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_PAWGE EIGHT

Serious Agricultural"

Situation Analyzed In i'l_‘_l_ie Budget Debate

Farm, Fishery, Financial And ‘fiigifiiygf-“ivw

Other Issues Reviewed In

Speech By F. McPhee.

Following is a continuation of the t. of the iuitiress by Mr. H. F.

lite in the Budget lkbute, Picvintunl Lt isillllill), on April 8: “I sttgt ‘ sitlti Mi". iylcPliee. "that there i i tut» important. con-

l‘tll.Oll~ \\'ll2(‘ll siiutilcl guide us s tit-bate and on the Elstimatcs.

< , the slate of the notintry; \\'lll‘ll pttlilit: services are rtiqtiired,

\\'ll.l{ ls ine- crnilitiwn of on." Lndus- r t -.in:l otir pt vie; Wllfli. indus- ' w" lllliiill‘ (lb. . (‘Q llllfi ‘O \ ._ extent are ive Cllhillié‘ of providing it. Socandy. the record of l-lll Gov- ernment in meeting its obligations to the taxpayers. 1 sugges‘. that ii=;.:lit~r 17f titer:- prospects are happy for liw to ctutttrnplale.

“inc s; .9 (til tire (:..lll‘.ii‘_‘,' in this , province (i Menu» pruni- xii" on i110 contliticti of agri- culture. We have the fisheries, and of course the condition of the fish- ersis is no tiapplcr than the conch- tion of n ictiitii:

w

depressed, then

..ifi'er.~. I dz» not think I need :~:i_i' tinytltng to convince you that agriculture l5 at the moment in a most. usilis-tilthy’ condition. That is a ninticr over which there i: n0 dispute. We know that the ltirincrs are to a great extent pro- ducing at a loss, thut they are eat- ing itp the little bit of capital that they have been sble to put aside."

"The problem of the farmer," Mi". xlxPiiec continued, “is not lack of production but lack of s. market. Siiivtr that is the case, tfticre is some question whether the local De- partment of Agriculture, whose sc- t.v.ties seem primarily directed to- ivurcl increased production. may be working at cross purposes to the reiil (iIZIlPlIlCiGI which confront our Iiiiineits.

"ifs/twp the war broke out the Do- minion Government at once took sze-ps to rotect the consumer-s throughout Canada,” ho said. “There was a Price Control Board set up and its purpose was to safe- guard tlie ordinary cit-lzen against exploitation of the prices of things tvhich he would constime. ‘This art-i- ficiel depression of ' hadvergg- ly affecting agrlo tan ‘the 51am pcxsitionofocwbnaiogzidoniyicn- po-rtunt industry is aggravated but I submit that duty of the Gt, reference to the protection consumer, so K vnl

3-. a

Prhefogglng

‘The Dominion Government Q ldiginglihatlrscomo ‘hm’, Q

I 0w fhut mung 1,. be: of wheat‘ the fist. m‘

The tmce of birttor was placed st l Certain flgltre so that it would 110i 8o any higher. and now the Government has under considers.-

tlon thq in; of tho price so that it wgiiiot go below s curtain flguiw. I can be done in red.

enenco to butter end wheat, and if it 15 mod bufiiness to do w. it seems to me that it should be good bus- iness to do it in reference go t)“ other commodities produced by our farmers.

"Under existing conditions they arr praziuclng M. c loss, You eup- not ask chem to continue 50mg n, Ibis not a question of patriotism st nil. 1t is put upAio ilhe farmer that it. ts his patriotic duty to produce pork at a price that has been set in Great Britain. Birt it is not a question of will ass; it l; n u“. t-ion of ability. ls no us; as in; men to produce pork at s. loss if this course will drive them 1mg insolvency. If it is a patriotic dutv to produce pork for me British market at. [hp price which ha, been agreed-anti I believe 1t lktl-ml lg is a ditty _v.hlcl.‘t rests not on sh; IRIYYIEYS l-‘Ofle but on even-y citizen "Y CFl-‘ifldfl. My sitbmission is that the duty cf the Dominion Govern- lnflli I“ f? s"t a minimum PTlPG for pork, Graduated in Tlfllllffll mnes ne- c-trdmq ‘n the cost of production;

because I believe the western (Mm. {Ts can produce much more cheap- ‘fi We price set bv the Government sfioulrl b» mi

tinted in give farm- "tim of Canada a y "ft iii-t as in dealing (‘Ollie who have wni‘ "uvtflcls. Int them rlezil with the fnxttier in the same way in tho sale if gmrk to flritriln, and let ‘the dif- i r» be mirio up by the Domin- "s a whole. so that the respons- i l» ti»: t Briliiin ‘will he ‘ll ‘Md "f1 rill the people of Canada nut no‘ merrlv lay the farmers, who cannot afford to do lt

Provincial Effort Roqulrpfl

"Tlvt" is not much that lite t "'0 r-zm (in directly in this Ill’ tr. hut I suiruest tn the Prem- lr-rmritl his advisers that it ls their d" l‘ t" till’ l’. up to the Dominion G: ernmcnk and insist. in co- cftrflwn ivith tire other proirizicial

ttuiiil _ c": ‘

‘ . that $"l'll(' action its lil;'_n ,, t with reference to nut. o‘iicr

PP} commodities AS Vie».

Mr. Mcvhcc also sugtzested that i?“ ukl h,» Ci’!<t‘l' cooperation

Cwteivlznn and Utilted rut on the queston of ‘l ll"

., . ll . ... . _.

H‘ li . imd iv in interest in the press itrcntltr a short excerpt. from the corresp nrlcnce uhfch had pas. rcti between thr- Prcmicr of [his pfflVlllCp liitri tiu- Pizine Minister of Canada in reintftrn to our farm plfibiflll“. "On Dec, l3 our Premier wrcie Mr. King, slatng that there err-m: d t t b» ‘n cciisltls-rahin tinder- ciirrvnt of feeling among our tarm- ers. I tli nk that 1s rltvcrlbinq it mot mrflrrntelr ~wli‘cii might ser-

iousy rrwt 1.11M. their productive rffci-t Tin tl brrn disappointed to firrl ‘ l ‘l"n worse than

lt htirl tvrn '_ l0 trouilli of the tie-ores n '

"I ri"n't knew. Mr. Sneaker that our farmers have get titrlr feet out n; tho (‘cows '11 y"! It is about the only ‘lrctigh’ they have bren able to get their feet into. Writi-ni

. int A\l Situation is itn-| unsound, and the ivhole-

anioe letter to m. King, u one Liberal Premier to another, ls notl going to help them very much. There art;- Ollly three Premiers Ln Canada who are not Liberal in the strong political sense. But now is the time to disregard that situation. l I suggest mat. even if the attitude you take brings difficulty-political difficulty -_ and disturbs the Do- minion Government, that l5 the tray it must be handled. Nice polite lcttersfrcin one good Liberal to another Liberal are of little avail.

Premier Campbell: “Do you think my letter was wo polite?"

Mr. McPhce: “Yes, I think it should have been s vigorous one."

Continuing; Mr. McPltee quoted further from the correspondence“ ltGuardian, April 5) noting Primal

Minister's reply that "low prices on |p0iilDO% were hard to avoid be- cause of increased acreages and| yields in Canada and the United. States. Potatoes were largely mark-' etcd clcmedicallv, and it mtglit be] that some voluntary initiation of production might help.

"Tluit is as far as Mr. King could offer suggestions to cute 123A de- pressed condition oi’ agriculture in this Province. ‘Don't grow quite so many potatoes."

Mr. Kinfs Attitude

Continuing from the correspon- dence, Mr. McPhee read: The phenomena.) increase in Canada's hog population had made it im- perative that any new agreement with the British. Food Ministry should provide an outlet fotr larger quantities o: pork, even if prices we‘? somewhat lower, Mr. King sa .'

King suggests there that an effort would have to be made by tn; Dominion Government to have the British. Government agree to an increase in theamoitint of pork to b; supplied, even if we had to

to e lower price. I don't think

. King was really cognisant of the situation, because I notice recently Mr. Gardiners announce- ment that a further lame qllflnlrllry

of rk was to be taken, and I ca. or from the who of the im- nmirwezzient. that iv, was not any

lbpresentation made by him, but. rather that it came from the British authorities. _

"I don't think Mr. Gardtner made any announcement, as to prices in reference to pork; but if Mr. Kiri; night-d! the price

increasing to produog it goes down below — then of course everything I have said 1n regard to the situation i5 ‘core strongly em-

And 1 am afraid the money which my hon. friend. the Premier in 5o- ingiofim-nish by wsyofnbonugis not going to relieve the situation very much. It may pay the farmer's tobacco tax-if he does not smoke too much. r

"we. Kine says further in ccn-ospondenc, with mu- Premier: ‘From thq outset of the was the Federal Agricultural Department tied unphasined marketing diffi- culties, but there’ had been un- warranted expaflswn in the produc- tion of some products. The course of the resent war and the extens- ion of q blockade to tho whole continent of Europe, have created s. tremendous problem for Canada be- cause of our large export-able sur- plus of agricultural products. In a sense, through the loss of markets in continental Europe, thg Canadian farmers have become casualties of the resent war.’

' at again suggests to me," said Mr. McPhee, “a confirmation in principle of everything which I have said. This is a situation in reference to agriculture which is not peculiar to this Provrice. I am told that. in some of the best fanning districts in Ontario, farmers are selling out and getting away from their farms and leaving them vacant. Apparent- ly Mr. King regards it as a national problem and as a result of loss of markets he says our farmers have already become casualties in this war.

A Iflltlcal Conclusion

"We know what Canada's attitude has br-en and sitould be to our war- casualties. We know that tho Do-r mlnlon will at once provide forl them because they are war casual-l ties. Mt". King admits that sgrlcul-l titre is a war casualty and I sub- mit. that agriculture in this Prov- ince is harder hit than in my other ovlzice of Canada. But if] agrlcul tire is o. war casualty, than, it is perfectly logical and reason- abl¢ that some extraordinary pro- vision be made in reference to ag- riculture as a. war mensure.

Mr, King goes on to say: “there could be only one satisfactory solu- tion of the farmers’

tartan order.’

"Of course, that is perfectly true as to the solutlcn of all our prob- lcms. But if we w-ant to have our» farmers remain on the land. if we, l want to b; able to stay in business‘ totlrsvlvéi us a government, if we ‘want to have available revenues in tits Prnvlnce lo vote nuthority for necessary’ public services. then something must. be done immed- iately for agriculture; and I see no . way of doing it except as I have in- i dicatcd. 1 suggest that the Premier , and his advl=ors should arm them-

selves with the cooperation of oth- ' ers who can be persuaded to be- , ilovs in this principle, and compel Mr. King and his advisers to see that since agriculture is s war casualty. it must be treated as s y tear casualty." , Premier Campbell: "You read ‘only selections from the letter.”

Mr. Mt-Phre: "Yes, I was s bit ldisappniritcrl that. we didn't get the twhcle thing. While it is not in ‘order at all. I would be mntly obliged if the Premier would table all the correspondence that passed ‘rrtrvoen himself arid ‘Mr. Kind and tiny il-f flu- other ministers in ref- erence to this important. problem.”

1: "I think Mr. stated that the po-

had nothing to do with tin war."

Mr. MoPhee: “We know it is to a great extent affected by the situa- tion in reference to fertilizer; and we know that the situation in ref- erence to fertilizer is a war situa- tion. And I think the general dis- turbance 1n commodity prices would affect potatoes. Flor instance, the price of wheat. had something to do with tho price of potatoes. I think Mr. King is making a statement which. he would be unable to sup-

ort if he says that the situation

reference to potatoes is not one that ls attributable to the war,

Fisherman's Problems

Th unfortunate positLon in which our iislhermen find themselves is also regrettable. The chairman of the Fisherman's Loan Board (Hon. Mr. Cox) referred to this situation Of course, the mere fact that we have to provide the fishermen with. loans. and that the chairman says they are not nearly great enough, suggests at once t e actual condi- t-ion of the fisheries. Because if there was s. healthy condition, this Fishermen} Loan Beard would not be needed here at all.

“In referring t0 the appointment. of the board for i119 tiandllng of canned lobsters the hcn. member spoke with approval. About this I have no exact knowledge, of course, but 1 read a report in the news- papers and questions put; by Mr, Hat-field in the House of Commons in regard to the operation of this board, together with the answers tabled by Hon. Mr. Mlchaud, Min- is of Fisheries.

I was asked; ‘How many cases of canned lobsters were handled during ths 1940 season through the government gradln and purchasing depot at Char ottetotvn.’ The answer was: ‘Total number of cas- es received, 2,556. Acceptances, 250; Graded. refused by packer, 880; Rejections 1.426.

It was asked: ‘Haw many cases were passed in each of the follow- ing grades: (c) grade A; (b) grade B; (c) grade C; (d) grade C minus.‘ The answer was: "Grade A, nil; Grade B nil: Grade B minus, 100 cases; Grade c minus, 60 cases.

“Two things struck me in refer- enoe to these answers; either the depot was not operating properly when this would be the result. or it is a terrible reflection on the Fisheries Department of the Do- minion and of this Province that out or 2,656 case; only 250 were passed, and those in the lowest grades which can be accepted. Somebody is to blame, and I say that it is a reflection either on the operation of the depot or on the Provincial or fbderal Departments in reference to tbs operation of the canneries.

i Premier Campbell: Not necessar-

Mr. : “Cr s. combination of both."

Enemies- Campbell: "Those are two horns of an imaginary diJema".

Mr. McPlheez To what else would it b0 attributed?

Premier Campbell: The technical requirements of the United States market.

suggest that the technical require-

ments of the United States market, but that is not the real test. wen not ascutalned until the goods’ provision had been made; the came into market? Or that. therej money had been set aside: it had was no attempt by this De-partment- been put in reserve. It constituted and the Federal Department. to see‘, part of the sinking funds. With it whether local canneries complied,‘ there. the sinking funds were inade-

wlth the regulations?" Premier Carupbeli: pay them to comply with them." Mr. McPhee: "Thea-i what. is the ‘use of the Board, if you are running it simply to set. up a scale of re- quirements with which packers can- not comlply and with which it won't pay them to comply? What is the useoflt? Itseems to metobe absolutely

(Premier Cannpbell did not re- ply-l ,

Wartime Industries

Dealing with war time industries, Mr. McPhee said the construction of

the airports at. Charlottetown tind ! year. If that amount had’ been set 8t. Eleni-let's could hardly be placcdl aside, the ordinary deficit would

in this category, because they tvere presumably located here for strategic ly argue. put here for political purposes. That

would be a reflection on the mln- gard isters involved. These airports are especially in regs-rd to last year's‘

here because it ls ccnsidcied tiite

most. suitable place to have than; the Government

We have no wai- indwtries except one little one which came since the House met. We tabled a quest-ion on this matter, and the Premier re- plied that he had been quite active n the matter There were letters written to var- ious parties but. they were extreme- ly confidential. I fail m see why correspondent of this sort should be confldentla. 1 don't. think that it. could give comfort to the enemy. However, that is a matter for the discretion of the Premier himself.

Premier Campbell: "It was most.- ly verbal."

Mr. McPhee: “The Premier gave

problem and - us c. list of things about‘ which he that is the defeat of the aggressors | had written. But it amused me to rind the deist-ructlon of the totali- i see that. the only

thing we got was something he had not asked for st nll.-~a little contract to Hall and Staverl for machine tools. I don't. know whether, in that case, it would be well to ask him to press further or not. Perhaps it would be better for him to leave it alone.

"We now have a debt of about nine and one-half million dollars." continued Mr. McPhee. "I don't know what our population is at the moment. We have lost I lot of men by enlistment, sn s lot by war employment in o her provinces which is not open to our men here. But even if we had 96,000 we would have s per capita provincial debt of about $100; that. would b; a d b; per family of about $600,—includ '13 tn; families of the men to whom you give relief, the families of the old age nsloners, — on every family in t. Province ‘Phat. repre- sents a very serious situation.

"I have heard on many occasions the seriousness of this situation de- nied. I have heard it stlfllested that.

we could stand s. dm twice as authority ls given, and thlt could great; and I h“! heard diseoursg- not be in: things said about me situation. inn

My hon. friend the Minister of Agriculture thrown up his hands and lflWwfllncvsI-pcyicoff:

THE cgixiitorrsrowu GUARDIAN l APRIL 1g!“

11ml; LI Bflllcthing, I Kink flu; sltoulg neyer be saigi 1 think lww- eller Wee-is a pu c man tools. be should be able to sly a word of hopctotbcnwfiolooktobhnfor IIUGMIIOQ, and not take the pessi- mistic view.

Hon. w. Dennis: "It is time."

Mr. McPhee.-r "flint. is firmed opinion, that he wll stm to in the broad hours of daylight And other members of tbs Govern- ment have suazested that we could staid a debt. twice as great. This is based on the theory that the per “will debts 0f other provinces are ilreater than ours. Cf course there l: n3» ' m“ ‘t ailtaildheebtaglb i y carr a per cap e-

nds d: of the

pe on resources Nov. lnce. The debts ofscllleof like prvv. inces were incurred in the pur- chase and development of certain assets; hydro, mines, forests, etc.

set of! against our debt. Who is going to pay it? Assuming that the Minister of Agriculture is wrong, and that our P801114: are to have still some vigor and hope left, in them, how are they going to pay it off? ‘Hie money must come from the farmers. from the top fonrl inches of the soil. as a. late Prem- ier of this Province used to say. It l5 because we must look substantial. ly to that one basic industry clone for the restoration of our proper financial position, that t/he situa-

is growing year by year, and that almost one-half of it was incurred under the leadership of the present Premier."

Public Apathy

Continuing, Mr. McPhee said that a few years a o the prospect of such a debt wo d have caused general alarm throughout the Prov- ince. The opt; today, unfortunate- ly, have ome accustomed to it. They used to ask, ‘Do you think there will be a surplus this year? Now they just wonder how bllz the deficit is going to be. This situation, he added, has been brought about. in part by highway expenditures and in part. by too much extravnaanoe in the various departments.

“The leader of the Opposition said Mr, McPhee_ made reference to the sinking funds, particularly to the sum of $80,000 which was with- drawn front the sinking fund re- serve in order to cut down the sink- ing fund appropriation for tbs past year and reduce the deficit.

Premier Campbell: “It . was not . withdrawn."

Mr. NlcPl-iee: “Iransferred from the, sinking fund reserve to help pfOVldg for the sinking fund ain- proprlation for the year 1940".

Premier Campbell: "Phat was tile purpose of the reserve."

Mr. McPhee: "It should not have been withdrawn. All the sinking funds including the reserve before’ the withdrawal were entirely inade- , quate. The sinking fund provision as applied to this $80,000 on the basis of the funded debt is only about l 1-2 tper cent. You will agree uihen you consider the average term of bonds that that appropria- tion is greatly inadequate.

"It is admitted that o. 3 per Cent. sinking fund in respect to s twenty year bond ls in itself inadequate. But a number of these bonds are for short terms, and the sinking fund appropriation for a sfn-ort term should be proportionately greater, because the purpose of the ap- propriation is to have funds meet the bond when it matures.

“Suppose the $80,000 had not been transferred from the sinking funds for this particular purpose, the appropriation would have been roughly $200,000. ‘Phat is slightly over 2 per cent. on the total func- ed debt, and that is still grossly in- adequate. The Premier says that there was justice in making the transfer from the reserve because,

i basis of the percentage required ‘ov Mr. McPhee: "Does the Premierl the specific statute, tbs amount was

“It wouldn't better chewing on the Current ac-

t l

purposes. “We would hnrd- ‘ ' he said, "that they were‘. 000.

by correspondencemproviue payment for permanent

according to the appropriation on the

more than sufficient. That is tine. The

quate, and yet, Ln order lp make a

count, it was withdrawn; If that. had not been done the stiowin on Current Account would have een $80,000 worse than it actually was.

Real Deficit Camouflaged

“It suggests itself to me that this was done for that specific purpose. It was not done in the regular way of financing. We find proof of this in the fact that the Intimates 1m year contained a sinking fund ap- propriation of $267,000. That is what the Government figured would be sct aside as sinking fund when they asked us to vote Supply last

have been itmeased to the extent ol $138,0(.i.; it would have been roughly $260,000 instead of $120,-

“A peculiar situation exists in rc- to the funded debt and

borrowings. We find that lest year put out. a bond lbslle of $1,400,000. That issue was made by authority of the statute of 1940, and that. statute gave authority t.o issue bands for the paying off bank overdraft and to

public works and to refund de- iientures. I tried to sec what, had become of that. $1,400,000. but it was very lliuslve. There was $00,000 of debentures matured and paid off. The bank overdraft 1111980 was slightly in excess of two million dollars and in i940 it "was slightly below two million. It was $13,284 less at the end of 1040, so I sup- pose it is correct to say that to! the borrowing was IIDPIied psy off bank overdraft to that cutout. The rest of the authority was for permanent public wmil.

"Withln the total item for capi- tal expenditure there are a great many items-such so "national cash register," distribution of seed barley,‘ "fisher-men's loans,‘ ore, _. whim are not. really pennasien works; but even if we take the whole of the items, what do we find. There was a win cupitd ex- penditure of about $760,000. Sup- pose we $660 of that u permanent public works. we will

ave bank overdraft, permanent

llc works and refund of deben- ui-es totalling $678.00). ‘Ihst is all the authority was for, for those P11190588- Thvfe wlo 81.400900 bor- rowed. It. has gone souiewhere: and I confess that I don't know where it. has gone. I have at. been able to trace it through Accounts.

"Th? Pr capita previous year. But in so far s; that is so, they would be included hi the bank overdraft for which specific

considered wider two hud-

‘i-isoon- o

who

McPhco recalled that tfi 0o - merit, when it. m: otfic: myth-ii,

inltitll hum $531?» Solid!

5‘

of that was spent 0n supp] o! gas- oline wd oil for one car. ‘lzhe Min- ister's car is a fairly new on, and the repairs would be c trifling met.- fer. It seems to me that. sum

else has been '

m8 WP‘ plied with gasoline and oil and

But. We have nothing of this kind to ‘servicing thi-ougn the department.

1 mention this by way of illustra- tion of the many thing; which can be found in the Public Works report. and the 11c Accounts, to em- phasize what I have been saying. "We find that last year the work of ths Public works De artment was very‘ materially cur-ta ed. This year it the express policy of the capital expenditure. ‘Phat should mean, of course, that we could get

that department. than was neces-

tivn i5 $0 811W. “We find the debt psary during those years when large

amounts of money were being ex-

"We were disappointed to lean-n that in the Tax brunch, although l. substantial part orthe work of that branch was assumed by the Domin- ion Government, there was no sav- ing at all in the matter of salaries, and no dicrease in the matter of

“It seems to me that there is s. great deal oil duplication in the matter of travelling expenses. We have travelling expenses for the employees of the Department of Publicyworks, and the Department of Agriculture and old age Pensions. I am not criticising the work these men are doing, because I really do not know whether they are doing their work efficiently or not; but I wish to refer to the items on pages 62-64 of the Public Accounts under the heading “Field su-pervision." We find travelling expenses for Mr. Shaw, Mr. Brenton, Mr. Wright, lVIr. Iaockefby. and Mi‘. Reid. Of course, I believe Mr. Brennan's work is o! such a. (ftai-acter that he, and nobody else, can do it. Those travelling expenses, as I under stand them aie intended to cover hotel bills; he mllags is the actual use of the car for travelling from place to place; so that those items do not include mileage. They are quite large items. Not knowing tire hum-bei- of trips which the officials took or» the necessity for them. I am not prepared to criticise them so far as they are concerned. But we find on the next page further

W

items of travelling expenses for scme of the same officials. “It seems to me tiiat in these

times, when we are faced with this serious situation financially, there is a great deal of duplication in the matter of travelling expenses of these various officials, For instance the em loyees of the Old Age Pen;- lons of ice have large travelling ex- penses because they have to g0 throughout the country, checking up on the pensioners. Would it not business to dovetail the wei- of these officials in some way, so that one of them, in going to some part of the province, could do the work that two or three are do- ing in going to the game place? Would it not be possible for the field representative to check on old age pensioners and Bet the neces- snry report? Is it necessary to pay another man to travel over the same road and get extra expenses and mileage? "When we go into the Estimates immediately 0n the conclusion of this debate, we must look into tne work of each department and ask ourselves whether, because oi the limitation of its activities m be- cause we fear that the ac- tivities are not producing the re- sults that. they should, any reduc- tion in the staff can be made with. a view to obtaining some ameliora- tion of the financial position of the Province. ,

Rural Electrification

"I was interested in the lan- nouncement oi the Premier made in his Budget address that the Government had under considers- tlun a scheme or policy for the mriii electrification of the Province. I thought it was something to which the Government had given intens- ive study for some time. but as n result of the answer tiitat. was tabl- ed to our question, we know it was just a letter that the Premier re- ceived from the Nova Scotla Power Board, about the 31st o-f March, and which was acknowledged. That is the extent of this Government's activity in the matter. "I would be delighted to see our farmers supplied with cheap power. But the first. duty of the Govern- ment is to restore the farmers to solvency. How many of them are in a position to install electric lights. even if cheap power were available? I believe the expenditure involved would be around $150 for installa- tion. The possibility of this oppor- tunity coming only indicates the plight our farmers are in, because so few of them would be ln a. posi- tion to take advantage of lt. “Reference has been made to the Marketing Act. The Premier has announced ttist he has referred the Act to the Supreme Omirt for s dc- clsion as to its validity as provincial legislation. It. seems to me that if this course was necessary, it has been very tardily taken. It is some considerable time since the Act was pissed. If the Government had

01M u to its validity and felt that this was the course which should be taken, than 1 suggest that this sdbmislon to the Supreme Court fhould have been made without. de- s

y.

“We were led to undmtsnd, when his Act. was introduced lust yeu tmtt it was modelled on an so. of tho Province of British Columbia which had already been tested ss to its validity, and we after great. deliberation drafted our Act so sl to avoid any difficulty in that con- nection. But I fear. in reference to this proposal. that the Govermnait has been afraid - politically afraid 41% take s. sttlsnd. 1e

e cooper-o. ve were pres- slng for lmplemen ntion of the Aci. There were other organisations be- sides, representing the drovers and others interested. who were oppos- lns. The Government din everythti but take a stand in t matter. mink that from the inning it was the policy of this‘ Government to avoid tn a stand which in! f. have p0 tics] rcmircusslons. if typical or an attitude which 1 have pointed out. before i:i this

omuli3§"'"3t£”‘"’"

Will-Of

House, an stttude of unwillingness

Government to practically abolish '

along with a. much smaller staff in ,

A. l. ARSCOTT

political support. I do not think the

salon; problem; which confront us

will ever be solved by a govern- t merit. which approaches them from

that point of view.

Teachers’ Salaries l

“I had intended to deal with tide great problem of education but I am going to refer to it only bfiefl’ One of the speakers who preceded me suggested the possibility that we may not be able to get teachers for our schools. Our teachers have al- ways beenl undtebcpgliti. élrlélfrgsizlgeb; promise ven the Libeiz-al Government in 1929 mat at the first subsidy increase this situation would be remedied. There was a subsidy increase, which was obtained by the efforts of a Conservative government, whlcii came to its fruition during the elec- tion camvflilm of 1936RPM Con- servative Government therefore never had the oDPf-‘Yllllilty 0f 1m‘ plementing this Government's pledge which their predecessors trad made, but the Liberal Government. had a fine opportunity of i.mple-. ing it, because they found that the subsidy was there, waiting themes sxesult of ttie efforts of, their Conservative predecessors in - of-fice. But- ihey elected to ignore me pledge they had given, and de- clded to pursue another llcy. In- , sofar us unds were av Ellie. they- lnvested tihern in afllihflll- l "They made their decision then. I The decided to build s. lot of ro s and do nothing in the way 0f l teachers’ salaries. And they so de- cided in spite of their pledge given to tbs profession ln i029. “We are about. to face the rob- lem now. More and more o the male members of the profession are: leaving because it; does not offer utwm a livelihood. As the urge for enlistment increases, more of them still will be leaving. I believe that a. number of the female member; of‘ the profession are leaving and some of them ere finding employment in; the civil service. Personally, I feel, that we will never have made s. start towards a proper solution of our difficulties with regard to ed- ucation until we pa our teachers! a salary which will sufficient to maintain them M. a. decent stand- ard commensurate with the diifllty of the profession which they serve. “Reference has been made, and! properly, to the wonderful response to ths appeal for military recruit- ing by the men of this Province 1t is s. response of which all of us are proud. We find that. all of our DWDIe in connection with every branch of war activity have dis- played the most. remarkable spirit, ‘There was th Red Cross drive to, which. the. leader of the Opposition, referred; there is drive which is still on in the rural distlcts. The result; in Charlottetown and Stimmerslda‘ was remarkable. these cent/res sione collecting in two or three days more than to cover th total of the provincial

receiving from (he rural districts are even more astounding when one consid the condition in which. most of these people find them- selves at the present time.

lerlous Complaint "Because o! this time one matter which I with to draw the Govmunent’: attention. It is s

matter which has been stimrested to mo: I lln not able to vouch for the truth of ft. That is the ques- tion of politlcslmpstroniigo in ref- erence to the v our war activities and even to an, matter of enlist- ment. It suzgosted to me

ercised in referoncg to the enlist- ment. in eerie of the training cen- tres an tin: centres. 1:: that is true t is a most serious nutter. f the Govern-

u-m to e men the informs on confidential-

lndlvidull to investigate but I feel it is my duty to draw them to the attent of the Government.

“I do now that in connection with wai- contractor-for instance the work at the airport-inst there was political pntrcnslc. and I um sure the members of the Govern- ment know lt too. That is one of the thing: about which people will rebel. This war effort. is being fi- nanced by eve one of us. while

to sluts its policy because of s fen- slicmtlsig s

Oltibin |dti0n Olplicd t0

[trunk afli/Ono can exams himself

r-pernte with them and elven them

m; wal- ggfvlcfl "to sec to lt that when we consider

summer". the Estimates as closely as possible.

b6!!! that politics influence has been ex- i

Named to Administer Ship-building Progivrm"

GEORGE C. MCDONALD

AUSTIN C. TAYLOR

RAF. Route to R umania ilsdlllear

Lin!» I. mutants

non. r. n. MCCURDY

Munitions Minister Haws has announced It Ottawa theiuppolntment of d: dis-colors to the Board of Wartime MBICIILIII. Shipping Ltd, recently formed to administer the Canadian shipbuilding prop-am. H. R. MaeMillfan, formerly chairman of the Wartime Requlremwl! 3"". l! Dffildffm- 0"!" "Wmb"! "l the Board are seen above. James D. McKeima, of Saint John, N.B., is the sixth director named.

m1;

GERMANY

u._s.s.n.

i . u 9“; perm“); n; important as any single factor in llfsfehsivz, n1 no 1on8" protected from smut. hombinl M-

tuck by s. "neutral bar-death" 3-51‘-

Msdlterranean polnlm can now fly

planes from Malto and other

directly across Yugoslavia and

Greece without. feiir of incltinl Gfifmlm "mm “$5M” mm” natiw" against which the Nazis are already "Elm"!-

too strongly on that point. 1 have some information in this regard 1f the members of the Government are desirous of conducting an in- vestigatlon 1 will be pleased w °°-

tbs information which I have.

Th; hon. member frcm Summer- slde (Mr. Foley) in his remarks on public health referred to the valu- able work which had been done. in cludlng the dental clinics; which re- minded me that that, was one of the great public health works initiated by the leader of the Oppwltidfl when he was Premier and Mlnibtfll‘ of Public Health.

In conclusion Mr. McPlhee urged the supporters of the Government io consider the serious financial situation of the Province, and zulde themselves accordingly Whfifl $110 Estimates are in MR- Th‘ Opposition can do little to curb extravagance, unless with the sup- port of the prlvate_members on the other side. "r put it to you PTWF-W members of this House," he said.

these Estimates wcdo our part to sec that the most rigid econom ls practiced by this Government ur- ing the coming year; that we cut

, u w, do that, we will have made l

- Province to l. rope: financial 17%|‘ ' ilon. I think I is bet-kl‘ in ll» "flit j and 0n nuke the attempt, than N gtako the Government tlon, as l expressed by the Minis of A|rl- l culture, and throw up our hand! and ‘my that the debt “will nevcr bc