Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 6, 1915, Winnipeg, Manitoba Editorial Section to 14 Winnipeg tuesday july Jug 1915. Published every by the Manitoba free press limited at Miheli offices 300-302-304-306 Carlton Street Winnipeg Man. E. H. Macklin. President and general Maneger. Telephone Calls. Main 63-10 private Branch Exchange Counsi Oliie All departments Day aha night sundays and Public holidays de , boo mailers building. York office x Henry Klebahn. Room 306, no. 1 West 3-Hu Street. Eastern Canada representative Kisiar .1 Guy. Canada. Life building Toronto. English representative y. Large. 29 Ludgate Hill London at the general Post office. London. England for transmission through the malls in the British Isles at Inland Revenue rates. Freedom of Trade Liberty in re Ligion Equality in civil rights. Tuesday july a 1915. 1 of Sibyle a emedies. Yesterday the free press Dis cussed at some length the matter of election petitions Ami the reasons Why they Are ineffective As a Means of combating electoral corruption. The conditions thus set Forth Are undoubtedly unsatisfactory and not in the interests of the Public. Can anything be done to improve them without doubt our election Laws can be greatly improved. The time wasting provisions covering preliminary objections should be Cut out. And facilities supplied for the Early trial of election petitions. A Bill providing for Swift action in election petitions was submitted to tiie Manitoba legislature during the 1914 session by trios. H. Johnson. Needless to say it got Short shrift from the majority which then con trolled the legislature. A further provision in the Law that a court shall hear evidence As Long As the Petitioner is prepared to submit it would also help in that Case a Petitioner who had gone to great trouble to collect evidence of corruption would be Able to spread it on the records and get costs from the court for every charge proved. The present procedure by which an election petition can be terminated at any time by an admission of guilt the whole population and its willing Tiess to make the necessary sacrifices. There was no such unanimity in the great Napoleonic War. There was a Liberal element in England which was not in sympathy with the relentless prosecution of the War against the French Empire. Napo Leon was not without his admirers in England Many of them in High places. There Are Little groups in great Britain today discordant voices against the general determination to push the War to Victory. Or. Ramsay Mac Donald and his Small following Are still concerned to uphold their View that sir Edward Grey s diplomacy during recent years was a contributing though relatively. A minor cause of the War. This group comprises the Independent labor is not to be confused of the real labor party which is re presented in the National govern few Ultra Radical members of parliament and a miscellaneous collection of Cranks socialists idealists dreamers a and self advertisers but even in this Camp no voice is raised that great Britain should abandon participation in the War. Notwithstanding this National Solidarity there has been since the opening of the War no Lack of political discussion in great Britain of it of an openly partisan character. What in or. Meighen s opinion brought about the change of government in great Britain the new government in the opinion of Many competent observers is not the equal of the one it replaced in ability but it was necessary to Call it into beg to secure the necessary measure of support if the War was to be successfully prosecuted. Or. Asquith found that a government representing a segment of the people could not carry with it the Hearty support of the whole people in the extreme measures necessitated by the War. Despite professions of Loyal support the temptation to the opposition to pay off old scores when occasion arose was irresistible. There was continual sniping from the opposition with occasional concerted attacks upon members of the Liberal government against whom is a. Powerful incentive to settling there were deep unionist grudges valuation of Telephone Plant shows big shortage appraisal of physical assets of Telephone system gives them a value of Only although on the books they Are rated As Worth o loss represented by payments to Bell Telephone company petitions out of court. It is difficult however to see How the jaw can prevent the discontinuance of election petitions if the parties making the charges Don t care to go on with them. It is True that the consent of a judge to the dismissal of an election petition is necessary but if no evidence is submitted what can the judge it is proposed in some quarters to meet the situation by the appoint ment of a Public really it would be laughable if it were not tragic to note the childish Faith of the people in a form of words. The Public prosecutor would of course be appointed by the government of the Day and he would operate with funds voted by parliament at Hie request of the government. When there is widespread Politi Cal corruption the chief sinner nine times out of ten. Is the government of the Day. The opposition usually has neither the Opportunity nor the Means to compete with the govern ment in this respect. A Public prosecutor appointed by such a govern ment As that which held office in this province for the past fifteen years would be As keen As Mustard in prosecuting and worrying the Liberal opposition while he would take particular care to see that nothing came out about the much greater corruption on his own Side. Imagine if you can a Public prosecutor appointed by the attorney general of Manitoba inquiring in mis into the Gimli election there can be no substantial improvement until there is a higher Standard of morality among the people. When the unseating of representatives for corrupt practices is made legally possible and Politi Cally profitable it will be resorted to More freely by the opposition which is the party to whom we must look for action of this character but As Long As it is impossible to defeat a government candidate in a Liy election owing to a willingness of whole communities to sell their votes for a Post office or a wharf notably Haldane and Churchill. Sir. Asquith who is a Wise and Able Man did not retaliate by appealing to the Public by an election course which might have saved the government and ruined the state. He decided that in View of the burdens to be carried the government should be re constructed not on party but on National lines and there therefore came into being a coalition government represent ing the whole nation and All parties in the House of commons except the Irish nationalists whose abstention was voluntary. The Advent of the new government has not stopped discussion but it now deals More with methods and is not in its intention so obviously partisan. Or. Meighen s attention is directed to these developments in great Britain but not for the purpose of suggesting that in Canada the Bor Den government should be replaced by a National Cabinet. There apparent sentiment in favor of such a not in the lib eral which is quite prepared to have the Borden government Deal with All matters of the War and to give it its Hearty support if it will concentrate its energies upon the prosecution of the War and Stop its party scheming. There has never been any apparent inclination on the part of sir Wilfrid Laurier of utilize the War for party advantage. I will he said in Toronto open the door to office with that this readiness support the government would have relieved the Borden administration of All political Ern harassment if it had been big enough to put aside All projects of party aggrandizement As a by product of the War but the furthering of party advantage far More than the effective prosecution of the War has been the fixed idea of a prominent element in the Borden government. That it Lias not yet abandoned its Hopes in this direction is evident by or. Meighen s offensive and provocative harangues which Are deliberately intended to evoke party strife. The following correspondence from the officials it the Telephone commission to the minister of telephones is a very ample confirmation of the charge made by the liberals when in opposition that the Telephone system was shy Ove r a million dollars of its claimed value. The appraisal made by t. W. Delaney at the request of the minister shows that the difference Between the claimed value and the actual value amounts to of which no less than was due to excess pay ments when the system was purchased from the Bell Telephone company. Following Are the official statements setting Forth the shortage june 25, 1915. Hon. A. B. Hudson attorney general parliament buildings Winnipeg. Dear compliance with your request made at our last advisory Board meeting for a statement showing the Plant valuation of the Manitoba government telephones similar to the one submitted to the Royal Corn Mission in 1912, i beg to enclose Here with two copies of the statements 1 and report received from our auditor or. Delaney and the same is herewith1 enclosed for your information yours truly Geo. A. Watson commissioner. Winnipeg june 23, 1915. Or. Geo. A. Watson commissioner building. With instructions received at the last advisory Board meeting i beg to advise that we Haye compiled unit costs of All Plant additions made during the period from january 1, 1908, to november 30, 1914, and by applying these unit costs to the Plant As purchased i find the construction costs of total Plant to be less than stated in the last annual report. 01 this amount pertains to the original Purchase and the remainder consists of amounts charged to construction but pro Perly chargeable to maintenance during the three years following the Purchase. Using the appraised Plant values As a basis we find that the unexpended provision for future replacement of the property should have amounted to approximately As at de Cember 1, 1914, whereas the amount is actually set aside for this total Only. Of the difference approximately is related to the Purchase of the property and the remainder is due to the fact that no provision was made for depreciation prior to the year 1913, although any balance remaining in the eare of the provincial treasurer representing the net results of operation prior to the year 1913 should be taken into consideration. From the appraised values it May be deduced that a consider Able amount probably allowed1 for organization and development expense has been included in the Plant values. That the business carried a substantial so called value at the time of Pur Chase is indicated by the fact that the records show a net return1 of approximately 1% on the appraised investment. At the present time we would consider any such values to be dispelled by reason of unprofitable lines built since the Purchase More particularly the farm lines although the gain to the province at Large due to this class of work is undoubtedly of far More value than the loss to the Telephone system. By the adoption of the a a Praise d a Hiss the annual appropriation for depreciation of Plant will be reduced and i would recommend that the excess values be carried As intangible capital and charged off in annual instalments. Yours truly t. W. Delaney auditor. telephones. Report of appraised Plant values As at november 30th, 1914. Real land buildings total Centre office equipment subscribers station equipment total Exchange pole lines----------._.----. Aerial Aerial wire -------._.------. Underground conduit.-----.-----. Underground Cable to Tal .-.-.__.______. Rural Aerial total toll pole lines . Aerial wires j total total Plant 1 summary Book values appraised value difference Correct to. W. Delaney auditor. Pretext for a party feud with the. Opposition. In this As in some Chher respects the Bordon govern ment has been a considerable Dis appointment to the people of Canada. Grant for better roads the. Time a but despite this provocation of honoured practice of reaping political advantage by withdrawing election petitions instead of prosecuting them be continued. The Wak i optics. Plaintive whine the deliberate intention of insult ing Canadian liberals by impugn ing their Devotion to the Empire at 4his crisis the liberals of Canada As represented by their Public men and the newspapers Friendly to them have been less critical in their ill. Meighen s that there has been a degree of attitude less ready to take Advant political discussion going on in age of the situation to pay off Postl Canada displeasing to him and scores than the opposition Par the other ods who browse on the ties in every other British Dominion. Ottawa Olympus has been heard on in Australia the party warfare has Manv platforms during the past i gone unchecked in new zealand month he Points the erring Caus the Massey government has been i ;