Elie Guardian

CHI!“ Prince Edward Island Like the Den '1 H sow ewry week-day morning It 16.) Prince Street J‘u'lilteioun I’.E.l.. by lilUlll oi. Newspapeia Ltd. In A Burnett, Publisher and General Manager Frank \l'alkrr, Editor Member Canadian Daily Newapapu Publishers Association Member oi The Canadian Prlests - Audit Bureau of Circuaiona Bron-i gliiillgtii Summcl‘side. Monta;.ue anti Albertan Repvesentcd Nallflflfllly hy l'hoinson Newsuapcrl Adiertismg Service 64 King Street West Tomntu. Ont. b-I.) Cathcari SL. Montreal 1030 West Georgia 51... V'ancouxer “1 Carrier Charlottetown. Summerside 3tc per week By Mai elsewhere in P.E.l $9.00 per annum. Other Pv-vinces and United States 512.00 per annum “The strongest memory is weaker than - n the wen/cent ink.

PAGE 4 TUESDAY. DEC. 16, 1958

Mr. Pickersgill's Defense

liven though we cannot agree with him, we are glad to hear from Mr. Pickeisgill, former Minister of Citiz- enship and Immigration in the St. Laurent Government, whose letter ap- pears in today’s Public Forum. He takes issue with our statement as to the niggardly treatment we and the other Atlantic Provinces received from the Federal Treasury under Lib- eral rule, especially with regard to the distribution of revenue under the tax agreements. In the Maritimes, this was one of the main issues in the election campaign in which the St. Laurent Government was defeated: and we do not think the' electors Were unduly severe in their judge- ment at that time. -‘

The issue, as Mr. Pickersgill will recall, was brought to a head at the Dominion-Provincial Conference of November, 1957, when to compensate for years of neglect a grant of $100,- 000,000 was made by the incoming Diefenbaker Government, over a. four year period, to the Atlantic Provinces. Originally the grant was intended for the Maritime Provinces alone, as New- foundland’s claims were then before a Royal Commission. But so ur- gently did Premier Smallwood plead Newfoundland’s case that his (and Mr. Pickersgill’s) Province was in- cluded in the adjustment ‘grant. It was, he maintained, not just a mat- ter of another few dollars, but of direst need. “It is life or death. It means the success or failure of Con- federation.” Mr. Smallwood said he didn't dare go back home if he failed to make this point. 1

Another Liberal spokesman at that

conference was Premier Matheson of this Province, who made ,no bones about denouncing the tax agreements as “unrealistic, and wholly inade- quate” so far as we were concerned. The weakness in the system, he 'said,’ had been pointed out to the Federal Government “at many conferences,” and had been recognized by eminent writers on the subject in Canada and the United States. It was, for one thing, largely based on a per capita‘ plan of Compensation. The combina- tion of a standard tax yield and equal- ization grant failed to compensate for the inequalities of the per capita plan. The system also failed to recognize the differences in tax effort in fields other than income taxes, and it did not allow for the steady decrease in the purchasing power of the dollar.

This Province, Premier Matheson maintained, had exploited every fea- sible means for raising provincial re- venue. At the last session of the Leg- islature it had increased the gasoline tax to 16 cents. For the last'thrce years the Province had gone behind at the rate of two million dollars a year, and there was little hope of remedying this situation under exist- ing federal payments.

“On top of this," our Liberal Pre~ mier added, “we have been assessed $1,141,000 by the Federal Govern- ‘ment (the St. Laurent Government) for an overpayment under the 1952 Tax Rental Agreement because the Federal Bureau of Statistics had over- estimated our population figures. This amount is repayable, monthly, over the five fiscal years, starting last April. However, this temporary relief affords no solution to our present problem. It just amounts to some $228,000 per annum less in sorely- needed revenue.”

To strike a proper balance between what we received from Ottawa and what we were entitled to receive, Premier Matheson asked for an ad- ditional five million dollars annually and for the cancellation of the debt in respect to overpayment made un- der the 1952 tax agreement.

The Nova Scotia and New Bruns- wick Premiers also presented evidence of inequalities in the tax agreements affecting their provinces, on which we need not enlarge.

That was the picture presented in 1957, after the Diefenbaker Govern- ment took office and after all those years of Liberal rule and annual sur- pluses amounting, in some years, to hundreds of millions of dollars. While payments to all the Provinces had I

gone up with the continued use in the gross national product. the lil- crease to the Atlantic Provinces was less marked than elsewhere and in the case of Prince Edward island was very small indeed. Nor did we receive any redress under the “new tax-shar- ing payments" in Mr. Harris’ 1957 budget, which were acclaimed as re- presenting a 20 per cent boost to the Provinces generally. In the circum- stances, we do not think thatour cri- ticism was out of place, or that Mr. Pickersgill has a leg to stand on in arguing that the treatment we re- ceived was other than parsimonious.

ll . . \\ Bramwashing

A disturbing book—and yet perhaps a much needed one—called “Brainwashing In The High Schools” has been written by E. Merrill Root, a. noted American educator (Pub- lisher, Devin-Adair).

This is an examination of eleven American History textbooks used in

‘ one large High School in a Mid-

West city. The inference is that they are used in a good many other schools as well.

Professor Root found that with the exception of one book, “History Of A Free People” by-Bragdon and McCutchen, the series follows an “anti-traditionalist and unhistorical line which tends to parallel the Marxist criticism of the Capitalist culture.” Patriotism and nationalism are slighted. While Fascism is de- nounced vigorously, Communism, which is every bit as totalitarian in practice as the other, is hardly criticized at all. In fact, anti-Com- munism is portrayed as the worse of the two. These, at any rate, are Professor Root’s conclusions; and

' his analysis appears‘lto have been

well thought out- The only bright note is the fact that “History or A Free People”, which positively sup- ports Western democratic institu- tions, was introduced as a result of

public criticism of the history course. Most of the other books, hOWCVer, were published several

years ago, some as far back as 1948. Some of them, Professor Root suggests, are going out of

favour. ‘

Professor Root does not blame The teachers at all. Many of them, he thinks, are much better than.

their text-books and do a lot to

counteract the books’ influence. The fault must lie with “ultra-liberal” educators who are mainly respon-

sible for selecting textbooks. If his , charges are only half true, they:

make a sorry picture of at least .one segment of American education. A

As far as we know, no such criticism can be made of Canadian history texts. Just the same, great vigilance is needed to keep out the subverting influence.

EDITORIAL NOTES .

An American inventor has pat-, .ented a “high-speed pork-and beans packing machine.” It cuts the pork and deposits a piece into each can as it passes a station. Finding the pork in “pork-and-beans” has al- ways been difficult. Perhaps from now on it will be less so.

II! I #

How can there be any agreement between the Soviet Union and the West on the problem of surprise nuclear attack as long as the Rus- sians believe that the "international inspectors” suggested by the West would actually be espionage agents trying to steal their military sec- rets? It 'doesn’t seem possible.

a: n- It

Once again the UN. General Assembly. has passed a resolution asking the Soviet Union “to cease repression in Hungary.” Nothing is to be gained 'by bringing this sub- ject up periodically. The Western nations might have helped the Hun- garians when they revolted in October 1956. They can do little for them now; and all the talk of which U.N. delegates are capable will not alter the situation.

n: V at: an '

US. Secretary of State Dulles says it is “possible” that the Ad- ministration will pay more heed to Democratic opinion in Co ress, as a result of the Democratic sweep in the November election. They had better, if they expect the Demo- crats to co-operate as well as they have done in the past. The fact is that more Democrats than Republi- cans have supported the President’s policies

DISGUISED IN FANCY WRAPPINGS

OTTAWA REPORT

National Airport Plan

By Patrick

The federal government is in- creasineg willing to act as fairy godmother to air trans- portation. shouldeing its costly overhead expenses in this tem- porary development period more generously than any government ever did for shipping, railroads or highway buses.

Transport Minister G-erirge Hees told Parliament that under the national airport plan, his de- partment “will be responsible for the financing and construction of runways, taxiways. lighting systems and aids to navigation needed at any airport served by scheduled airlines. And this of- fer of federal money is regard- less of who may operate the airfield." ' ,

The department of transport today operates no less than 115 major airfields across Canada. Five comparable airfields are run by municipalities.

T' e number of airliners using most of these airports is not yet large enough to permit the land- ing fees and rentals to cover the cost of the elaborate organiza- tion and complicated equipment required for handling the large modern airliners. The govern- ment has to act as "Angel" to these temporarily uneconomic air- ports. or they would not be op- crated.

Toronto's Malton airport aver- ages 150 air movements each day; enough to let it record the

PUBLIC' FORUM

This column is open to the discus

lion by correspondents of question 0.

interest. The Guardian. does not noses

aarlly ~endorse the opinion of corrcs pondents.

ATLANTIC PROVINCES GRANTS

Sir.—I have just seen an editorial which appeared in the Charlottetown Guardian on Nov- ember 241h, entitled “A Hollow Sound" in which you state in the third paragraph that “des pite annual surpluses amounting to hundreds of millions of d21- lars. it was virtually impossible for the Atlantic Provinces to squeeze an extra dollar out of the Federal Treasury during the many years of Liberal rulc. Even the so-called ‘tax-shering’ payments were apparently given grudgingly.”

I am sure you would not have made this statement if you had stopped to look again at the whole record. The tax-sharing ard tax-rental payments were: ins-.ituted by the Liberal Gov- ernment under Mr. Mackenzie King after the war and on two occasions greatly increased by the Liberal Government of Mr. St. Laurent. This was-done in spite of the fact that the Liberal policies were opposed by Mr. George Drew and Mr. Maurice Duplcsds. and while not direct- ly opposed, strongly criticized by the Conservative Opposition in the House of Commons right up until the election of June 1957.

In 1945 the ilircc Provinces

MariLime were receiving, unm dcr the Wartime Tax Agree- ment, only seven and three- quarter million dollars. In the year of 1956-57 the same three Provinces received in tax-ren- tals more than forty-three mil-‘ lions and in Mr. Harris' budget of 1957, under the new tax shar- , ing payment the estimated total ; for the three Maritime Provin- ces for 195758 was nearly fifty-l two millions. In other words in, the twelve years of post-war. Liberal Government the pay-l menis to the three Maritime}

l

l

Provinces under the tax-shar-i ing arrangemcnas were increas- cd almost seven fold. '

It is surely, therefore. a dis- regard of the facts to suggest that during this period it was virtually impox‘siblc for the At- lantic Provinces to squeeze n'i‘ extra dollar out of the l’cdcr'l Treasury. lndecd 1 would sing-l

Nicholson

highest profit of any Canadian airport—$548,000—l-ast year. Mon- treal and Winnipeg were the only other major airports to earn a profit for the government, which last year shouldered a net loss of $5,000,000 for the whole coun- try. But within a very few years, vastly increased air travel will make all our main airports pro- fita'ble.

SAFETY FIRST

Our national aviation policy has rightly always ranged safety as of prime importance. Public money available for aviation has been spent firstly on radio and electronic equipment to guide and assist pilots» Today, a net- work of all-weather omnidirect- ional ranges, blanketting the air- ways of southern Canada, is al- most completed.

It is largely thanks to this, coupled with our rigorous system of licensing pilots and certify- ing iircraft, that scheduled air- lines only experienced one fatal accident last year, killing 13 pas- sengers. In contrast, railway ac. cidents caused all) deaths.

With the installation of mod- ern navigational aids almost com- plete, money can now be diver- ted to the secondary priority: passenger convenience on the ground. Airi terminal buildings suited to the Jet Age have been opened at seven airports in the past two years, and are being built at eleven others.

“Our largest appropriation now is for construction of air. port buildings.” Transport Min- ister Hees has revealed. “This item has grown to $61,000,030 this year. an increase of 80 per cent over last year."

~“Tliis,” he stressed, “is gear- ed to aviation requirements over the next ten years.”

FULL USE OF THE AIR

The significance of this pro- gram lies in the anticipated growth of our air transportation. At the conservatively 'estimatcd increase of 25 per cent each year, the 4,300,000 airline passen—

gers of last year will increase to

gest that was entirely in line with the policies followed by Liberal Governments for Mr. Pearson at the recent meeting of the Liberal Federation to an- nounce that a Liberal Govern- ment would put the special grants to the Atlantic Provinces on a more permanent basis. We in the Liberal Party in 'Parliamonvt have consistently :ivcn thc prevent Government rcdiit for' starting the new At~ intic Provinces Grants but we aave indicated that they are My another installment of the six-sharing policy started by the hiberels ard that the basic they of taxoharing is even 131‘0 important to the Atlantic ’rovinces than this latest add-l- tion to that policy. I am. Sir. clc.. J. W. PICKERSGLLL

Ottawa, Dec. 10.

(Mr. Pickersgill‘s letter is lealt with editorially in today‘s issue. — Ed. G.l.

NATIONAL SCHOOL BROADCAST ' Sin—Your readers will be in- ‘erested to know that a Prince “udward Island school has been elected for the first time in Tailoral School Broadcast his- ory to provide the annual

thristmas Carol programme. Mr. Roy Mugford. supervisor f music at Queen Charlotte liin School, Charlottetown. will \resent his choir of sixty voices n a programme which will be roadcast on Friday, Dcccm-"cr 9th, at 10:00 am. over the I.B.C. national network and 53 iffilia10d stations. For the con- eniencc of listeners in Prince idward Island. the programme "Ill be carried by our local tation, C.F‘.C.Y.. at the same iour. I am, Fir, Cli‘.. K, ,\. PARKER Supm‘miendom of Schools

about 26,750,000 by 1967. That is roughly four million more pas- sengers than our trains carried last year.

The ai rt terminal buildings now being erected will be able to handle this increased traffic without costly alterations or ad- ditions. They are the most ad- vanced in the world, designed especially for the huge airliners )f the Jet Age.

An equally farsighted aspect of our national airport plan will help to‘ implement Prime Minis- ter John Diefenbaker’s “Vision” of northern development.

This is the new policy where~ by the government will open its purse to help certain types of airfield not meeting the previous requiremeri of being used by scheduled airlines.

The government will pay up to $100,000 to Share in the cost of any airstrip needed for the op- ening up of major natural re- sources; or for transportation in communities periodically de-

port by climatic conditions. It will also assist prestige airports, desired to improve the status of a comm-unity which wishes to keep up with the J ant-Age Joneses

Finally, Canada can feel proud that the world's first interna- tional Arctic airport has been constructed on a hitherto ob- scure beach in Baffin Island. Named Frobisher, it is already bustling with airliners regular. ly flying the shorter Great Cir- cle route between western Eur- ope and western North America. When the big jet airliners roll off the production lines in the next tivo years, Canada’s air- ports will be ready to accom- modate them and their increas-

prived of normal surface trans-'

i Chronicolly

Ill Patients

By Herman N. Bundescn, MD. IS A PERSON who is chrom- cally ill better off at home or in a hospital? ; This is the soul-searching pro- 1| blem so many younger personsi experience these days as their‘ parents become older and ill.

MANY ANGLES

There are many things to take into consideration.

First. of course, should be your doctor's opinion. If he be- lieves that the patient will be better off in a hospital, at least for a time, then that is the best possible place for him.

If the patient has no real need, for hospital care, however, then he probably would be far bet- ter off at home.

FINANCIAL ADVANTAGES

Caring for one who faces a long illness at home has many advantages, not the least of which is financial.

For example, the cost of hos- pital care in a large Clly'ls now about $22 per day. Caring for the same patient at home would cost approximately $3.50 or a savings of $18.50 per day.

I want to emphasize, however, that the choice between home or hospital care shouldn't be based

mon 'al-one. onA decision by a family to take care of a chronically ill mem- ber at home is likely to have a very favorable effect on the patient.

N0 SIMPLE TASK

If you plan to undertake home care of a member of your fam- ily. make sure that you. or the one who will be handling most of the care, is up to the Job. It is not a simple task. ' _

Home care is an all-incluswe jobs which generally means mar- keting, planning meals, bedside care, bathing the patient, care of the bedclothing and general care of the home. . ,

Anyone undertaking such a Job should be healthy and strong, must be stable and mature and have sound judgment. Moreover, she should be able to under- stand older persons and accept their idiosyncrasies.

HOPEFUL OUTLOOK

She must have a hopeful out- look and must be able to com- municate this optimism to the patient. /

She must maintain a pleasant atmosphere not only in the Sick room but throughout the home, Air fresheners, for example, should be used often.

SMALL FEEDINGS

The doctor’s advice about the patients diet should be followed but generally appetites of such patients are poor and I suggest. smaller feedings, possibly 51X times a day, instead of the cus- toma-ry three heavier meals. QUESTION AND ANSWER

D.H.: My sixteen-yearold son developed epilepsy following a recent accident.

Why did he not show some signs of this disease at birth or in childhood? .

Answer: Epilepsy, may first manifest itself at any age. A sudden strain such as a high fe- ver or an accident may help in- duce the first attack.

There is a special type of epil- osy called “Jacksonian Epilepsy’ which follows injury to an area of the brain. This type can some- times be relieved by operation.

The Age Old Story

He hath put a new song In my mouth, even praise unto our

ing passengers.

Throughout his long and as- lIonishingly successful political career, W.lliam Lyon Mackenzie King, retained an instinctive aicion of great wealth.

Yet it is doubtful, ion the basis .f information that has become available since his death in 1950, if any Canadian statesman ever owned quite as much to the gen- erosity of wealthy patrons and benefactors.

No biographer has yet accus- ed Mr. King of undervaluing money. Indeed, there is grow- in; evidence that money and its wssessicn became almost an ab- session; an obsession following in the wake of the spectre of pov- arty that haunted him.

During his early formative years, money was in exceed;ngly :hort supply. His family, genteel but in straitened circumstanccs- never had quite enough of this elusive commodity to make ends meet. Lack of funds threatened on many Occasions King's pro- mising career. These were scars apparently, that did not fade with time which explain a pre- occupation wilh the amassing cf money which is otherwise inex- plicablc.

The late R. MacGregor Daw- son, in his excellent biography “William Lyon Mackenzie King: a Political Biography" com- ments at one point: “The quest- ion of personal finances was never far from his thoughts“, AN EARLY FRIEND

An early friend in need encoun- tered by Mr. King, though by no means the first, was Miss Viola Markham, a wealthy Eng- lishwoman and an earnest so- cial reformer. whom he had met in Ottawa in 1905. They found

that they had much in com- mcn. Ellie contributed £200 is t c r l i n gl towards King‘s