.

The hearing of the application of the rail- way was fixed by the Board of Transport Com- missioners for January B. The Provinces appear- ed before the Board on December 23 and asked for a postponement of two months, that is, un- til March 8, to enable them to prepare their cases. The railways resisted this postponement doing so, in the words of C. .F. H. Carson, their chief counsel, "with all the forco we can com- mand." The board, by a majority decision, granted a postponement only until February ll. Tho Provinces then applied to the board for on order instructing the railways to produce tho information previously denied them.‘

From the beginning, the railways, in the phrase of Col J. L. Ralston, counsel for the Mari- time Provinces, havs sought to "hold the whip" over all who have had the tomerity not to op- pose-tho cass hos not yet roachsd that stogs —but to so much as question their application for an additional $85 millions per your. They have one the length of declaring that they are not ligsd to furnish information unless those receiving it will soy in advance, ”what ass they

propose to make of such material if it was furn- ished." They avow a "compoll g urgency" in their own, as distinct from tholgublic interest. They dismiss all opinions which do not coincide with their own as having, "no bearing upon" or "relevance to" the case. They pilloriod the questions put to them by the Provinces as a "fishing expedition." The absolute limit in what has been a very high-handed performance, in- deed, was the comment of Mr. Dysart, counsel for the National railways, on the request of counsel for the four Western Provinces that the Transport Board should hold hearings on the 30 per cent application in western Canada. Mr. Dysart said: ”lf the request that this board go on a junket across the country and hold sittings at various centres is allowed, it will, I suggest, prolong the hearing three months. . ." Per- haps, upon reflection, the National railways-will desire to modify this attitude to the public.

The Transport Board is now dealing with the formal motion of the Provinces for the in- formation which the railways have refused volun- tarily ta supply. The Board has the power to compel the railways to produce this information. Alternatively, the Board, if it chooses, can cripple the Provinces as to the facts in this case just as it already has hampered them as to the time required to prepare for the main hearings.

It is worth recalling, as does the Winnipeg Free Press in this connection, that the Board of Transport Commissioners was created some forty years ago for the express purpose of establish- ing fair and reasonable freight rates in this country. lt is required to do so not from the standpoint of the railways but of the public.

.-- EDITORIAL NOTES .-

_ It is good news to everybody to hear that prices for fur pelts are strengthening—they were the only weak link in our production chain.

i "k k I‘

The City "did itself proud" Monday in cele- brating Citizens’ Day—an event that will long be remembered in the annals of the Province and of the Nation.

Perhaps the recent change in tho leader- ship of the Department of Justice has something to do with the delay in the filling of the vac- ancy on the bench of the Supreme Court.

noun

Evidently Premier McNair, New Brunswick, does not allow his prospects of becoming Chief Justice to interfere with what he considers just criticism of Premier King's policy regarding the Province's rights. More power to him.

tfi i f ‘l’

. Every handicap may prove a blessing in disguise if looked at in right frame of mind. According to a manager of a movie theatre, queues are one of the finest social institutions ever introduced. Before the public was taught to queue it was a free-for-all, with the danger of somebody getting hurt.

R M‘ i’ W

William Wilkie Collins,‘ English novelist, born this date I824; he achieved popular suc- cess with the then best seller The Woman In White, followed by an equally popular story The Moonstone; he ‘showed much aptness in fram- lng melodramatic stones on the basis of a sec- ret withheld until the denouement; was a friend of Charles Dickens, and a contributor to Household Words, of which Dickens was editor; he wrote a drama, The Frozen Deep, in which Dickens and other cflebrities appeared.

‘R fi I

Where Germans proved good churchmen. The only men in the choir at the morning ser- vice in Ratho Parish Church, Midlothian, Scot- land, on Christmas Sunday were eight German prisoners of war from a camp in the district. The Germans, who had made an offer of as- sistance after a pulpit. appeal for more choir members, sang the English version of the Psalms, Paraphrases, and hymns. Wearing P. O. W. uni- forms, they have been attending the services in the church for several months.

l‘ fi i i

How many glass bottles do you buy, use, break, or lose every year? No one can answer this question, but the big glassworks know from experience that world requirements are increas- lng from year to year. One single Scottish glass-bottle factory, has now decided to in- crease its yearly production from 43 to I00 million. This tremendous increase, demanding a capital outlay of $20,000,000, will require a great deal of effort to achieve. In about 3 years’ time, that is before I950, the firm hopes to reach the one-hundred-million mark.

yawn

The late Rev. Dr. Ryan will long be remem- bered as one of the outstanding Methodist clergyman of the Province, for he ministered both in Charlottetown and Summerside. He was noted for his sincerity; he did not play poli- tics, ‘either in the pulpit or out of it, and hewed close to the line in the denunciation of what he considered wrong; at the some time, always ready with encouragement to tho tempted and fallen. He was an out-and-out prohibitionist, totally opposed m» to scripts, and on this score differed from such staunch Methodists as the late Ml. Henry Smith, Mr. James Paton and Dr. Harry Johnson who favoured them. lt was he who coined the phrase "blood money" to describe the revenue the Government received from the sale of liquor.

aunt

Bracken may now be added to Irish Moss as providing a new and profitable industry. If experiments by an Argyll farmer prove suc- csssful, brocken, the heart-break of the Scottish farmer, may be the foundation of a new in- dustry and solve a problem for house-builders. Mr. F. F. Nichol, of Furnace, has succeeded in making from dried Bracken o substance which ha claims can be used as a wall lining-a typo of material for which than is on urgent do- nlond by builders. If ths bracllsn boards stand up to exhaustive tests and prove a practicable proposition, there are possibilities of a thriving industry being established. And the supply of raw material is, as formats know to their sorrow, unlimited.

llotss By Tho Way

Giant Illllll which

cultivated for food ammo-GTE; Nplflly and destroying veggmflq; and natlve gardens 1n New gum“, New Britain and New Ireland, The london Times reports. They all-g our to five inches 10m and th lncheg higlh. g m

‘The largest door In the world Wlll shortly be fitted to m. new aircraft. essenlbly hail a; plum, BYISlOI. which has been built to house the Brobezon Marl: I m. craft. The door 1o 1.046 feet across lm-d 05 feet nine inches high. It Welsha 200 tons and can be thrown Open I11 two minutes. The Banbamn the world's biggest airliner, is ex- llevlcd 1o go into service in 1951,_ UK Information Office.

In some countries, salt. ls a precl. W5 wmmpdllv because qt its scarcity. Yet tile world has one re- latively untouched. almost. inex- haustible supply. That's the salt. 1n the ocean. It has been wtllnated that there are 14,1a0,0o0,o00_oo0_oo0 toms of salt in the seas, with about 160000.000 tens being added every year by rivers. This tremendous amount if recovered. would stack "l! s layer n. mile and a half deep over the entire United States. —— Slhips Magazine, New York.

The start of the school year Pflfhfl-Ds is as 300d a time as any l-o express the wish that American Youth lzaln might be taught the art of peulmanship. Young people -—6-lld a m“ manly people who no IOHGe-r are conspicuously young - seem to have been somewhat mis- ed/uoated in that respect. Only on rare Occasions does the average person see a letter neatly and leglbly written. A majority appear to agree with Hamlet's statement that it 1s "a baseness" to take pains in any bask of inscribed communic- ation. —-Washiagtcm Star.

If there ll a home entitled to consideration or kindly thought, it is the one kept on a small salary. especially when that salary is 1n- ternlittenf through failure to have employment. m: how the ntother manages when the small salary wmcs even for a short time is be- yond the understanding of those who have not experienced such a ch-aptcr. When the period of unem- PIOYXYIent 1s protracted and with the d9m8lf1d for food. fuel and clothing oontlxiuing the same as when wages were steady. the pro- blem is acute to the point c-f in- jurious self-dcnial. —Gueipll Mer- cury.

The people you see browsing around stationery stores at the moment are generally buyers of diaries. They are getting new books for the year ahead. Starting Wed- nesday, they wil chronicle their day-to-day doings, the weather, local and world incidents. or such information as they wish to remem- ber. They are methodical. keen people who by writing things down keep them in their mcmcries. 1t is a. hobby with them. But it. 1s furl a-nd valuable. Mulch past. history of Lhe motion and the world has come down 1o us from dlaries that people kept for their own amuse-

ment. and information. —Boston Post. Being President of the United

States no doubt has its advantages. The President has a house. which many citizens haven't; he never has to stand Ln llne for lunch ar theatre tickets; he can cash a check anywhere without being identified; 1f he 83y; anything the newspapers print 1t.; if his wife wants to Ell/e a. party the Marine Band will come and play for it; he never has to ride 1n o. crowded subway. and if he did nobody would tell him to stop lively. But there are dISBdVB-Yll-BBQB A President 1s compelled most; of the time to live in public, like a cat in a, store window on Sunday This must get tiresome. -No.v York Times.

l heard this week a story which may have appeared tn print before. tihough I doubt 1t. Campbell-Ban- nerman ontercd the Cabinet for the first. time as Secretary of Slate for War 1n 1886 in Gladstonlfs third administration. Wlhen the King's Bpemh was under consider- ation it was found to contain a Latin quotation, omd the new Sec- retary for War made bold to quest- ton it; accuracy. His colleagues were aghast, at his temarlty. but the clarstclst Prime Minister rowived the suggestion wltlh urbanllty. “Bring me" he said to his secret- ary. “the Martial I was wing yes- terday." The volume appeared and was carefully consulted. "I 11nd" said tlhe Prime Minister. "that the secretary for War is perfectly right. But" m added elprlpa round the table. "the words are taken from a poem which no decent man ouzht lo mid" -London Spectator.

Counberpart to the old story about slaughter houses us!!! ever!- thlag including the plg’s Iqueol. ll found 1n scientific laborotorlol. where the mama's Bquook and tho rat's m1 wag are put to use. rellml Science Service. The otrdnllh of

Qllired to induce the Muslim dele-

Sklllmmh ll Ls ltisltlmete to claim

PUBLIC FORUM

Thll column la open to tho discuulou by corra- lpondontl ol question of interest. Tho Charlottetown Guardian dooa not necessar- lly endorse tho opinion o! correspondents.

GOOD CITIZENSHIP

Sim-As one who attended the public services in the Afmfll-IIQB In connection with Citizenship Week I could not fail to note the example of good citizenship set by the large choir assembled for the ouqasion. Not only was their performance outstandtng,—many remarked on the excellence of the singlngp-but their fortitude was equaliy note- worthy. Wo ln the audience were chilled to the heart during the hour we sat there. The members of the choir were there for twice as long. as they were assembled at. 2 o'clock for practice- and they had to remain 1n their places until the and of the broadcast at. 4 p.m. I realize that the rest of us take loo casually the week in and week out devotion to duty of these vol- untary helpers in the various church services. To see such a fine turnout and to hear sucn splen- did singing was- a necessary ro- minder of this type at community service.

I am, Sir. etc. L. LOWTRER. '1 Jan, 1947.

READING FOR PRESBYTERIANS Slr.—1 have read with pleasure the Reverend P. Jackson's letter in your issue of De? 26- H" ands up with the following paragraph uhxh 1 now quote: "Luv. the Maple cherish the memory of those, who gave their li-ves to secure our re-

ligious freedom." The Scotch settlers ard their descendants. however, hart a Ira-rd struggle

breaking in the wilderness nnd making this Island ‘the Garden o.’ the Gulf’ so that they had not much Fme for the reading of Scotch lore, yet they kept in mind 11:0 manners. customs and rrlyrglon of their forefathers

I writs these lines not 1') stir up conlhoverspq Lu‘. to encourucc the young people of Scotch descent to take more Interest 1n the lead- ing of Scotch literature. especially ecclesiastical history.

What about the pabulum of the immediate past and present gen- erations of Scotch young rec-pie? What do they lmow of the killing time (28 years of it), the signmr; of the Covenant. the massacre of rho clans at the Battle of Cuilods-n by Biltchcr Cumberland. eta? Am I right 1n saying that many Scotch farm houses are lacking books de- scriptive of Scotch lore llnrl the struggles of their forebears?

Dare I recommend to tho ‘JFCSOHL itcrreralicn the reading of the -=,1_ lvwius hooks: T.» Life of John Knox (Mccrlel. The Weary-plush,- Confession of Faith. The Scotch Worthies, Fox's Book of the Mar- tyrs, The Pilgrims’ Progress and last and hes! The i-lc-ly Bible which many of us stI-ll believe to be 1'20 word of God.

For light reading I would recon:- mend such bookl as G. Borrow"; Three Volumes, and Smith’; A Slimmer in Skye.

Tilt‘ Ilflfusal of thnst- books should furnish their minds with a Proper ‘Dcrspectivg an‘, glrqjghtnn out the cranked‘. Then they can “n8 and DTBYI "God of our Fath- EYS! be the God of their succeed- ing race."

In conclusion let me test-fl! that the Only panacea for the world's drsoase IS the carrying out, of 1h, 81d Coverlonters‘ Watchword:

Give Christ His Crown Rights." Wishing the Guardian and lt; editor the compliments of the sua- son. _ I am, Sir. 01f‘.

BALLYNASCREEN.

lndian’s Path ' To Independence

(By R. W. Brock in United King- dom Information)

Allhollkh the London discussions between the United Kingdom Gov- ernment and the Indian Party leaders failed to achieve the 1m- mediafe reconciliation between Hindu and MTBIIIH objections xe-

Eates to attend the opening session of the Constituent Assembly con- Vvllvd l0 fro-me India's new Con-

thot the United Kingdom Cablin- 61's initiative was not. wholly frulq- less and that pessimism oomenu In! the final outcome would cen- Wlnlt’ be premature. It will be m- mmbered 1M1. u an alternative to n separate Muslim state (Pakis- Wl) cpmprlamg the predominately Muslim provinces 1n British IndJa. the Cabinet Mission. whleh sperm three months conferring with the Indian leaders early this year, rec- ‘mtmended the EPouPI-ng of provin- ooa an a balls which would meet Muslim derrmnds. within the smblt 0! In Indian Union, retraining o,

.._.___\

can give an authoritative interpre- tation of his own lsnv. If then there ls a dispute as to its interpreta- tion, a duly constituted court 01 low must decide 1t".

0a this controversial issue. the United Kmgdom Government ac- cepted the Mvusllm lnterpretatloa as correct, but has not ruled out an appeal to the Indian Federal Oourt (English, Hindu and Muslim judges) on the points on which the parties cannot reach direct agree- ments. As the United Kingdom Government add: "If in spite of this reafflrmatlm of the intention of the Cabinet Mission. the Oah- stituent Assembly desires that this fundamental point. shouldbe re- ferred for decision of the Flederal Court, such reference should be made at o. very early date. It. will then be reasonable that. the meet- ings of the sections (concerned with grouping aniangements) should be postponed until the decision of the Federal Court. 1a knowrn ". It has also been made clear that the Un- ited K1ngdom Government. will not accept any Ooasttution which ln effect was framed by a one- porty Assembly 1n an mdeavour to establish a one-party State. Happily theta Ls no reason 10 BP- prehen-d that this declaration will prompt the Muslim Pamty to re- main aloof indefinitely from t.hl Constituent Assembly. although its attitude naturally hinges laagely on the Congress Party's reaction to the United Kingdom Govern- ment's declaration.