’ PAGE 4 THURSDAY, JAN. 8, 1959.

Social Security.

‘Higher social security taxes and _ benefits went into effect in the Un- | ited States on New Year’s Day. For employers and employees the tax rises from 2 1-4 per cent each on the first $4200 of the em- ployee’s pay to 2 1-2 per cent on the first $4800. Employers. will match the contributions -dollar for dollar, as they have done since the system was established, in’ 1937, at a rate of 1’ per cent each on the first $3000 of earnings. For self-employed per- sons the tax goes up from 3 3-8 per cent of the first $4200-of earnings to 3 3-4 per ‘cent of the first $4800. For a person receiving $4800 or more, this means a 1959 tax of $180, $38.25 more than he paid in 1958. '’ Primary benefits, those payable to retired workers at the age of 65, ranged from $30 to $108.50 a month - under the old law. The new bene- fits will range from $33 to $118.

There has been some talk of in- troducing a similar system in Can-

«

ada. In fact, a report is now being ©

prepared for the Federal Govern- ment by a professor who was ap- pointed to look into the matter. As a supplement to the universal old

age pension it might possibly be of .

some value. It would not; however, be a satisfactory substitute. As stat- ed above, the minimum payment is $33 a month, and: the maximum

: $118. This formula probably brings -the average benefit to about $60 a month, a little more or less; and, .of course, the direct contributory angle has to be taken. into account.

The American Dollar

Monetary. currencies, like most other things of value, have their higk points and their depression. Take the American dollar, for ex- ample. Only a the one thing coveted by people everywhere. In this country it was considered so valuable that a high premium was placed on it. But for some time now, it has been subject- ed to a discount in its relation to the Canadian dollar. This does not

‘\

mean that the American dollar is {}

no longer wanted in this country.

“It means only that in the money markets it has not been~able io _hbld its own. In other words, it is not as attractive a currency as it once was. - : ;

The latest financial develop ments in Europe—especially in Great Britain—is seen in American financial and ,Government circles as an indication of increasing indif- ference ‘towards the dollar. Some justification for this line of thought is found in the British press. The day after convertibility was announ- ced, the London Daily Telegraph, noting that the. pound was more than holding its own, said that “it is still the dollar that cannot look

* the pound inthe face, not the ther. way round”, The Times of London, in a little. more restrained manner, as becomes that cautious paper, ob served that “the United States dol-

lar is ina less,.dominant position ' than at any other time since the war”. Tne Financial Times report-

ed that ‘‘for some time the dollar.

has been given a lower rating in the international] markets than the West German Deutsche mark and the Swiss. Franc’. It added that “the dollar's decline to a lower place than the pound’ sterling can be expected’. ke

There is some Speculation that the United States might be forced .to devaluate its dollar by increas- ing the price of gold. American Treasury officials have denied that any such action is in prospect. It may be noted, ’ however, that so far this year, the outflow of gold has amounted to miore than $2 billion. This was due, in part at least, to-the converting by foreign- ers of their-dollar holdings into gold.

The substance of the matter -is

that the American dollar is not

.

»

few years ago it was.

treated with the sarke respect a it demanded in the early post-w period. One simple reason for this is that foreigners do not have the same need for it as they had in the: past. Another is the huge budget de- ficits which the United States _has piled up in recent years. ie Common Measurements After years of discussion the

English speaking countries—Austra- .

-New_ Zealand, ;

rica, the United Kingdom and the

“Gia States—have agreed_to_ es-_ tablish a common inch and a com- ‘mon pound. From new on, the inch in-all these countries will be equal to 2.54 centimeters and the’ pound equal to 0.45359237 kilograms. At present the United States, the - United Kingdom and Canada each

) has’a different inch. Since 1893, the

American inch has been equal to 2.- 540005 centimeters. The British inch has been equal to 2.539996 centi-

. meters. Canada in 1951 adopted the

2.54 centimeter inch.

Until now the American pound:

has been equal to .4545924277 kilo- grams, the British equal to .43592338 kilograms and the Canadian equal to -45359237 kilograms.

. For ordinary use these differen- ces in measurements and weights are, of course, inconsequential. But for scientific purposes they mean something. From now on, an_inch will be a standard inch and a pound a standard pound in all six countries.

The New York Times points out that the basic unit of the English weight system is the grain—a unit dating back to the time when grains of wheat were used as standards of weight. Under the new standard, a grain will be equal to .06479891 grams.

The United States gallon and the British gallon will continue as before.

The U.S. gallon is equal to 231 cubic

inches, while the British Imperial gallon is the volume of 10 pounds of water. The British gallon is roughly equal to 1.20094 American gallons. The double standard .in measure- ments was introduced in 1793, when the French Govertiment adopted the “metric system. The meter was sup- posed to be one 10-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the Equator when measured on.a straight line running along the surface of the earth through Paris.

EDITORIAL NOTES

The Japanese have just entered the “year of the Wild Boar’. Let us hope that it won't be as rougli

on them as the name suggests.

Market, which went into effect in six European countries on January 1, includes a population of 160 millions, roughly

The Common

equal’ to that of the- United States. |

Rikkyo University in Tokyo h completed plans to build an atomic energy research institute on an 8- acre plot in Yokosuka, formerly oc- cupied by the U.S. Navy in Japani. The new institute will contain an atomic reactor donated by the Epis- ‘ copal Church in the United States.

» - *

The “one-drink” order issued by Premier Khrushchev~has gone into effect in the Soviet Union. Under the

rule, restaurants are allowed to serve customers’ only one drink. If this_applies to state banquets,. of-

ficial receptions and thé like, we can see whére Mr. Khrushchev is going

to be in bad humor a lot of the time. * > * 4

At the first: session «of the new -

« French

' National Assembly, the Speaker. referred to General de Gaulle in this manner: “There is

no example for France and for the Republic of everyone owing so much to a single mai”. Whereupon, the Assembly rose to a .man‘ and ap-

plauded vigorously. The few Com- |

munists elected were not and all ‘the other Gaullist supporters.

Parliament. *

present? members are de

Newfoundlanders have found a new export business. Five ship? ments of ponies, known locally as «Torbay nags” have been made to " Saakntchelaas, ‘with. prospects .- of more to: follow. The: dnimals brought prices ranging from $40 to $70 each. The buyers purchased them for breeding and training, as carnival riding horses for children. The horses are very small and docile. Known — only land, the species has been onthe ‘island from earliest days of coloniz- ation. Torbay, a community just out- side St. John’s, once had large num- bers of them ; hence, the name.

———_

Seah

It’s a strange ~

in Newfound--

: But the union demanded $10 | community of eight million cit-

i

i '

|

j

sarily endorse

That is, shall we continue to re-

ANOTHER MESSAGE FROM SPACE

a

OTTAWA REPORT

Economic Civil War

By Patrick

Public opinion polls in cere are reflecting the current maj- | ority feeling that, while labour unions are “a good thing,”’ they | have obtained too much power. |

A classic capsule view of the | danger to a community of an ex-' cess of union power was presen- ted in New York City during the Christmas rush period. There 877 | highly-paid semi-skilled workers | disrupted the daily life of a city. of eight million citizens; they were the direct cause of more than 15,000 members of nine other unions being thrown out

of- work and off the payroll; and théy cost retail stores; restaur- ants, theatres and other busi-| nesses, catering to the high- spending Christmas trade, an estimated $50.000,.000 in lost sales:

4,400 members of the Union of Newspaper and Mai! Deliverers in New York decided that their | base pay of $103.82 for a 40-hour week was insufficient. The nine | newspapers employing them of- fered a package increase of $7 per week, spread over two years.

A strike vote was taker, but only 1,649 of the 4400 union membership obtained a_ voting

majority in favour of strike ac- tion: 877 in favour, 772 against. | WAS STRIKE SUCCESS?

After 19 days of strike, which left the city without newspapers, anotker vote was held, This time 78 per cent of the union, or 3.438 members, took the trouble to vote and by a whopping six to one ma- jority agreed to en the strike and accest an offer of a wage in- crease of $5.30 spread over two years, plus fringe benefits

But meanwhile, considerable

PUBLIC FORUM

This column sn! as the | discus sion by correspdndents of questfon’ c, interest. The Guardian does not feses the opinion of corres pondents

BRIGHTER OUTLOOK FOR 1959 —~

It very gratifying to see signs of more favorable rela- | tions in the Middle East for freer world w thought and Was so stron I refer especially to the strong | man we call Nasser of Egypt. Many of our self-centered politi. | cians especially in England could |

Sif, is

onfy see in this-man another Communist‘ running over with blind ambitions. But after two” years Very plainly and to .the point has he shown himself a

true hero to -his people. | In which way.*you may ask, Is this man a hero and worthy of | a name in the annals of history? | Here is my reason as I see it. Egypt is one of our poorer na- tions with very few products for |

export. Nevertheless he knew the |} mighty potential in the form of hydro power. But being financial- ly ynable to bay a. multi-mil- lion do'lar dam for this purpose | at that time, he had the pro- | mise of assistance from. Eng- land and United States, chiefly United States. But after careful consideration the, deal was can- celled for fear of «non-repay- ment. To this end the” canal was lationalized after France and

England shared the lion's part of its profit for nearly a century.

Now that he has the Arab couin- tries .weH organ'zed under. his leavorship, he had of recent date | the Communists ef Syriaswho were posing him. at the seme \time aegotia ting a “hunired million dollar lean from Russia. Do you) wonder why we. rac him the. strong man of E« ?

It-has been said, once to ewky man ahd nation comes the mo- ment to decide. We decided to our sorrow with Nasser. Once a- tain the western powers shall soon make another-decision and in this ease time-i® running out.

cinaianatigg es “ee +

| ENVIOUS NEIGHBOR

where compulsion of S apparently | - g the last few years.

\ peace. Both Hitler

courage to lash cut on_the j

Nicholson

hardship had been enforced upon | families of ‘15,000 workers, such | as typesetters, printers, engrav- ers and reporters, who had been | forced out of work and hence forced off the payroll, at this sea- son of goodwill to all men and high-spending by everyone. And. many businesses, which depend | lapgely on sales sparked by ef. | fective newspaper advertising, lost money instead of earning profits in the Christmas boom. The little regard in which the striking union is held is eviden- ced by omment in a week- | ly magazine, eect referred to! the “tough an ruculent deliv- erymen™, and/pointed out that many of them can boost their weekly pay $104 to as much as $250 by working extra shifts,” taking extra s, and even “‘by | charging newsstand dealers for |

“msurance’ against such hazards

as truck damage to their kiosks

or bundles of newspapers drop-

ped in the gutter’.

RIGHT TO DISRUPT OTHERS? That classic view of union pow-

er poses the question: “should a

izens be held up by eight hundred

workers?” : The answer is possibly ‘ves

if those workers are suffering se

_ation and lost export

vere hardship from working con- ditions imposed by a greedy mon- ; opoloistic employer.

But is a worker suffering hard. | ship, when he is paid $i4-a-week or $2.60 an ‘hour for the semi- skilled tast of driving a truck— i perhaps into kiosks—and dropping | off newspapers—perhaps into the | gutter, and when he is offered a pay increase of $7? |

On the other hand. is a com- | munity not suéfering severe hardship when it is held up by a — union in that fash- ion?

ks it proper that any worker, who is unwilling to work for the wages offered by. an honest em- ployer, should even be able to preveet another fellow citizen from accepting those wages and taking on job if he wishes to? , Is that not a monopoly in re-! straint of trade, just as effec-| tive and damaging as Big Bus- | iness is now by law prevented from exercising? -

Big Business is bad for ~ na- _tion’s economy: so is Big Govern- “ment. The time has perhaps come when he should examine whether Big Labour. is not just as bad. The tragedy of this economic ci- vil war is that it is leading us straight down the road marked “Inflation”, towards the econo mic miseries of currency de valuation and confiscatory tax- markets and hence unemployment which | are now being endured by other | countries which have marched this road before us.

Unrest In Be

‘By Joseeph

Canadian Press Staff Writer

The Belgian Congo riots. are another symptom of black Af- rica's hunger for independence and equality. But they involve new aspects of the black man’s struggle against the white.

Under the te& is the Belgian system of colonial administra- tion, which ‘in the past _ has been strong in economic welfare, weaker on political rights.

Britain and France—with their differing colonial systems — al- ready have felt the full weight ot | militant African ependence movements, and haVe reacted in their own ways. Now it looks like Belgium's turn. ;

MacSween though the | subject of: much criticism—has' for years been to |

; NOT UNEXPECTED

It seems certain that the Con- go's troubles arise partly from} its se ‘social association with neighboring French Equatorial Africa, which attained a measure | of imiependence by recently elect- | ing to remain with Premier

, Charles de Gau!le’s French com- |

munity of nations. | ‘The Congo, sitting athwart the Equator, also borders the British colonies of Northern Rhodesia, Tanganyika anil Uganda, all! of

| which are more highly developed

Politically. : The policy of the. British— al-

fuse China a seat in the U.N. ! One of thoSe days China shall be | .armed, to the teeth, and with Russia's might. she may not even thank the West for a seat in this , Sreat institution, and not even consider the opinions of other nations when it comes to war or Germany and Mussolini. gf Ital} did_ this very thing.

It is high time that we. tried | some other means of peace and good will among. nations. We | know now where we are heading | with the philosophy of superior arms. over our enemies. The

wisest Man that ever liver near- | ly. two thousand years ago left | those words, *‘He that taketh up | the sword shall perish with the sword.”

Yes, our oficials have a per- fect right to visit other nationals. It .is_real news to learn that His Majesty, the late King George‘ VI wanted to visit Hit- ler just previous to the last war in order. that peace might pre- vail, but we are told he was not allowed. One thing we do know, he was a man of God.

I am. Sir, reic - HARRY PRIDHAM

| Alberton \

wr

—+7

gian Congo

extend and teach self-government | to its African colonies. as exem- ‘plified by the emergence of Ghana as an independent mem- | ber of the British Commonwealth.

The Belgian philosophy has been: first fulfil the physical needs of the Africans: bring so- cial change slowly but inevitably;

hold in abeyance all thought of |

political autonomy.

‘Despite minor disruptions, this |

paternalistic system has worked well since the Congo, one of the

richest of African territories and |

larger in size than Ontario and Quebec together, gian colony in 1908,

But “Belgium recognizel thei!

need for change: before. the cur- |

if Men's Suburban Coats.

95

Boys’ Suburban Coats and Jumbo Coats with detachable

rent troubles began, and let it be known with the new year that .a new declaration on cdlonial pol- icy would be made soon.

NO DEADLINE

This is expected to discuss fu- | ture independence, possibly cl

out touching on a‘time limit, The Belgan government is _ plainly disturbed at African dream federation and immediate self- rule.

The former French territory of UbangiShari, for instance, has taken the name of “the Central

African Republic,” and the Mid- °*die Congo has become ‘the Congo Republic.’ The Belgian

Congo's northern bornierland is occupied. -by the same tribes as inhabit these republics.

Apart from political the government has made sev- eral moves to placate African grievances. The whip has beén abolished as punishment for na- ‘tives in the army and in prisons. And natives now are allowed to move fre¢ly in the white section of Leopoldville, the capital, with- out requiring hard-to-get passes, as formerly. BENEVOLENT RULE

On the whole, Belgium's isa benevolent rule in the Congo, which has a gross national prod- uct of more than $1,009,000,090 and produces Bold, uranium, co balt, copper, diamonds, tin, man. tanes& cotton, coffee and palm oil, on

It has limited white ow nership of land — recognizing that, the basic conflict bétwe®n blacks amd whites in Africa is over land.

became a Bel- |.

s of |

matters,:

Other Health. Problems ‘Ahead

Mental health is a big prob- lem and probably will get even bigger.

40 a. 1 50 per cent of beds in’ North Amer-

.Patients. Thou-

sands more. would benefit from |

hospitalization, but there just isn’t room for them.

“New techniques in treat ment now being applied im several

countries may be of tremendous

help. DISCHARGED SOONER . For example, in one hospital, the average stay of patients be- fore discharge 10 years ago was one year. Today it is four months. In 1948 this hospital had 550! beds and admitted 100 new pa- tients a year. Now it has only 270 beds but gives care to 600

| be solved is the alarming toll of deafhhs from accidents. In the United States and other North American countries, and in parts of Europe, accidents account for nearly one-half of all deaths among boys between the ages of 5 and 9.

Traffic accidents claim the most victims, followed by falls, drownings, fire, explosions and

poisoning. NEW ILLS

Of course we will have wer diseases, too.

Just recently I told you onion | a new disease of the lungs which eventually might become quite a problem. Other diseases, about which we know nothing now, are bound to come along.

However, as in the past, medi- cal science will come up with something to combat them. Whe knows?—perhaps the next few years will be the years during which we, will begin to conquer cancer. ad QUESTION: AND ANSWER

W. J. D.: Eleven years ago, after two pregnancies with com- plications that necessitated a six- months. stay in the ‘hospital— and each time the baby was still- born — surgery was performed and my tubes tied.

Is it possible that I could be- come pregnant?

Answer: Pregnancy has occur- | red after what appeared to be a | proper tying off of the tubes. In

these. cases, the thread used in|},

the ligature might have cut through the tube and pérmitted

re-establishment of the channel.

This, however, is a rare event.

“MAXIMS

Women are by nature endow- ed with the most important of all adaptive traits—the capacity to love—ond this is their princip- al function to teach men. There can be no more important func- tion. It could be wished that both men and “~womerr understand

|

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Africans have access to such jobs as\clerks, machinists, locomotive | engineers, river pilets and minor | administrative posts. i

‘

Momeirs revealiig that the generals disagreed may open floodgates for reminiscences by tlie corporal who never really went along with the sergeant’s concept of grand nm: —Win- nipeg Tribune .

ting comedy often seen in Wes-

ing to slip up on. the villain, be- ing shown riding a white horse

“I believe-in-calling a spade a ‘Spade’, said an emphatic cow- boy in the saloon. ‘That's right, ‘riend, replied Bronco Bob.

“There was a man. who nearly lost his life here by playing cards and trying to call a spade a club.”’—Ottawa Journal

It wasn’t: teo long ago that great prominence was given to stories telling that our win- ters were. getting milder. Those people who were making those statements are in hiding today. The sliding thermometer in re- cent days show that winter can be just as rough as it has. al- ways been:—Windsor Daily Star

-OUR YESTERDAYS

f (From The Guardian Files)

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO (Jan, 8, 1934)

The destruction by fire recent- ly of a C. N. R. refrigerator car and potatoes at Georgetown will be subject to an inquiry today by Division Superifitendent MacKin- non. The investigation will be held at Georgetown in the Super- intendent’s business car, where the evidence of witnesses will be taken.

Councillor Schurman, Chair- man of the Electric Light Com- mittee presented his report at the regular meeting of the Sum- merside Town Council last night: His report gave at some length details of the present power rate. He submitted a motion to make certain changes which he consid- ered would benefit power —users.

TEN YEARS AGO (Jan, 8, 1949)

The Junior Farmers are re- questing each of the eleven groups to submit suggestions for a design and motto for a propos- ed mémbership pin, to be sub- mitted as soon as possible to the Provincial Secretary, Ralph Raynor, Mt. Herbert. Mr. J. D. Moore of the Canadian Council of

' Boys’ and Girls’ Club Work, who

was the guest speaker, suggested that it might be well to have a motto since other farm organiza- tions already had them. |

Mr. E. B. Ellis was elected pre- sident of the O'Leary Branch of the Canadian legion at the an- nual meeting held last night. Oth- er officers include Sterling Bar- bour, first vice-president; Melvin Fish, 2nd. vice-president; and Wendell Turner, apenas anh ee surer.

*who according to the story is try-

along the crest of a hill.—Strat-

| with all their clothes on?” —

NOTES BY THE WAY

Jobs are getting fancier all tiie

time. Repairmen are now called maintenance’ craftsmen; clerks

fice boys are communications expeditors. Strangely enough,

boss.-Wall Street Journal ~~

7 4 ka 4 “a .small girl who was in church for the first time whispered: Twat are they”

whispered her mother. The child looked up in amazement; -exelaimed-in-atoud voice: at Waupaca County Post, Waupaca

Altheugh the village smithy ne longer stands under the spread-

a smithy in many a big city.

he with a paycheck that can to- tal as much as $20,000 a year. So says. the Wall Street Journal in a°’ recent survey.—Sherbrooke Record

Twelve young Canadian niinks

have completed a long air ride from Edmonton to Southwest Af- .

rica where they are to start a new industry in that land. chey are of the sapphire blue variety. The minks are going to be fed on choice meat too. Alreaiy Southwest Africa raises 2,800,000 karakul pelts which are shipped to United States and Canada for Persian lamb coats. The mink will be fed on the carcasses of the karakuls.—London Free Press

TO A CAT

Cat! who hast pass’d thy grand climacteric, How many mice and rats hast in

thy days ; Destroy’d?— How many tit bits - stolen? Gaze

With those bright languid see ments green, and prick

Those velvet ears but prythee do not stick

raise

Thy geatie : mew— and tell me >

thy frays

Of fish and mice, and rats. and tender chick.

Nay, thy dainty wrists—

For all the wheezy asthma,— and for all

though the fists

Of many a maid have given thee a maul,

Still is that fur as soft as when the lists .

In youth thou enter'’dst on glass bottled wall. : {

—John Keats.

. . .80 is a contentions man te

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