PAGE FOUR THE GUARDIAN

Authorized as second Clan Mail Poet Office

Department. Ottawa. The Island Guardian Publishing Co. CIRCULATION iiuiul City lune ..-....... 3.'1Gi'I itetuil. Trading Zone ........... 8.431 All others ......... 9-7 i'utal Net Paid .. -.. l3.0-It

I'rcsident and Associate Editor. 1"" 5- UHF!!!"- Auoclaie l.-:dit.or. I.-t'I'iIIIli Willi"-'0

"Ihe Strongest Memory is Weaker Then

by the Maritime Gardener speaker on Sunday morning by reciting a Christmas Poem by Mr. John Robert Lamont Camp- bell, John of "The Lilacs", which appeared in our columns.

EDIIURIAI. NUll:S

Wherever they might be His Majesty's subjects were made to feel yesterday that they were part of a great family.

0 I 0 It's all over for another year, including the inevitable disappointments. Better luck

the Weakest lnki '.

(ili.u:i.u'i"ri;'rowN. WEDNESDAY, DEC.

llis Majesty's Broadcast

........mm

A privilege greatly enjoyed throughout llic Empire yesterday was the pleasure of hearing once again His Majesty's Ch1'l5t' mas broadcast. This occasion was of excep- iioual interest in view of His Majesty's re- cent illness and successful convalescence. Cliaracteristic of the speaker were the plain and simple words in which be con-

vcvcd his heartfelt feelings. He had a special message for those in the service inn-cs who are absent from home, par-

Iicul:il'ly those from all parts of the Eni-

pirc who are on active duty in Malaya and;

Korczi. Among the by llis Majesty

chief blessings enumerated

were those of home, of happy family gatherings and of the mess- age of hope conveyed in the Christmas tidings. These are blessings in which all of us can share, being dependent neither 011 pomp and circumstance, nor on wealth and great possessions. The Royal Family, how- ever, cannot always enjoy the privacy that we take so much for granted, and there is no question but that they appreciate it all the more when. as at the Christmas sea- son. they gather together like millions of their subjects in the intimacy of the fam- ily circle. If is from this quietude that His lVlaj'es1y's voice reaches us on Christmas Day, giving thanks, with all of us, for 'thosc olrl. simple things that matter most." and "do not change however much the world outside may seem to do so."

It is this ,”sensc of oneness with our kind,” as an English poet of another age has expressed it, that constitutes the joy of Christmas. that mellows our philosophy and makes for that "tolerance and under- standing" of which His Majesty spoke, and which, if we could but carry into our everyday lives. would solve our social and economic problems more quickly than all the materialistic panaceas ever invented. For one day in the year at least we feel sure that this is so. And in the feeling it- self is evidence that we have been touched by grace.

Christmas season has Begun

A familiar plaipt of adults at this 'imc is that preparations for Christmas be- gin at an ever earlier. date and that Christ- mas itself .slips by before it is realized. Former generations behaved quite differ- ently. Christmas day was the beginning of a season of celebration and festivity con- tinuing until Twelfth Night or Epiphany. The return to ordinary avocations was marked. somewhat irreverently, by celebrat- ing St. Disiaff's Day when the women re- turned to the spinning of flax and their other household tasks.

There really seems more grounds for celebrating after Christmas than before but in this day and age we find it difficult to avoid jumping at once into the following S0ilS()i'i.

Boosting The Island

Hero is an exceptionally fine boost for llic Island contained in the last issue of the C. B. Broadcaster: Burton Keirstead, one of the most frequently heard com- mentators on CBC's Weekend Review on Sunday nights, is a professor of economics at McGill University, a member of the Royal Society of Canada and the author of outstanding books on economics. Mr. Keir- stead broadcast his first commentary for the CBC in 1945 and since that time has been heard intermittently on both the Na- tional and International services. for the CBC he has visited Lake Success on a

'number of occasions, to cover important

meetings. He says he enjoys broadcasting immensely, but not so much that he would want to change his summer habit of visiting Prince Edward Island with his wife and two children. a boy of 13 and a girl of 11. There. he owns a house which he and his wife planned and built themselves. It is at Bay View, on the North Shore, bordering on the National Park and overlopklng the sea. A creek runs nearby. one branch of which is a trout stream, the other an oys-

' fer bed." Mr. Keirstead says: "Swimming.

flshing,.,.'gatherlng- oysters", gardening and writing Ito home we've built ourselves-- my wife did-molt of the work--on the P. E. I. eaeooaet. is the nearest approach to

pnredhl .I know of." for the Island was given

9

next time to the discouraged ones. Q 0 it This is St. Stephens Day, Boxing Day. as well as Mrs. R. E. Mutch's shop assist-

ants' day.

J O Q

A safe prediction. For Christmas day the weather prophet announced there would be "severe frost in many places".

G C 0

Like Scotsmen, the mail carriers and other postal employees probably expect to do their celebrating at I-Iogmanay or New

Year's Eve.

I I 0

Did you ever express a wish that when it was granted you were disappointed? "Yes", replied the bald-headed pessimist gloomily. "when I was a boy I wished I had no hair to be combed and brushed."

O O O

Heartfelt sympathy goes out to the sud- denly bereaved relatives of Mr. Samuel Boulter who lost his life in a truck accident at Hunter River yesterday. He was return- ing home from a business trip to the coun- try.

0 I 0

Members alid Senators are reassembling in Ottawa for a continuation of the Special Session. The fact that they are getting this year a second 354000 indemnity besides the 552000 annual allowance should ease the regrets at having to be away from home during the holiday season.

"Could an agent be comgicted of doing? something that the principal is allowed to do?" asks an exchange. There are, of, course, many things which governments,l Federal or Provincial, can do with impun-I ity, for which their servants must answer

in courts of justice. 0

Women have been receiving congratula- tions for their part in public life on the! strength of four lady mayors and a few other female public figures. On any sta- tistical basis it seems that the ladies have a long way to go yet before they can be considered to have their full share of thei responsibilities of citizenship.

Finance Minister Abbott's fprmula for attaining an eight-month surplus of 53634,- 700,000 would be of very great interest to the average family man just now. By the same token, it was by storing up its sur- pluses in gold during Great War I that the U. S. A. was enabled to come out on top of all the War Nations and lay the founda- tion for its untold millions after Great War II.

0 O

0 John Wilkes, English politician, died this date 1797. Celebrated for his wit and vigorous personality, he founded the "North Briton” which, being suppressed as seditious libel. led' to his expulsion from, the House of Commons. The failure of the l prosecution by Grenville's ministry estab- lished the right of the Press to discuss pub-l lie affairs. as the "Junius" prosecutions six years latelnextended that right not merely to the conduct of Parliament and the min- isters but even of the King.

Children of Canadians stationed in Britain are reported to be having difficulty keeping up with English children of sim- ilar age. Part of the explanation. of course, is simply differences in the systems of the two countries. So far, however, as it re- sults from our grades being less ad- vanced, the experience should be a spur for our educationalists to better the situation.

0 " I

To understand what is going on at the Kaesong truce talks "it is necessary to com- prehend the Oriental mind", says Maj. Bramwell Welbourne. of the Salvation Army. Maj. Welbourne,. who has spent 23 years in the Far East as a missionary de- clares nothing would come out of the Kae- song parleys, until the U. N. mediators strike a note that would allow both North Koreans and Chinese to bow out without losing face. Unless the United States, with all its industrial greatness, learns the secret of carrying the diplomatic ball it has taken from Britain. it will never win in the Far East, he said. "Korean philowphy i that they have little to live for and everything to die for", he said. The answer to their present berbarlsm lay in the treatment they had previously received from the Tartars, the Japanese and now the Chinese Com-

-Toronto,

THE GUARDIAN. CHARLOTTETOWN

..-

1...

, ” Post Christmas

Prescri

ption

PUBLIC FORUM

This column is open to the discussion by correspondent: of questions of interest. The Guardian does not necessar- ily endorse the opinion of correspondents.

PENNY-WISE ECONOMY

Sir,-I think that was a keen cartoon in your Dec. 5 issue. titled "Bossie's Not Keeping Up!" and showing that Jack Czmuck's dairy

hard is down 245?. though faced with it growing population--up 2093.

In this butter-margarine contro- versy. it cannot fairly be denied that. while urban and off-the-form Canadians (with their superior economic and political organiza- tion) can point with pride ('2) at the successful way in which they piled onto the dairy farmer. in the effort to pull sky-bound but- fer prices to more desirable lev- els, the victory has created more problems than it has solved.

I quote a factual item from one of the farm journals. indicat-

-ing the 1950 margarine output at

94,032,000 pounds. and showing the following ingredients used in this processing activity:

Pounds Cottonseed oil 42.106000 Soybean oil . 18.181000 Coconut oil .. 7.857.000 Fish & mnrine oils 4.751.000 Edible fallow ....... .. 3.000 Sunflower seed oil 3.178.000 Other vegetable oils 965.000

Other animal oils

Total .. 77.049.000 At. the risk of over-simplifying this complex problem. so far as this reader is concerned. I have come to the conclusion that. in saving an estimated S34,()00.000- i.e., the price differential between the above output of mnrgnrlne and similar poundligc of No. I Creamery Butter-and in losing half of this surface "saving" by way of zooming prices for milk.

,we are behind. rather thnn money

ahead. by A-bombing our basic dairy farming industry. I nm, Sir. etc..

BUSINESSMAN Ont.

OLD TIMER AGAIN

Sir,---It is :1 rather common practice nowadays on the port. of a few people to imply that those desirous of any change in the present order (or disorder) of things "presume to have all the answers." I regret that "Old Timer" has placed himself among those few. for it is a method of criticism that is not difficult to use. The answers to our problem Indeed cannot be easily or simply

found. I do believe; however. that many of the answers can be found within the framework of

Mr. McIsmlc's report. debatable as it may be--admitted in all due deference to those who” may not ngrec with the proposal: outlined and who may have other good ideas. I believe too, that we can profit very much from the ox- periences of those who may be ahead of us in the attempt to build organizations that will en- uble us to carry more relponalbil- ity in shaping our own destiny. "Old Timer" undoubtedly it a firm believer in the laying. "Exper- ience in a great teacher". Mr. Mc- lsuuc war sent to England and the Continent to bring ul back some of that experience. "Old Timer" Judged the author of the report to be "interesting" in his appraisal of European conditions, but suddenly "unreliable" as soon no he attempted to apply to la- lund problem: some of the in- formation and experience he gath- ered. Perhaps if "Old Timer" gave me an opportunity to exam- ine his background-an opportun- lty I have given him.-then I might be able to suggest Ieveral reasons for his ltund on these Issues.

In reference again to our educa- tional liyalcm..he..wondern If I did not receive loniethinz worth- whllo. One mlzhtlbe expected to receive something. having spent several years going through it: but the fact that any one indiv- idual partlclpated in the scheme any: little for or azulmt it at a system or an ii basin of learning. We look around us and we see

munlstll

many without adequate training

.Inni

Q Old Charlottetown & (Am! F E. I.) NORTHERN LIGHT MISSING "The ice llonf. as she is flatter- ingly called-Mr. Scwcll's exper- iment--ihe Northern Light'. kind- ly given to us by the Dominion Government to fulfill the condit- ions of Confederation by keeping up our winter communications with the Continent. hos encount- ered ice. for the first time this winter. rind hos liccn nizide ll fast prisoner, licuvcn knows in what lnliludc or lonziiudc. Only :1 heavy souihcrly wind ('llll set her free. and that is El rare com- modity nt this season. Several violent admirers of Mr. MzicKen- zic hnvc such implicit confidence in all that stntesmon's proibcts that they would on their route to Ottawa trust only to the 'North- ern Llghti. fully confident in her nbiliiy and cxperiness. These in- dividuals, nmong whom is the ed- itor of the Patriot. (Mr. Henry Lawson). are now turrylng at Georgetown. praying for a strong southerly wind. Mr. Pope cross- ed by the Capes: but the indiv- idunls in question would noi..nf course. sail in the snmc boot with

Mr. Pope, and so they are left behind." -The Examiner. ii 9. 1373-

" or skills of any kind; we see many

young people leaving the Province: we see more nnd more nbnndoned homesteads in what we like to term "the million-ncrc farm". Now not suggesting flint our educational system is directly responsible for this stair of ai- fairs; but I do lioid to tho con- tcnilon flint if we slrcsscd other attitudes. if we offered in some cases study material that would be more appreciative of Island (or even Maritime) conditions and better geared to the needs of more students: if, in short. we imparted through our educational system a different tone to our whole outlook, then I believe that we would be taking a very ef- fective step to build our Province as n better plucc in which to live find to improve our system generally. Or is it a crime for one to "cast nspcrsions at the system that made him?" Must we conclude ihnl the purpose of our educational system is to immunize us. to blind us to whnt we believe urc defects. wcukncsscs. or in- justices. around us? If so. "Old Timer” has passed with honors!

Considerable dislike is reserved in his last letter for the Market- ing Board. It seems necessary to point out .1 few facts that he "cleverly" (or otherwise) "omits". He oaks: "I-low mnny of the pro- ducers and dealers really nsked for it"? Now. in the first place. it is producers that we are prim- arlly concerned with. The records show that in response to a ques- tionnaire sent out by the Feder- ation of Agriculture officials Io all the potato growers in the Province. over 9895 voted in favor of the Potato Marketing Board as it is now constituted. To say then that it in "a scheme that has been foisted on the farmers" in to ignore the facts.

Al for an "Old Timer" in con- cerned, 1 do not know whether or not these figures have added any- thing "new to the matter under debntc”.' If they have. I suggest that he should not be writing about the Potato Board with the mlnimum of information .he ap- pear: to have on the subject: it they have not, then I auggest that it is very misleading to dllcuu the lime in the public preu with- out reference to it: origin or to the very definite manner In which it came about.

Everything that I have said has been offered in the hope that It would open up dlacuulon on what I believe iii the best apprallal of Inland problem: and the Ioundeat. Iolution to them that ha: been yet produced. I believe this even "as one so fresh from school". I may be wrong: but it will take Ioineune who her made better use of his experience than "Old Timer" evidently has to con- vince me otherw re: neither will I be convinced y one who ap- parently hu not mfflcidht. faith Innvhat he believes to warrant the signing of hi: name.

I am. Sir. Mi-.. ' WILFRED DRISCOLL

Morell.

u

-.-.-.-..-.-.5-.-.-.-.'.-.-l.-.4.-.-.-.-.'.-

The Age-llld Storye

ff . "oh-'n5'u"-'-'l-'-5'?-"-'l-'u'-'fh'u' .

.-J.

And when Jesus was conic I to Peter's house. he saw his wit-.'s motlirr laid, and sick of ii fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose. and ministered unto them. Wlicn the evcn was come. they brought unto him mnny thiit were posiienizi-il with ilcvllii: iiml he cunt out the iiplrlts with his word. and liculed all that. were sick.

The Hinner End O'yule

By A. Gordon lluson In Scotland Yule covers the twelve days from Yule E'cn (Cbrishmas Eve) to Up-llalli-day

or 'Di'clfth Night (January 6) and so includes both Christmas and I-logmnnay.

In pre-Rnfornintion Scotland. Christmas Day was mainly ll re- ligious celebration. tile fim alld feasting concentrating on Up- hallo;-day. After the Reformation. the celebration of both Christmas and Upllaliedny was bnnned.

In ancient Scotland. Ncw Year's Day was November 1: in Christian times, up to 1600 it was March 25. In the year 1600 New Year's Day was fixed as January 1 when ahc Scottish Privy Council discovered ihal...."in nil nlher wcll-govcrn- ed Commonwcaltlis and countries the year begins yearly upon the first of January. commonly called New Year's Day. and that this realm only is different from all the others ill the count. and reckoning of the years..." The change of day in Jmluary lst brought New Year's Day within the Yule pt-rlod find. comln" shortly after the banning of Christmas nnd Twelfth Night. caused much of Twelfth Nip-ht's carnival spirit to be transferred to New Year's Eve. or I-Icgmanny.

So the Yuletide mcrrymaking concentrates round "the hinner end 0 Yule". Mnny Yuletide cus- toms, such as the "rcdding" (tidying) of the house, and (hr: baking of tho Yule bread became transferred to I-logmsnuy, As the festival increased in popularity it attracted to itself many of the rirhts formerly associated with the old Celtic Quarter Days. notably saining. blessing, guizing. divin- ration and "first-fooling."

And so. for 350 years, millions of Scots the world over have brought in the New Your with feasting and revclry.

"First-footing" is visiting in the early hours at New Year's morn- ing. The "first foot" is the first person (other than I member of the household) who crosses the threshold after midnight, and the nppearance of the first foot in- dicates the kind of luck the household will have during the year. It is important that the first foot. should be well-favoured: a a well-sci-up dark man is the prime favourlte,iindnext tohim a comely fair womim. It is import- ant too that they should be people of good repute. An empty-handed first fool signifies poverty and privatlon. no first footers invari- ably carry handsel, which may be anything from an orange (rather scarce in the Scotland of 1951) to a boitlqof wliixky (almost non- existent as lt' in all exported to North America).

After greeting the family. the first foot pour: out a glass of whisky from the bottle he carries. and this must be drunk by the head of the house. who. in turn. pours oui, I aim for each of his guests, ,

The table is spread with a big round cnkd of shortbread and Black Bun-a rich mixture of fruits. almonds-and spices. moist. end in brandy and .encioeed in pastry crust. The shortbread in ii descendant of the Yule bannocx. which was belied between sunset and sum-lee on Christmas Eve in honour of the Nativity. Buck Bun is the ancient Twelftli-cake.

The greater the number of first iooiern. the more highly. honoured

old.

frhe IIIOII notable survival: of the ancient Yule fires are the Burning of the Olevic at Burghead. in Many. and the Feetlval of Up- helly-a in Shetland. In Lerwick a full-aired, (ally oninted replica

i

DECEMBER 26. 1951'

T

; ,.-I. -..u.v.

1. Notes By The Way I

i'x7'oX.K'.x:TE 3

IA Detroit Iyndloate reportedly has purchased the Empire State Building in New York. the tallest structure in the world. so In as we have learned, they do not in- lend moving it to Detroit. -Wind- sor Daily Star. -

Upon leaving for home after . visit to this continent. Lady wa... reu. wife of the lord Provost 0; Glaezow paid tribute to the in. tire of Canadian women. She con. sidered ii: "wholesome." in gas... and better than "what is consider: ed the road dresser in Paris." we don't think Lady Warren was soy. inlz this just to be polite. we think women on this: continent und that includes Canada. nmi better taste in clothes than those of any other continent. Certainly in Film. R-Ome. Londolv and athei-