Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 1, 1943, Winnipeg, Manitoba Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights. Winnipeg free press printed and published us Winnipeg free press company limited 300 Carton Street Winnipeg. Manitoba a w. Dafoe. Victor Sifton. President general manager registered at the general Post office London for transmission through the Post in. The United King Dom at the newspaper rate of postage. Winnipeg monday february 1, 1943. The Jungle is Shu there army Reform Tor reasons that Are obvious there remains much disquiet Canada Over the problem of army administration which As knows has been no matter for self congratulation part of the minister of defence. In an attempt to exit what was wrong the free press some months ago went to Tail into the Ernly Reform is found necessary in Britain by Ujj Esher in 1904 and duly passed into legislative form. Our icing at that was that Canada so far As army administrate Jefe it. Was sti11 in the of Laos which characterized the fun of the British army up to and during the Boer Wau. One reason for the chaos in that country at that time was lord Esher pointed out that the Secretary of state for Warp dependent upon Only one advisor the commander in chief. In lord a four s View destroyed the minister for he lean on Only one Man whose expert judgments were All Ai were available to him. To offset this weakness lord Esher formation of a statutory army Council composed the Secretary of state four military and three civilian -eir.bers. This was done with excellent results. It is Jess Well known that Canada adopted the same system with Only a few lapses in the Early months of the last sir Sam Hughes ran the show 84r Council was the body which conducted our military Affe jul general Mewburn minister of militia described the Council in a report to parliament april 10, 1918. Joe said that the Heads of the various branches of the depart chief of the general staff the adjutant general the Jester Genera of the ordnance the Quarter master general Etc. Together with the Deputy minister formed the Council. That Council he said meets at least once a week if not oftener. When All matters concerning each Branch Are brought before it. Important matters Are discussed and policies settled subject always to final approval by the governor general in Council. It is a business organization which is As Complete As it is possible to have it and business records Are he Canadian army Council disappeared in 1925. Its sup was never debated in the House of commons which a not military minded at that time but for some reason if cult to understand it was not revived when this situation hanged. Canada is fighting now with the same administrative which marked the hopelessly inefficient British army South Africa save that the sole advisor of the minister of defence today is not the commander in chief 3 title which does exist in Canada but is the chief of the general staff. The Zdency now is for the general staff to run everything in Ding All the branches of the department and the districts As Ell. This is centralization carried to extremes. One of the Esher recommendations was to de centralize far 2s possible and to throw added burdens upon the District if cers commanding. This had excellent results in Britain and Ould to an even greater extent increase efficiency in Canada Lere vast distances slow Down communication with head garters. In 1918 general Mewburn declared i am a great believer decentralization. With a country the size of Canada it is so lately impossible to carry out the enormous amount of Ork by centralizing it at Headquarters. As heavier and greater responsibilities have been and will be put on the boulders of the . S of districts some changes have taken Etc., Etc. His words Are As True today As in 1918, but they have not t been comprehended by the present minister of defence is however not yet too late for their purport to be recognized tomorrow s need by . Broadcast delivered on the Csc network Jan. 23. 1942 copyright they would then have met the full rising Power of the democracies not by any Means played out but growing in total strength. This is what is happening today. Our strength grows. It does not diminish and six months from now the whole German people will know it As Well As Goering knew it on saturday when he cowered in a cellar waiting for permission from the . To be allowed to make his speech. My unconditional surrender further considerations regard ing the unconditional surrender policy Laid Down at Casablanca by or. Roosevelt and or. Churchill Are advanced by Walter Lippmann who in the new York Herald Tribune writes that this announce ment is a guarantee that the allies will not Deal with Quisling govern ments when the War is Over. His theory is that the Casablanca statement Means a reversal of Woodrow Wilson s policy even larger than that suggested in these columns a few Days ago. He writes if our War aim were some thing less than unconditional surrender then at the end of hostilities we should find our selves dealing in Germany with some kind of improvised quasi nazi regime. Our support of the War Cabinet and by the prime minister upon whom the of Ira Germany image responsibility for the conduct of the War rests. It is Ely a strange complacency which permits the continuance an administrative system which was proved chaotic in the of War at the beginning of the Century and was thrown out that reason Britain years ago. Interesting precedents King s observations in parliament on or. Bracken s election As Leader of the conservative party were proper and courteous and will doubtless be so regarded by the person most immediately concerned. Never Liberal electors by the thousands voted for the . Candidate. This has been a subject of bitter complaint by the conservatives As being the breach of a by party understanding. This understanding Between the the less they have been the Occa party leaders was that the liberals Sion for a display pin headed j would not nominate a candidate in South York and the conservatives would reciprocate by not opposing Hob. H. Mitchell minister of labor who was standing for elec Tion in Welland. The . Put candidates in both Fields. By subterfuge an opposition candidate was put up in Welland and was actively supported by the campaigners who were also touring South York and asking the elec tors to vote for or. Meighen in and ignorant arrogance by the hate King press. Or. King expressed the Hope that or. Bracken would find a seat in the House of commons without delay As he did not think it Well that the Leader one of the parties should in his place in the commons. Or. Gray Don the acting Leader of the opposition observed that or. King had once been in the Posi Tion in which or. Bracken found himself. This is True in fact doubly True. M 9, r. King was elected Leader of the Liberal party on aug. 1919. The House of commons a problem in Libya he italian Colony of Libya etching along the Southern Shore the Mediterranean from Egypt Tunis and extending South Aldreds of Miles into the desert now wholly under the control the British who have con Erell. The country and Are now ministering it greatly to the tis action of the inhabitants included according to of paper despatches which Are reliable. Suture disposition of this Dii tory will be one of the in Merable problems that will have 1 be dealt with after the War. Fora has been italian territory Only some thirty one years. To 1911 it was part of the i Kish dominions and from 1835 tos time of its Conquest by Italy turkish Vil yet. Its a by Italy was an act of aggression. It is Safe to say great Britain will not desire this area to her own pm but she is under pledge to Benussi arabs who survived Graziani Campaign of Exter oat Lon that they will not have submit to italian Rule. With an area almost to the Prairie provinces Western Canada has less than people of these about pfc tenth Are europeans Princi juy italians. More than a third population -6begro moslem the remainder views of the experts who exactly what must be done piece of land following of the allies upon the problem this Power. Meanwhile what about Libya which will need sup port direction and assistance if it is not to become a derelict Terri tory filled with people not fitted to govern themselves this problem will be multiplied Twenty times As the War goes on to its end. The difficulties Are not Likely to be solved by the Fine sounding formulas about self government and no outside controls which the perfectionists Are proffering for the guidance of the world. Libya two 16 interesting. They would say the Arab and being in the great should take Over the under the principles of Atlantic charter subject to 5 vision during its Early stages a International body whose will run throughout the the Jig is up last saturday was the tenth anniversary of Hitler s accession to Power in Germany. We invite Ovir readers to contrast the Braggadocio poured out on the pre Vious nine occasions with the desperate pleas that marked no. 10. Hitler company know that the Jig is up. They have carried their country Back to the desperate Days of 1918 when the rising might of a world enraged by German aggression bore Down upon it and destroyed Power. The line taken by Hitler and Goering is that Germany now stands As the bulwark against a bolshevism that will destroy West i civilization. Unhappily for them that civilization Well knows what its danger is and it is Noi one that originates in the soviet Union. It is nazi Germany thai is feared and it is unlikely that the miserable slaves of Hitler s new order now starving and groaning under his Yoke will Swal Low the tale that they Are being protected against something worse the bulwark against bolshevism Racket was played out As an effective line Many years ago. Every body knows who attacked Russia this is very much a Case setting your International and vesting it with not Only nominal Power take his a considerable time International Organiza and still longer to make a beyond question that it both the Power to keep order 1 world and the will to use just As everybody knows How false is the pretence that it was anything but an attempt to push one stage further the germanic dream of world Conquest. Goering desperately asked his people to hold on for another six months. Failure to hold on for another half year in the last War was what ruined German military plans according to him. Well in him hold on for another six months and he w ill find himself confronted with exactly what would have met the. Germans had the last War continued into the summer of 1919 would inevitably carry with it our support of Quisling regimes Vichy regimes quasi fascist re Gimes in All the occupied coun tries. But by fixing the unconditional surrender of Germany and Italy As our War aim the nazi and fascist satellite re Gimes will have lost their sup port and they Are unconditionally doomed. The effect of the decision will be Felt quickly. For when the captive Peoples of Europe understand that Ger Many must surrender unconditionally then they will under stand that the future in each country lies not with those who have collaborated with Germany but with those among them who have resisted. This suggestion the rationality of which is fairly obvious gives proof of a degree of statecraft which critics the Churchill Roosevelt would be Loath to admit or these critics have been spend ing much time of late setting Forth ideas which could be Only True if the British and american Leader ship meant nothing by their repeated statements that their aim is the liberation of the world. haps if we were All ready to accept those statements As one of honest intent the critics would save their breath for the wholly useful Busi Ness of Cooling their porridge. Been elected for which was made sharing the losses the nazis have suffered Stag Gering losses in Russia and North Africa in recent weeks but it would be a mistake to assume that All the losses have been German. The nazi Satra pries have also lost heavily. The losses of the rumanian have been put at at least the hungarians May have lost half As Many while the italian losses of men and material probably exceed those of All the others combined. It was recently estimated that of the Hundred divisions which Italy took into the War one half Are out of action. Of the fifty divisions remaining Mussolini has equipment for Only 35 or 40. Half of these divisions Are dispersed in the Balkans. In face of these losses Mussolini s frantic appeals to Germany for More equipment reflects his concern Over the Fate of Italy if an Allied invasion is launched. Not the least of Hitler s skills has been his ability to get other people to fight for him. These people Are now learning that their losses in fighting for Hitler Are As nigh or higher than they would have been if they had fought for themselves against him. They have Learned this alas when it is too late. Was about to meet for its second session. For that year. Or. King took his seat on october 23, the Liberal member for Prince . Having made Way for him. In the general elections of october 29 1925, or. King suffered defeat. Parliament met in the first week of january 1920 by february 15 he was Back in the House having Prince Albert vacant by the resignation of the sitting Liberal member. These Are valuable precedents which or. Bracken might find it advisable to follow when or. King entered Parlia ment on october 23, 1919, the ses Sion was nearing its end. Or. King immediately took part in a great debate that was in Progress measure providing for the acquisition by the Dominion of the grand trunk railway. But he did not take Over immediately the House leadership of the party. Upon the first occasion upon he spoke he announced that until the end of the session the Leader ship would remain with d. D. Mckenzie who had Lead the party for two sessions. Upon that Occa Sion or. King said no one is More conscious than i am of my Many limitations adequately to discharge the obligations of that position. I am thankful to my Hon. Friend or. Mckenzie for the example which he has set me and i have asked him in order that it May be possible for me the better to acquire familiarity with the procedure of the House to acquaint myself with the matters that Are coming before Parlia ment if he will continue to Lead the opposition for the remainder of the present session and he has very kindly consented to do so. It is As the member for Prince that i should like to speak on the amendment which is be fore the a there Are other incidents connected with or. King s parliamentary adventures that have a certain timeliness. In 1919 or. King was elected by acclamation in 1926 the constituency of Prince Albert was vigorously con tested by the conservatives but or. King was elected by an immense majority indicating a resentment on the part of the electors against an attempt by the opposition party to intervene in a matter of Domestic party adjust ment. The precedent of 1919 is the one that will be in order if or. Bracken offers himself in a seat now represented by a conserva condemnation of the Dominion Liberal government. The Liberal electors who Are of course free agents Rose to the occasion. They elected their own candidate in the three cornered contest in Welland where the . Candidate was a poor third and they Defeated or. Meighen on the issues which he with the a Dent support of the Globe and mail or. Hepburn and or. Drew insisted ought to decide the Campaign. The record of or. King s Success in twice getting a seat in the com i is it seems to me some a significance in the fact that we have fought this War for three years now without a slogan. Not a single one and Here is one More difference that exists Between this War and the last one when we had several Fine phrases on our lips. Most of you will remember them. We were making the world Safe for democracy for example or we vere building a for heroes to live in and so Forth. The fact that we have not got the slogans his time does not mean that we have lost any nobility of purpose for that we know we have. But it reflects perhaps a very deep realization of the fact that we Are today conscious of difficulties which 25 years ago we did not even know existed and this consciousness is a very important threshold not Only to knowledge but to the attainment of what our hearts we All Hope for. We have Learned or so at least it seems to me that the world is a much Darker and More terrible place than we thought it was be fore 1914 at the end of a very Long period of peace. We have Learned that there Are forces of evil in the world which if a loosed can destroy us. We have Learned that a great War is not just a sudden and unexplained eruption but that it is something which lies always just below the surface of what we Call our Normal existence and without eternal vigilance on our part will break out disrupt our Ives kill our sons and leave what is left to us in ruins. So frightening has been this Dis covery on our part that there has never been anything at All Light hearted or adventurous about our attitude to this War. We have been standing these three years Mons when he needed it and or. Meighen s conspicuous failure in 1942, might be profitably studied by the new steering committee to which the fortunes of the conservatives have been committed. Clear advantages of . N of that an amendment of the election act to provide for the use of . In the cities and the alternative vote in All single member constituencies is Likely to be discussed in parliament it is of interest to know that an impartial study of the . System by the Junior Board of Trade of Montreal in 1941, at the request of the senior Board led to the conviction that it would be a Good thing to have , used All Over Canada in Multi member constituencies. The committee of the Junior Board studied the use of . In municipal elections in new York City and All the literature on the . System and its operation in various places. While refraining from making specific recommendations As to the advisability of adopting . In Federal provincial and municipal elections it commended its find Ings to the consideration of those who Are interested in the improve ment of representative government and the removal of the weaknesses which have become apparent in its exercise in free countries our own it says in its Gen eral findings the report is pro . This is the unintentional result of our studies. This Bias has been Al Lowed to remain in the interests of the report itself. The single transferable vote in Multi member constituencies is strongly recommended Over All other types of . And All these observations Are predicated on this basis. The claims of . Advocates both for . And against the present system seem to be in the Mam justified. We suggest that the technical and mechanical difficulties of . Have been exaggerated by its opponents. On the other hand regulations of . Elections should be drawn up with great care by persons having a thorough knowledge of both . And the local conditions and the actual conduct of elections and the subsequent count should be in the hands of a carefully trained staff. I f live carry no doubt the out its threat . Will of meeting in whatever path he takes to the House of commons. With this certainty in Prospect the conservatives in seeking or. Bracken s election will presumably profit by their experiences in South York a year ago when or. Meighen the then Leader of the party was Defeated because the in regard a a to Federal and provincial elections the report said the major objections to . In these two Fields Are first the size of the constituencies that would result from the grouping necessary to return several candidates instead of one and Sec Ond the tendencies of . To break up the party system. The difficulty of reconciliation Between the advocates and opponents of . Arises from the fact that the former abhors As inimical and dangerous to democracy Many of the things which the latter have come to look upon As necessary Safe guards to the party system. The arguments for . Are More forcible under a three party system than under a two party system. Although . Professes to be but a change in election meth ods it is really an attack on the single member constituency sys tem and All its works. Consequently the successful adoption of . May demand fairly far reaching changes in our governmental customs and set up. This fact is not necessarily an argument against . . Has definite Aims and these were listed by the investigating committee As follows 1. To reflect the opinions of the electors in parliament and other Public bodies in their True proportion. 2. To ensure that the majority of the electors will Rule and that All considerable minorities will be heard. 3. To give electors wider free Dom in the Choice of representatives. 4. To give to representatives greater Independence from the financial and other pressure of Small sections of constituencies. 5. To ensure to parties representation by their Ablest and most trusted members. In connection with the last aim the Canadian . Society Points out the loss to parliament from the frequent elimination of Cabinet ministers in Federal elections in 1921 or. Meighen and eight of his Cabinet were Defeated in 1925 or. King and eight of his ministers lost their seats in parliament in 1935 ten members of the Bennett Cabinet were Defeated. A final warning is Given by the Montreal Junior Board of Trade and it contains a Good Deal of common sense. Having found that . Has. Decisive advantages Over the present electoral system it suggests that its use is a Chal Lenge to the Public spirit of the people. Proportional representation it says predicates a whole hearted belief in democracy. Its Funda mental Assumption is that while the right of decision belongs to the majority the right of representation belongs to everybody. It assumes that character ability and integrity Are weightier considerations than party affiliation. It assumes that the people Are capable of knowing and demand ing those things which Are in their own Best interests and lastly that government exists to serve these Best interests. From the Golden books from America i by Sidney nor Force nor fraud shall Sunder us o be who North or South on East or Western land native to Noble sounds say truth for truth Freedom for Freedom love for love and god for god o youth be who in eternal speak with a living and. Creative flood this Universal English and do stand its breathing Book live worthy of that grand heroic whole yet a far yet uns Evered children Brave and free of the great Mother Tongue and be shall be lords of an Empire wide As shake Speare s soul Sublime As Milton s immemorial theme and Rich As Chaucer s speech and fair As Spenser s dream. Swallow this filthy doctrine but if any of us Chance to hear anti semitism in our midst we can know that the Man who utters it is so stupid that he has swallowed whole the crudest element in All of Hitler s propaganda. We have no pogroms in Canada thank god and never will have. Nor have we developed the Politi Cal technique of jailing and Mur Dering those who disagree with us. This is part of our pre War Heri Tage of Freedom and let no one say it was not Worth having and is not Worth preserving. So when we say that this is a War for sur Vival it is not Only survival in the material sense that we mean. It is the survival of certain principles too principles that we hold dear. But we Are fighting for More than that. We Are it seems to me fighting As Well for a Brave new world in which every Man and woman can live lives of Security from fear and want just As Dent Roosevelt has said. Most eople when they interpret fear and want Are talking about jobs and social Security and i like hem Hope that in the Post Wai world we will realize these goals. But there is a greater fear than he fear of part time employment i inadequate pay or of difficulty n finding jobs or poor prices for Arm products and that is the fear of War. This is a fact which is not nearly enough at mention in the Public discussions f the kind of world we want after he War. Too Many people appear o think that when the enemy is Bettien we can divert All the Energy we have shown in beating Lim into the creation of great schemes of Domestic Reform in which we will All get More Money now on the very Brink of a precipice gazing Down into Depths so noisome and horrifying that All our energies have been dedicated to the enormous task of merely warding off the blows that threat ened us. We have been fighting literally for survival. There Are some jaundiced persons who when they hear that phrase promptly ask survival for thereby attempting skilfully to create Thi impression that nothing we had before 1939 was Worth anything they Point to the. Difficulties o living for Many people before Thi War the amount of poverty an distress that existed the imperfections of our society generally an they All say that certainly we Don want to go Back to that. These people forget that we had a great Deal that was worthwhile before the War and that we Hac Here no More distress and no More poverty than any other country and that indeed we had far less than most. I do not mean tha we ought to relax our efforts to do belter but i do believe we ought to keep things in perspective and if we use practice standards of comparison we can very clearly see that we had a great Deal in 1939 and that we on the Road to get much More. Quite apart from material things we had other precious pos sessions. We had Liberty and tolerance in about As full a measure As any nation had in the whole world. We had free institutions and popular government which to Gether ensured that we could go on having Liberty of Choice about the Way we managed things Here in Canada and when people Dis agreed with us we did nothing More than vote against them Al election time. We did not kill them. Ryou do not believe that these things were worthwhile i in Vite you to talk some Day to any one of the refugees who during the last ten years have come to Canada to live. They will Tell you what it was like in any country dominated by Germany and what you hear will make you shiver. We All know what is happening today in wartime Europe the Ruth less butchery of those who dare to oppose the nazi domination. We know today that a deliberate mass murder of the jews is being car ried on by the so called Herren Volk a massacre so cold blooded and apparently senseless that it is peculiarly appalling. But since we know that the germans do every thing with planned deliberation we know too that what they Are carrying on is a Campaign designed to fix their Rule upon Europe for ver. They choose for execution those members of the different nationalities who have any qualities of leadership and strength of mind and Hope to reduce the remainder to the status of cattle. They do not discriminate among the jews. They take All or any for the reason that their attack upon that particularly defenceless race is based upon the vile expectation that they will so raise the level of anti semitism All Over the world that we will forget our real enemies and begin to persecute jews too. It is part of the Divide and conquer technique of nazism. We have not stooped so Low As to a than we Ever had before and As sure ourselves Good prices for All we grow and Good pay for All our jobs. Moment s thought How Ever will make it very Clear that if we Are going to have any thing like this we will have to find markets for All the goods we produce. The Domestic Market will not be big enough not by half. We will have to sell our farm and Industrial products abroad and the world at Large is not going to buy freely unless it is reasonably assured that there is not going to be another War. The great reason Why. International Trade was drying up in the years before the War was mainly be cause Europe was preparing Lor War. Germany for example was engaged for Many years in creating Domestic schemes which would make ineffective another economic blockade in time of War. Many other nations were doing the same thing. Their policies were not based on any desire to raise the Standard of living of their people. They were based on the Prospect of the perils insecurities and uncertainties of War. Military of Jec lives not social welfare dictated those National policies and unless the peace that follows this War gives a reasonable Prospect of Security and Freedom from the particular fear of War no nation is going to Trade freely and every nation is going to be Busy pre paring for the Means policies next War which of National self Point no. 1, therefore of any effective Post War programme is to create a Basic condition of Security by removing the threat of another War. Once that condition is realized we can begin our own Domestic Post War programmes with some feeling of certainty that they can be worked out. Don t Nagine for a moment that at that stage we can create a. Programme on our own. We can t lift our selves by our own Boot straps. Every Domestic programme to be successful will have to fit in with the programmes of other nations. Each will be either limited or cd 3anded by the measure of co operation in the world As a whole. The More nations work together he higher each one can raise its own Standard of living. The More each one lives to itself the More disastrous the consequences Are sure to be. I believe that we can realize a great Deal of our Hopes for a re made world after the War provided this order of events is pre served. But i believe that if we concentrate upon Domestic plans without comprehending that every one of them depends utterly upon he maintenance of peace we will win this War Only to fight another one within a measurable length of today s scripture he that is not with me is against me and he that gather eth not with me scatter eth abroad. Birthdays Jon Jonsson Alverton. Man. Bom Iceland. Feb. 1. 184s. James h. Ferguson Winnipeg bom Glasgow. Scot. 1. 1857. James Mclean Winnipeg bom Shoraji township. Oat feb. 1, 1868, ;