Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 13, 1946, Winnipeg, Manitoba Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights. Winnipeg free press Winnipeg , 13, 1946 printed Ana published Tecc Winnipeg free press company us Ltd 300 Ca Sitoa Winnipeg Manitoba. Authorized ibs second clan matter by the Post office department Ottawa. Victor Sifton publisher. Win. Lord general manager. Grant executive editor. Bruce Hutchison. Associate editor the decision on Spain behind the decision of the United nations political and Security committee that All members immediately recall their ambassadors from Spain lies the history of a complicated struggle in diplomacy. The present debate a started by the United states. Its Resolution condemned the Franco fascist government of this government it said was imposed by Force upon the Spanish people with the Aid of the Axis Powers and was not truly representative of the country. This finding would have had inert value had it been made at the Ime Spain was convulsed in civil strife. The United states wanted the United nations to apply moral pressure on Spain so that the Franco regime could be overthrown and a provisional government established that would be broadly representative of the country s political views. Although High sounding and supported by great Britain whose government is acutely aware of the Trade Union con Gress demand for a Complete break with Franco Spain this Resolution is not rooted in political reality. It asks for the holding of free elections in Spain and the formation of a government that will respect the fundamental freedoms. But it does not say How this Ideal is to be achieved. It is wholly silent on the risks of civil War in Spain although a civil War is certainly one Way of Riding Spain of Franco. The hazards implicit in this policy Are so onerous that both the United states and great Britain have recoiled from the Challenge they present. In fact this policy was More moderate than that advocated by other nations. Poland demanded that All diplomatic relations with Spain be broken. White Russia insisted that a total embargo be placed on All Trade and communication with Spain. Canada s position was defined on several occasions and was As Clear As the complicated circumstances of the problem permitted. Canada opposed the Franco government but it could not Sanction a policy of intervention that might Spain in the horrors of a new civil War nor could Canada support the United states proposal that Spain should automatically be excluded from the specialized agencies of the United nations such As the civil aviation organization and the world health organization. The some months ago to bar Spain from membership in the International organization for the suppression of the narcotic drug traffic has Only resulted in creating a Gigantic Loop Hole in the system of control Over narcotics. Treating Spain As if that country has been wiped off the map will not solve the Spanish problem. It will Only create additional problems for the International Community. As the debate progressed these views gained increasing authority and the political and Security committee finally adopted a belgian Compromise proposal that All ambassadors be withdrawn from Spain. This however would not mean a Diplo Matic rupture with Spain As members of the United nations would still be entitled to have their embassies maintained in Madrid but not under the direction of an ambassador. As Canada has no ambassadorial representation in Spain this decision is of no direct concern to this country. But the explosive nature of this problem can be seen from the fact that 16 nations refused even to vote on the belgian motion. This Stop Gap Compromise is no solution. The Security Council has been urged to watch events As they develop in Spain the last has yet to be heard of Franco Spain and its disturbing influence in world affairs. Our colleague is honoured tit i he absence of or. Grant Dex Ter executive editor of the free press in new York to receive Columbia University s recognition of his services to International journalism permits his colleagues to make some comment on this unique event in the newspaper his tory of Canada. The Silver plaque which Colum Bia presented to the free press to Day for outstanding service in promoting Goodwill and understand ing among the nations of the West Ern hemisphere presumably embraces the services of Many writers and editors of the past chiefly of course j. W. Dafoe and the pub Lishers with whom they worked. The Gold medal awarded to or. Dexter is a tribute to his work and character As an individual. No Canadian has been so Hon ored by Columbia before. While colleagues May be suspected of some prejudice in this matter they believe that every working Newspaperman in Canada will agree with the judgment of the great american University. In the general opinion throughout this of his country Crait even additional Cabinet changes prime minister King has not delayed making some further Chan Ges in the Cabinet. The govern ment is evidently determined to face the coming session of Parlia ment with As Strong an administrative team As possible. It seeks to achieve this result by the Stim ulus that comes from entrusting new tasks to seasoned Cabinet ministers. To Date however or. King has refrained trom taking the next step which involves bringing new faces and fresh leadership into the Cabinet. Elimination of the air ministry and merging of the three defence branches in one department of National defence is an obvious Mea sure dictated alike by efficiency and by Economy. Equally Welcome is the fact that or. Abbott the new finance minister has been relieved of any responsibility for de Fence and is free to concentrate wholly on the exacting duties of his present office. Or. Claxton who now becomes defence minister will obligations very different from those which enabled him to Mark in parliament whether As assistant to the prime minister or As the hard working organizer of the department of National health and welfare. His capacity is beyond Challenge and the contribution he can make in his new port Folio should exercise a Strong a peal for him. He must watch however that among men who May disagree with his political views or. Dex Ter is the outstanding Canadian Newspaperman of his time. A tribute to his work this opinion or. Dexter will be the first to deny and the publication of it Here he will instantly deplore. In this View he belongs to a very Small minority of Cana Dian newspaper men. The Over whelming majority supports the trustees of Columbia. It can be said with the same Assurance that apart altogether from the ques Tion of Merit the Columbia award will bring satisfaction to All Cana Dian newspaper offices where or. Dexter is either known personally or by his work. Probably it is in the press Gal Lery of the House of commons that this Honor will be most greatly appreciated. He is one. Of the gallery s most notable products and until this autumn one of its oldest members. But essentially he is a Westerner a Prairie farm boy who went to Ottawa Twenty two years ago to report the National scene for Western readers. How Well he succeeded is known Day in the press gallery. He was never one to take things lightly. That probably explains in the main the remarkable career of our colleague and Friend. He was and is a prodigious worker a Vora Cious student a tireless searcher after obscure facts an implacable enemy of the superficial journalism which flourishes so abundantly today. In his youth he experimented with fancy writing and mastered it in various Cana Dian and american newspapers and magazines but he disguised it under a Nomme de plume was never proud of it sad quickly abandoned it from then on the prov Able and documented fact became his goal and his master. By a volume of Reading almost photo by Karsh incredible history economics literature everything Down to the comics and by much travel and the observation of men he has am Assed As Many facts about this nation and the world around it As any Canadian now alive. He differed from most of those of equal knowledge in his ability to mar Shal the facts see the meaning of them and put them in a pattern which the Public could understand. From Long practise indeed his mind works automatically in Pat terns so that an obscure political event in Nova Scotia or British Columbia is instantly related to the main Stream of events in Ottawa in Ottawa Are unconsciously related world. It will be revealing no professional secrets to or. Dex Ter is not an easy worker. I writing appears simply contrive but is of Long toil o drafting and redrafting of mos meticulous editing. He never Lisp de in numbers As the number came. In what might be called journalism of sheer argument an solid reason he has always worke on the Assumption that the Public is looking for facts More than of ornament. His other Side this is the sound and Only per manent approach but in a Way i is a pity that he has rigorous confined himself to it for if the truth must be revealed absence he is a Man of infinite wit of great Charm in words when he cares to use them in Privat correspondence and though he in variably denies it with some Pas Sion is a. Born writer of great Elo Quence who can write anything from the heaviest document to Thi lightest trifle. For Many of the trifles his col eagles know and love him Best but if is for his solid interpretation of Public affairs his very Reat contribution to the demo Cracy of Canada that he was Hon ored at Columbia today and will be remembered in his own country As Between this newspaper Anc to readers in terms of Confidence his colleagues would like it to be known that the recognition of or. Dexter As one of the chief enter Natkal journalists of this Day is to them an enormous plea ure. They believe it will be also o the Canadian Public which he has so Well served and continues o serve with such great distinct Ion. Wheat the present situation seems an Ideal Choice for his new to every Reader of. This newspaper duties. Or. Colin Gibson ofte of the senior ministers has an honorable re Cord As air minister having come to that department after or. Chubby Power had built up its strength in one of the really great Cabinet performances of the War. The enlarged responsibilities of the Secretary of state should prove a Welcome Arena for the employ ment of or. Gibson s administrative knowledge and Courtesy i debate. New zealand labor support declines the final count in the new Zea land general election which was completed nearly a week after the voting shows the labor govern ment has emerged with just enough seats to carry on the House now being divided 42 government to 3s National party. The further losses suffered by the government following those of three years ago. And the closeness of the vote suggests that or. Fraser the prime minister will hold Back from further socialist innovations. Nevertheless the left Wing of the labor party is vigor Ous and May push him along that Road further than is politically convenient in View of the Large and aggressive opposition. Two things helped the labor government through a difficult election. One was that new Zea land is experiencing remarkably Ood times for which the administration claims Crew flt on the basis the defence department is not its contracts with Britain. The Osiier was the redistribution of representation a year ago when the government set up six new Urban seats at the expense of the Rural area. New zealand has a Long record of political stability. Change comes slowly. Experience Over half a Century has shown that if a party gets office it has an excellent Prospect of remaining for a dozen or More years. Governments can even survive the removal of their prime ministers by death As sed Don Massey and Savage All were removed. But the election result with its further curtailment of labor party support suggests very strongly that the present government will have difficulties in the next three years especially since the opposition is one of the most capable and vigorous in decades. Starved by a budget reduced so severely that its efficiency is weakened and Canada s peace time military establishment Ren dered incapable o keeping Pace with the latest developments in military technique. The Best tribute that can be paid or. Paul Martin the new minister of health and welfare is that he took a portfolio the Secretary of state commonly regarded As of negligible significance in the government and quickly made it one of the major offices in the Cabinet. His piloting the citizen ship Bill through the House of commons revealed parliamentary skill. Considerable one of the readiest speakers on the government Side or. Martin does not limit his interventions in debate to the affairs of his own department but often puts the government Case on More general questions. Deeply interested in la Bor problems and devoted to the cause of social Reform Martin it was with an intimate knowledge of the West its problems and its people that he was Able to inter pret Public events for a Western audience and when he moved to Winnipeg a few months ago to become executive editor of the free press he was really coming Home. Most newspaper readers in can Ada know or. Dexter by name a Good Many know him person ally he has been Friend and con Fessor to several generations of politicians moving by successive elections through parliament but As it is his strict Rule to obscure himself and to Dodge All personal publicity neither his personality nor his methods Are familiar to Many of the people who read his writing daily. Perhaps when he is absent and cannot suppress them a few words about a notable and very modest Canadian from the men who know him Best will not be out of place. His first Mentor even the casual Reader must have guessed in Reading or. Dex Ter s correspondence from Ottawa Over the years that he is the pro duct of his first Mentor and life Long Friend or. Dafoe. That is True. It was or. Dafoe who Dis covered or. Dexter when he was a lad working at Humble chores about the free press office and it was or. Dafoe who guided his footsteps into political journalism. But it would be quite wrong to suppose that or. Dexter became or that or. Dafoe wanted him to become a Mere Echo of his chief. On the contrary having As it were tossed him into the turbulent next phase of this move ment through which Wear tide of Ottawa a Dafoe stood by 1 passing at the present time is the demand being pressed pretty strongly that the government at Ottaw must find a Way to guarantee the Western wheat producers a Satis factory Price for their wheat. Thi centres in a demand for what i called parity prices which would b related in proper equation to the Cost of production. This is a very difficult thing to define for Cost of production not Only vary with provinces and districts but vary As Between Farmers in the same districts. Would create government monopoly the demand Means in Short tha the government of Canada Wil continue in the wheat business will fix and guarantee prices mar Ket wheat through a government Agency the wheat Board and eliminate All Competition. This of course would create a govern ment monopoly and inherent in the proposals is the fixed policy o. The government subsidizing when production. By this is meant simply that if in any year the International Market prices for wheat Fel below the parity Price on we incl the policy supposedly would be based the government would make Good the deficiency out of the pub lie Treasury. But if the country is to adopt the policy of subsidies to wheat growers How can it refuse subsidies to livestock growers or fruit growers or milk producers All equally engaged in vital Agri cultural production for govern ments in the administration of the country s affairs cannot play fax orites at any rate for very Long because of the immense Dislo cation in Ordinary business brought about by the War and the vital need of obtaining supplies of food stuffs subsidies were used in Sev eral respects to maintain agricultural production in the War years. Today s scripture god liveth not the spirit by measure unto him. John to see whether he would sink or swim. The Young lad struck out for himself but in his own judg ment it was a decade or More before he reached Shore and Felt firm ground under his feet. It was because As Ottawa Cor respondent he was More on his own than any Newspaperman can be in the Home office that or. Dexter had to learn his Trade by his own energies and intuitions. The parliamentary correspondent accepts a grim and rather lonely assignment and must hold the reputation of his paper in his h and every Day by the integrity of his reporting. By All accounts it weighed heavily on or. Dafoe s promising cub. The weight was diminished by time and experience As he Learned his Way about Ottawa and won the Confidence of politicians and officials but it re brought a Trail of trouble. But in Ordinary peacetime it is to be expected that the taxpayer who embraces almost All canadians would have something to say on the policy of paying some canadians a sub Sidy on their work out of the pub Lic Treasury for notwithstanding the hazy ideas some people have about Public business governments can Only get the Money they spend through taxation or borrowing and there is a definite limit to a government s credit in borrowing just As there is to the individuals credit for the same purpose. Again this will put the problem of marketing directly in the Centre of the poli tical Arena. The natural desire of a political party any party when it assumes the Job of government is to stay in Power. Under our democratic system that is not Only a natural but a proper ambition. Maine burdensome up to his last wheat marketing under a govern by Hon. T. A. Crerar ment monopoly will be bound to raise bitter political discussions. It would Lead straight Down the Road to commercial dictatorship and a commercial dictatorship without a political dictatorship would prove to be wholly impracticable. In the year the government at Ottawa made a wheat agreement with great Brit Ain under which it expects to pay the wheat producers an average Price Over the next four years. Or. Gardiner in the Portage by elec Tion. Defended the agreement Anc argued that it was a Good thing for the wheat growers. Or. Bracken and his friends criticized it on the ground that if they had been doing it the Farmers would have received a higher Price for their wheat than they will get under the agreement while the . Found fault with both the other parties and asked for support on the ground that they were really the boys who could do the Job. The Point in All this is that under a government monopoly of marketing wheat there would be continuous and often bitter critic ism that the government was either doing too much or not doing enough. To shape a wheat policy of a temporary character to meet conditions in the transition from War o peace Economy is one thing to adopt it As a matter of permanent policy is quite another. A govern ment monopoly in the marketing of wheat not Only would be impractical in operation but would end to aggravate sectional differences in the country. Sectional differences have always been a Factor n Canadian politics but anyone who knows anything of the Busi Ness of government in this country and who is honest in his attitude recognizes the importance of con ining them within the narrowest possible limits if indeed they can not be removed altogether. A changed world but the argument is also and that we Are living in a Holly changed world that the Dun tries who find it. Necessary to import wheat will do so through government agencies. What a few fears May reveal in this respect is to be seen but there can be ittle doubt of this fact that a gov rement monopoly or any other and of a monopoly to control the marketing of Canadian wheat have a definitely bad effect the minds of the customers whom we Hope to have buy our heat it would probably operate definitely. To increase by every Means possible the Home production in these countries. What Canada and what Canadian wheat growers hould be doing is making friends in every Way possible for Canadian wheat. And it May be added that so far outside the . Party there is no proposal that any. Other Branch of canadians International Trade should be carried on through a government monopoly. Canada is a Large producer of base metals Copper Lead Zinc Nickel. It is also a very Large. Exporter in Timber products. Canadian fisheries Are. Important. In none of these branches of our Commerce is it suggested that we should create government monopolies to handle them in International Trade. However at Tractive the Prospect May be if it can be reached of having a per manent government monopoly in the Sale of wheat and a government guarantee of parity prices it would in the end bring Only disillusion and disappointment. For any government monopoly would mean inevitably some sort of regimentation of our wheat growers and the Independence of the Western Farmer would not Long submit to these controls a government would find necessary to impose. The tilth in a series of articles l results of Potsdam by f. B. W. Ondon this week the Ca Egypt France inet has been considering the Anglo american plan for the Fusio of the British and United stat zones of Germany. It is in essence the final confession of the fail air of four Power -.government, an such Hope offers the Germa people is both meagre in Scop and poor in Quality. On the basis of available evidence the about a five Yea economic policy which will no really begin to pay off until 195 it does not even offer the of a much needed improvement i the ration situation until that Yea and most serious of All it pre supposes a continuation of the pres ent zone system for that period. Disastrous policy such a policy if it Deve Ops As its authors predict will b ittle Short of disastrous for Europe even the most desperate proponents of a carthaginian peace hav not envisaged a continent with the heart Cut out of it. Yet this i what is happening today and the world seems powerless to proven t. Self interest alone dictates different policy and there is in his country at any rate a growing realization that what is taking Ilace in Germany today contains he seeds of disaster in the future zonal government is making a mockery of plans to re educate the German population and each year which prolongs it lessens the hat such an education can be elected. The British control commission As in the past Day or two an ounces an easing of the food Crisi n Northern Germany. It is ironic o hear this in View of statement y reliable correspondents including the Manchester guardian Cor Epson debt that a condition o near starvation exists at present t is even More ironic when the old programme of the British Merican fusion plan is considered his provides for calories a Day this year by 1949 and Only by 1951. The Success of the plan pre opposes an increase in German Industrial productivity but it re Mains to be explained How productivity can be raised on. Ration which Are barely sufficient to sup Ort life let alone to provide the Energy to dig Coal rebuild Homes and repair War damage. Even were the rations at a High , it is exceedingly doubtful nether German productivity can e effectively raised without a arge scale improvement in the Ger an manpower situation. Some cures published recently show the extent to which German prisoners f War Are being retained outside Ermany in contravention of the Irit of the Geneva convention if of the actual Legal phrasing of it. Here Are the figures Britain b Belgium Poland correction the caption Over the car Toon on thursday there was an obvious error. It should have read he gets free they re All lost referring to the figures labelled protect and 000 other Western european coun tries soviet Russia any thing up to t7varlier this month a drastic Cut was announced in Coal exports from the Ruhr. These now amount to no More than 000 tons a month an almost negligible figure in View of the extreme shortage of Coal in Europe. But there was no alternative either exports were Cut or All Hope of rehabilitating Germany s eco nomic life abandoned. The situation was then and re Mains now to a lesser degree a vicious Circle. Without Coal Ger Many s Basic industries cannot be restored and without food the Coal cannot be dug. The last link in the Chain is the fact that without Industrial recovery food production cannot be raised. An example of the latter occurred last october. Shortage of electric Power compelled the closing of some chemical factories in the British zone. The result was a one third Cut in the production of nitrogen fertilizer which in turn Means that every acre of food producing land till grow a reduced Quantity of potatoes and cereals next year. German Farmers were already receiving less than 10 percent of their pre War consumption of fertilizer. The latest Cut will show itself in Mailer rations and so in smaller production. Furthermore the German chem Cal Industry is among that portion if German Industry scheduled to be levelled off under the terms of Potsdam. There is a War potential in the chemical business it there is also a peace potential and the Assumption that Germany vill sometime in the future be Able o import fertilizer does not Bear of close a scrutiny at the moment. Then there is steel. Steel product Ion is Down but the allies Are still Busy dismantling steel plants. Yet steel is vitally needed to restore Industry and agriculture. A grand total of 667 plants Are due to be dismantled in the three Vestern zones. It is unlikely that his will be carried out for the implications of Potsdam Are now reing realized. The Folly of the reparations policy is now apparent he priority order of dismantling being revised. But terrible mis Akes Are still being made and difficult to know whether to lame stupidity or callousness for Lem. An unreasonable situation at a time when there exists a shortage of fats a fat factory scheduled to be dismantled and Only saved at the last moment ement factories Are still on the ack list though Cement is urgent needed. Germany is being driven into has while the world watches. It not too late to halt the rain it already incalculable damage As been done. The High Hopes hich might have been built up Mong the Small Core of White ermans have not materialized he Young nazi is the cynical of Over of democracy in action. One n hardly blame him. What he As seen is not inspiring. No. Hunters reports con firm Duck decline North sportsmen and shooters were stunned when the . Fish and wildlife service an Nourt feed that the decline in the Duck and geese population was so serious that further curtailments in Hunting privileges were Essen tial. Early from Duck Hunters now corroborate the official predictions of a shortage the reports from the Northern zone of states where Hunting has ended showing declines As compared with ast year in 72% of . The average number of ducks killed by each Hunter daily was and the total for the season aver aged 13, with a loss of four ducks through crippling or failure to re in a reprint from the Audubon Magazine entitled keeping up with the waterfowl by or. Fred Erick c. Lincoln appears a strife ring illustration of How rapidly a ird population is reduced when subjected to Adverse conditions. Horseshoe Lake in Southern minds is a Refuge maintained chiefly As a resting place for Canada Eese Here the geese congregated each fall in great numbers and because of its Small size the organized Hunting in the surrounding Rea and other reasons Hunters made very heavy kills. In 1940, he flock numbered but de lined annually until the pre Hunt no count in 1945 showed Only Birds. Controls put into effect by the state and Federal auth cities having failed to Check the Hunting in country was prohibited for 1946-47 shoo Ting season. Well ask. Why in the face of known increases in the Goose population in the Early for ties the Canada geese declined in numbers at Horseshoe Lake. Investigations including an intensified banding programme revealed that the Birds bred in a rather limited area West of James Bay Ontario and were not drawn from the vast Northland As one might expect. This investigation explains Why certain species May be Abun Dant on one flyway and endangered on another and Why within one flyway a certain flight of Birds May be in worse condition than others of the same species using the same flyway. The changes May be brought about by Adverse conditions on the Breeding or Winter ing grounds or both states or. Lincoln. Snowy owl invasion a number of readers have re ported snowy owls in More than usual numbers the invasion coinciding with the extensive Southern migration of Canada jays and the Early arrival of Bohemian Wax the wings and Pine and evening Gros beaks. Ducks unlimited announced that birthdays j. A. Marion St. Boniface born Berthier co., que., dec. 13, 1864. George c. Maclean mayor of St. Boniface born Inverness dec. 13, 1888. James h. Bride Pierson Man born Croil s Island n.y., dec. 13, 1863. S. M. Welchen born Russia dec. 13, 1885. Robert c. Hooper Woodside Man. Born Wolverhampton Deo. 13, 1883. 73 of their observers reported these Snowwhite owls a various num Bers in october and november several counted As Many As a Hun dred in one area and others fifty and More. The Centre of the flight was in Saskatchewan and Western Manitoba but it extended across the three Prairie provinces. Claude e. Carton fort William ont also reports the presence of snowy owls and mentions that Canada jays Are More numerous than usual and Pine and evening grosbeaks particularly abundant. Tardy Blackburn ians when miss Ivy Reed Brandon Man., reported that two Black Burn Ian warblers observed feeding on Cones in the arboretum at the experimental farm on nov Ember we wrote for full de tails of the Birds seen As normally these delicate insect eaters have left the Gulf states for their Winter Lom before the end of october. The free press Bird migration Chart shows september 21 for the latest seen in Manitoba so miss Reed thought the observation Wor thy of record. It is very much so 3ut not without verification and this miss Reed now supplies. The Birds were in a Blue Spruce and were identified by Hugh Boyd Well known ornithologist. De Brown of the experimental farm staff also saw these late migrants and made notes of their markings and colors. It is most unusual for warblers of this class to linger in fall so far North undoubtedly the mild weather of october aided them to exist following the failure of the migration urge to Send them South in september ;