Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 15, 1947, Winnipeg, Manitoba Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights. Winnipeg free press printed and published the Winnipeg free press company limited. 300 Carlton Street Winnipeg Manitoba. Authorized As second class matter by the Post office department. Ottawa. Victor Lipton Grant Dexter. Publisher. Executive editor we. Lord Bruce Hutchison general manager associate editor Winnipeg tuesday april 15, 1947 Australia s wheat policy the wheat agreement announced recently Between Australia and new zealand and noted elsewhere on this Page presents instructive contrasts with our own agreement with the United kingdom. In the one Case Canada is the seller in the other Australia is the seller. Both agreements run for four years. The a Anglo Canadian agreement Calls for sales of 160 million bushels per in the first two years at per Bushel 140 million bushels in each of the last two years at a minimum of si.25 per Bushel in the third and of is per Bushel in the fourth year. The australian new zealand agreement Calls for from to million bushels per year at a Price in Canadian Money of 92 cents per Bushel. First the Broad policies being followed in Australia and Canada require a word of explanation. Because of our agreement the Canadian government has established a state wheat monopoly and at per Bushel has been Selling to the United kingdom at from 40 cents to si.45 per Bushel less than the world Price. Under the Canadian policy it is the wheat Farmer who must take this loss on Price. At the moment he is being compelled to sell at just a Shade better than half Price. The australian government like the Canadian government has established a state wheat monopoly. This monopoly the australian wheat Board Sells All its exports at the world Price. The Sale to new zealand is not made by the australian wheat Board. It is made by the australian government and the australian government buys the wheat from its wheat Board at the world Price and Sells to the new zealand government at a lower Price making up the difference out of the National Treasury of Australia. The australian Farmer like the Canadian Farmer is paid an initial Price. The australian initial Price is lower than the can Adian. The difference Between the world Price and the initial Price paid to the australian Farmers goes into a fund. This fund is to be spent in two ways. The australian wheat Farmer like the Canadian wheat Farmer will receive a further payment on the wheat now being sold. But in addition a part of the fund will be used to support the Price of wheat in Australia in future years. It will be seen that the australian wheat Farmer has the advantage of having the full world Price placed in Trust for him. Unlike the Canadian wheat Farmer he is not compelled to sell for Export at less than his wheat is Worth. Know for the contrasts. When the australian government came to Deal with new zealand it decided to charge less than the wheat is Worth in the world Market. Actually at 92 cents per Bushel Australia gave new zealand a More favourable Deal than Canada gave to the United kingdom. It is to be pointed out however that the amount of wheat thus sold in relation to Australia s total crop is much smaller than is Canada s commitment to the United kingdom. But the australian government did not require its Farmers to take this loss. Itie Only charge on the australian Farmers will be the Normal charge upon All taxpayers. Even so. There is some complaint in Australia because the nation s loss in the first year of the contract will exceed the current world Price . Australia is per Bushel. The contrast Here is a simple one. The australian govern ment has not placed the Burden of its agreement upon its wheat growers but has made it a charge upon the state. The Canadian government has placed the Burden of its agreement directly upon the wheat Farmers who unless there is a Sharp drop in prices Between today and july 31 next will lose at least million dollars in the present crop year. Under the australian policy that loss would have been a National loss to be paid by All the. Canadian people. It would have been a charge on the taxpayers. Not the wheat Farmers. As a bilateral Deal the australian new zealand agreement is open to the charge of discrimination. Australia is Selling to one customer at a preferred Price. And in this regard it is interesting to observe criticism of Australia in the United King Dom. There is resentment of a policy which makes australian wheat available to new zealand for less than it is available to the United kingdom. The amount of course is Small. But the penalty is nonetheless certain. There is no surer Way of creating ill will than by giving special favors to one customer. So much for the Selling part of the australian new zealand agreement. To a coming now to the new zealand part of the Deal the accompanying despatch from Auckland is revealing and instructive. The new zealand government is regarded As a Model by the . In this country. For some years or. Coldwell and his followers at Ottawa and or. Douglas and his party in Saskatchewan have been awed but not muted by the Superior states Manship of the new zealand labor ministry. There is scarcely a Page of our Hansard that is not studded by fulsome references to new zealand. The . And the new zealand government we have been told Bear the same intimate relationship in politics As the siamese twins did in life. Under these circumstances it is surprising to discover that the new zealand Farmers Are opponents not supporters of their government. The official Organ of the new zealand Farmers Union regards the Fraser government Price and indeed the australian government As pursuing a policy based upon antipathy to farm ing the reason for this attitude is this the new zealand government sought a Cut on wheat from the australian govern ment for the purpose of keeping Down wheat prices in new zealand. There is a state wheat monopoly in new zealand also. The government fixes the Price. And when Price negotiations with the new zealand Farmers began the Fraser government. By reason of its Deal with Australia was Able to beat Down the growers. The new zealand Farmers in february 194n, asked for per Bushel but agreed to because the new zealand government informed them that it had australian wheat in hand at 92 cents per Bushel. Far from sharing the viewpoint of the ., the Farmers of new zealand have declared in their official publication straight Furrow that the government is holding a pistol at their head. Of course the main contrast Here is Between the policies being followed by the australian and the Canadian governments with respect to wheat. And it should not require much cogitation on the part of wheat Farmers to see where the advantage lies Lish ment and there is an eagerness on the part of Industry and individuals to put their savings to work. But there Are limiting factors. One is a shortage of materials which has plagued production since the end of the War and still dominates the situation. Another is a shortage of workers both skilled and unskilled to carry out both an enlarged programme of primary materials production and construction on the enormous scale envisaged by so Large a capital expenditure. These limiting factors will hold in Check the unprecedented expansion that the reconstruction department seems to think is in sight. They cannot be altered quickly to any great degree for primarily they depend on the Quantity and Quality of labor and not on willingness to spend or the availability Money. Neither the size of the nation s working Force nor its skill can he lifted overnight. To do so requires months and the former Calls a More open door immigration policy than is in Prospect As Well As facilities Lor bringing and settling immigrants. But even if the expansion expected by or. Howe is going to be held in Check by material fact ors not susceptible to Early Altera Tion it will certainly make unnecessary much if not All of the programmes of Public undertakings that some provinces and cities seem to have in mind. Version by h. B. Was into a deeply shadowed right disease and disturbing realm another wheat Deal change of attitude toward housing Winnipeg has reason to feel satisfaction and encouragement Over the fact that building permits in the i first Quarter of the present year have shown a substantial in crease Over the same period a year ago. The increase was 00. The expansion has not been uni torm throughout Canada. For example in Edmonton there has been a drop of about 30 per cent As recorded by the Edmonton Jour Nal which comments that the de crease is in line with reports from other Canadian cities and that the decline was chiefly in housing and Industrial building. Building normally declines in the Winter months and it May be that As Spring opens into summer there ill be another upsurge of permits. It is True As Well that the construction Industry has Many unfinished contracts left Over from last year and even with the present decline will be operating at capacity As limited by shortages and labor this year. Nevertheless it is evident that the drop in building permits in other cities reflects a changing Public attitude towards housing. The feeling of urgency that possessed so Many persons a year ago is passing. To some extent the former acute condition has been eased by new accommodation. But mostly there is a great and grow ing resistance to the High Cost of building just As there has been to the High Price of other commodities. Another Factor in the situations the unusually Large number of houses that is being offered for Sale evidence that it is a Sellers Market and the Cost of new houses is making the Market Price for used houses sufficient to induce owners to sell. That May not affect the demand for new buildings for those who sell or Are moved out by the Sale must have some there to live. While the building Industry is employed on the scale that it is now enjoying Little will be done to bring Down the Cost of housing to a Point where it will be in line with average and Small incomes. But it would be Well for both the Indus try itself and its labor to Bear in mind that it is possible to Price one s self out of the Market. That has happened before. . Farmers viewpoint Australia s labor government has agreed to sell a set Quantity for four years at a very Low Price. By a. F. Grace straight the official or Gan of the new zealand Farmers Union. According to straight the new zealand minister of industries and Commerce or. D. G. Sullivan went to Australia at the end of 1945 to negotiate the Pur Chase of wheat which had not been imported from that source for some years. Or. Sullivan wanted a five years contract but after he had discussed the proposition with the australian minister of Commerce and agriculture or. Scully it was agreed that new zealand should buy bushels of the 1945-16 crop at the current Price 9s. Id. Or si-45 per Bushel. Speaking in the new zealand material factors limit expansion v the economic Branch of the Federal department of reconstruction which is under the direction of Hon. C. D. Howe estimates after a Survey that capital expenditures in Canada in 1947 May reach the exceptional figure of the firms questioned in the Survey placed their investment expenditures at and Ottawa expects from other priv ate sources meaning businesses and individuals not covered by the sur vey. That is 53 per cent More than in 1946. No doubt capital spending on that scale is possible. Reserves of in vestment capital Are Large there is an immediate Call for the output of an expanded productive Stab a Auckland n. Z. More is Likely to be heard of the Deal whereby new zealand is to receive Between million and million bushels of australian wheat annually for four years at the Low Price of 5s 9d or 92 cents per Bushel. Criticism appears to have died Down in Australia for the time being but it. Is certain to revive if there is no such fall in world prices As the two governments apparently expected when the contract a made. Under the state controlled Pool ing system in Australia the Chifley government was Able to put the Deal through without consulting the growers or their representatives. It did Call in the chairman and general manager of the wheat Board at a very Early stage As Long Vigo As december 1945-----but according to a recent statement by the then general manager or. John Thomson now retired the discussions were Brief and inconclusive and the bargain was made later without the Board s knowledge or approval. Taxpayers Bear Cost when the matter was raised in the. Australian parliament Early in March it was assumed on both sides of the House that the Cost would fall on the taxpayers and a Liberal spokesman declared that on the figures Given they would have to find about or 000 in this year Alon e. An equally serious charge levelled at the transaction in both countries that any such contract had been is that it was arranged with a made. Now it seems or. Sullivan View to keeping Down the Correct but his correctness cer from the Golden books wild geese Frederick Peterson How Oft against the Sunset sky or Moon i watched that moving Zigzag of spread wings in unforgotten autumns gone too soon in unforgotten Springs creatures of desolation far they Fly above All lands bound by the Curling foam in misty fens wild moors and trackless sky these wild things have their Home. They know the Tundra of siberian coasts. And Tropic marshes by the Indian seas they know the Clouds and night and starry hosts from Crux to pleiades. Dark flying Rune against the Western it tells the sweep and loneliness of things Symbol of autumns vanished Long ago. Symbol of coming Springs today s scripture where two or three Are gathered together in my name there am i in the midst of them. Matthew House of representatives last july or. Sullivan said there was a further under standing that Australia would Supply us with our require ments during the next four or five years at a ceiling Price of 5s. 9d. Or 92 cents per Bushel. That was to be a ceiling Price and if there was any fall in world parity or if there were any factors in the situation that would justify a reduction in the ceiling Price then new Zea land was to get the Benefit of it for the next four or five years. This statement unfortunately was not reported by the press association and Little notice was taken of it except by the Farmers Union journal which remarked apparently our minister spoke out of turn on that occasion for at the same time his opposite number in Australia. Or. Scully was denying countries. Naturally therefore or. Sullivan wanted to show his electors the keen business acumen he possessed. A contract at 92 cents was an impressive performance. Poor or. Scully however was uncomfortable. The election year Price of wheat in Australia was Over per Bushel approximately parity value. To questioners in the parliament or. Scully gave evasive replies. After his one outburst or. Sullivan remained silent. He remained Loyal to his apparent pledge of silence. He would make no move to upset the wheat growers relationships to the govern ment while a general election was that the House was led monday evening. For or. Schustz Labouring through his estimates had reached the stage of those provincial institutions for the care of the mentally afflicted and a two hour debate ensued. The minister himself used up half of it in replying to questions raised earlier in the session by the ., particularly by or. Hansford of St. Boniface and As these had been based in great measure on a series of articles published in what he called a sensational Type of it was necessary for him to examine the articles. They gave him considerable of Fence. Lurid stuff or. Schultz found these impressions of can Ada s mental institutions distorted lopsided. A objective and unfair even to or. Stinson s be oved Saskatchewan As Well As to Manitoba. What had not been told were the numerous Steps in which Manitoba had pioneered or was Well in the forefront of develop ment among Canadian provinces such As occupational therapy in Sulin Shock treatment the travel ing mental clinic and the Labora tory technicians training class at Brandon. In less than twelve years the province had More than doubled its expenditures on the care of the mentally ill said the minister so that today Over half its health budget was for the care of this Small fraction of the population. He did to think he need apologize for a record which to his mind was one of the Best in Canada. Paid by the respective governments to the growers. This accusation is made in considerable detail by mainly embarrassed the australian government. Last year. 1946, was of course election year in both London cavalcade by f. B. W. L Ondon it will be four or five years before Britain s ten with 203.000 permanent houses under construction he plans to end country is Back to Normal produc-i19 17 with Tion. The floods which inundated thousands of acres will leave their Mark Long after they have gone. The fens Are really giant sponges and once they have been they return to Mash. Long buried bulrushes and Marsh plants Spring Back to life and Farmers will have to begin All Over again the Job of restoration. Most of the houses in the flood areas have been buried under the Waters and Only the villages built on Little Hillocks have survived. The Fen land is about five feet above sea level and the Rivers which Drain it Are often confined within Banks fifteen feet higher than this. When a break through comes it does not Stop until this water is levelled off. They were first drained by the Duke of Bedford and dutch engineers in the seventeenth Century against the opposition of the Fen people who lived a wild and rather sinister existence in the marshes. M r. Sevan s housing programme was published a few Days ago. It is hoped to Complete permanent houses this year com pared with last year. In 1946 an average of permanent houses were completed each month and to reach the new goal will mean raising this to or. Bevan Hopes to do this by increasing the number employed on permanent houses from an average of last year to an average of this year. He ended 1946 one of the difficulties in 1946 was that to get the programme started the labor Force was spread thinly Over a Large number of projects. This year it will be concentrated on permanent housing. The ratio of four houses und construction by local authorities to one by private Enterprise is being continued. A a the War London had cd three symphony orchestras. Today it has nine and what amounts to an economic crisis has devel oped in the concert world. In the past few months attendance has dwindled and backers have been called upon to Bear considerable losses. The London philharmonic Orch estra for example is losing approximately a concert in its present series and or. Thomas Russell head of the orchestra has pointed out that while admission prices have not materially changed since 1939 concert production costs have he suggests that the London county Counci Munici Alize As Many orchestras As London needs to keep them going. One of the results has been Lack of rehearsal. In some cases orchestras have gone to a performance with Only one practice because costs Are being Cut. The most Likely solution at the moment will be the break up of some orchestras until the Field is Cut to the Point where it is economic. Sale of wheat to new Zea Al land was brought lip in the Federal Otise toward the end of february when the Deal had been announced and or. Scully gave a generally similar account of the 1945 negotiations to that Given by or. Sullivan months before though in much More detail. He said that for sales after the crop an arrangement was made to open negotiations and that if an agreement were reached the Price would be not higher than 92 cents and might be less. Or. Scully added that it a decided that Circum inces would be such Over the next four years that 92 cents would be a sound Price. He still held that View. In formed opinion at the end of 1945 was that High prices would continue for a Long period. In the same debate a South australian Liberal member or. Cam Eron condemned the Deal in Strong terms. The he said has been used politically by. The new zealand government to beat Down the Price they were going to pay to their straight Furrow quotes another opinion expressed by a member of the Farmers Union of Western Australia in a letter to Federated Farmers of new zealand the whole business has been one of finesse against the growers of both Australia and new zealand and our respective governments have conspired to make it the charge it is now recalled was made last september in the new zealand House of representatives by a nationalist member or. To l. Macc Lonald during a debate Inich or. Sullivan declined to make a statement about new zealand wheat purchases. Or. Macdonald said that in february 1946, when the Price for new zealand wheat was being negotiated the growers pressed for a Bushel but agreed to si.14 largely As a result of information Given them that australian heat would be bought by the government for 92 cents . Austra Lian ports equal to or ?1.17 landed in new zealand. That in formation could Only have come from government sources. Information leaked out or. Macc Lonald s allegation in effect was that information about the arrangement made in Australia leaked out and influenced the local Price negotiations. So it was that or. Sullivan in serving his purpose of holding a pistol at the head of new zealand growers upset or. Com ments straight but his later silence was an admirable ample of trans Tasman govern Meu the nation would i but to or. The fact Schulz made no at tempt to Dodge it or soften it in any in Manitoba As everywhere else on the North american continent mental Dis ease was one of the gravest prob lems facing society. Indeed that was True of the whole civilized world. Mental institutions in practically every country have be come overcrowded a situation which in Manitoba is at the moment. Beyond our More accommodation was being planned but that would not take do Well to spend far More on re search into causes and cures than it has been doing. As he pointed out Little is known about either the science of psychiatry is still in its infancy. Behind lie several centuries of neglect and Lack of understanding and a prodigious Effort must now be made to gain that understanding. The opposition liked the last part of or. Schultz s speech but was far from satisfied that he was be ing energetic enough in going after staff or in Rushing Forward the new building plans. Or. Sawchuk wanted a Chance for the members to visit these institutions. Or. Draffin said he had already looked Over one of them Selkirk Sev eral limes his latest visit being As recent As saturday and he thought the minister had nothing to brag about a to t was left to a doctor who in his Day had spent six months As an Interne in a mental hos Pital to make the most positive suggestion of the debate. Or. Poit ledge of Minnedosa proposed a thorough reclassification of the patients in All the institutions so As to separate properly the mental defectives at the one end of the scale and at the other those old people whose faculties had simply worn out. The place for the latter in his estimation was in a Spe Cial infirmary where they could rest out. Their lives peacefully. The evening passed with the end of or. Schultz s an Nual ordeal still not in sight. Per haps before he is through he May think there is some Merit to the opposition idea of a splitting of his department after All. And yet he seems to enjoy handling questions and criticism and certainly no member of the present government can answer them so fluently and with such a wealth of detail much of it without any recourse to notes. Or. Willis who will come and also be relied on to have the answers at his Finger tips. What a lot of members Are curious about just now is How he will fare with the question which Side of the red River is that care of the immediate problem by i super Highway going to adorn any Means for As the minister said we Are having a terrible time to get enough faced As it was with this rising tide of mental instability and out or. Miller would very much like to know and so would the tire less la Verendrye Carillon Axis composed of messes. Marcoux and Manitoba s cancer report by k. M. H. Here is a definitely All cases of cancer in 1 Cou raging note in the cur the cities Are detected this is not c 4.1. It vet True of the Rural areas. Rent annual report of the Mem t Toba cancer Relief and research Institute. For the first time in the Long drawn out bitter fight obviously. Winnipeg has Labora services which Are not Avail Lable in the country. To obviate some against cancer there is a has established a Rural postal Dawn which May presage Victory j Biopsy service. Specimen tubes Are first some major Force has been i at work altering the registered cancer death rate and this has brought to an abrupt halt the Ever increasing Rise in this rate. Second the percentage recovering has increased about 1 per cent for every year since the Institute was incorporated. A Good fight but the main encouragement in the report comes not from these statistical facts but from the Evi Dence that Manitoba is fighting a Good fight. The Odds Are still three out of four can cer patients Are not recovering. Nevertheless educational efforts Are spreading All Over the prov Ince and under the present methods of treatment surgery Radium and a Ray plus Early diagnosis Public education is a prerequisite for cancer control. Education centres in some group in a Community and states the report Seldom if Ever have we lost the interest and support of any group which has once joined our the report indicates however. That although figures would seem to indicate that the death rate from cancer in Rural areas is less than that for Urban what it known of the disease would Sug Gest that this is not really the Case. Rather while the rate of diagnosis has increased rapidly in the Urban districts indicating that Tal loyalty to a common policy of antipathy to farming the quotations in this article Are riven in Canadian currency calculated at values As shown in the commercial intelligence journal issued by the Trade Commerce i Dep t birthdays Frank Lacey Murray Park Man. Born Metheringham Lincolnshire eng., april 15, 1865. W. J. Healy san fran Cisco Calif. Born Belleville ont april 15, 1867. George code Winnipeg born Winni Peg april 15, 1878. Mrs. C. W. Wells Carman Man. Born Goderich ont., april 15. 1860. Mailed to Rural physicians con Taining preserving solution. Tissue specimens returned in these Are examined immediately on arrival and a report sent to the physician without charge. The Institute s centralized Radium Supply is made available to patients through All hospitals and through physicians in private practice who Are familiar with its use. It is supplied without charge to any resident of the Rural areas of the province. Free service to Rural patients of a Ray services is also provided. There is further a Ollow up service maintained first for the patients against a re occurrence of the disease and second to add to the volume of clinical knowledge. It will be noted that All this account of the activities of the Institute concerns treatment and cure. That is True for As yet there is no simple test for cancer. The Hope today is the establishment of diagnostic clinics and the encouraging of the patients to use these to the utmost. Research resumed however Manitoba Institute is doing More than fighting in the treatment sector. It is doing its part also in research. This re search has to do with the quantitative measurement of various lasses of chemical compounds existing in living tissue. To this end an extremely sensitive inst Ruriani has been developed in the Institute s lab the Spectroscope. Dur ing the War this class of work was suspended but it is now resumed. The report of the Institute is a fighting document. Moreover it is a Call to total War with every one doing his and her part. At least everyone May be intelligent on the subject ;