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, fzT-HE GUARDIAN

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Morning Daily (Founded in _lll'i'..

Authorized an Second Claaa Mall. Poet Office Department. Ottawa. - The Inland Guardian Pllhllllfng Lu. lPrealdent, Ian A. Burnett; VIco-ueiririeut. Wm. ii.- I irsurncit; SeeL-‘Treaa. u. M. Burnett; Editor and . i A lltlauaging Director. J. it. Burnett; Associate Editor. " Frank Walker.

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~ "The S-rongest Memory is Weaker Than the Weakest lnk."

CHARLOTTE-TOWN. MIONDAY, APRIL 121155-

An Uncertain Uracle

y Premier Jones is quoted, in "hi" l" 3"“ frgferred t0 GS ‘Th8 S0tCfllltlO l-lbelc P7955! n: stating that The Guardian with respect to two Do‘ ‘the rim qppgintces to theyProhrbitioniComryrrs- 53°“ "had apparently recneived_ its in orma ion from an unreliable source. ll I5 in!" "t’-_W5P°P°' ‘practice to divulge sources of P°l'l"¢_°l "ll°"'"°' ition, but it is customary, as was done in this case, to check them cIarefullY~ _ _ d. b The Premiers alleged denial IflIQhl “h” ‘as more were we not able to recall a somewhat similar incident in the not distant past. Our reference is to an‘ occurrence prior to the PIOYIR- cial general electron of last year. The sequence of events was as fol-lows: October 25: The Guardian reported the elec- tion date had been fixed for December _ll. _ October 26: Premier JOMS. lnlefvlewed '" Tgronto, gave the lie to The Guardian reporlg asking scoffingly if it were likelY ‘film he W" be wan-dering abroad with an electron so close at .lian'd. , _ October 27: Hon. George H. Barbour, Minis- t'er of Public Works and Hiqhvflis. °'"‘°“"_C°" ‘officially that the election date had been fixed for December ll. Three explanations have been advanced for . the Premier's misstatement on that occasion, i namely: ll) That he did not KNOW Wlifll ""5 SW09 . m, in hi; own Cabinet; (Z) That he had been mis- quoted in the Toronto papers and bi‘ ll" clmfld‘ ion Press; (3) That he deliberately resorted to bhqt an English statesman euphemistically called a- "terminological inexactitude." When this curious incident was brought to Premier Jones’ attention at the last session of the Legislature, he did not choose to make reply.

Even From The Journal!

The misunderstanding which exists in Cen- tral Canada with regard ta Maritime freight rote claims is painfully exhibited by that usu- ally well-informed and fair-minded newspaper,

, the Ottawa Journal. Citing recent railway rate ‘ increases in the United States, the Journal asks editorially: "Why should there be different feel- ing in Canada? A railway transportation sys- rem," it says, "is like any other business; ‘if it frills to make a reasonable profit on its opera- tions, or incurs a loss on its operations, it must cease to be efficient, ultimately foil. lii the case of the Canadian National there was, last year, an actual loss. That being the position, and transportation being vital to the country, what is the sense of holding that roilwqy rates must remain as they are?"

By the some line of reasoning, experimental farms, social services and other activities of Government should be put on a paying bfliii. or else be forced to close shop. Apparently the Journal has never heard of the old lntercolonial Railway which is now part of the Canadian Na- tional system, ond how it came into existence. it was quite definitely not constructed to make money, but to bring the then prosperous Maritime Provinces into Confederation with the not-so-prosperous Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. Its construction was a definite obliga- tion assumed by the Dominion Government un- der Section I45 of the British North America . Act. Its benefits were to'be mutual, for an '1 ‘ the one hand it was to afford Canadian merch- andise "in times of national and imperial need, an outlet and inlet to the Atlantic Ocean, avail- able all the year round," while on the other it was to give Maritime merchants a market in Central Canada, "particularly in the light of y: y the disturbance with which their trade was y threatened as the result of the discontinuance

by the United States of the reciprocal arrange- ments that had prevailed." lt was agreed at the time of its construction that "to the extent that commercial considerations were subordin- ate to national, imperial and strategic consider- ations, the cost would be borne by th-elDominion ofind not by the traffic that might pass over the lines.“

The Maritime Freight Rates Act, passed by Parliament in I927 in recognition of these facts, originally carried o preamble which em- phosized the national, imperial and strategic purposes of the old lntercolorial and repeated that it was o Dominon rather than a commercial responsibility to maintain this line. Through Slime mischonce-ond it would be interesting to know how and why--this preamble was omitted in printing the Revised Statutes of Can- ada. The Act itself, nevertheless, declares that its purposes is to give certain statutory advantages in rates to the Maritime Provinces. _ Are these definite obligations, which brought the Maritimns into Confederation and turned tliq tide of prosperity in favor of tire

entrol Provinces, to be treated as scraps of ‘ iiper? They have been so persistently suppres- yed that probably not one ‘ii o_ thousand Oni- rio or Quebec readers known of their existence. hose responsibility is that, one may ask def-

tlolly of such greet notional organs as our g ttowo contenipoiary. _ - leg in the Maritime: at the King

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iniiiliislori findings, which tire Journal so - approves, ii bluntly trimmed up by . L jiielipeoe . ii Chronicle. "it ~ email ’ manifestation of new Chronicle.

traction: lii Jndorsllg the Transport’

_ :___ "that the joint protests of seven out of nine Provincial governments in ‘this democratic Canada of .oiirs could be thrust aside with u brusquenoss that amounts to positive con- tempt. . . . When the rights of Provinces even to be heard are so orrogantly brushed off as this, there is something more at stake in Canada even than local commercial prosperity and the matter of a financial imposition in the form at a freight-rote. It may not be too much to say that tire Dominion Government is forcing a constitutional crisis upon the country by met- hods which, though the term is resented lll Ottawa, have appropriately enough been des- cribed as those of the back door to centraliza- tian."

That too is something for newspapers as wcll as politicians at Ottawa to think about.

- tDllURlAL no... -.

Maritime flying problems and railway freight rates are keeping officials busy these days at Ottawa.

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lt seemingly will be a long time before Russia is in a strategic position to fight an of- fensive war. Russian nationals who get out of that corinry show a decided reluctance to re- turn.

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The current R. C. M. P. drive for recruits provides an opportunity for a worth while car- eer for the right type of young man. Among the requirements is a minimum of grade ten education.

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The weather will soon be worm enough for outdoor painting. With both money and mo- teriols reasonably plentiful we may expect both town and country to take on something of a

new look.

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The Prohibition Commission has been on- pointed, but there is not much they can do until the plebiscite in June. Meantime they may be able to ascertain what per centagg of water iji medicine patients have to pay for. .. x .. ..

It is gratifying to learn from the Bureau of Statistics that the net income of Island formers last year jumped from $l0,250,000 in i946 to $ll,0l0,000. No mention is made, however, of the net expenditure.

The Pan-Aniericon Conferenco at Bogota, Columbia, had been in session discussing the iniquity of the continued existence of British and other colonies in South America prior to the military revolt. Perhaps the Colombian revolutionaries thought that the government could not at the some time play host and watch its political enemies.

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There may be prafiteering in Canada. lt may cause the cost of living to be somewhat higher than it otherwise would be. What is certain, says The Printed Word, is that no amount of profiteering can increase the cost of living as much as this is increased by Govern- ment spending. Why do riot the Government and Parliament start by investigating the big- gest single factor in the cost of living?

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt, four times President of the United States, died this date i945, after having successfully led his nation through the Second Great War to peace. He was a record maker from the time he conquer- ed infantile paralysis till he collaborated in conquering Hitler, Mussolini, Hiroshima, to- gether with the Fifth Columnists: "l confess to pride in this coming generation; you are work- mg out your own salvation; you are more in love with life; you play with fire openly, where we did in secret, gndJe-w of you are burned."

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Possibility of establishing o co-operative meat packing plant for the prairies was discus- sed at a recent meeting of livestock co-opero- tives in Saskatoon. Arrangements for the meet- ing were made by the Saskatchewan Department of Co-operation and Co-operative Development. At the meeting, representatives of prairie live- stock ca-operatives elected o committee to study production, processing, transportation and marketing of livestock products on an inter-pro- vincial basis.

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Mr. J. G. Bisson, chief commissioner of the Unemployment Insurance Commission, reports o grove labour situation in the west. Job prospects are generally good. But in British Columbia more than 6,000 persons over 45 years of age were seeking employment. Conditions from this point of view probably were not as serious in other provinces, but the problem was Dominion- wide. Employers who decided "arbitrarily" not to hire men aver 40 were losing "very valuable benefits in the line of experience, faithfulness cnd steadiness." lt has been proved, he sriyi, that men over 45 can do "work requiring ex- perience for better than the younger workers." Without employers’ help, the problem will tend to become more serious in the west.

All idea of a Fall election hos been obond-' oned, on Ottawa correspondent states, owing til the rough experiences the Government is having with its followers in every Province. The consensus of opinion among the Liberal rank and file is that it would be unwise to risk an appeal to the country under a new inexperi- onced leader with solmrrch dissatisfaction‘ pre- valent over Income Tax, Maritime Railway Rates, Import and Export restrictions, and Mr. St. Laurent‘: declaration to a Quebec delega- tion thot in the event of war conscription would be enforced by the Jlioverirment. Under the circumstances it is beirig- tolten- for granted the Maokdiizie King Government will remoirr- in office for at least another two years. Once bo- foro o Mackenzie King Government slid out of power on New Zeolend butter-Imports. it may be quite certain )hot Mr. King will take no slum oiiiiiinlivniiorm inoreoriiie.

There are fir) more lovers of animals than those who fancy dogs. With so many differ-

inveterate

ent breeds of canines — to say nothing of the mongrel; - there ls ample opportunity for variation in the bestowal of this affection. The Windsor Kennel Club's dog show gave people of Windsor a chance to see the best of many different breeds. It. Is something

dog lovers appreciate. - Windsor Star. All tlie fuse about petroleum

rrrlghl. have been avoided had tire U. S. government agreed with tne views expressed liI a petition pre- sented to Congress during the first oil booms of 1864. The peli- tioners prayed that "a stop may be put to the irreverent and -r- religious proceedings of vnrloirs citizens In drawing petroleum fr-urrr the bowels of the earth. thus checking the designs of the Almigh- ty. who has undoubtedly stored It. there with a vIew to the last day, when all things shall be destroyed. -Manchester Guardian Weekly.

Many people will remember him the celebrated Theodore I-Iook, of an earlier day. deflated the pamp- ous gentlemen of his era by walk- ing up to them and demanding. "Pray. sir". are you anybody of in: portauce?" A stranger once tried no embarrass the edtremely Imposing British actor. Sir Herbert Beer- bohm Tree, by repeating these words to him. But. Sir Herbert's wit was equal to his imposing appearance. “I dan‘t think I car. be." he rejoined. "or I should hard- ly be seen talking to you." -WaiI Street. Journal.

The beautiful purple Passion Flower which is native in the Southwest had a mystical message for early Spanish settlers, to whom it. represented the Passion of Christ-- the filaments in the cen- ter‘. the crown of thorns; tire five stamens, the five wounds; tire parts of the pfstil, the three nails, the ten petals and sepals, the ten petals and sepals, the ten disciples, Judas and Peter being absent. The PnssIon Flower is not. hardy In Lire North, but. it. can be grown In the garden in the summer and lifted and kept. in the cellar or other shelter during the winter months. -I"redcrioton Gleaner. '

Mr. Cirurciilil is usually credit- ed with the authorship of the phrase "Iron Curtain," and I have shared the belief that. he did in fact z-oin this slogan. I find. how- ever, that I was wrong; Mr. Church- ill was anticipated by Count Sehwerin van Kroslck, Foreign Minister In the short-lived Doen- rtz government. Broadcasting from Flcnsburg on May 2nd, 1945, var". Krostck called for an anti-Bol- shevik crusade to prevent “the Iron curtain in the East" from being pushed westwards. The Count/s words have had a longer life than his own career as German Foreign Minister. - Poiycrltlc In the New Statesman and Nation)

llow rllrl tlie Vikings get to Min- rrcsotaf Ah there Is a speculation to Stimulate the imagination! Tire Smithsonian srsvants, taking lribo consideration many other legends. some of them potent. In themsei; vcs. guess that the Scandinavians might have come by way of I-Iudson Bay and southwesterly by boat. and overland. In that. case. support rs added to the belief that. the Vik- ings came through or near this part. of Ontario. It adds great. i.'i terest to the supposed Norsemans axe found ‘near Brontford, and to the little carved head preserved in the Brant Historical Society's mu seum, a. bit: of crude sculpture that. may represent a horned headdress of an ancient Indian. but. which also may represent the horned hei- met of -—a Viking. -Brantfor'dt Expositor.

A discussion‘ has been taking place In a New York newspaper about. the origin of barbed wire, but there should be no doubt an the question. Away back in the late oos a Texas cattieman was troubl- ed with hIs stack breaking oift, and also with neighbors‘ stock breaking in. Ordinary smooth wire being useless, he devised a barbed wIve device of his owri by painstak- Ingly sharpening small wire nalrs and inserting them into twisted strands of wire. His innovation met. with great hostility. Neighbors found their: livestock coming home tom and bleeding, rind in course of time‘ n group of ntockbreeders carrying shotguns visited him, told _htm that hib invention was cruel, and demanded he destroy _It.. The farmer looked at. the guns — then tore down his fence. -St.rrit.- ford Beacon-Herald.

A Newark, New Jersey, man born at. sea in an American ship 27 years ego has at inst. been able to produce evidence of his birth there, and has been granted American citizenship papers. If he had been born in a British strip there would have been no difficulty about it. Under British mercantile marina lnw a child born in e British snip is automatically granted n birth certificate showing that. he wrsa born tn the borough or Btepney in the-East ltnd of London. oven Ii the ship Wll‘ plowing the Indian Ocean, or some other part of the world thousands of miles away. A child ha! to have a location of birth somewhere for legal purposes and the reason why Btepney was chosen is because it sprawl: along the ‘firemen-ride in which most. o.’ tire-great. dooh are situated. rina it. is tn the Port. of London that. thousands of British ships are reg- irrteredyrnorn ii a peculiar dis- tlnctionjn being legally declared a native of Stepney, but come pea- pie might not care to boast about. It, an Btopney ts the largest and

“niumniielt” district of London. in- cluding Whiteciiepei, lhadweti and

Notes From Another Island By "Ariana"

LONDON. England:

Soap opera is something you all plenty about. 0f course. Even 1 can remember, from mhat. I picked up during my stay in Canada, something: about ‘ complicated adventures of those radio characters whose lives seein- ed to be in a constant state of tragedy, rorriruuse. frustrated love, susple on _and almost every otrher human emotion under the sun ex- cept. good honest happiness.

For quite a. long time now. we have been having o. daily dose of something very slmiliu- from our own radios, and there can be few folks in England those days who earn look you In the eye and say

they have never hoard a character called “Dick Barton, Special Agent."

At 6-45 every evening from Mon- day to Fr day, a BBC arnnmxmor swallows his dignity. takes a deep breath and makes tllie lriibrodniot- ion In menacing tones designed to set the proper atmosphere right. from the start: “Dick Barton, Special Agent!” he 533$; in n voice which somehow or other less you know what. a tougili guy this Barton is. .

Then comes a few bars of "abuse" music to get us really In the mood. and we settle down to another ithrllllng fifteen-minute episode of shootings, knLfings. bombings, robb- ery, chase and torture, suspense and bIood-curdling screams, wind- lng up in the 14th minute with Diak hnnself or one of his assist- ants in some ghastly predicament from which there seems to be uo escape but death. Then tihe “chase” music carries In again and the breathless BBC announcer.- asks himself and all of us something like: "WIII Dick Barton survive the drop from the ninth floor. or have trhe crooks triumphed at last? Listen again ta trhe next instal- ment..-" eta. Compared with u}! this, Pearl White was a girl noth- ing ever happened to.

I'm not quIte sure. as a matte: of fact. just what a "Special Agent. ls. Mr. Barton - I bee pardon- Cn-PTAIN Barton, I should have said. for that ls whet ti: trusted assistant calls him - Captain Ba":- ton must have some kind of 0310111 standing, the way people 111m? around when he gives an order, but he never seems to have to take orders from anygorlghelx-hilrlllg I

'ou cou n' 8. t“ lrlilgpgrideiied about. much - the R111! wouidrvt stand for it. Their hero :5 a law unto himself If ever there

n . waif}; hat/Ian's youth follows Dirk Burtotfls adventures with a fen- atlcal devotion. You should he“ them reviewing trhe previous evenings episode every day, in lhe ‘bus to school. in school (makInZ teacher write crass letters to the panérsl arnd evcflfwhe?“

"1 bet. that. bloke ores. the one who got beaten up.---" v

"Yeah? (with relish) "'95 be"! s 0b...." .

hurl-hem gangsters 'vc got Snowe! though. ain't they-UN?” ‘SHOW!’ l5 Deics faithful assistant).

"Gar-n, Dlck'll save ‘lm, I bt-‘li-~~

And after school. they B“ the parts all over azflln, i0 the 59m‘ merit. of Mother's furniture and tho uervr-s of old ladies lrr the street-

But Captain Barton's Influence doesn't. end vr-Itii the sohoolbovs. Even Cabinet Minister Herbert Morrison. one of the mainstays of the Government. has confessed that. he often listens to his id-

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"gftgn" Ysten, I don't. know. One episode now arid then doesn't ma: a. thing - you have to trike we whole series or leave It rsloriehl n: any other serial. Either Y0“ °" listen at. all, and believe everyoné who does is a half-wit. or Y0“ follow every session desperately and worry ll’ Y0" ml" °“°-

B“; a Mgmber of Parliament R55 another worry, as he explained other day ln the Commons w’ the BBC_progi-ammes were be dscussed. I-Ie doesn't care ' tithes-tit for Dick Barton, and ones mi] must: bleed for h'm when he e 5 about the rue occasions when he Bets home early. lwklflfl lfiwaakg: settling down with his pope . and happens’! Bu“! 8°95 m5 peace °m_ quiet at 6-45 p-m- “mu” y; cw; plains, as his son rushes d‘ “h takes possession of the re ‘OWW - a wild cry of; "Dink T

The series 8°95 °“ " a

i-etty soon, (or g resli. For many L’, us life will nmiv seem "m"

living then. ____ Fighting T- B-

The fog. of conservatism and gtmjfliiv- hlzrnkotlng medical PTO- g-eu in new. is oeins olemd by on; lonely beacon - at. the TB wing of Concord Repatriation Hospital, writes a sydnei’ Bu" man. ,

A band of eight enthusiastic young doctors (avenue l" l‘ bout. 33, including two Women) ha, broken m; back of the T. B. scourge among err-servicemen and women.

By refusing to adopt tlm ‘Wi- cei attitude 0i’ wattliil llfllli MW treatments have been DIOR“ overseen, these duel-org hive h“! a success ich they describe an "stagger-in .