' PAGE roux

THE GUARDIAN

, loaning Daily (Ionndel in 1R1)

j Authorised aa Ioooarf Giana lnil, Poss Olfioa

, _.,Depnrl|nent, Otfawl.

, The inland Guardian Pulriiabinl Co.

f Idiwr rend Managing Director, J. ls. lsurnnttj Anaoaiala Editor, Frank Walkse

__ (‘The Strongest Memory is Weaker Than j 5,, the Weakest lnk."

CHABLUTTETOWN. FRIDAY. JULY $0. 194B

Ellll 0f Tho Trail

-It was the end of the trail for Ulysse Lauzon, notorious bank robber, whose bullet-pierced body was found the other day in Pascagoula, Missi- ssippi. He had pulled off the biggest bank rob- bery in Canada's history, sawn his way out of two prisons and was roaming at large since August, i947, reportedly with over a quarter of a million dollars of stolen funds. Since his escape from Kingston Penitentiary where he was serving a thirty-five year sentence, he had covered his tracks well. Not the police but rival gangsters caught up with him; or perhaps it was his own cronies who double-crossed him, or whom he had double-crossed. In any case he passed out as he had lived, in a thoroughly sordid manner.

Lauzon is described as being "really tough" —one of the most hardened criminals on the continent. But he was neither tough nor very smart when he fell foul of the R.C.M.P. in Prince Edward island on that September day in i945, at the Covehead races, when heavy betting and free spending brought him and his companions under suspicion. Constables Warner and Keefe outsmarted the desperados, and won the King's Police and Fire Service medals for brave action in disarming and jailing them.

It had been Lauzon's avowed intention to shoot both constables, put their bodies in his car and head for Borden where he planned to throw them off the wharf, or overboard during the ferry journey to Cape Tormentine. He might have succeeded, even after his revolver misfired, had the officers shown any fear, or had he him- ielf kept his nerve. But his bravado deserted him and he recovered it only after he was behind bars, nursing his wrath and a black eye and de- claiming about what ‘he was going to do to his captors when he got out.

Lauzon died as he had lived, at the point of u gun. ln his own perverted mind he doubtless imagined himself to be a dashing fellow. But thousands of Canadian war veterans have faced death more often, taken more chances, and gone through experiences under conditions that would have reduced zombies of the Lauzon type to gib- bering idiots. Thugs can be ferocious enough in defense of their skins, or when looting and mur- dering peaceful citizens; but they are not heroes, rvcnsto their own moronic companions. At least not for long, as the bullets in Lauzon's brain mutely testify.

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Education ls Arlstocratlc

One of the popular fallacies of the day is that education is n "democratic" process, and that to denounce any particular system of edu- cation as "undemocratic" is to damn it irrevoc- ably. This misconception is flattering to our self-esteem, but has no justification either in sound theory or practise. Professor L. P. Jacks, editor of Hibbert Journql and one of the greatest living authorities on education, has the follow- ing to say on this important subject:

"The mission of democracy is to enthrone education as the supreme business of mon- kind, and to place all the other interests of society in their proper order beneath it. When democracy has accomplished this task its mission will be fulfilled, and it will give way ‘to a mightier than itself. The form of edu- caticn is aristocratic. Education presupposes the eternal difference between wisdom and folly, between ignorance and knowledge, be- tween the good and the very good, in the last resort the difference between the best and the worst. That spells aristocracy—the aristocracy that is roofed in the constitu- fion of the world and in the nature of the human mind. Aristocracy, impossible as a fcrm of government, is a necessary principle of education, the one and only solution of the principle of Power, which a thousand political experiments have not yet solved, and which, indeed, is insoluble on political ground. Education can never be carried on by a pleb- iscite of the taught. The wisdom of the teacher cannot be ruled by the vote of the pupil."

But isn't that just what some of oar mod- arn educational reformers are trying to bring Ibout? q "

Alberta ilext

The next Provincial Government ro take the plunge will be Premier Manning's adminis- tration in Alberta. According to present in- dications he is due to win a fourth term of of- fice on August i7 for the world's only Social Credit government.

The Manning administration seems to have won the confidence of a majority of the peo- ple of Alberta as a reasonably efficient middle- of-the-road government. lt is "Social Credit" in name on|y—it has long departed from the ideology of Major C. H. Douglas, founder of Social Credit theory. The handful of Albertans who still swear allegiance to Major Douglas- the "Douglasites"—are regarded as rebels, and they have been banished from the Manning fold. 1 Moreover, the opposition is divided. There i a so-called Independent party, which in- blades most of the few remaining Conservatives in the province. lt constitutes the official op- position in the Legislature, though it has only three M. L. A.‘s. ,

The Liberal party has decided to "go it

" this time, giving no support to the ln- flpepdents, but entering its own candidates in

a1

most constituencies. The C.C.F. party has al- ready nominoted candidates in almost every constituency. lt won only two seats in the last, i944 election-one in each of the two large cities. There has been no indication that the Socialists have been winning converts from the Manning party.

Also in the field will be representatives of the Labor-Progressive, Labor and Douglas Social Credit movements. The three special "armed service seats" will be abolished; actually two of, the armed_ service representatives pave thrown in their lots with= the Liberals (one as party »leader) and the other has joined the Social Creditors.

With such a hodge-podge opposition, the Manning government might win many a con- stituency on a minority vote even if it were highly unpopular.

— EDITORIAL NOTES —

The Governor-General, in residence. I I I I

Eleven more days till Old Home Week.

lt is unfortunate that part of the Junior Farmers’ Field Day must be postponed until August 23rd. Country schools will be in ses- sion before then but no obstacle should be plac- cd in the way of young people attending.

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The C. B. C. is taking it for granted that because television and facimile employ radio waves, they therefore come under its juris- diction. lt seems odd that televisiomwhich has only visibility range should so readily be regarded as a Dominion rather than a Provin- cial matter.

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lt is reported that there have already been 554 strikes this year in Britain's coal mines. Na- tionalization does not seem to have done away with the struggle between labour and manage- ment even thaugh management is now some vague official ot Whitehall.

er

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Rising costs have played havoc with the building budget of thg, Y. M. C. A. as they have with many another budget. Citizens in- terested in providing wholesome recreation fa: the younger generation will contribute to de- fray the additional costs so that the work may go on.

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Reflection leaves little more to add in the way of comment on Duplessis's sweeping victory in Quebec. He is a born organizer, and had a "machine" that the Liberal "machine", even with the Federal Government power behind it, could not compete with. Likewise, the outstanding plank in his platform-"Quebec for the Quebeckers"! His victory does not speak well for Mr. St. Lourent's prospects as the new Liberal Leader. 1r I

From Prince to wash tub is the experience of a nephew of H. R‘. H. the Duchess of Kent. Prince Alexander of Jugoslavio when his royal house was exiled due to a coup d'etat in i94i, cntcrh‘ the R. A. F. at the conclusion of his school days at Eton. He was demobilized in South Africa in i946, and having nothing ta do and plenty time .to do it in, accepted the offer of a friend he made there, Major Beddington Behrens, Chairman of Bendix House Appliances Association, makers of washing machines, and is now in charge of the company's sales staff at Bristol.

I Thomas Gray, English poet, died this date i77i. He was a famous letter-writer, a sound scholar, and in the history of English litera- ture, no one who published so little holds so high a place. Probably no English poem has provided more quotable passages than his "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard." In a newly published work, Two Quiet Lives, (Lady Temple and Thomas Gray), Lord David Cecil makes a masterly contribution to an understand- ing of Gray's personality. He concludes that with all his genius he was primarily o snob. "Here is the gloomy record of an unadjusted spirit in search of something he knew not what; and would have been unable to recognize in any event."

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The first of a series of fifty express re- frigerator cars was recently placed in Canadian National Railways’ service it has been announc- ed from headquarters of the company. For use in handling perishable goods by special "ex- press service, the new cars are the first of their type to go into operation in Canada. Of all- steel construction, the new cars weigh 74,000 pounds and can carry a load of 85,000 pounds. including all of the latest improvements in de- sign, they are eq ',,ed with passenger car under-carriages. The new reefers, part of an order for 600 express and freight cars of this type, can carry a cargo of perishables ‘across the country with a variation in temperature from start to finish of their run of little more than a single degree in temperature.

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According to Mr. Arthur MacNamara, Dep- uty Minister of Labour, the man older than forty-five is having more trouble finding work than ‘in pre-war days. The latest figures avail- able, for April, show that 30.1 per cent of all applicants for jobs through the National Em- ployment Service were 45 or older. They totalled nearly 50,000. The year before they totalled 48,300 or 29.2 per cent. The service, the de- partment and the Veterans Department have been co-operating in a campaign on behalf of these men for months. But too many employ- ers are "discriminating against the older man on the score of age alone." The barrier is not justified by known facts. ‘Employers are foil- ing to "take advantage of the mature judg- ment, skill and responsibility these men can

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THE GUARDIAN.

CHARLOTTETOWN

Soil Erosion Knows No Boundaries

(By Dr. H. l-f. Bennett. chief of U5. Soil Conserva- tlon Service, in an nddress at a recent joint. meeting of the Merltlrrno Branches of the Agrlcultural Institute of Canada.)

Ill

I personally have seen ooatly erosion la every state in the United States, and in Mexico. l“ Central and South America, and in the west Indies. and over most of Africa. I have talked wltzh or read the reports of others who have visited the ends of the earth. Their observations. and my own, have not revealed many parts of the world than are free from the curse of erosion-eros- ion that. respects no political boundaries.

What. has been the result. of all this? Today. ln the world as a whole, there ls left only about 4 bllllon acres of immediately arable land, as nearly as can be determined with the fnformotloni available to the Soll Conserva- tlon Service. That ls all there ls for meeting the food, flber. wood supplies. and other needs of about. 2 1-4 billion people, with the world's population ln- creeslng at the rate of about 20 mllllon annually, and with medl- cal science progressing as never before to slow down the mortal- lty rate. 'I‘he estimates I have seen indicate very low supplies of good arable land from which to feed themselves. Thus Japan ls reported to have only about. 1-4 of an acre of cultivated land per person; old India 1-3 of an eare or less of cultivated land per cap- lm; Chine only about 1-2 acre of so-called "agricultural" land for each person; pad only 3-4 of an acre of arable land per ca-plte for countrles llke the United King- dom, ftoly. and Germany. France. with 1 1-2 acres of arable land per person. a-ppeors somewhat bet- ter off with respect to the land on which crops can be grown. but still this ls only half of the 3 acres per person required for adequate food and other needs. This world's lend history brings

sharply into focus the key factor to man's sojourn here on earth. I refer to the lmpermanency of the land which feeds and clothes hlm and which is, fn the last analysis, the real basis of virtually all his wealth. It often requires hundreds of years for Nature t-o produce even a single inch of new productive topsoil from raw eros- ion-exposed subsoil; and we can't hoard or stock-pile the product.- lve e011 we have. as con be done with various strategic materials. Moreover, we must conserve this most strategic resource of all of our resources even while we are usinlZ it. It we mine the soll as we do tron or other ores. we are surely lost; because there ls no substitute known for productive land.

Thcre obviously is no immedi- ate prospect, in your country or mine. 0f social unrest or revolu- tion stemming from land deple- tion; but. world-wide. never be- fore ln history has the safeguard- lng of every acre of productive land been so vital to the peace and welfare of nations and people everywhere. Poor land makes poor people; poor people. hungry, undernourished people, are dls- contented people, qulck to qua.r- rel and quicker to take up cud- gels against their neighbors whose herds are fat. and grenarfes full.

The world no longer ls made up of isolated communities or na- tlons, which may rlse or foil alone. leaving the herdfer remnants of their population lo migrate to some more prosperous land. To- day-es events of two world wars and the present recovery period have brought. home so forcibly to us here in North America-the world's peoples are closely knit by lightening communication and other bonds encircling the entire globe.

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We have reached the for-ks of the road. F's-om now on. unless we no the right way, moving rapidly. effectively. and persist- ently with the job of lOll con- servation, I em convinced that the world will be faced with dlfifl- culties of lncrcnslng seriousness in providing food enough for everybody. Contrasting ell-cum- stances of a llmfbed and dim- inishing supply of lend. on the one hand. and a rapidly increas- ing copulation. on um other, have joined over too much of the earth for safety. Every hare which goes out. of production means that. fn some degree, pree- sure for production ls going to be increased on other good sores somewhere. This fact. must. be recognized now-not. generations hence when it. will be loo late.

I firmly believe that. if the facts about. the lend had been known sooner. eoll conservation action would have taken place earlier; and the world would not now be faced, as ft Ls. with serf- ous limitations on lbs supply of productive land. In all probabil- ity, conflicts between people dorm through the‘ ages may be charged. in large port, to scarcity of good fond coupled with the urge of survival, or at. least. s desire for better llvlnl- Because. ‘to my mind. eoll woeful-depletion of productive land-baa been and stlll la the grestest single contri- buting factor to malnutrition. and all the social, economic, and poll'- tlcal llls that come in its Lrsln. I think there la no question but that the factor of stlom’ pro- ductlve land resources ust hue an increasingly lmpartsn pert ln our future international delibera-

offer." So, of course, are the Government and

Railways in letting alt men of sixty-five.

YOU Know, Turns Norman's u Svflt TALK on A outrun. Monroe: IF lvekv vows cow ems

nu uoosonosr, uni You Ana . r, ourrencur.’

QCXXXXI

PUBLIC FORUM

discussion by correspondents of questions of Interest. The Guardian does not necessar- "7 endorse the opinion of

i correspondents. 2

Thla column is open to the g

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COLLEGE EXAMINATIONS

Sir: —-I believe the edllorlal in the July 27th. Guardian. entitled "College Exams" was misleading. It. opened with the senteme. "Prince of Wales College is not. one only lnstltutlon of learning Wlill regard to which complaints are heard from time to time about she alleged excessive number of sma- ents “plucked.” It then deals with examinations at. Osgoode Hall, On- tario's law school. “where 87 ulll of 323 trying first. year exams were flanked." It. concludes with a long paragraph from Ontario's "Finan- clal Post." extolling “the vltal r83. sons for llfe" derived from exam» fnalions.

Now the Implied comparison b:- tween Prince of Wales College ex- aminations and first. year exams at the Ontario Law School ls been Pr.“ two unlike factors. As has repeal-- edly been pointed out. when one 10th. grade pupll attempts to pass Prince of Wales College entrance exams. he Ls not, trying to entcr college (the name Prince of Wales College has led to endless con- fuslon.) but to continue from sec- 0nd year high school to third year high school. When he ls flunkcd. hlgh school education comes to an end. and the door to almost. every occupation ls slammed ln his face- unless his parents can afford to do something about lo- a moss un. democratic state of affairs!

But even assuming that. high school examinations and collage examinations are of equal slgnllf- cance, how many of who have pass- ed innumerable tests and examine- tiorls ln our school and college days. can honestly claim with the Financial Post that. these helpful us to meet. the crises of real llfe? Until schools and colleges more closely mirror the prgblems of ev- ery clay llvlng (they are beginning to) examinations are largely tesos of memory. They do not. call for the initiative. quick and clear thinking -kind.neks and tolerance. the crises of llfe demand.

I am, Slr. etc.

RUHAMAH SC FRANK (Perhaps it. ls to the mental ails clpline acquired by Mrs. hank in passing "innumerable tests and ex. nominations" tn her school and col- lege days that. she owes her ability

to write so capably. -Ed. G.)

Toward Midsummer

(New York Times)

' The year edges toward midsum- mer end husbandmen watch head- ing grains and that most. valuable of all native grasses-com. Spraw- llng potato vlnee cover the flail: the long arms and blg leaves of squash and pumpkins make a, leafy jungle at. the elde of t-he garden; pole beans are green exclamation marks above the beets. carrots and turnips.

Along the roadside: and fn field corners cnlllaweed holds its purple- hueri blossoms to the sun. Tiger lllles’ red blooms are splashes of bold color among the white blos- aorrla of queen Anne's Lace. An occasional Joe Pye weed ls a strik- fng pennant, forerunner of the legions of this flaenbay-ht. flower that tell us the year fs beginning to run down. Among the long leaves of t-he staghorn sumac are the gold-green blossom spikes that nrlll soon change to wine-red cones of fun-covered nutlets.

Bprlngb exuberant urgency has changed to the steady swelling of oncoming fruition. No longer a symphony at dawn; not just. a few individual ac-laa as roblns, ast- blrds, red-eyed vireo: and che- wlnks welcome the day. Partners hasten to out the blanket of grass

course, ls: What can be done. and what ls being done. to keep up the productlvenoes of our land ln your country or mine-pro- tect it. from excessive erosion, water-logging, exhaustion of avail- able plant nutrients. and other

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Old Charlottetown

(And P. E. l.)

To the early settlers on Prlnce Edward Island the fleld mice were the cause of much suffering and anxiety. Between the years 1720 and 1738 three invasions of great severity look place. The manner in which these femlshed creatures swarmed from the woods and rushed upon the cultivated lands rescmbled more the action of savage tribes carrying out. some preconcerted scheme of venge- ance. than the doings Qt irration- al animals.

In 1738 every field of grain from Three Rivers (Georgetown) to Malpeque was made desolate by their ravages, and the settlers all of a sudden found themselves face to face with starvation.

Animated with a eplrlt of de- struction keener than they had ever been known to exhibit ln former inroads, these invaders when the cultivated fields were laid waste, swanmod down upon the grassy flats that lay along the estuaries, and otter devouring there the food of cattle, as they had devoured the food of man, hurried onward, as was their want, over the protecting dykes fn search of further spollation and so found a. watery grave.

So numerous were these de- stroyers, that vessels sailing elohg the Island shares, ‘encountered. more especially qff the mouths of