~-aers The Legislature. has prorogued without any definite indication as to whether a general election wilt be - called before it meets again. In the speeches on both sides there was a _strong pre-election flavor, but that could mean that on both sides there was-a good deal of uncertainty. The Premier, and those in his confidence, made no commitments one way or the other, though dropping hints now and then that the plunge might be taken “sooner than you expect.” That is the kind of strategy one would expect from the Government ~ until it is prepared to show its hand. It wants to retain the advantage of surprise in manoeuvering for posi- tion, and perhaps even the Premier . is still undecided. We have a strong feeling that an election is not far off; but we have been wrong before. in our political prognostications, On the whole, the Opposition Made a good. showing with the material at their disposal, and were conscientious in their attendance and application to their duties. While suggesting a sales tax in preference to premium payments to cover the hospital insurance scheme, they of- fered no amendment on this point and left the issue pretty much as it was—that is, clouded in uncertainty. Fears were expressed on both sides that the voluntary plan may prove unworkable, or be turned down at Ottawa. The passing of the Act in its present form certainly does not insure the widespread coverage: that was anticipated when the House met, and that is a pity. A good example of co-operation was shown in pressing for trans- portation improvements, and it is to be hoped that the session in this re-’ gard at least will be productive of good results. The Federal Transport Minister has intimated that “urgent attention” is being given to our needs. The Provincial Government and our federal members now have the unanimous support of the House in seeing that this assurance means what it says. They will be expected to forget politics in this matter and work closely together in the common interest. Finland Faces West Beset by economic problems born -¢ the Second World War, Finland sturdily maintains its independence as the last survivor of the Baltic re- publics established after World War ;. Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, all iormer Czarist provinces—have been rea»sorbed by the Soviet Union. Fin- land was obliged to surrender’ im- portant land areas~-to Russia in 1944 _after the collapse of efforts to recap- ture territory seized by Red troops in the Russo-Finnish war of 1939-40. Today it remains the only Euro- pean country having an. extensive common border with the Soviet Un- ion but not a Communist govern- ment. The Russians, nevertheless, exert powerful economic influences on Finland’s affairs, as reflected in several recent Finnish cabinet crises. Despite present conditions and long association with Russia as a nearly autonomous grand duchy un- der the Czars, Finland considers it- self primarily a European nation. Its culture has a Western orientation, and its traditional friendships have been centered’ in the West. For near- ly 500 years before it came under Russian rule in 1809, Finland was a province of Sweden, A whim of his- tory might have made the country an English protectorate; in 1810, Rus- sia seriously considered exchanging it for trade facilities in /ngland: Thrust like a great thumb into the Baltic Sea, it is a land of vast forests, peopled by a fighting race whose origins are lost to history. Finnish ‘soldiers, fighting first for Sweden and later for Russia, were among Europe's finest warriors. To- day, Finland’s skills are devoted to cultivation of its forests and fields. There are about 13 acres of forest _ foreach of Finland’s four million people, and the country ranks‘as one world’s great producers of of* seu wood pode ee Al Swedish is of Fin- land’a\two official languages and is ground. In far northern Finland, some 2,500 nomadic Lapps speak a language of their own. : U.S. Oil Restrictions | Starting on April. 1 the’ United States will replace its present volun- tary restrictions on oil imports with | mandatory controls. Apparefitly no exceptions will be made. The restric-_ tions will apply to Canadian oil as- well as to oil from the Middle East and South America. The reason given is national security, which makes no sense at all when applied to Canadian oil. In a war, surely, oil from Alberta and Saskatchewan would be just as available to the United States as oil from any of its own domestic fields. The argument also makes mockery of U. S. insis- tence that the defence of North Am- erica is a continental, not a national matter. The Canadian Government has protested this matter strongly, and there has been some perfunctory talk about making a “cordinated approach to the problem.” What that means nobody knows. The matter was last brought up in the House of Com- mons on March 18, when Mr. Pearson asked Trade Minister Churchill if he ‘could confirm a Washington report that Canada was to. be exempted from the restrictions. The Minister was obliged. to say that he had no confirmation of the report. . The real pressure, doubtless, comes from U. S. oil interests which feel that imports from any source are tic industry and should, therefore, be reduced. It was these same inter- ests that nut the screws on Washing- ton when the Suez crisis broke, and . Britain’s oil supplies were vitally threatened. Good Friday The darkest hours are just be- fore the dawn; and the universal observance of Good Friday in Christ- ian communities brings this familiar saying to mind. As the instrument of torture of slaves and baser crim- inals, the Cross was the most shame- ful thing in the ancient world; it was transformed by Christ’s Passion into the symbol of our highest hopes. It proclaims that out of death em- erges life renewed, and out of sacri- fice, triumph. Above it towers the Resurrection. , It was not easy for the disciples to believe that this was so. Christ for thém was the sun and His cruci- fixion the setting. It was as though thick darkness had enveloped the earth. But the sun also rises. They knew in their hearts that the black- ness of the night would not continue forever. And from their refusal to believe in what seemed an incontro- vertible fact—a scientific certainty, as we would say today—came faith and hope; both sorely needed in this troubled world of ours. EDITORIAL NOTES | . Prime Minister Macmillan has something, more than his undoubted skill in diplomacy to make him cheer- ful as he plans for the next election. A report presented in the House of Commons last week showed that Britain’s unemployment figures had taken the sharpest drop last month since June 1947.: * * \ e) ways dislike it when people assume that because I‘am a poet I must be against science. But in taking us deeper and deeper into matter, science has left all of us with this great misgiving, this fear that we won't be able to substantiate the spirit.”—Robert Frost, distinguished American poet who recently observ- ed his 85th birthday anniversary. © * * s Mr. Charles W. McInnes, presi- dent ‘of the Ontario Hog Producers Association, estimates farmers get only 45 cents of every consumers’ dollar spent on pork. Yet hog rais- ers. have six times as much capital invested as have the packing firms. Farmers have to feed a hog five or six months. It takes less than three weeks to get the meat from the farm to constimérs. As the Windsor Star remarks, anyone who thinks it’s fun feeding hogs, clean- ing out, pig stiés, etc., just to get 45- cents out of the consumers’ dollar ery harming the expansion of the domes- }, “I am not against science. I ale [ doesn't know pigs, or pig raising. a: 9 : a Oh a alg D MEANWHILE BACK AT THE OTTAWA REPORT Art‘And The Taxpayers By Patrick Nicholson Our National Gallery of Art. | Gallery has cost the taxpayer In which has been under severa’| each of the past twenty ycars; spotlights recently, came unde: the glare of Parliamentary atten. tion on various occasions again this month. ’ ' €. C. F. leader Hazen Ar_ue’| started a series of probing ques tions by asking how much the PUBLIC FORUM This column ts’ open to the discus sion by correspondents of question c interest. The Guardian does not seser sarily en‘orse the opinion ef corres pondents. FARMERS’ TAXES Sir,—In reply to a recent letter that appeared in The Guardian stating that the farmers of this Province are paying a very small income tax, I would like to say that I agree with the writer fully. I am sure all farm- ers on the Island wovld be more than pleased if their income tax bill for last year was very much higher. However, there are more forms of taxation than income tax. We have also indirect and hidden taxes that apply particularly to the farmers, such as the manu- facturers’ tax on trucks and station wagons and farm machin- ery that are needed for farm operations. There are also tar- iffs, which are a form of tax- ation that hit the farmers’ poc- ket books. I believe there are many others, and if they were added up by an expert on tax matters the total sum would prove that the farmers of this Province are paying their full share of taxes, —enough, I think, to pave miles and miles of roads. Letters such as the one I re- fer to do not help to pour oil on troubled waters; and the only object of this letter is to try and correct any false impression that tay have been formed in some quarters that the farmers are getting off scott free. I am, Sir, etc., ISLAND FARMER Montague, P.E.1. EASTER TIME Sir,—With the coming of Easter it might be well for us to look back through the year since last Easter and see what we have done; in a word, ‘ook at our stewardship and see if we did the things we said we would do. Did we write a new leaf in the book of our fading life, or dd we go deoper and deeper into the rut of wrongdoings? When we look across the partly. snow-covered fields and see the red clay heaped on the many resting places we may recall the many who were here last Easter Day. No doubt some of these were your friends and mine. The book of their stewardship is closed forever; and in many cases closed very quickly; and it will close for many more of us be- fore Easter Day comes again in 1960. Too many of us laugh at the thought of dur stewardship, too many of us think the busin- ess world would stop rolling if we were called, therefore we can't go. Too many think the grass would stop growing if we had daylight time on this million acre farm for a few months. Too many business i:eads think those working under tnem are only the crumbs while too many of the working crews sce: .their employers as nothing but swind lers and roobbers who are beat- ing them at every turn. Too many crooks in business places watch and wait for a chance to the tail on one of their fel- iow men working beside them, so as to make him the donkey to ride to the big dome on; but in most cases big dome is not looking for fellows to do this, he seeks more honest help in his business. Let this Easter be the turning polo in our stewardship. Let us e to sport our new style to church only to see who has the best Sp ing hat. Let it be not a time of rc ‘| gotiate the prices, -|+Master while we | the amswer showed that next | year’s budizet will be twenty tim- es the annual cost between 190 and 1948. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but Mr. Argue, per- | hops prompted by a recent .nag- | azine article asking “Is Jarvis | mis-spending our Art millions?”, | sought to know what qualifica- jtions Alan Jarvis possesses to ; fit him for the post of director ; of the Gallery; the answer did | not disclose that he has had any | Previous experience in curator- i ship or management of an art gallery. ‘ Sarnia's M.P., Mr. J. W. Mur- phy, continued his survey of the sky-rocketing. staff costs at the Gallery. And on two days Liberal spokesmen charged the Govern- ment with repudiating a con- tract to buy a certain painting for the Gallery; but the Govern- ment proved that there was no such contract. That widely-reported episode centred round painting “Christ aypearing to the Apostles,” by the 16th. century Dutch artist, ‘Pieter Breughel the Elder. Its owner, Baron von Poelnitz, had valued the picture at $500,000; as long ago ag January 1957, Jarvis had discussed with the Baron's agent it’s possible purchase for cur Gallery. WORLD HA-HA After the change of govern- ment, Jarvis s»uzht Cabinet ap- proval to continue dis enquiries, but at first permission was not given. Then last May, Justice Minister Davie Fulton told Par- liament, Jarvis reovened the subject, seeking authority to find out if this picture could be bought for $350,000; and if so,, whether another painting, ‘‘Ma- dona’’ by Lorenzo Monaco, could be bought for $90,000. He told Cabinet that $441,000 had been appropriated by the previous government, and was available to be used for this purpose. On that understanding, Jarvis wes given authority just to ne but not, so Hon. Ellen Fairclough assured Parliament, authority to make a firm offer. ; Then tae Cabinet found out that in fact there was not $441,000 available from the previous gov- ernment’s appropriaticns. It de- cided not to ask Parliament for. money for such costly paintings in this difficult year. But meanwhile, intentionally or otherw'se, Jarvis had exceeded his authority in his negotiations. in such manner that Poelnitz’s agent claimed that he had under- stocd that Jarvis was making him a firm offer of $350,000 for: the Breughel. No matter waat Jarvis might have said to him, the taxpayers of Canada were nx committed to a ccntract to buy the painting, because Jarvis had not been giv- en authority to enter into a con tract on behalf of Cancda, and because the Cabinet lacked Par- liament’s authority to spend hat money. Nevertheless, when it was announced that Canada did not propose to buy that painting, there Was an uproar in the art w-rld of two continents, and drunkenness and fighting. Rather let it be & time for us to rise from our many bad ways of life, to think of our many friends who have gone since last Easter, to clean our hearts and ovr record. Let it be a time for employers and employees to come to better understanding, better relations, better living; a time for burning the book of bitterness. Lot it be a white Easter for us all, the starting of a better way of liv- ing, a time to; make our peace with our fellow man and our nave time. Next Easier we may be looking — from the shore of no re- urn. 1 am) Sir, etc., W. A, O'BRIEN Charlotietowa, I RANCH-- Poelnitz’s lawyer called on Cab- inet Ministers, and the Baron came to Ottawa himself in an at- tempt to talk to the Prime Min- ister. ” This imbroglio over the Breug- ing the Cabinet something which was not true, and then exceed- ing his authority as explained above, according to explanations given to Parliament by two Ca- binet Ministers, Mrs. Ellen Fairclough and Mr. Davie Fult<n. Some people associated with the world of art have completely unpractical minds, incavable of understanding business matters. Such people would be unable to grasp the need for Parliament to go through the ordained proce- dure of appropriating money before the Cabinet can spend out of the taxpayers’ pockets. But the director of the Gallery is evidently not an ‘unpractical ar- tist. Qntario-born Jarvis, in the course of his varied career, has been employed in the aircraft in- dustry and in the film industry, where he presumably became familiar with basic business prac- tice. He also served as private secretary to the socialist poll- tician, Sir Stafford Cripps, when he was Minister of Trade in the British Government. As a Cabinet Minisfer’s aide, Jarvis would have had the cpportunity to, make him- self familiar with the basic par- liementery processes at West- minister, whica are not dissim- ilar from those at Ottawa. ’ Most taxpayers wil! aporove of the decision taken by the Gov- ernment in this case, namely that under present conditions of wide- spread unemployment, the tax- payers’ money should be svent on bread, not on Breughels. As Prime Minister John Diefenbak- er declared three months ago, the Government is of the opinion that, with many pressing calls, the expenditure of $500,000 of the ings would not be justified. OUR YESTERDAYS (From the Guardian Files) (From the Guardian Files) TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO (March 26, 1934) - Majcr-General J. H. MacBrien, Ottawa, Commissioner of the Ro- yal Canadian Mounted Police ar- rived in the City air from Monctcn on a periodical tour of inspection. Following his inspec- tion here, the Commiss‘oner will leave by plane for Moncton, thence he will go to Fredericton. A most pleasing event was ob- served at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Bruce, Valleyfield, when their children, grand-chil- asthmatic attack doesn’t forget BNEAD BEFORE BREUGEELS | he! all stemmed from Jarvis tell- taxpayers’ money on two paint: | ther, in Bronchial Asthma Attacks By Herman N. Bundesen, M.D. mon type, is the most serious of the usual. allergic diseases. At least 1,500,000 Americans have it. HARD TO FORGET who witnesses an acute. Asthma occurs when anyone davelops a specific sensitivity to allergens which evoke bronchial response. This occurs in tae bron- chial tubes when the bronchial muscles tighten in spasm. The lining of the membranes becomes thick and swollen. Mucus pours. out into the tubes. And breath- ing, both inhaling and exhaling, bc# ames labored. - During an attack it generally is better to sit up than to lie down, since this makes breath- ing somewhat easier. Don’t eat much during an acute attack. As long as it persits, keep your diet~corifitied to liq- uids and semi-solids. DRUGS PROVIDE RELIEF —— There are many drugs suc’ as epinavhrine, ephedrine, cortisone, hydrocortisone and others which are generally effective in pro- viding relief. Seda‘ives, tranquil- izers and antihistamines have their place in treatinz asthma, too. Antibiotics are useful when an infection has led to an at- tack or when an attack is com- plicated by an acute infection. Inhaling the vapor from epine- phrine or some other prescribed drug from a nebulizer at the Start of an attack might heed it off. Generally, four or five deep inhalations are enough to stdép the attack. Ce:tain breathing exercises also are helpful, especially fcr chil- dren and young adults. I sug- gezt that these younger asthma- tics take time to exhale frcm ten to 12 times as slowly and as ccom- ietely as possible every morning. BLOW A FEATHER They can assist the exhalation by pressing inward on the lower anterior ribs with both hands. They can measure the effective- ness of tne exhaling by b'owing a ping-pong ball or a feather across a table. and nutrition and avoid trying emotiona! circumstances which might prec'pitate an attack. QUESTION AND ANSWER W.S.: What are brown spots on the skin e d what can done for tham? Answer: Brown spots are due to excessive pigmentation. Often these spots may be bleached out by the use of such ointments as ammeniated mercufy. However, this should be done by a physi- use of bleachinz ointments. The Age Old Story Christ hath given Himself for us, a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. dren and yvther friends gathered to celebrate with them their Golden Wedding Anniversary. To the bride and groom cf fifty years, an address was read, while a gift of gold was presented by two of the grandchildren. TEN YEARS AGO (March 25, 1949) A deficit of $1,840 was budget- ted for by Councillor N. W. Low- Caairman of the Finance Committee at a special meeting ef the City Council he'd last night during which the estimates for the coming year were passed. To- tal revenue for the year was es- | timated at $484,978.00, while esti- | mated expenditures were placed | at $486,818.00. The many friends of Miss Dors othy Croken, formerly of Norboro and Charlottetown will be inter- ested to a of her recent trans- fer with the Maritime Blue Cross. Miss Croken, who has been on the Administrative Staff cf the Association in. Moncton for the past three years has been trans- ferred to the enrollment Depart- ment and will be in charge of the local office in Halifax. —JM's FORE “aster Baby Beef. 1 Chicks. * Mls Grafton Street We have on display for your inspection The-earcasses on display were from top ranking animals purchased at the Easter Fat Stock Show from the following: Willard MacPhail—yYork Point. 1 Alton Younker—Winsloe, 1 Walter Roberts—Winslce, 2 Daniel Coles—Winsloe. Also 1 from Drake Brothers—Vernon Purchased the following through Wellington MacNeill: 4 Lewis MacLean—Meadowbank . 1 Elmer Clow—Earnscliffe. 3 Norman MacMillan—Alberry Plains. Included in our display are Tendersweet Hams (regular and boneless) and special Capon IVAN TURNER, Proprietor Is ASTER Vs selected animals \ \ MEATS Phone’ 5535 Keep up your general health | be | cian, since there is danger in the | by. the unemployed. It is a siga of our times that 550. farmers from Saskatchewan, a and Manitoba who will protest defic- Téicy payments for Wheat in Ot- | | tawa_next month will ‘‘mareh*j—— = a eae -by special train.—Hamilton Spec- | eer 1s that -we'lf-thinte France now grows just about all the rice it consumes. Since the war production has increas- ed 140 times to a total 70,000 tons a year. Some 40.000 acres of formerly uncultivated land have been reclaimed for this crop, and average yield per acre has more than q .—France Att- uelle Es onomic ills as ities in every / there is an openaplall, there will — always be a frontier, _ Summit Conference Sites Canadian ‘Pree Staff Writer The closing of the Eisenhower- Mzomillan talks opens the way for speculation as to the sits of | the big four summit conference that now seems certain to take face this summer. Prime Minister Macmillan is reported to. have indicated a pref-. erence for "some sort of secluded spot such as Camp David, in the wooded hills of Maryland, were he and President. Eisenhower spent three days discussing the Berlin situaticn and _ related sources of East-West tension. One report said he suggested Inver- ness, Scotland. Whether he will get his wish depends on the other, three par- ticipants in the summer meeting —Eisenhower, Russia's Premier Khrushchev and France's Presi- dent de Gaulle. They may have other ideas. Canada’s Prime Minister Dief- enbaker already is on record with a proposal that the big four meet in Quebec's 18th-century Citadel. Quebec City was the site of two wartime conferences involving the late President Roosevelt, for- mer prime minister Churchill and the late prime minister Macken zie Kinz. But Quebec, however accept- able it may have been as a meet- ing place for the Allied leaders of the Second World War, seems to be ruled out as a site for a 1959 summit conference for one basic reason—Canada'’s member- ship in the North Atlantic Treaty — to a meeting in a NATO country. Inverness seems to be out of the Warsaw-pact site behind the Iron Curtain. ‘ That leaves only neutral ground as a logical meeting place. Geneva, the traditional sile for international conferences, ranks high in speculation, but the fact that it was the locale of the ill- fated 1955 summit conference migat persuade the participants to meet elsewhere. They may, for example, decide on any one of a number of other Swiss resort areas. Vienna is considered a logical spot because of its association with the first and virtually only post-war agreement between the | Soviet Union and the Westera powers on a major issue. Kk was there that they signed the Austrian peace treaty. Stockholm also is favored by some o servers, but its link with the Communist-sponsored Stock- holm peace appeal of a few years back may make it unacceptabl: to the West. : TIME: 9.30 - 12.00 MODERN AND OLD TIME DANCE ROLLAWAY CLUB | THURSDAY NIGHT, MARCH 26 ADM.: 50¢ i and sell them for.cash? your new Spring outfit. and a friendly courteous word and place your ad. Do you know that you can clean all those “don’t. néeds” out of your. attic, garage, and closets — Idle -but useful furniture, appliances, tools, lugg- age, clothing or sports equipment can be adver- tised and sold quickly for money to help pay for Placing a Classified Ad is easy. Just dial 8506, ‘IS THERE A NEW SPRING OUTFIT “HIDING” IN YOUR HOUSE? \s ad-taker will help you and Alberton. |Branch offices in Summerside, Montague, Souris ads accepted to 5 p.m. for next day~~ The Guardian-Evening Patriot ~