PAGE FOUR

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THE GUARDIAN. UHARL()'l'l'ETOWN V

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Associate mum: Frank wars

"The Strongest Memory is Weaker Then the Weakest Ink.”

CIJAILUITITOWN. MONDAY. JULY 24. 19.30 An Elder Statesman Passes

No Commonwealth statesman held office so long, and few have exerted such an in- fluence on their times or been so, closely identified with their country in world affairs, as the Rt. Hon. William Lyon Mac- kenzie King, whose unexpected death took place on Saturday. Prince Edward Island- ers have always been particularly interested in Mr. King's career, as it was Prince County which provided him, as newly chos- en leader of the Liberal Party in 1919, with a seat in the House of Commons, which he held until the general elections of 1921 gave him his first chance to become Prime Min- ister.

At forty-seven, he was the youngest man to fill that high office since Confederation; and except for one five year period under Conservative rule he retained it successfully against all comers until his voluntary re- tirement two years ago. This achievement marked him not only as a favorite of political fortune. but as a genius in discern- ing the trend of public opinion and in guid- ing his party accordingly.

His own formula for success was de- ceptively simple: "Avoid mistakes." He fre- quently warned his colleagues that "It's the results that count, not the figure you cut while you're getting there." This philosophy he expanded somewhat to an interviewer on his retirement. "Politics," he said, "is like preventive medicine. You keep the disease from developing. The important thing is not what action you take to make desirable events happen, but the action you take to keep undesirable ones from happening. There is a force in human affairs that keeps them going toward good ends if nothing in- terferes. The political job is to prevent such interference. That is unspectacular, but it succeeds."

During his terms of office Canada mov- ed into the limelight in world history, and Mr. King was regarded as the embodiment of his country. He travelled far and wide, moving with ease among world rulers and statesmen, with many of whom he was on intimate personal terms. He had known Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt as young men, and during the last World War was the confidant ,and in- termediary between these great leaders. With their successors, Mr. Truman and Mr. Attlee, he was in on the secret of the plan for use of the atomic bomb from the beginning, and helped to draft the joint pol- icy of the three countries in retaining the secret until such time as the Security Coun- cil of the United Nations was established.

For all his prominence in world affairs, Mr. King never lost the common touch. He cared little for the trappings of office, de- tested ostentation, and avoided even social functions whenever he could. On rare occasions, however, he would go to a small party and enjoy himself, as was the case in 1945 when he turned up at the 35th wedding anniversary of his barber. His fav- orite exercise was walking, his favorite div- ersions reading poetry and philosophy. it was characteristic of him that during the 1944 conscription crisis he sent to the Par- liamentary Library for David Grayson'3 "Adventures in Contentment."

It privatellife he was an exemplary citi- zen, kindly, courteous and conscientious. He was loyal to the church of his choice, and a regular attendant. He interested himself in the welfare of the younger people of his acquaintance, and was a charming and considerate host.

On his retirement it was hoped that Mr. King would have many years of well-earned leisure for the completion of his memoirs on which he had been working for many years. He has passed, however, in the full- ness of years and honours, having rounded out a public career unprecedented in our annals, and left an impress which time will not efface on the history of this Dominion, and in thememorles of her citizens.

OI

Studying Fsrpm' Problem

A An unusual course of instruction will be held this summer at the Ontario Agricul- tural College at Guelph. For the first time in the country: history a class of rural clergyman of all denominations will receive instruction in soil conservation, field crop. livestock and other practical farm topics.

'1'holnltiationofeuchscourselssfor- ward step indeed in promoting closer har- mony between farmer and non-farmer; but,

While they may find it difficult to find time to attend a special agricultural course there are many other ways by whch they can ac- quire such knowledge. Local civic groups can sponsor field days on near-by farms. Closer attention can be paid to farm news in the local newspaper. A week-end trip to a farm would open new vistas to urban eyes. This applies particularly in a Prov- ince such as Prince Edward Island where, if we are not all farmers, we are at least dependent very largely on what the farmer cams and spends.

EDITORIAL NOTES

Another two-weeks Air Cadet camp starts today in Summerside. The Island welcomes some 60 boys from Saint John.

O O O

Summerside is going to be a still more important military centre as the training ground for international air forces.

0 I 0

We are still looking in vain for that Federal Building. Can it be that it has been pigeon-holed with our Senator and Lieut.-Governor appointments?

0 O I Mr. W. R. Shaw's account of his visit to Europe in Saturday's issue was in-

tensely interesting and informative and will be appreciated by all who are concerned about the future of our main industry. I O O n The favourite pastime of our youths to- day is recruiting, especially in the choice of which arm in the service to join. Gainful employment and training are assured for a period of at least two years. 0 O 0 Commonwealth officials meet today in Ceylon to discuss detailed plans for the aid to Southeast Asia proposed at Sydney last May. Final decisions will not be taken be- fore the conference in London next Septem- ber. O Haying time is here, and with it the realization that perhaps we have been miss- ing a lot in publicising tourist attractions. Almost everyone likes to ride in the hay, and some might even be induced to do a bit of haymaking.

O 0 O

The additional 10 days added to the be- ginning of the usual 67-day navigational season of Churchill, Man., should be a boon to the development of that port, and to communications with the Prairie Provinces generally.

0

Distinguished visitors here next week will be the President of International Ro- tary, Mr. Arthur Lagaux, of Quebec City, and Mrs. Lagaux, who will be guests at a banquet in The Charlottetown on Wednes- day, sponsored by both Charlottetown and

Summerside Clubs and their Rotary Anns. C I 0

By the way, what has become of Fed- eral projects--Naval Headquarters here and Military Armouries? Somebody locally must be responsible, and, naturally we must look to the Provincial government, whose pri- mary business it is to look after all our in- terests, both Federal and Provincial.

I O 0 Through the demise of Rt. Hon. W. L. Mackenzie King, Prince Edward Island lost the most distinguished representative it ever returned to Ottawa. It did so all the more meritorously in that, though Leader of the Liberal Party he had been rejected by his Ontario constituency and was with- out a seat in the House. I I O

Alexandre Dumas, French novelist and dramatist, born this date 1802. His first play, "Henri III, et Sa Cour", initiated the French Romantic drama. It is however as the author of his romances Dumas attained world-wide fame. The three books of the D'Artagnan cycle "The Three Musketeers", "Twenty Years After" and "Viscompte de Bragelonne". with three of the Valor's cycle are alorie sufficient for a- splendid and lasting reputation. His masterpiece, how- ever, ls "Monte Cristo".

O I

General regret is felt by Maritime news- paper men, and also newspaper men farther afield at the death of Mr. Donald M. Ross, known popularly as "Scoop Ross", editor of the Amherst News. He was first and fore- most a sports writer, and for long conduct- ed one of the best sport pages in the Marl- times. He later became editor and manager of the News. and kept it well in the front as a news paper and advertising medium. He was comparatively young, in his fifties. but he put in a tremendous amotmt of en- ergy, abllity and aggressiveness in the years he spent in his profession. He will be great- ly missed both in Amherst and wherever newspaper men foregather in periodic con-

ventions. ,

The International Path From I4th July I789

By Emile Tersen

Long before the decisive events of 1789 took place in France. im- portant revolutions had marked the end of the XVII century and the period of the XV1Ilth century; to mention only the most out- standing there was the revolution of 1688 in England and that of 1766 in America. -

But both of them (as Burke was (0 pcint out in his famous book on the French Revolution) were of a local 5nd temporary nature which naturally limited their scope. The English Revolution was the natur- al outccme of a century old con- flict. between a rather unyielding monarchy-that of the Stuarts- and the merchant wccld allied with the most enlightened elements of the nobility. The American Revolution was the result of a struggle between a badly inform- ed home country and an overseas population falscly reputed to be ”oolonlal" (the meaning attached to the word being that of an in- ferior value. an inferior culture. and an inferior conscience). To Justify themselves both bad form- ulated principles and little by little these were to make inroads into men's minds and take on a wider meaning.

0 O 0

But in neither of these two rev- olutions-ncr in any other until 1789-was any episode to stand out 51111101811?-13' and spontaneously enough to pierce. with an aston- ishing speed. the hearts and minds of men of very different count- ries. Yet it. was precisely these characters which stood out on the day of the 14th of July 1789.

Though it. was a parlsian riot, which modern critical history has taken upon itself to analyse (somewhat spitefully) and to classify its cause and its various episodes, the first of time of the French revolutionary days never- theless took cn from the very bezinning a universal character.

"It. was a brilliant flash of light- ning in the Sky. wrote Mlchelet in the Preface to his "History of the French Revolution." The world trembled at it. Eurcpe was wild with excitment. at the fall of the Bastille: people tell in each oth- ers arms . . . . in public. They were unforgettable days!" And in that statement there is not. as one might be tempted to think, a ly)-. W31 Ollbufst. a romantic looking back.

It is of course easily understand. able that in the countries adjoin- ing France-Belgium-Switzerland and German, enlightened minds should have been deeply moved from the very start. For in those lands pre-revolutionary conditions already existedl It is understand- able loo that America. a far-off country but which had already shaken off some of its chains. should have saluted in a brotherly fashion France which by its first acts became "the country of free- dom".

O O 0

But it is much more difficult to explain the case of Tssrist Russia. rightly reputed to be a model of sutocrscy. Yet the Count of Segur, then the French Ambassador in that country, tells us in his mem- oires (Volume III) that at st. Pet. ersburg people of every class spoke to each other saying: "Have you heard the good news? The Bastille has fallen" and the llsct that he adds that it was "is madness in which he could hardly believe al- though he had witnessed it" does not change the reality of the facts.

One is astounded too by the at- titude of the country which was considered as the implacable en- cmy of the French Revolution: England (and in 1793 French op- inion was to ratify this idea by joining Pm and Coburg together in s common hatred).

And yet the very clssslcsl Un- iversity of Cambridge was to give as an essay subject to its students the Fall of the Bastille: and yet. the following year. the anniver- sary of the incident. was celebrat- ed by s bsnquet under the chair- msnshlp of Lord ” r And above all English writers were to write admirable terms in hon- our o what Jsures was to cell "The wonderful human touch of the Revolution". Let us listen to the poet Wordsworth:

"Suddenly the terrible Bastille. with all its horrid cells end tur- rets. fell to the ground. over- thrown by s violent indignation and mid cries which drowned the noise of its felll Out of its ruins was rslsed. or seemed to be tuned a golden pulses, the destined seat

of rightful law. with s gentle and brotherly sutbority lat ell

The Age-Old Story

so-a-.-so-m-eo-9-eo-c-co-Q-o.'

The lard is nigh unto them that are of a broken heut. and snvoth such as he of a contrlte spirit.

the nations be glad; in all lands let those who are capable of joy be joyful. Henccforih all that we lack can be found in lhe hands of clhers. and all enriched by a com- mon wealth which is shared am- ong them, will find with a single glad heart their, common herit- age".

Let. us listen to the ploughman poet. Robert Burns:

"Have you heard of the tree of France? I do not know its name; around it all the patriots dance. Europe recognises its fame. it stands where once the Bastille stood, a prison set up by kings. when the infernal heritage of sup- crslilion held France in thrsll. On this tree there grows a fruit which everyone must recognize the vir- tue; it raises man above the level of an animal. Through it man be- comes once more himself. if ever the pe'asant tastes it he becomes greater that the lord; and he shares with the beggar a little of all he has".

0 0

So. under very different skies the fall of the old state prison awoke a belief in a new world. It little mattered that in point of fact the Bastille was not a prison for the people, and that, at the time of its fall it only held a small number of prisoners who were moreover not very important: nor that the material side of life there (at least in its later period) was more comfortable than people had thought. For the Bastille was nevertheless - and quite rightly - the symbol of arbitrary arrest. of hidden authority, in short. of the pleasure of power. and in cv- cry country. whether it was the Spanish Montjuich. the Imperial Spielberg. or the Peter and Paul fortress at St. Petersburg, Bastille: were legion; and all of them. were more or less linked together. When one of them fell into dust. when on its former site a public ball was held with the sign "You may dance here". all the others were shaken. all the others showed signs of cracking. And on this point it must be admitted, in spite of the unliklihood of certain pol- iiical prospects and in spite of the zeal of careful erudltion. popular opinion was right: for it can no longer be denied that the Mth of Jilly 1789 opened a new era not only in French history but in the history of the whole of mankind.

We know that things were not as simple and not as easy as some hopeful souls had thought in 1789. We know that some Bastllles were only destroyed stone by stone. and that some were rebuilt or repair- ed. We know that the Revolution. like Saturn "was to devour ll.s own children". But that only means that the mystic conception of Free- dom hnd to be followed by the application and the mganlzsr of Freedom, difficult tasks.

Yetithe 14th of July 1789 was the first blow struck in the greet battle against privilege of which Victor Hugo speaks somewhere. And it is easy to understand that the anniversary of this day. which has become s national holiday. should have always been, where- cver France has friends. a univ- ersl holiday. France had not meant to, work for herself alone but for

all.

At the end of his fine play on the 14th of July,, Romain puts these words in the mouth of l-foche. one of the most unsullied heroes of the French Revolution: "We shall build an immortal iri- umph for freedom". Daughter of the people of Paris your clear eyes shine for the peoples in elev- sry . . . . We shall load your chariot towards the brotherhood of mankind. We shell all be broth- ers. all free!"

it is no accident that men's , ' t ' m. r- lcsl oulpourings of poets and the srsndlioquence of writers should sgfes on the some point.

All of them realised that the spirit of freedom and brotherhood. which through the efforts of phl- losophers hsd slowly ripened. then ceased to be merely s way of thought. On the Nth of July l'lU. in s drsmstio incident, it entered into the reality of life. it became I force of history. And the belief - or-whet some prefer to cell the legend - which has grown up from it. is on of the factors which has built as modern world.

Old Charlottetown (And r E. 1.)

POSTAGE GIIIEVANCES

Free carriage of newspapers through the mails was regarded as a matter of public convenience in Colonial days. as is evidenced by the following excerpt from the report of a special committee of the Legislative Assembly in 1843:

"The Postmaster (at Charlotte- town) has received late instruc- tions from the Deputy Postmaster General in Halifax. to exact post. age on all newspapers forwarded from this Island to the neigh. bouring Provinces. which your committee look upon as a tax im- posed. not for the purpose of rev- enue to defray the charge of trans- mission (which could alone justify such a demand) but for the priv- ate emolument of a subordinate individual in that department. and which your committee consider to be an application totally unauth- orized by law."

The committee further recom- mended "that the postage hitherto exacted on newspapers inland should be discontinued. as they consider that every facility ought to be afforded for the transmission of general information by such periodicals. particularly as news- papers are now transmitted to and from t.-he United Kingdom to all parts of the British Empire free of postage; and further. as such an arrangement would not cause any diminution of the revenue at all commenspirate with the advantages that would be thereby conferred on the public by such an arrange- merit."

The committee. which comprised Mr. Thornton. Hon. Mr. Palmer. Mr. Macaulay. Mr. Longworth. Mr. Wightman. Hon. .1. S. Macdonald and Mr. MacLean, also-reported:

"It appears to have been the practice heretofore to allow the transmission of the printed votes and other Parliamentary docu- ments of the. Provincial Legisla- tures in be forwarded or inter- changed. free of postage: but by the present regulations. the charges made on such documents amount to a prohibition. as the sum cheru- ed on the Journals of the Legisla- ture of this Colony. forwarded to the Government of Nova Scotia last year. has been rated at up- wards of 214: and they now remain. in consequence. in the Post Office there, unclaimed: and the Post- master of this island is instructed not to forward the public docu- menis of this Island. of any nature or description. even by, the Inland Mails (the expense of which is exclusively borne by this Colony) without charging the full rates of postage thereon - which regula- tions your committee cannot for s

The Schuman Proposall

A scientist says it Is ponlble to cultivate s sense of humor. But in some cases the result is harrowing. - Ssull Daily Star.

The hand of inflation is plain in stories from the West, where it's now called a two-million-dollar - Ssult Daily Star.

There are supposed to be more bulging wsistlines in North Amer- ica than ever before. How about f.he' number of fsthesdsl - Leth- bridge Herald.

Henry Cotton. that great master of golf. has designed a new set of clubs which aroused considerable l.ntere.st at the British Open Golf Championship at Troon. Already, Mr. Cotton says. orders are pour- ing in from Canada. Mr. Cotton himself made, as well as designed. the first set, which consists of four wooden clubs and irons number- ing 2 to 10.