I-More Brine‘ Edward |siandlI..ike the Dew I 1

r:;;;ii:-can every week-day morning at lb'5 Prince Street Clmrxnttetown, P.E.l.. by the Thomson Company Ltd. Ian A Burnett, Publisher and General Manager I Frank Walker, Editor Member Canadian Daily Newspaper Publishers Association Member at The Canadian Press Member Adult Bureau of Circulation: Branch oflices at Summerslde. Montague and Afberton ti?-mtesented Nationally by- Thomson Newspaper: Advertising Service 14 King Street West Toronto, Out. 640 Cathcart St. Montreav 1030 West Georgia Street, Vancouver

Carrier Charlottetown, Surnmerside $1‘-1.00 per an- mzm Elsewhere in P.E.l $9.00 Other Provinces and

us :‘.2.nr: ner annum

_THUi_{sDKY,"1\71AncH 20, 1953; A Forihright Speech‘ Hon. Mr.. Clark delivered a care- fully prepared and comprehensive address on education in the Legisla- ture on Tuesday. The Minister made some challenging replies to the critics of his department. He presented fig- ures to show that this Province tops the all-Canada average in the reten- tion of school pupils up to and through Grade 12/. He maintained that our standard of education is higher than in any of the other At- lantic Provinces, while in school build- ings the Island compares favorably with other Provinces or even with’ the United States. He also dealtwith teachers’ salaries and the new plan of increment payment and other benefits. The picture he presented was certainly a more reassuring one than we have had for some time. Mr. Clark conceded the existence of some deficiencies in our educa- tional system. He maintained, how- ever, that the record is a remarkable one considering the Province’s limit- ed revenue and tax potential. It had been achieved, he added, “without turning our classrooms into glorified play pens and without the addition of hobby shops.” Underlining this point, he warned all and sundry that “in your enthusiasm for better educa- tion, with all your admiration for the gold plated doorknobs of ' the‘ fancy schools you have seen in other Provinces, don’t underestimate the value of the little schools in your own

i=7Aen"4

‘lsmal1‘Province. It is the spirit, the

. determination and the interest of our

..

people which count in the end.’’« , _ There has been a great deal of

discussion about education in re"cent_=‘

weeks, much ofit in a critical vi-ein. We fancy that Mr. Clark’s rebuttal will not go unanswered. That is as

it should be, for he has pulled no -'

punches in defending the policies of his department. An extensive report of his address appeared in yesterday’; Guardian, and we commend it to the attention of all interested in this im- portant subject. Those who challenge his conclusions 1’ should be prepared to advance equally strongarguments.

, The Parly‘Sys’lem' Works Minister Howard Green is quoted as telling an, audience that

“the CCF and Social Credi't‘Parties ‘

are ‘niggling’ minorities‘ for whom- there. is no room under the‘ British system of Government”;

It would bea convenience to the two major parties, of course, if the

«

CCF and Social Credit Parties were i

to close up shop. One party or the other would then be almost sure of- being able to form a majority Govern- ment. It might be a good thing for the country, too. This, however, is a

"debatable point, since there is no

question but that the CCF over a period of years has contributed a good deal to social legislation which is generally accepted as being in the best interests of the people. In any event, whatever may happen to Social Credit in the long“ run. it seems al- most certain that thc CCF will remain an influence in Canadian politics for some time to come.

Mr. Coldwell thinks that in course of time the conservative forces in in the Conservative Party, the Lib- eral Party and the Social Credit Party will join into one group and that the liberal forces in all three parties will link up with the CCF to form a strong Socialist movement, in which case there would be a two- partysystem, though not of the kind which present Conservatives and

Liberals have in mind. It sounds a bit .1

unlikely, but it is not on that account impossible. Actually, of course, there is a strong socialistic influence in both the Conservative Party and the

Liberal Party as they now stand. No A

party that dissociated itself from “social security”——which is an attri- bute of socialisrn—could ever hope to form a gdvernment. And any Gov- ernment that took a definite “right” turn would go out of office so quickly that it wouldn’t know what struck it. Even Social Credit»-as its name implies‘ iaiins to have a socialistic . its program.

l'<>is: Tfvlr. (”£reen’s assertion that -'3}.-‘lll'll.€l" parties have no room “under the British system of Government”, it surely must have been meant as a.

joke. The fact is that there is no

. system of Government more flexible than the British in that regard. Any party—from the extreme Right to the extreme Left——can function un- der the British tradition——and form a Government, if it can persuade the majority to give it a mandate. “Free- dom” would be meaningless if it did not include that right.

From a practical standpoint might be better if this country were to return to the two-party system, though no debater of competence would find it difficult to argue to the contrary. But as far as democracy or Responsible Government is concerned, it is not harmed by splinter groups, though at times they may be annoy- mg.

1 . China Trade

Justice Minister Fulton is reported

to have told a political gathering in.

Halifax that “it was not necessary to give I diplomatic recognition to Communist China in order to trade with that country”. He added that “we should not overlook the possibil- ity of trading in materials that can’t be used in war”.

This,i apparently, is one issue on

which the two -major parties agree. At least, that was the official policy of the Liberals when they were in power; and we_ have not noticed that anythingto the contrary has been ad- vocated by Liberal candidates in the current campaign. The only differ- ence seems to be that the Liberals did not expect any great volume of

M trade with China so long as recogni-

tion was withheld, while the Conser- vatives, according to Mr. Fulton,

think. that trade can be developed

despite non-recognition.

The Conservatives. may be right in this. But, if they are, then the Brit- ish, who have been trading with the Chinese as long as any people in the Western world,’ have been mistaken in their approach to the question. When the British Government some years back eXtended'*de facto recogni- tion to the Peiping regime, they did so because they felt that only in that

; way couldftrade withithe Communist- controlled country be sustained‘ on a I . worthwhile, scale. It was a question

of either recognizing the regime,

. however reluctantly, or giving up a

lucrative trade which‘ had been built up for a long period of time. That, at any rate, is what they said at the

> time. *

iPerhaps”th"e’ Canadian Government,

, however. it is T_ constituted after the

elec"tion, canccontinue to withhold recognition and still find a good mar- ket for Canadian products. If so, it

will be allto the good. But it would i

be unwise to bank on it too heavily.

EDITORIAL NOTES

It is beginning to look as though the Russians don’t really want a ‘sum- mit meeting. They say they won't discuss the status of the satellite ‘countries or the reunification of Ger- many, two subjects which Western

, Governments insist should‘ be on the 7 agenda. i ‘

I‘

4 Island fariners _sho1‘1ld' be’ fairly

happy these days. They are getting A

a good price for their potatoes; and they are assured of a reasonable fairness in the‘ future under the terms of the Agriculture Stabilization Act, which, though it may not be-perfect in every detail, is much better than any previous attempt to bring the farmers’ income in a" favourable state of balance with costs of operation.

0 I Q ‘ A lot of foolish things have been

said in the Legislature about the

$21A million special grant which the Federal Government has granted the Province. The most foolish of all is the suggestion that the money might not be forthcoming. As Dr. Dewar pointed out, the agreement was given Parliamentary approval; and if that isn’t a guarantee that the money will be paid, then there is no such thing as a guarantee. The time wasted in carping criticism of the smallness of

v the amount could be better employed

in encouraging the Federal Govern- ment to add another million dollars or so to the annual sum. ‘ 1 ‘I —\w Premier Smallwood of Newfound- land says that the Liberals will make a “clean sweep” in that Province on

A March‘ 31. Conservatives——taking a.

naturally “conservative” viewpoint—— expect to retain the two seats they held in the last Parliament and pick up another two or three of the re- maining five. The St. John’s Daily News thinks that, whichever party wins the election, the interests of the Province will better be served if three of one party and four of the other are elected. It observes that to be in the opposition is as valuable as to be on the winning side—provided there is a proper balance. of course.

it,

‘ municipalities

u—__

,. sun»! E17

$2.

<§i7--"33 ‘\T'i"*5,‘°.‘.‘ - e. f t. %L.Ir.:2.

W A MUMMY FACTORY

APUBLIC FORUMl lndepehd

This column is open to the discus-

sion by I..u.u sponden‘s of question of

interest. The Guardian does not neses-

sarily endorse ’the opinion of corres- pondents.

PREMIERS’ AGREEMENT

Sir,-—I am puzzled about the statements of Premier Mabheson in the Legislature on Friday last to the Leader of Opposition Mr. Bell, in reference to ‘our special grant of 2,500,000 yearly by the Diefeubaker Goverrunent, and his answer to the delegation from our on =March 7th, when he informed them that all the information he had in refer- ence to the grant was what he heard in a political speech by Prime Minister Diefenbaker.

I should like to quote the letter from Premier Stanfield to Prime Minister Diefenbaker, dated Jan- uary 6, 1958, as tabled in the House of Commons and published. in I-Iansard at page 3892‘:

, ,“Halifax, January 6, 1958

"Dear Mr. Prime l\/Iinister:

“At the recent Dominion-Pro vincial conference special grants to the Atlantic Provinces were a- greed upon in principle. It was, I believe, understood that the four Atlantic Provinces would attempt to reach agreement upon a for- mula. ‘

"Since the conference, officials from the Federal Department of Finance visited Halifax, and met with officials from the four Atlan- tic Provinces in order to discuss a formula upon which the special

. grantsito the Atlantic.Provin~ces

mig-ht.be based. “It Is suggested that the total

grantt -to the Atlantic area be»

based upon an income deficiency per individual of working age (15. 6_9) from 85 per cent of the na- tlonal average, multiplied by the revenue ratio of 8.81 per cent, multiplied by the working age group population in the area. This would bring the special grants to the four Atlantic Provinces some- where in the vicinity of $25,000,- 000, the amount depending upon whether one used a three year or a five year average. The amount, of course, would also be subject to variation as factors might Vary through the years. ‘The Premiers of the‘ four Atlantic Provinces haw agreed upon the use of this formula to determine the total grants to the area.

“The Premiers of the four At- lantic Provinces have also agreed that the total grant to the area should_be divided among the four Atlantic Provinces in the follow. mg manner:

Newfoundland 30 “per cent

New Brunswick 30 per cent Nova Scotia. 30 per cent Prince Edward Island 10 -per cent

“I have -been authorized by the Premier of New Brunswick, New- foundland and Prince Edward Is- land to convey to you their agree- ment upon this fotrmula for the determination of the size of the special grants to the Atlantic ar- ea, and -this formula for sharing the grant among the Atlantic pro- vinces. We all hope that the for- mula agreed upon here wlil seem appropriate to you and your gov- ernment. These special grants will be of the greatest assistance to the Atlantic provinces.

“On behalf of the four Atlantic premiers, I wish to convey to you our appreciation of your lead- ership in making these special grants available to the Atlantic Provinces.

“Yours sincerely, “R. L. Stanfield.”

You will see, Mr. Editor, that undoubtedly the matter of the special grant to the Ma-ritimes

had been fully considered by the’

Maritime Premiers, accepted and agreed on as to a division, on. or before January 6th,‘ while Prem- ier Matheson, now at this date, denies knowledge. Indeed, accor- ding to the letter of J anuary’ 6th Premier Matheson even convey- ed his appreciation to Prime Min- ister Diefenbaker, a far c ry from his unthankful attitude on Friday 14th. I am, Sir, etc.,

EDWIN A. MacRAE.

6 Lapthorne Ave.

Charlottetown.

Ottawa

Who says that Senators don’t earn their keep?

Look at what’s happening in,

the present election campaign! A- part from‘ Mr. Diefenlbaker, Mr. Pearson, -Mr. Coldwell and Mr. Low, plus a few cabinet ministers

and ex-cabinet ministers, it’svthe‘

Senators who seem to be running it

~ ‘Senators don’t sit in the House of Commons; they belong to n non-elective ‘ chamber, their jobs supposedly, to review legislation,

to take an independent, “second. ; loo " at laws passed by the Com-

mons —— sort of quasi-judicial peo ‘le. '

P Yet here we find these suppos- edly indapdent gentlemen in the thick of the election battle, tell- ing us or exhorting us about the composition of the Commons. some of them planning the strat- egy of a particular party.

TWO EXAMPLES. ’

Take Senators Connolly and Po- wer, for example, two good men and true ready to argue at the drop of -the hat that the Senate is an independent body, that it has nothing to do with the strifes of the Commons or of parties. What are they doing now? They are down at Liberal headquart- ers in Ottawa acting as the par- ty’s chiefs of staff, planning and directing its strategy. ,

And they aren’t alone. Up (or is it down?) in Toronto‘ there is Senator David Cmll, not only the party’s- paymaster in that area,

but so aggressively partisan that

he called the Liberal candidates together,. accuses them of lazi- ‘ness, and tells them to get crack- ing. ‘ » . Also to give’ the full picture, .we notice, a senator named Brunt,

AVERAGE CITIZEN"S VIEWS’

Sir,—After listening to one day of Liberal political speeches’ by

radio and T. V. I came to the

conclusion that the average citi- zen of Canada who had listened to those same speakers should have no doubt in his or her mind as to the way to vote on March 31st. First, I listened -to Mr. Pear- son as he spoke atsummerside. You would wonder at times if the seat of our government was Otta- wa or Washington. (Of course we

know it is Ottawa and let’s keep ‘

it that way). ’

Later that night I listened to Lionel Chevrier. He said nothing of interest to the average citizen but cried “Depression! Depres- sion”! like a great prcpagandist trying to panic the public. Well, Mr- Chevrier should have made his cry heard one year and a half ago and not to the public but to his own colleagues in government. He also went -on to say the P.C. representation in Quebec would -be negligible. At,least we hope they are not all like Mr. Chev- rier as we have no employment for propagandists at this time.

Then came Mr. Sinclair and again nothing to interest the av- -erage citizen, except a lot of ballyhoo about public works pro- jects which he said had been tab- led (but he really meant “shelv- ed”) by the Liberal administra- tion, and put into effect by the P.C.’s. Of course Mr. Pearson did mention earlier in the day his great tax reductions to overcome

the recession; but I also listened as an American economist was, interviewed and gave his opinion as to the best way to deal with the recession and it certainly was not by a tax reduction, but ra- ther by a public works program. So carry on, John! and who knows, maybe Ike will find em. ployment for Mike..

My estimation of the Liberal administration dropped 100 per cent when one of the greatest statesmen of our time, Sir An- thony Eden, for his foresighted- ness and action in throttling the Communists in the Middle East was opposed and humiliated by our fo r m e 1- Liberal govern- ment under Mr. St. l..aurent and his colleagues, including Mr. Pearson.

I am, Sir, etc., RALPH C. WALSH Albany, P.E.I.

ence Of Senators

Journal

only recently appointed‘by ll./Ir. Diefenvbaker seemingly working like a trojan for the Tories. DANDURAND’S REPLY

When Arthur Meighen was ap- pointed to the Senate and said to Senator Dandurand, who had the title of Liberal leader there, that he hoped he would be a foreman worthy of'Dandurand’s st;-eel, Dan- durand snapped back: “You -are wrong on two counts: I am not your: fceman and I am not worthy of your steel.” . \ '

What Dandurand was saying was that once a man was appoint- ed to the Senate he must no long- er be sa party warrior, let a- lone a party hack, that his duty thereafter was to review con- scientiously and independtly leg- islation that came before him. /

And Dandurland —- and Meigh- Fen — adhered to that. '

Apparently there has been a change — a change which sees senators seemingly under the im- pression that the Senate is but ' an outpost of the political parties, and that one of the duties of a senator is to try to reward the party which appointed him by trying to see that it gains or holds power.

This is something the public

mind when it hears future talk about the. “independence” of , the Senate. ; l ‘

OUR YESTERDAYS

(From The Guardian Files)

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO (March 30, 1933) A major portion of the current year’s -Road Tax was paid last

large amount of outstanding ar- rears was also paid in this man- ner, according to the annual re- port of the Public Works -and Highways Department. The re- port also refers among other items, to the roads which were constructed and widened stating that 289 miles had been comple- ted during the year. I

P.E.I. shipping clubs are active and are handling considerable stock at the present time. During the past week eight clubs loaded

RAILWAY ‘AND UNIONS

Sir,—There is one very impor- tant issue which to my knowledge has not been discussed at any of the ‘public meetings by any of -the Island candidates of the three parties involved, and Mr. Cold- well is the only national leader ‘who has included it in his plat- form, namely, the current concil- iation hearings between the rail- ways and the non-operating rail- wa.y employees.

As each day passes it is be-. coming more apparent that these hearings are going to end in a stalemate, which meansthe un- ions will in all probability call for a strike vote and the rail- ways will place their case in the lap of parliament. In the past, the government has forced the unions into compulsory arbitration by threatening to pass legislation to outlaw the right to strike.

1, as a member of this union, and I am sure all labour in gen- eral, would like to have the can- didates of all the parties, state their Parties policy and the stand that they Would take as individ- uals should such a situation arise. h Will they follow the previous government’s arbitory procedure, or will they fall in line with the suggestion put forth in the CCF platform, which is to subsidize the railways on a national basis rather than have the employees subsidize the railways by ac- cepting sub-standard wages.

I urge all labour men on Prince Edward Island to pay close at. tention to the stand which these candidates take on this issue, as I do not think any labouring man should support a party that would take such action as to deprive the public of their iigliis as Can- adian citizens.

I am Sir, etc.,

J. F. HENNESSEY, President, Division 20

many victims of hypertension.

pressure —- most of those suffer- _ Losing weight will also help

. . I 1 . ls3lg?l‘1:1€I}:E3l, PLAN NEEDED

should keep in mind -- keep in.

season in statute labour and at

Helps Relieve Hypertension

By Herman N. Bundesen, MB- In a previous column not long ago I advised you that rest and relaxation in themselves weref; nough to lower blood DI‘e5S11Te